The very first thing Eugene had the two boys do was rehearse the basics once again. He took them all the way back to the first thing they had learned, and though Lucas was unsure why a review was necessary, he soon found out.

Once his body began the first movements, he immediately felt the change. Despite not having spent his free stats just yet, his actions were smoother, more precise and powerful. His companion in the training, Quinn, was a natural practically built for physical combat. Even at his comparatively young age, he had always kept up with Lucas under Eugene's tutelage. Now, their existed a qualitative leap between their movements.

It wasn't the most visibly obvious change at first--they were only going over the most basic of basics right now, after all. Lucas could feel it, sure, but he doubted any but the most trained of eyes could tell. It was a different story altogether once they moved on to the different ways they had been taught to strike with a spear.

Lucas's spear was supernaturally level. His body moved almost before he processed what he was doing. He did not move prematurely, nor did it happen without his mental command; it was simply as if Lucas had far more experience with these drills than he truly did. As if his muscles were further along in memorizing these actions than his mind.

Lucas made a point of taking it slow. It would be too easy to get caught up in the feeling, lose discipline, and fall out of the zone he found himself in. He took the time to internalize the feeling he was experiencing, and was rewarded for his restraint with a number of notifications.

[*ding Congratulations! [Basic Combat Training] has reached level 2!]

[*ding Congratulations! [Fitness] has reached level 2!]

[*ding Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 2!]

"Nice!" Lucas exclaimed. He never had a problem devoting time to learning and training in the past, but this sort of instant reward for his efforts was highly motivating. He checked for any changes in the three Skills' descriptions, and though [Fitness] showed no visible change, the bonus to experience gain [Learning] gave had gone up by another half-percent. With [Basic Combat Training], the change was obvious.

Lucas felt his body slightly adjust its positioning, falling into a superior stance. It was clear that with every level in this Skill, his movements would become more natural and graceful in combat. It was almost cheating.

"Did your Skill level up?" Quinn paused his own practice and asked. Eugene watched them with clear amusement.

"Yeah," Lucas told him, "it's slightly terrifying. If a level two Skill is already doing this much for me, I'm not sure I want to know what a high level [Warrior] would look like in actual battle." He looked over at Eugene as he said the last part, only receiving a solemn look in response.

"Ahh! It's not fair that I have to wait two more years to unlock," Quinn uncharacteristically complained.

"You'll have some catching up to do, when that day finally comes," Lucas nodded.

He may not have ever realized how strong physical Classes could get, the world may have just gotten considerably more dangerous in his mind, but it changed nothing for this moment. A little scare would not have him reconsider the plan he had for his life. For now, he would just continue his training, and it would maybe be nice to have a companion for that, so he consoled the other boy.

"But you can start that now by building yourself the best foundation you can have, going into the unlock," he continued.

"Yeah, I know." Quinn all but sighed. But after allowing himself a moment of self-pity, his resolve visibly returned. "Let's keep going, then. I'll make sure that when I turn ten, I'll get far better Skills than you have now!"

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"Good luck with that!" Lucas only half-jested. "My Skills will not even be comparable to what they are now, by then. I bet I'll even have my second Class!"

They threw taunts back and forth for a little while as they continued with the latest drill Eugene had them practicing. It was a friendly sort of rivalry--one that would serve to motivate both boys, at least for the moment. The uncaring truth was that Lucas had a great advantage over Quinn in being two years older. If he ever let the boy catch up to him, he would consider it a personal failure in his growth.

Because now that Lucas had started leveling, he did not plan to stop.

After a few more solo drills, Eugene changed things up considerably.

"Alright," he looked at the two boys almost predatorily, "that is enough drills for now. We are moving on to sparring--but in order to tip the scales just a little in the direction of fairness, you both will be using what you have learned to try and strike me. Quinn," he addressed the boy, "I will only dodge and defend myself from your strikes."

"With Lucas," Eugene turned to him, "I will also counterstrike."

And here comes the bruises...almost thought he forgot about that particular Skill. Oh well, it won't hurt that bad--nor for long.

At this point, the morning was already nearly done with. The sun was up, the other villagers were moving about their business, and lunchtime was fast approaching, A few of Lucas's Skills had already gone up another level, but he was anticipating quite a few more. Hopefully this spar wouldn't let him down.

The man directed both of them to come at him from different directions with their training spears: Lucas from the south and Quinn from the east. He intended to defend against both of their attacks, and prior to his earlier realization Lucas might have thought it the tiniest bit arrogant.

Arrogance was far from his current consideration of his opponent, and Lucas fully expected those bruises. But he also would not end this spar without delivering at least one solid strike.

Lucas slowly closed the distance at the same time as Quinn, both hands on his faux weapon directing it forward. For his part, Eugene stood straight and still.

Quinn eagerly made to strike first. Lucas followed just a pulse behind. Eugene turned the first thrust to the side with a leisurely wave of his hand before stepping into and beyond the second.

Lucas had not yet trained with much other than the spear, but in this moment, he knew the right move. He dropped his weapon and moved to dodge forward.

The blow came all the same. Faster than Lucas could fully process, something impacted the middle of his chest and threw him back into the ground, knocking out his breath. It sucked.

"Uurghhhah...Why did you have to hit so hard?!" He complained as soon as his awareness returned.

"I suddenly don't mind having to wait two more years," Quinn commented. Lucas didn't doubt it--that probably looked about as pleasant as it felt.

"You know," Eugene came over and pulled Lucas to his feet, "those were good instincts; letting go of the spear once I was within your guard. But you don't have any training in such close quarters combat, so next time try harder to keep me within your striking range."

"You can move faster than I can see," Lucas replied somewhat hotly, before taking a calm breath. He had all but asked for this; he benefited greatly from this; he would not risk Eugene's goodwill by having a bad attitude. "I'll be more cautious, next time."

"Good," Eugene simply said. "Let's go again--maybe get a bit further than a single exchanged strike today."

They did not. Not even close. Mostly, the following exchanges went very similar to the first. By the end of their sparring, Lucas was exceedingly sore while the other two only showed varying states of exhaustion. Varied as in: not at all, and moderate-extreme. Eugene was...inhuman in his speed and the way he moved.

Despite absolutely being the most worn out there, Lucas had performed quite well. Better than Quinn as well as his pre-unlock self by a considerable amount. That was the difference a Skill makes. Eugene's Skills were far more developed than his own--he never stood a chance.

Even so, at the end, he was greeted with a series of level up notifications.

[*ding Congratulations! [Basic Combat Training] has reached level 3-7!]

[*ding Congratulations! [Fitness] has reached level 3-7!]

[*ding Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 3-5!]

[*ding Congratulations! [Regeneration] has reached level 2-3!]

Nearly twenty levels for some slight discomfort and not even half a day. That's what I call a good trade.

Despite the many strikes his body weathered from Eugene, [Regeneration] had not gone up all that much. It appeared the Skill would indeed be difficult to raise, though it remained to be seen if it would be the most difficult. It was highly worth it in Lucas's mind, however, as already his fatigue was starting to fade. Between that Skill and [Fitness], he felt much more vital than before. He could only imagine the heights he could reach with these Skills.