The following day, Lenny woke up and was shocked to see a system notification. It appeared as a little exclamation point in the corner of his vision.
"You have a notification. Do you wish to view?"
Lenny was surprised by the message. In fact, he was half-surprised the system had not just woken him up to tell him what the message was in the first place.
"Yes," he thought.
"You have been training hard. Your endurance grows stronger. Stamina plus 1. New daily quest has been unlocked. Train for at least three hours a day. Reward: stat points available outside of system alterations."
As much as Lenny hated the process of going through the system's stat boosts, he had missed the feeling of growing stronger that would eventually go along with it. "System," he thought. "Show me my stats."
"Name: Lenny Hope. Ability: Transmogrification. Strength: 14. Speed: 12. Stamina: 10. Perception: 6. Spirit: 13. Health: 15."
"Wait, why is my stamina only 10?"
"You have regained the stamina lost by your physical enhancement."
"Oh yeah," thought Lenny, remembering the trade-off for his steel reinforced forearm. He'd noticed its weight especially during the shadow boxing they had been doing in the Hand-to-Hand combat. It was in effect like he was carrying around an 18-oz glove on one hand, but the weight distribution felt a little different. Even heavyweights would only use gloves that heavy when training.
While his stats were below that of pretty much every green sash and above, they were more respectable when compared to the yellow sashes, who were more a mixed bunch. Some were first generation ability users after all. Parents who'd saved up to pay for tutors and skill books.
While his stat boosts had given him a head start in catching up, as the experience to get to the next level kept doubling, he currently sat at 0 of 3200 exp. He would either have to defeat many opponents now, or increasingly more challenging ones, to get that first-time bonus and instant level up.
Being able to produce stat enhancements through training alone would give him more opportunities to progress outside of the system, as long as he grinded.
*
When Lenny arrived again at the Great Hall, the atmosphere was tense. There was nervous energy in the air for many of them, who paced up and down waiting for the main doors to open. The room was kept locked throughout the night, and as the first sparring session of the day was about to begin, it was clear that some of them were taking the pressure better than others.
Really, it had been less than a week since their initial assessments, and most of them had never known as much defeat as they had encountered that day. They had all been practicing a variety of new skills, and while things would not change suddenly overnight, the knowledge about fighting, the technical improvements and the opportunity to redeem themselves were powerful factors at the front of their minds, motivating them with the desire to do well.
Although they had been warned they would not be allowed to use spirit armour or weapons during sparring, training weapons were dangerous enough and the abilities of some of the higher levels was terrifying. Fortunately, the ranking system ensured no one would go up against someone who would completely overwhelm them. Or that's how it was supposed to work anyway.
A boy born as Abraham, but known to others as Brom, stepped forward in front of the crowd. He was a blue sash with a gaunt face. "Some of you will get hurt," he said, grandstanding. "Today, you will learn what it means to face someone from a real faction. Those of you who have had your parents buy you your first ability books, I'm sorry, but there is no way for you to catch up. You are here to help us train."
Suddenly, Brom dropped to one knee. The ground beneath him cracked. It was obvious he was struggling against something. Those near him seemed affected too, although less so. That's when everyone turned to see a small boy, who looked younger than the rest, who had his arm held out, tense.
"Is this… you?" said Brom, outraged.
"Those with too much pride kneel the quickest," said the boy, who looked about thirteen and not someone you would typically judge as powerful. However, now it was clear for everyone to see, the boy had an indigo sash on his collar.
The boy let his hands relax, and suddenly Ben could move again.
"How dare you?" said Brom, whose fingers suddenly glowed green with poison. He lunged forwards, but stepping back, the boy activated his ability again and this time, using more power, Brom was held firmly to the ground. It started to crack, and everyone looked the young boy, worried he would kill him.
It was at that moment that they heard the bolt of the door being unlocked. Master Wood emerged from inside, with a wry smile on her face. "Please, boys," she said. "Save your energy for inside. We don't want any fighting outside of practice. Besides, you should know better, Tobias."
"Sorry," said the boy. "He started it." At that, he released the gravity that was crushing Brom into the ground and walked inside, as others stared at him.
Lenny, unable to help himself, tried to hold back a small laugh, but Brom had heard him and gave him a look that could kill. It was finally time for his first proper sparring session.