Several days later, I hadn't yet found a way to level up faster. However, I had raised my total Ki by more than 400, increasing my Strength and Constitution by 40 each. This also meant that I was halfway to raising my total Ki by 1000 again, though I have no idea how much my stats will increase by when that happens again.

However, as I was about to sit down and begin meditating, my father barged into my room. He had a huge grin on his face as he looked at me.

"Well, Champ, it seems you've made quite the impression on that old man from before!" Arthur exclaimed. "He just called your mother and I, and told us that he'd like to see you for something!"

"Oh, really? That sounds cool," I replied. "Did he what?"

"No, he just said that there was something he'd like to see you for," Father said, shaking his head. "So, hurry and get ready, and we'll go to the place he told us to meet him at."

"Okay, I'll be there," I replied. Standing up, I followed him out of my bedroom. Walking down the stairs, I saw Mother beaming at me. The three of us then got into the car and drove to the location the old man told my parents about.

It was a large building that looks similar to a gym or training facility of some kind. The old man was standing outside and watching as we pulled up. Getting out, he greeted us warmly and placed his hand on my head, ruffling my hair.

"Hey, kiddo, how're you doing?" The old man said. "We weren't properly introduced the first time we met. I know that your name is Charles. My name is Cythraul. Now, if you wouldn't mind following me into the building, there's someone I'd like you to meet."

Cythraul turned around and held the door open for the three of us. Once we were all inside, I saw that almost the entire building was taken up by a large white room. Standing in the middle of the room, I saw a tall young man with delicate features and long, curly blonde hair, dressed in nice-looking red robes. He had a somewhat scholarly appearance, though he also had good enough looks to be called a pretty boy. When he saw us walking towards us with Cythraul, he raised an eyebrow.

"Old man, is this the kid you were telling me about? The one you wanted me to spar with?" He asked.

"Yes, that's right, Skyler, Charles here is the one," Cythraul replied. "Don't underestimate him due to his age and size. I've seen what he can do in person."

Skyler just scoffed and looked at me with disdain in his eyes, though his face remained expressionless. He then turned back to Cythraul.

"Old man, I won't fight this kid. I don't want to accidentally injure or kill him," Skyler told Cythraul. While I could tell that he held disdain towards me, I could also tell that he was truly worried about hurting me if we fought.

"Don't worry about me, I'm very strong!" I said, trying to sound like a four-year-old. "I can fly!"

And to prove that I wasn't lying, I immediately floated into the air in front of Skyler. His eyes widened, and a slight smile tugged at the left corner of his mouth.

"Alright, kid, maybe you do actually have some talent and power, but that doesn't meant that you can go up against a mid-level mage like myself," he said. "Besides, I'm actually stronger than a mid-level mage, since my potential rating is SS."

"Skyler, don't act arrogant, especially when you're going to compare ratings with someone who you don't know their rating," Cythraul reprimanded. "Charles here was given a SSS+ potential rating. And it was given by me."

Skyler's face flushed slightly. He then glanced back at me, looking me up and down before turning back to Cythraul. He opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it. Everything was quiet for a few moments, then Skyler spoke.

"Do you know any spells?" Skyler asked, turning to me.

"Yeah, I know a few. Some of which I made myself!" I said, pride evident in my voice. The blonde man nodded his head in approval before turning back to Cythraul.

"I'd like to see him in action before we do any actual sparring if that's alright, old man," Skyler said.

"Yes, that'd be fine, we've got some mid-level training robots here that he can use to demonstrate his abilities," Cythraul replied. He walked over to the edge of the room and began operating a control panel. My parents decided to join him, that way they wouldn't accidentally get caught up in the fighting.

The old man pressed a few buttons and a lift in the floor raised up three mid-level training robots, similar to what happened when I was tested. The robots' eyes glowed and they whirred to life, marching towards me.

Activating and , I dashed forwards and slammed my fist into the chest of the robot in the middle. It skidded backwards a few inches, but didn't seem otherwise affected or damaged. All three of the robots then retaliated together, their fists hurting towards me. Leaping up, I barely avoided the robots' punches.

Landing on the three mechanical arms, I flipped backwards and activated . I was determined to win a fight against at least one of the robots using just my physical strength and hand-to-hand combat. Charging forwards once again, I punched the same robot, though this time its feet lifted off the ground and it flew backwards a few feet.

"Very impressive, but having a lot of strength isn't enough. You need good speed as well," Skyler commented from where he stood a few feet away.

You wanna see speed? You've got it, I thought. Activating , I could feel my speed increasing. Racing forward, I was now moving more than twice as fast as before. I easily began assaulting the robot that had just managed to get back onto its feet. Peppering it with a barrage of high-speed punches, it eventually fell to the ground, its body sparking and fizzing.

Turning to the next robot, I used to not only get in close faster than it could react, but also to accelerate my attack. My fist hit it with greatly increased speed and force, my attack punching into and through its torso. Skyler's eyebrows actually raised a little as he saw my tiny fist come out the robot's back. However, there was still one robot left.

I faced it, and I could see that it was being more cautious now than it had before. A thin layer of energy surrounded its body and electricity crackled around its fists. The robot charged forward, but instead of immediately attacking, it pulled back at the last moment. Because of this, the punch that I had thrown sailed through empty air.

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The robot's fist then slammed into my stomach. I gasped as the air was knocked out of me, but I was then thrown back by the discharge of electricity that blasted into me from my opponent's fist. Crashing onto the white floor, I groaned and climbed up to my feet. However, I noticed that the electricity coursing across the surface of my body was being absorbed.

Electricity must also be able to increase the level of and . That's good to know for the future, I thought. Raising my fists, I readied myself to continue fighting. The robot dashed forward, its flashing out in front of it in a combination of punches.

Instead of trying to dodge the attacks, I moved my arms into a defensive position. The robot's heavy metal fists repeatedly slammed into my arms, electricity blasting me every time. However, I didn't move or fall, taking each hit without problem. And eventually, the System Message I had been expecting came through.

[Skill has leveled up]

[Skill has leveled up]

"Now that that's taken care of, time to fight for real!" I shouted. Dodging the robot's next punch, I grabbed its right arm and tried to rip it off. However, the shield covering its body repelled my hand. Leaping backwards, I avoided its attempt to counterattack. Activating , a blue orb of swirling Ki appeared in my hand. "Eat this!"

I slammed the ball of energy into the robot's body. The shield tried to rebuff the attack, but it failed and shattered. The then smashed into the robot's chest, blowing its torso open and the robot went flying backwards. It landed nearly twenty feet away, then skidded another ten after hitting the ground. I then deactivated all of my active Skills and turned to look at Skyler.

The man had an impressed look on his face, though he still had an air of superiority around him. He walked over towards me and leaned down so that we were face-to-face.

"Alright, alright, I'll acknowledge that you're pretty strong. Since the old man said so, I guess I'll spar with you," Skyler said before standing back up. "However, I won't go easy on you."

Taking a few steps backwards, he then pulled off the robe he was wearing. Instead of wearing a shirt or other clothing underneath like I had expected, he was bare chested. Surprised, I saw that this man who I had previously thought as being a delicate pretty boy scholar was actually covered in rippling muscles. He grinned when he saw my shocked expression.

"Due to first impressions, most people expect me to be some kind of fragile, scrawny mage who relies on others to fight up close for him. However, I'm actually a battle mage with a body as strong and tough as steel," Skyler stated. He then roared as Mana exploded out of him, a reddish aura surrounding his body. "Watch out, because here I come!"

He sprinted straight at me, at a speed that I almost couldn't see. Jumping to the side, I barely avoided his attack. Activating and , my speed, strength, and power increased several fold. Skyler noticed this and smiled, before launching another punch at me. I sidestepped his attack and countered with a punch of my own.

However, when my fist made contact, it felt like I had just punched a brick wall back on Earth in my previous life. My entire fist ached and I used to quickly escape, moving backwards. I then looked at my opponent with my eyes wide.

"Hahahaha! Now I see why the old man is so interested in you! That was impressive!" Skyler roared, chasing after me. However, this time, he didn't just rely on his natural speed. "Lightning Charge - 10%!"

Yellow electricity crackled across the outside of his body and he sped up, moving nearly twice as fast as before. Due to the increase in his speed, I couldn't even see his movements. The next moment, I gasped for breath as his fist buried itself in my gut. He grinned and continued pushing forwards, sending me flying.

I slammed into the training room wall with enough force to crack the concrete. Falling to the ground, I coughed and saw a few drops of blood hit the ground. Standing up, I gritted my teeth. Recognizing that this man was on a whole other level compared to the robots, I activated , , and . My skin hardened before turning green and then darkened, shining with a metallic gleam.

However, I felt that still wouldn't be enough. Activating , I felt my strength and power skyrocket. Using , I accelerated towards Skyler, once again landing a punch against his torso. This time, though, while my fist still hurt slightly after hitting him, he also seemed to have taken some damage. He staggered back three steps, surprise evident on his face.

"Excellent! I hardly get to fight this hard against my own teammates, yet I can do so against a little kid like you!" He shouted. The electricity crackling across his body then began coursing faster and glowing brighter. Once again, he punched towards me, but his fist traveled with even greater speed.

Using , I barely dodged the attack. Reappearing behind Skyler, I formed a in my hand. Activating once again, I blasted forward, my hand slamming into his back. The attack blew him forward, but when he finally landed, he remained standing and turned around. Skyler was still grinning, but now an almost manic light lit his eyes.

"Careful, kiddo, Skyler becomes like a different person when fighting. He enjoys the thrill of battle and becomes crazed with exhilaration when his opponent is capable of fighting evenly against him," Cythraul called out from the side.

"The old man's right, and with the number of tricks you have to keep this fight going, I'm really, really enjoying it," Skyler added, his voice a little lower now. He then launched forward, using another spell. "Jet Fist!"

His right fist erupted in flames and shot forward even faster. Eyes wide, I tried to dodge, but even before I could use or , his fist smashed into me. I was blasted into the wall, leaving a large crater in the concrete. Stumbling forward, I blinked the stars out of my eyes and shook my head.

"Very impressive! Most mages I've sparred with are knocked out immediately after receiving my Jet Fist!" Skyler said.

"If you think that was impressive, just wait until I start fighting back," I retorted quietly. I then activated and , my body transforming into a more monstrous form as orange energy glowed around my body. I then also activated , some of my Ki forming into a silvery sword with red tint on the edges of the blade. "Let's fight for real now, shall we?"

Skyler chuckled, his deeper voice making it sound menacing. He did a gesture inviting me to attack. Then, he stood with his arms out wide, showing that he wanted me to attack him and that he wasn't going to dodge or block it.

Scoffing at his decision, I raised the sword above my head. Using , I then swung my sword down. A large wave of blue energy shot forward, slicing through the ground. However, due to the lightning attribute my Ki now possessed, the wave had electricity crackling through it. I watched in satisfaction as the attack hit Skyler directly.

However, his grin became wider. Then, I watched as his skin became gray and rock-like right before my attack hit him. The wave of energy still managed to do some damage, cleaving slightly into his now stone-like flesh, but not enough to do anything serious. But then, electricity zapped him, smoke curling off of his body.

"Heh, did you just try to use lightning against another lightning user?" Skyler asked. "Though I guess with your inexperience, you wouldn't know that that's not a good idea."

The electricity that was already crackling around him from his own spell flared and grew stronger. I realized that he absorbed the electricity from my attack, strengthening his own. He then shot towards me, his speed increased even further once again. However, this time, as he came close to me, I activated , my fist slamming into his chest.

Skyler, surprised, stumbled back a couple of steps. However, right as he was about to make another move, a second impact struck him, followed by another one. Eventually, he was ultimately struck by another seven impacts for a total of ten.

"Punches with delayed impact, very nice!" He commented. Then, he used yet another spell. This time, molten magma began flowing across his body, before cooling and hardening. It formed into a suit of black rock-like armor that completely covered his body other than his face.

"Okay, guess I'm gonna have to try something new, something that I came up with but never used before," I thought aloud. I then readied myself to continue figting.