“To answer that, I’ll need to explain how I work—and, more precisely, how the Artificial Intelligence created by the Akashic Records functions.”
“When you first arrived in the training room, I was created by the Records, but on your command, which made me partially your property,” she added with a slight blush.
She continued, “The thing is, I’m also the property of the Records, and my ‘job’ is to be the trainer of Mikael Angelini. Being a ‘trainer-type’ AI allows you to modify my stats and my knowledge, like you did before, using LP.”
“Now, to answer your original question about my knowledge and mastery, for example, in martial arts. My skills are granted by the Records and are limited to the level they’ve assigned me. Currently, my knowledge only extends to training you up to Tier 0 Level 5. Beyond that, I won’t know how to help you progress further.”
“Did I explain that clearly?”
Mikael gave her a slight nod. “Yeah, pretty clear. Thanks. I just have a small question related to what you explained. How does it work when you say you’re partially my ‘property’ and partially owned by the Records?”
Kiara paused before answering. “It means that, currently, I’m a Trainer-type AI. But if you ‘bought’ me, I would become Your AI with all the Trainer-type capabilities included.”
Mikael was taken aback by her response and thought, ‘Damn, this is slavery at its finest. It’s a slaver’s dream to create ‘slaves’ and sell them, and because they’re AIs, they can be customized… It’s honestly pretty twisted.’
Unaware of Mikael’s thoughts, Kiara continued, “Currently, I’m bound to the training room and can’t leave or do anything outside the parameters of a Trainer AI. But if you bought me, I could do anything you can do while keeping my Trainer AI skills—except I’d be at your command.” She spoke quickly, visibly excited.
Mikael considered it. ‘Aside from the moral aspect of this disguised slavery, it’s a smart system. You train with your AI and get attached over time, whether as a friend or something more. Eventually, you may want to ‘liberate’ them. The reason doesn’t matter; the point is that you’ll pay.’
Feeling slightly uncomfortable with the idea of Kiara effectively selling herself, he asked anyway, though he wasn’t genuinely interested. “Uh, okay. So, if I did want to buy you, how much would it cost?”
“The price varies a lot depending on the AI, but the minimum for a Trainer-type AI is 10,000 LP. The price goes up based on stats, skills, knowledge, etc.”
“Alright, good to know. So, you didn’t get too bored while I was gone?”
Kiara pouted at his words, though whether it was because he didn’t want to buy her or because she was actually bored when he was gone was unclear.
She replied, “You’re not exactly wrong; it was a bit less boring than last time. I finished the Harry Potter series after the first two days and then started hitting the punching bag to pass the time. That was pretty fun in itself.”
“Glad to hear you weren’t too bored. So, are you ready to start training?”
Visibly pleased to finally have a conversation with him after days of solitude, Kiara answered happily, “Of course! I’m always ready. Sixth Sense training, right?”
“Right.”
Kiara began, “For the training, I’ll need your permission to add a room, which will cost 30 LP. Is that okay with you?”
“Sure,” Mikael agreed.
[Transaction completed -30 LP]
As soon as he saw the notification appear, one of the walls began to emit a soft glow. After a few seconds, the light faded, revealing a wooden door where the wall had been.
Kiara gestured for him to follow her and walked toward the new room. Mikael followed, and the two of them entered.
The room had an unusual setup. The walls were lined with multiple small holes, and in the center was a wooden altar with two white buttons on it.
“You’re wondering what the training will be, right?” Kiara asked, then explained. “On this altar, you see the two buttons. The training will involve relying on your instincts to press one of them.”
“If you choose correctly, nothing will happen. But if you choose wrong, small wooden balls will shoot from the walls toward you. They’re calibrated to a speed too fast for you to react to, and while they won’t seriously injure you, they’ll cause enough pain to encourage you to improve your 6th sense skill.”
Mikael responded sarcastically, “Yeah, sounds like fun…”
Kiara gave him an amused smile. “It’ll be great for your skill progress. As for you—maybe not so much.”
Sigh.
“Alright, let’s get started,” Mikael said, stepping toward the buttons and focusing intently on them.
‘I don’t feel anything. Am I supposed to choose randomly?’ he thought. He reached toward the right button but then felt a faint instinct that it wasn’t the correct choice.
Trusting his intuition, he quickly switched to the left button and pressed it.
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...He waited a few seconds, but no balls were launched at him. Instead, a pleasant notification appeared:
[You are developing your instincts. 6th Sense +1%]
Satisfied with the result, Mikael continued with his training.
The second time, he pressed the left button again.
Click.
A clicking sound was followed by a painful impact on his back, pushing him slightly forward.
Mikael grunted in pain but, realizing he wasn’t badly hurt, continued with the training.
Over the next few hours, his Sixth Sense skill progressed quickly. After four hours, he reached the second level, and by the end of six hours of training, he had achieved:
[6th Sense Skill - Tier 0 Level 2 Progress 34%]
Seeing his skill progress was encouraging, but he wondered, What does this actually accomplish? Mikael ran a few quick tests and discovered he could now sense threats just before his ordinary senses picked them up. This ability allowed him to dodge bullets he wouldn’t have otherwise known were coming.
Overall, it was a major upgrade. Now, he could enter worlds with firearms without worrying that a surprise bullet might end him.
He then continued honing his Unarmed Martial Arts skill through a combination of punching bag drills and sparring sessions with Kiara. By the end of three hours, his progress had reached:
[Unarmed Martial Arts Mastery - Tier 0, Level 2, Progress 51%]
After finishing his martial arts training, Mikael focused on improving his footwork. This session centered on evasive skills, particularly dodging spikes that randomly shot up from the ground.
This training proved to be challenging due to the spikes’ unexpected nature and extreme speed. However, his developing instinct often allowed him to dodge just in time. Despite the difficulty, the progress he made was noticeable:
[Footwork Mastery - Tier 0, Level 3, Progress 10%]
Finally, he ended his training with a sword session, where Kiara taught him some techniques and sparred with him again.
Given that Kiara's stats were approximately on par with Mikael's, he did have an advantage due to the 3% buff from his body refining and additional boosts from his skills—advantages Kiara lacked, as she only possessed the knowledge but not the active skill. But she was still more skilled and experienced in fighting.
Taking all this into account, Mikael initially lost after only ten minutes of sparring. However, as the session went on, the duration of each sparring match increased—15 minutes, then 20 minutes. By the end of three hours, their final sparring session lasted a full 40 minutes, with neither gaining a clear upper hand.
Mikael concluded the session as their training time was running out, satisfied with the high level he had reached:
[Swordsmanship Mastery - Tier 0, Level 5 Skill
Description: This skill encapsulates the user's knowledge, experience, and mastery of swordsmanship.
Benefits: Increases learning and application of all swordsmanship-related techniques.
Attack speed with a sword: +30% → +40%
Attack damage with a sword: +15% → +20%]
[Swordsmanship Mastery - Tier 0, Level 5 Skill: This skill can evolve once the following conditions are met.
Obtain the Skill Evolution System ( )
Discover a way to upgrade swordsmanship to the next level ( )
Pay 300 LP ( )]
Mikael frowned as he read the requirements to evolve his skills. ‘Hmm, this won’t be easy. It'll cost 3,000 LP for the Skill Evolution System and another 300 LP, but that’s the easy part since I know how to earn LP.’
‘The real challenge is figuring out how to advance my swordsmanship. Sure, I have some ideas, like gaining an aura or learning sword techniques in a cultivation world, but that seems complicated for now.’
‘I should focus on maxing out my other skills since they can still get stronger. Get stronger…’ He had a realization and face-palmed. ‘Ahh, I’ve reached the max level in swordsmanship, but that doesn’t mean I can’t keep improving. I could, for example, practice fighting against a variety of enemies…’
Mikael was about to continue his thoughts but was interrupted by Kiara.
Kiara hesitated to interrupt since he seemed lost in thought, probably focusing on the system, but she needed to speak. “Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Mikael glanced at her and replied, “Sure, what is it?”
Kiara nervously fidgeted, twisting a strand of her hair. “Um, I was wondering… could you maybe stay a little longer with me this time? It would be really nice.”
Puzzled, he replied, “But I can’t. The training time I bought is almost over!”
Kiara seemed confused by his response. “But you don’t need LP to stay in the training room unless you’re actively training. Didn’t you know?”
He muttered quietly, “No…”
‘Seriously? All the time I spent talking with Kiara, I was wasting LP when it could have been free!?’
Sigh
‘It’s not that bad; I probably only lost around 100 LP. But this system is getting seriously annoying—so capitalistic, squeezing out every last bit of LP. Imagine if they had actually told me that! But no, they don’t want to lose even a single LP. So greedy!’
Amused by Mikael’s annoyed expression, Kiara looked at him with puppy eyes. “So, will you stay? Please?”
“Alright, I’ll stay for a short while.”
“YEAH!” Kiara jumped with joy at his answer.
Her genuine excitement made Mikael smirk as he thought, ‘It’s good to take some time to relax and enjoy yourself. What’s the point of training to become stronger if I never take a break?’
“So, Kiara, what do you want to do while I’m here with you?”
She put a finger to her lips thoughtfully before suggesting, “Why don’t we have a meal together?”
“Sure, but is there even a table around?” He looked around and saw only the high-quality dojo space, not a dining setup.
Kiara seemed to take pride in his question, smiling before saying, “Come with me; I’ll show you something.”
He followed her to a part of the dojo he hadn’t explored before. She led him to an unfamiliar wooden door.
“This is my room,” Kiara announced, then opened the door with a little flourish. “Tada!”
Mikael entered and found a cozy blend of Eastern and Western aesthetics. Tatami mats covered the floor, and a futon lay in one corner. There was also a high table with two chairs and numerous plants around the room, which gave it a natural, vibrant feel against the green walls.
“Pretty nice, isn’t it?” Kiara said. “We can eat here at the table. I even have plates and utensils.”
“Honestly, this is really cool. I didn’t know the dojo came with a functional room like this,” Mikael said, sitting down at the table.
Kiara joined him, taking the seat across. “I’m glad you like it! But, um, what are we going to eat?” She added sheepishly, “I kind of forgot, but I can’t provide food. Could you buy some? Sorry!” She scratched the back of her head, looking embarrassed.