A month had passed, and their training followed the same schedule that Burch took them through on the first day. As the group grew in skill, so did the severity of their wounds from sparring. It was nearly every day now that Burch had to call for a healer from Differentia.
There were a few different Classes that specialized in healing and support, such as Druids and Priests. Their trainees would occasionally accompany them. At first they mostly just watched, however as the weeks went on they helped in the healing process as well.
Other than the different injuries accumulated daily, and talking to the healer trainees, there wasn't a lot of variety in their day to day lives. It got to the point where Brion managed to convince Adon to peep on the girls with him.
Or at least try to.
Every single time, Claire was there to stop them. It was like she knew when people were spying, not on her, but on Zoe. Claire treated her as if she were an unblemished saint.
To Kairo the whole situation was weird, so he completely stayed out of it. Instead he elected to spend his free time on magic, which he was still behind the others in.
Today Burch was out on an errand, so he had given them the day off. Kairo was in his room meditating. He hoped to somehow unlock the next level of magic for himself, and maybe emptying ones self was the way.
At this point he could conjure a fire ball, but it wasn't strong enough to use in a fight. Maybe to light the way in a dark space, but that took more fine control than he had.
It wasn't as if Kairo couldn't feel the essence in and surrounding him. If the magic was a painting, he could describe what it was supposed to be depicting and how the paint felt on the canvas. However, he couldn't note what colors or techniques were used to create it. Much less make it himself.
After half an hour of meditation he let out a disgruntled breath.
'Why can't I do more than this? Even Adon can knock over a dummy. I wish I could see what the problem was, what my strengths and weaknesses are.'
As if responding to his thoughts, a screen blipped into existence before Kairo.
{Hero System Host: Kairo Vel}
{Level 1 Experience: 734/1000}
{Strength: 12}
{Agility: 9}
{Constitution: 8}
{Fortitude: 2}
{Essence: 5}
{Open Stat Points: 0}
At first he flinched and looked away, scared the screen would cause him to delve into negative memories.
However, his curiosity got the better of him. Kairo looked at the screen, already comparing the numbers to his performance so far.
Since he had sparred with Adon that first day, the quest reward screen hadn't shown up again. This made it easier for him to deduce how each stat value affected him.
"Strength and agility are pretty obvious, which means constitution is probably the toughness of my body. That brings me to fortitude and essence, my two lowest values. They must effect my magic, but in what capacity? What are open stat points supposed to be? And what does it mean by 'Hero System'?"
He ended up with more questions than answers.
While Kairo had discovered and pondered over this, Brion and Adon were actively being caught by Claire once again.
"You guys are disgusting! Have you no shame?!"
Both of the boys foreheads were pressed into the carpet as they kowtowed in apology. It was of course under threat. Icicles floated in the air, ready to stab the two if they so much as moved.
As Brion went to get up and run away, Claire had one of the icy spikes shoot forward and scratch his nose. He froze in place, wide eyed and shaking.
"I-I-I'm sorry! There isn't anything else to do, we're so bored!"
"That isn't my problem!"
The door to the bath shot open, revealing Zoe scantily clad in only a towel.
"What is with the noise?"
Both Claire and Brion's noses started to bleed slightly, both of them quickly struggling to hide the fact. Adon was the only one unaffected. After all, he was only doing this activity because Brion practically begged him to be his partner in crime.
"These two...two ANIMALS tried peeping on you again! I had to stop them from seeing...your..."
Claire's words trailed off as she became distracted by Zoe's slender body frame. Brion was in even less condition to respond. Adon sighed, ticked he had to pick up these two perverts slack.
"We get caught every time, and I find it to be a fun game. Besides, even if we won I'd stop this doofus from actually seeing anything."
Zoe flushed at Adon's words. Taking a finger, she slipping a loose strand of hair back behind her ear.
"I don't mind. As long as you're there to stop them."
Claire puffed her chest out.
"I would never let these perverts see your naked body! You can trust in me!"
Brion mumbled something indiscernible under his breath while Adon was the one blushing now. He understood where her actions and words were directed, who they were for.
Clearing his throat, Adon tapped his pants leg while thinking of something to say. His finger stilled as something came to mind.
"You guys want to have a little fun?"
All of their ears perked up at this. After all, it wasn't just Brion that was bored out of his mind.
"What are you thinking?"
Adon turned to Claire, a smile on his face.
"We've been stuck in the mansion practicing our skills for so long. Why don't we put ourselves to the test? If we prove ourselves to Burch, maybe he'll pay more attention to us rather than Kairo."
No one else felt the same way about Kairo, however the excitement of using their skills for more than training got their attention. They began whispering and coming up with a plan. It didn't take them long after to get their equipment together and slip out of the mansion.
With Burch gone, this would've gone unnoticed. At least, if Kairo hadn't seen them.
He was still thinking over the implications of this 'system' when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Gazing out the window, he was surprised to see the group of four scurrying across the lawn. They exited the gates and made a beeline for the forest.
"Where do you guys think you're going?"
With a speed none of the others could hope to match, he strapped on the few pieces of equipment Burch had given him, and trailed them into the thicket of trees.