After sending off the rest of the rings, I asked a guard for directions to the city’s martial arts training ground. The man gave a wry chuckle before telling me where to go, a look of pity evident in his eyes as he sent me off. When I arrived, I found the training hall deserted, the sign in front of the gate left askew.

At first, I thought that I must have entered the wrong place, until a voice spoke up from within the dilapidated building at the center of the large courtyard. “Don’t just stand out there gawking. If you’re coming in, come in.”

I couldn’t help but blink, drawn in by the female voice. When I opened the door of the building, it almost fell off its hinges, and I saw a muscular Bearfolk woman sitting on a cushion in the center of the room, her eyes closed. “Are you here for general or targeted training?” She asked, keeping her eyes closed.

This trainer wore a simple, black martial arts robe over her body, and matching black pants. Around her forehead was a black cloth, but she remained motionless as I approached, simply waiting for the answer to my question.

“I’d like to learn about the Dull Pain skill.” I answered, and she finally opened her red eyes to look at me.

“No luck teaming up with a healer, huh?” She seemed to guess, before furrowing her brow. “Are you not going to wait for your player to log on?”

I didn’t know how she could tell that I wasn’t an active player, but I removed my helmet, displaying the burnt mark. Her eyes widened slightly, and she gave an understanding nod. “That would do it. From your physique, I’d say… level forty-three? If I don’t take that armor into account.”

“...You can consider it something like that.” I nodded, figuring that my raw stats would probably be similar to that level with my enhancement skills currently. She perked a brow, but didn’t press further, simply rising to her feet.

“My name is Kelly Brown. If you want to learn the Dull Pain skill, I can teach you, though it won’t be easy. You might even have to die a few times. Are you willing to accept that?” She asked in a calm tone. I was surprised to discover that she had a last name, which meant that she was descended from some form of noble family.

I grit my teeth, nodding my head. “As long as I can loot my body after death, I’m fine with dying as many times as need be.” My biggest fear was the slight chance that I would drop my main positive trait. As long as that was not an issue, anything else was fine.

Kelly gave a knowing chuckle. “In that case, take off your armor. You can keep the basic clothes on, but no equipment.” She commanded, bringing one foot back and assuming a combat stance. I gave another nod, unequipping my armor and weapons.

“Now… fight me. Once I’m satisfied, you will earn the skill you want.” She said firmly, her eyes narrowing. For the first time, a quest window appeared in front of me.

Skill Quest: Dull Pain - 10☆

Duel the Martial Arts instructor, Kelly Brown, until she is satisfied with your strength. Upon death, you will have ten minutes to return and claim your body before continuing combat.

Reward: Dull Pain Skill, Exp(9☆)

My brow twitched when I saw that the assessment of the quest was rated at ten stars, though that was likely taking into a account my real level, rather than my enhanced stats. At least, I hoped that was the case. Similarly, the experience reward would have been enough to level me up multiple times if I was… well, able to level up.

I noticed that Kelly’s brow twitched when the quest was assigned, cursing inwardly. I hadn’t expected a quest like this, based on my assumed level. If she saw the rewards that had been issued, it would be obvious that my level wasn’t in the forties.

Still, I didn’t give her any time to question. With all of my enhancement skills active, I rushed forward, clenching my fist. With Power Attack active, I threw my fist forward, aiming for her stomach.

After seeing the quest, she appeared surprised at my aggressive actions, but still managed to deftly sidestep the strike. She reached down, lightly grabbing my wrist. Suddenly, I felt my feet leave the ground, my vision spinning as I rotated in the air. My back slammed against the ground, and I forced myself to roll to my feet.

My teeth were clenched in pain, feeling that my wrist was suddenly broken. However, it didn’t feel like she used that much strength when she grabbed me. She smiled, and this time it was her turn to charge. I kicked off the ground, jumping back to try to avoid her strike, but she narrowed the distance in a heartbeat, her palm landing on my chest.

I didn’t activate Ruby Rampart, knowing that her attack would surely break my defense. There was a dull crunch within my chest, and I felt myself being thrown back as my vision faded.

When I opened my eyes, I was standing at the center of the city, and saw a timer in the corner of my vision, counting down from ten minutes. In a panic, I began sprinting towards the training grounds, noting that my damaged plate armor was no longer in my inventory.

It only took me two minutes to arrive, at which point I found my body sprawled out on the ground, my chest dented with a handprint. I reclaimed my body, and Kelly was already charging at me once again. This time, her fingers were spread out and curled inwards like claws, a fierce grin on her face.

I jumped to the side, her fingers gouging out a chunk of my left arm, and hissed. “I can use whatever skills I want for this?” I asked, and she chuckled darkly.

“Martial skills, and only what you can do without equipment.” She said, and I nodded. Holding out one hand, a blade of darkness formed, solidifying into a longsword. “...Well, I suppose that counts. Let’s see how long you can keep it up.”

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Seeing me creating the sword, a playful smile tugged at her lips. She kept her aggressive stance, but seemed more focused on dodging my attacks. When I swiped my sword horizontally, she would hop out of its reach, and when I thrust, she would turn to the side. It almost seemed like she was toying with me… and she probably was.

Part of me wanted to try to use the skill with both hands, but the previous damage inflicted on my left arm rendered it incapable of fighting. I knew that this was a clear weakness, and that she could have capitalized on it to kill me a hundred times over, but she didn’t.

The longer we fought like this, the more interested she became. No matter how I struck, I wouldn’t hit her. And if she struck me, it meant certain death. Just as I thought that, her figure flickered, and I felt another impact on my chest. I hadn’t even seen her properly move, but my vision was already darkening. When I opened my eyes again, the timer had paused, a different message appearing in front of me.

You have completed Skill Quest: Dull Pain! Please return to the quest giver for your rewards.

I stood dumbfounded, hastily checking my inventory. This time, the missing item was none other than my newly acquired contract scroll, but that was fine as long as I arrived in time to reclaim it. I ran, hurrying back to the training grounds, where I saw my body, a circular hole punched through the chest.

Without delay, I looted the corpse, before Kelly’s voice called out to me. “Come inside.” She said, sounding surprisingly serious.

I walked inside the building, finding her sitting on the cushion once again, no sign of the previous battle on her body. “Why aren’t you a mage?” She asked seriously.

‘What do you mean?” I felt like something was wrong when she asked me that, but I couldn’t be sure.

“Your trait. It removes the mana burden of skills, doesn’t it? That’s the only way you could be as strong as you are at your level, and be able to wield a Shadow Blade for an extended period. If I’m not wrong, it should be a nine or ten star trait.” My body froze as she analyzed my trait, pointing out everything that I had wanted to keep hidden. “Moreover, what fool was it that decided to abandon a chosen with such a powerful trait?”

I grit my teeth, forcing myself to calm down as I walked over and sat in front of her. “It’s… because my negative trait is almost as restrictive. And I believe that the wording misled the player.” I spoke, fists clenched. At this point, I could only pray that Kelly kept this information a secret. There was nothing that I could do to force her silence. Even if I used the contract to ensure she didn’t tell anyone, that required her agreement.

Kelly looked at me, closing her eyes. “You can’t use magic, can you? That’s why you are seeking Dull Pain, rather than any form of magical healing.”

“That’s… both true and not.” I admitted. “My negative trait states that I cannot cast magic. I can, however, enchant it onto items. However, the process of doing so causes a backlash from my trait, damaging my body proportionate to the power and element of the enchantment. I believe that my player thought that this completely negated my positive trait.”

“Then he’s an idiot.” Kelly scoffed. “Plain and simple. Just seeing a nine or ten star trait should have been enough to carry you to the heavens. As for whatever negative trait? Find a way to work around it. That’s what you’ve been doing so far, and it’s worked out for you. Imagine how strong you would be at this point if you had been allowed to level up, combined with all of your skills.”

“Still, you completed my quest, so I’ll reward you accordingly.” She said, keeping her eyes closed. I saw a notification window appearing, informing me that I had obtained the Dull Pain skill. “How long are you planning to remain in Decashear?”

“For now, I don’t know.” I answered honestly. “I am having a player craftsman make a new set of equipment for me. With good gear, and my enchantments on them, I can considerably increase my power. Aside from that, I planned to visit the local Skill Store to see what Martial skills I could acquire.”

Kelly hesitated for a moment. “Have you considered becoming a martial artist? With proper training, your hands could be as deadly as any blade, and require less maintenance.”

I thought about her words for a moment. “Honestly, I’ve never considered it. With my traits, I capitalize on as many enchantment slots as I can get on my equipment. Not having any weapons would decrease my combat options considerably.”

When I said that, Kelly suddenly opened her eyes, a grin on her face. “What if it didn’t?”

“Pardon?”

“What if you were able to enchant your own body?” She clarified. “What if you could have as many enchantments on your fists as you could a blade?”

“That’s… there’s nothing like that, is there?” At the very least, I had never heard of an ability like that.

“Not as a basic skill, no. However, the skill does exist. Moreover, I can teach your its basic form.” Kelly seemed almost excited as she spoke. “The skill’s name is Empty Hand. When you activate the skill, it empowers your hands according to your Intelligence stat. The second level skill, Sturdy Hand, allows you to increase the durability of your hands, as if they were shields. If you train it to the third tier, Myriad Strikes-X, you will gain the ability to temporarily enchant your hands for as long as the skill is active.”

“Myriad Strikes-X?” I asked in confusion, to which Killy nodded her head.

“If you evolve a skill twice, it gains the -X suffix. This shows that the skill is far more powerful than its peers. For instance, the normal Myriad Strikes skill would give you the enchantment slot, but your hands would be no more powerful than those of a normal person. Only by advancing through the skill tree can you unleash a skill’s true power.”

“As… as nice as this sounds, and this does sound nice, I haven’t even managed to train a single skill to its second evolution yet, and there are some that I have barely turned off in nearly two weeks. How long would it take me to advance the Empty Hand skill?”

“I don’t know.” Kelly answered my question seriously. “However, what I do know is that you don’t level up. Killing monsters serves no purpose for you other than training your combat prowess. The real source of your strength should come from your skills and equipment. While I may not be able to have a say in your equipment, I am far more familiar with martial skills than a rookie like you.”

I couldn’t help but think about her offer again. If I really could enchant my hands, how much would that improve my power? I wouldn’t be able to cast spells normally, but rather they would be altered versions, like how Fireball became Exploding Flame Slash. I’d be the equivalent of a muscle mage. “What would you want in return?”

Kelly chuckled softly. “I’ve been looking for an interesting student to teach for years. All of these players are nothing but cowards. Even if they don’t feel pain, they give up and run away after experiencing a few setbacks. Instead, you, someone with a ten star trait comes to me with determination. If I don’t take the chance to craft you into a legend on par with the nation’s top heroes, it would be an insult to not only myself, but my teacher.”

Nodding my head in acknowledgement, I suddenly felt as if I would be staying in Decashear for quite a while now. “Where do we begin?”