Emperors War 17 Understanding Skills

His chest was huffing up and down as he struggled to catch his breath. Originally, he intended to only do a few swings and then rest. He was still feeling tired after coming back to his cell and he hadn't had the chance to rest yet.

As he started swinging the knife and following Vance's movements in his mind he got lost no longer paying attention to his actions. Each swing brought about the feeling that his understanding of the knife was increasing. Right now, Aker was the embodiment of 'Teachers Open the Doors. You Enter by Yourself'.

At first his movements despite the fact that they closely emulated Vance's felt forced and choppy at least to Aker. Anyone who was watching Aker swing the knife for the first time would have thought he had been training for years, but compared to Vance's crisp, quick and smooth movements Aker was just an amateur.

As Aker moved through the different motions Vance had demonstrated going from his front grip to back grip moving his feet in the pattern demonstrated he felt his movement slightly differing from Vance. As his movement differed it became smoother and cleaner, the movement was being modified slightly to accommodate Aker's body, speed, and strength and with that was becoming much more powerful.

Aker transitioned from forward grip to backwards grip. From a crouched low defensive position to a jumping attacking position. His heart pumped and his little muscles tensed as he moved the knife.

As he moved through the different stances, he vaguely kept count of his movements until his thousandth movement completed. With his last swing he had no strength left in his body and slowly backpedaled until he was standing in the middle of the beast bloodstain in his cell.

As if though he just realized that he had expended all of his stamina, willpower and strength Aker's legs gave out and he plopped down on his behind hitting the floor in an awkward way.

As he sat on the beast blood stain, he focused on his breathing trying to catch his breath. At first his breath was fast and his lungs were just doing whatever they could to take in air. After a few moments however he calmed himself down and began to slow his breathing.

His breaths became deeper and slower as he focused more and more on his breathing until the heavy panting he had been doing a few moments ago was completely gone.

Getting his breathing under control he suddenly felt exhaustion set in. Most adults facing the grueling and painful few hours Aker had faced would have already given up on life and any hope.

As his exhaustion set in, he had the overwhelming desire to lay down and fall asleep. As his eyes were getting heavier, he caught the SKILL with P5 in the corner of his eye. He once again looked at the SKILL.

He started to consider his improvement in The Pit today. As he was facing the Kulga he could sometimes hear the screams from the crowd. Only after talking with Vance did he realize that the Kulga were not weaker than the one he faced yesterday but more ferocious.

If their intent is to see me die a miserable death why would they make things easier for me? Aker couldn't help but ponder over that question. The more he thought about it the more he realized the fallacy with his earlier thought processes. After thinking on this idea for the length of a 10-15 breaths he came to a conclusion.

It wasn't that the Kulga got weaker it was that he had gotten stronger. How was it possible for him to get strong enough to kill the two Kulga's easily today when yesterday with only one that was half the size of the two he fought today almost took his life?

As Aker recalled the fight, he thought over how slow the Kulga seemed to be moving then s.h.i.+fted his thinking. Again, it isn't that the Kulga were moving slower but that he was moving faster. It wasn't that they were weaker but that he was stronger.

How? How could my speed and strength grow to such an extent over just a single night?

As he stared at the SKILLS and looked at the items listed under SKILLS he came to a conclusion. It had to be related to the SKILLS column. When each 'SKILL' was allocated a point, it increased that attribute.

There were only two possible explanations. One the Kulga were indeed weaker and the other his skills were improved through the skill column. Knowing that the people who threw him in The Pit would never make things easier for him he decided that the latter must be true.

If that was the case then how did it work?

After thinking on it for a moment Aker couldn't think of anything better than being stronger so he focused on the word "Strength" listed under the SKILL.

As he stared at the word "Strength" he waited.

After waiting 3 breaths with nothing happening Aker came to the conclusion that just thinking on the SKILL didn't do anything.
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With that Aker began thinking back on the SKILL's. He realized that initially they were greyed out. As he focused on each one and said the skill aloud the skill changed from greyed out with nothing behind it to white with the number 1 following it.

Without paying attention to what he was doing Aker began talking to himself "If I focus on Comprehension and say out loud Comprehension will that give me a point in Comprehension?"

As Aker was talking, he didn't notice that each time he called out Comprehension a point was deducted from the P next to SKILLS and was moved to comprehension.

As the 3rd point was added to Comprehension changing from 1 to 4 Akers body began shaking.

Did he just waste all of those points on something like Comprehension? Nooooooo...As Aker was screaming in his mind, he couldn't help but stare at the P2 next to SKILLS and the Comprehension 4 that now stood out.

"Ahhhhhhhhh.....I didn't want to give points to Comprehension, that's as stupid as giving points to Vitality."

And with that statement the Comprehension then changed from 4 to 5 and Vitality changed to 2. The P5 for Skills now showed P0 and was now greyed out.

Seeing the final change of his SKILLS Aker began laughing out loud. With that he thought to himself what does it matter, if its listed there with Agility and Strength then it must be a skill that is on par with them. At the very least with this I understand how to use the skills themselves.

With that thought Aker could no longer bother with what was going on. From the fight in The Pit to using his skill he had used every last bit of energy he had. Aker put his head on the beast blood spot and curled up into a ball trying to keep himself warm. With his head lying on a hard-stone floor covered in blood Aker closed his eyes and began to sleep.

Unknown to Aker that as he slept The King of The Underground was holding a man by the throat and staring into his eyes. Everyone who knows The King of The Underground knows that this is his favorite way to kill a person. He would often laugh to his friends telling them there was nothing more satisfying than watching the light dim out as he strangled their life away.

As the man struggled for death, he was pleading with The King to spare his life. He had explained that there was no way that the boy should have lived through fighting two Kulga. Even The King himself had agreed with the plan yesterday when they were discussing it. He was so sure the boy was going to die that he had bet everything he had on the boy's death.

The King of The Underground just kept the smirk on his face until the man pa.s.sed out. Seeing that he was no longer conscious The King tossed him on the ground and turned the group of men standing in the room.

"So who thinks they can kill the boy?" The King called out to the group.

The group stood there both unwilling to step forward and unwilling to stay still. Finally the number 13 member of the organization a man known as One Eye Slayer stepped forward and said with a slight bow "Your highness I can make sure the boy dies in the ring" with no hesitation or uncertainty.

The King stood there pondering for a moment before nodding his head and with only a "good" turned his back to the group and walked back toward his office leaving the group to their own devices. As he walked away he pointed to the man lying unconscious on the floor and called out "Someone toss him in The Pit."

"Hahahahaha who would have guessed that One Eyed would beat us to the punch" one of the other members laughed mockingly as he stared at One Eyed.

One Eyed looked back at him and returned his laugh with a laugh "Hahaha your right, how was I ever going to have you call me boss if I didn't take some chance?"

One Eyed has worked for Fastagio for years. Fastagio has always oppressed and held him down keeping the good jobs for himself and giving him the c.r.a.ppy dangerous jobs. When he would complete the job that a.s.shole Fastagio would take all of the credit and then blame him for all the parts that would go wrong on the job.

Hearing One Eye's response Fastagio instantly exuded death intent. A couple of the weaker members of the group stepped back from the two not wanting to get caught up in it.

"What you wanted to volunteer and then have me do your work again, dream on. This time I'll kill this little brat in the ring, make a fortune doing it and once that's done my only request will be to take your job and have you as my second. Won't that be fun? I wonder, if you're working for me how that will go? I should at least take care of you the same way you took care of me don't you think?"

With that One Eye turned around laughing as he walked away.

Fastagio's lips slightly curled up as One Eye walked away laughing. As he watched him walk away only one thought was going through his mind. He was going to have to find a new sucker to do his dirty work. Sure, if One Eye kills the boy then things would get complicated for him but there is a reason no one else in the group stepped up.

Everyone watched as he handled those Kulga today. The speed, the strength, the decisiveness of the kill. The entire fight was one sided. If it would have been after the first fight Fastagio would have been the first one to volunteer, but after watching the second fight there was no way. Why would he mess around with something like that? He was already the leader of a large group. He had power, money, and influence. He was certain that the only thing left for whoever stepped forward was death.

If it wasn't for the rules of The Pit it would be easy to kill the kid. He could throw a hundred level 5 beast in there and watch as the boy was shredded until nothing was left in seconds. Unfortunately, the rules of The Pit don't allow for such scenarios. The Pit requires that the opponents be as evenly match as possible however it does allow for The Pit to put a slightly stronger opponent in its favor.

Most people who fight in The Pit survive for a couple of days or weeks but eventually the toil of fighting day after day as injuries mount result in death. For sure the boy will die in The Pit, its unavoidable. Once he has acc.u.mulated enough fatigue the crowd will watch him as he falls to a beast and is ripped to shreds.

The problem is between now and then is anyone's guess. Will he live through one more fight? Will he live through ten more fights?

Fastagio is guessing that it will take at least 5-10 more fights before the boy is ready to break. Will The King allow One Eye to make it through 5 more fights? No. He would be lucky if he survives through two fights. Everyone else understood that One Eye just committed suicide and he was laughing and making fun of others after doing it.

As Fastagio stood there watching One Eye's figure get smaller as he moved away a mumble escaped his lips as he called out "Idiot".