Sam regretted saying it.
He regretted telling Grayfia he could handle anything she threw at him.
Sam dodged to the side as a massive club struck the ground.
"Tiny thing die!!"
Sam let his chest light up, lightning building in his throat as he ran between the massive creature's legs.
"Tiny thing hides!!"
As soon as Sam got behind the twin headed Ogre, he let loose the Lightning Breath he was holding.
The blast arced up the back of the Ogre, singeing its thick skin.
"Tiny thing hurt!!"
Damn, that barely did anything.
Sam lit his hands up with more lightning.
Let's see if this works.
Sam took off running again, dodging the enraged swing of the Ogre's club with a slide.
He shot out his claws as he slid by, catching the side of the Ogre's foot.
"Hurt!!!"
The Ogre lifted its foot up in a panic, and Sam along with it.
"Ooo!!" Sam anchored himself with his free hand, claws digging in to join the other.
Sam filled his chest again, lighting up his throat blue.
He clawed his way up the Ogre's leg.
"Get Tiny thing off!"
The Ogre's hand came to swat Sam away but was met with a decent charged lightning breath.
"Hurt!!!"
The Ogre dropped its club as it held its singed hand.
"Ow ow ow!"
Sam had to momentarily stop his climb due to the thrashing of the Ogre.
"Just stay still, damn it!"
I need to charge another lightning breath, claws are too small.
Sam poured HHE into his muscles to leap up the Ogre. Meanwhile his chest started charging another lightning breath.
Sam landed on the Ogre's shoulder, aiming his blast at its head.
Kaboom
The lightning struck with a devastating explosion, Sam felt the balance of the Ogre start to sway.
Sam pumped HHE into his legs, jumping up as the Ogre finally swayed just right and collapsed.
On the descent, Sam noticed that the Orge was down but not out.
He activated Exoskeleton, the plates growing and interlocking perfectly.
Sam straightened his legs, aiming to land on the Ogre.
The impact was gory—his armored legs punched through thick hide, locking him in place.
The Ogre roared out in pain, hands clawing for Sam.
"Shit!"
Godspeed triggered, allowing Sam to break free before being grabbed, ripping him free and reappearing near the ogre's faces in a blur.
Sam's claws dug into their faces in gruesome arcs.
The Ogre barely registered the movement and pain before Sam slashed deep enough to knock the lights out of its eyes.
Sam didn't stop until he severed both heads, Exoskeleton covered in filth and blood.
He was breathing heavily, deep sharp breaths as the adrenaline and lightning slowed its flow.
A slow clap drew his attention skyward.
"Thats the third one today Sam, and first time being pushed to use that speed enhancement of yours."
"You kept throwing bigger things at me, what was I supposed to do?"
The system pinged in Sam's face for the third time today.
[User has killed an Upper Mid-Class Creature for the first time while still human! Generating Reward…]
[Gold Familiar Ticket x1]
*So it was upper middle class, Size was the biggest issue for me.*
Sam dismissed the system.
So far he had gained 2 Silver tickets, one for an Item, the other for a trait.
"Anything else you want to throw at me?"
"Not today, I want to refine your combat sense without the speed enhancement. After all, relying on that specific tool will only hinder you."
"So rest?"
"No, I'll take you back and you can refine what you learned today."
"Fine…"
A teleportation circled appeared beneath Sam's feet and in a flash he was moved.
Steadying himself, Sam found that the training field was empty.
"Was I gone that long?"
"Roughly 16 hours."
"Damn, felt shorter."
Sam closed his eyes and mentally reviewed each fight.
Each fight was with a monstrous entity, something that his martial arts couldn't contend with in its pure state.
Unless Sam modified it.
Otherwise he's just a really strong punch guy with lightning and God.
"So I take what you're trying to drill into me, is fighting while adapting?"
"Close, I'm showing you that the world doesn't operate at our scale all the time."
"You immediately frame your fights as Human body vs Similar Human body. That's fine for the most part, but when you get extra appendages or wings, you'll be thrown off."
"Wings aren't all that a problem." Sam remarked, thinking of his fights with the Fallen.
"They aren't. Until you fight someone who knows its advantages."
"That's… fair."
"Mastery of your abilities isn't just repeatedly using them, it's being able to use them in as many situations as possible."
Sam just nodded along with her words.
So that's why after a certain point my abilities and skills slowed in its mastery gauge.
"Now, it's good that you understand that now, rest up and we'll continue tomorrow."
Grayfia turned and walked to the exit of the training grounds. "And Sam? Do be careful on your way back to your room."
And with that, she disappeared from sight.
"That's ominous."
Sam let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
Okay, let's roll tickets then go to bed. First Silver, then Gold.
[🎲… Rolling Silver Item Ticket…]
[Gold Apple]
|Uncommon Item|
Minecraft - A magical apple with skin resembling gold, eating it gives the eater uncommon level regeneration for one hour. Restock Timer: 120 Hours
-
Extremely useful. Next
[🎲… Rolling Silver Trait Ticket…]
[Whats monogamy]
|Rare Trait|
Your potential partners are very accepting of any delusions of harem or a woman loving you you might have. They tend not to question the logistics or logic of having multiple people as lovers.
-
Sam stared at the system window for a long moment.
His hands shot up to grip the sides of the system window and attempted to throttle it.
"This isn't useful!!"
After a few moments of failing to inflict harm on the system, Sam let go.
"Next ticket…"
[🎲… Rolling Gold Familiar Ticket…]
[Zap- ERROR]
[ERROR]
[REROLLING…]
[Esdeath]
[??? Familiar]
[Akame Ga Kill - ???]
-
System error? Maybe I did fuck the system. But what's Akame Ga Kill and who's Esdeath?
*...and how am I going to explain them showing up here in hell?*
"Tiche."
The assassin appeared from nothing, summoned by the system call.
"I got a new familiar, this one is… odd. And honestly I don't know how to explain them to everyone."
"My advice? Don't explain. Let them speak for themselves."
"You have that much trust in a stranger?"
"I have that much trust in a familiar summoned by you."
"Alright…" Sam ran a hand through his hair.
"Let's see what the system cooked up."
Sam willed Esdeath to appear and when she did, the temperature dropped. Literally. Sam saw his breath in the air.
"Oh? Are you my master? Looks are good atleast."
Sam immediately thought she was beautiful, like most women who seemed to be populating his life in the last few months.
Long blue hair, dressed to attract… and kill. She knew what she had and wasn't afraid to use it.
"Now should we test who's the real master here?"
A column of ice launched itself at Sam, causing him to instinctively activate Godspeed to dodge.
"...She's dangerous."
He used his speed to gain distance, summoning the Gold Apple and taking a bite.
Sam felt the effects immediately, his exhaustion quickly faded and bruises disappeared.
"Oh? Seems this master was already training."
Esdeath stepped forward, ice encasing the training grounds with each step.
"But be a good master and stay still, you smell quite nice~"
A surge of ice shot out from her steps.
Sam felt his chest light up, dumping a considerable amount of Mana into Lightning Breath.
"Fuck it.." Sam infused HHE into the attack the moment it felt strong enough.
Gold lightning erupted forward to meet the ice, steam and chunks of ice exploded from the clash.
"It seems Master has something afterall, how fun~"
Sam activated Energy Regeneration, trading his regenerating stamina for more HHE.
He felt the difference immediately, but pushed it to the side. He needed speed.
Godspeed turned Gold and Sam blurred.
Esdeath tilted her head "Hmm?"
Sam was already to her side.
His fist shot out but was met with a thick ice wall.
"You're fast."
Sam activated Smite, and the ice wall exploded.
His fist met flesh as he pushed forward, but half a second later he felt Exoskeleton active and a pain to his abdomen as an ice pillar launched him away, crashing into a wall.
From his view, Sam saw Esdeath clutch her side. "You actually hurt me?"
"I'm debating whether to finish you off or kiss you."
Sam fell from the wall, deactivating Godspeed and Energy Regeneration. The strain was immediately cushioned by the ongoing regeneration.
"Can I just take the kiss?"
Esdeath laughed, full on body shaking laugh. "You're adorable. Maybe later. First you need to earn it."
"Thats not a no."
Gold lightning erupted from Sam, Godspeed activated in a moment as he rushed forward.
Esdeath just raised a brow as several pillars of ice were created to intercept.
Sam met each one with a Smite infused strike, shattering them with martial efficiency.
Elbow strike, knee strike, kicks, punches.
It half looked like nonsense and half looked like a dance.
But he was advancing. His breath grew heavy, but his will kept him taking the next step.
When he reached Esdeath, his exoskeleton was cracked.
A final punch aimed at her abdomen was stopped by another ice wall.
Sam gritted his teeth and pushed.
Smite exploded the wall again, but an additional ice wall was in place.
Sam didn't stop.
He dug deeper feeling an unfamiliar energy leak into his fist exploding the new barrier.
His fist met flesh once more.
He heard Esdeath take a sharp breath in.
As the ice wall crumbled away, he saw that his fist was planted firmly in Esdeath's abdomen.
"I underestimated you, Master, maybe serving under you will be fun~"
Sam fell forward, the tension in his body going slack.
Esdeath caught him. "Oh, Master, if you were going to push yourself so hard, you should have just given up at the beginning."
Sam just let himself be held.
Reminds me of Akeno's hold from earlier…
"Master~ if you leave such a feast unsupervised, how am I supposed to resist?"
That made Sam stiffen.
"Are you.. serious?"
Esdeath just giggled. "Am i?"
"Thats enough. Your fight has already alerted some."
Sam and Esdeath both looked to Tiche who was watching from the beginning.
"Let them watch Assassin, or would you rather join me in this feast?"
Sam slowly stood up, thanking the fact that the apple's regeneration was still in effect.
"Thats enough. Go back to the system space for now, Esdeath. I'll introduce you tomorrow."
Esdeath narrowed her eyes as Sam left her embrace. "Don't take too long master, or else I might forget your touch~"
Esdeath disappeared into the system space.
"Who the hell are you…"
Sam held his ribs, definitely cracked from her counter.
"Didn't feel like she held back at all."
"Sam, I think it's best if you go to rest."
"Yeah, I know, thanks Tiche." Sam hobbled along, regeneration slowly doing its job making each step more bearable.
"Tomorrow is going to be a lot of talking…"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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