Skill Issue
"Mmnm."
Kumi mumbled as she woke up.
'Not the worst sleep I've gotten in my life.'
She slowly thought as she rubbed her eyes with her hands. As she did, she felt something around her hand and glanced at it.
'Ah. The torture bracelet.'
She thought as she stretched and yawned.
'Ah. Torture Bracelet.'
She thought louder this time, taking the bracelet off immediately.
Touching and inspecting her body, she didn't find any wounds.
'Lucky break. Still alive.'
Kumi let out a small sigh as she looked at the bracelet.
'Good sleep, but I feel terrible for some reason.'
She thought as she tried to stand up only to fall and have her body not respond as she fell on her face.
"ow."
'Something is wrong... Properties.'
Kumi thought as she opened her Properties Bubble and examined it.
{Name: Kumi
Gender: Female
Race: Angelic Devil
Rank: Mortal
Level: 1
Titles: Dragon Slayer, Demon Slayer, Hero Slayer, Empress's Heir, Calamity Killer, Celestial Lotus Host, Potential Shatterer
Potential: Z±
Properties:
Vigour: F+ (12%)
Mana: F+ (18%)
Strength: F+
Agility: F+
Mind: F+
Endurance: F+
Arcane: F+
Elements: Lightning, Curse, Rot
Passive Skills:
High Regeneration Level Max;
Free Footwork Level Max;
Brutal Strength Level Max;
Dragon Heart Level Max;
Growth Acceleration Level Max;
Highest Holy Blessing Level Max;
Highest Demonic Blessing Level Max;
Heavenly Demonic Pressure Level Max;
Unknown Level 1;
Caution Level 1;
Stamina Use Reduction Level 1;
Deep Sleep Level 1
Resistance Skills:
Time Magic Resistance Level 3;
Weakening Magic Resistance Level 3;
Space Magic Resistance Level 2;
Pain Resistance Level 4;
Heat Resistance Level 2;
Shock Resistance Level 3;
Water Magic Resistance Level 1;
Cold Resistance Level 2;
Bleeding Resistance Level 1;
Mana Loss Resistance Level 2;
Stamina Loss Resistance Level 1;
Health Loss Resistance Level 1
Active Skills:
Empress's Soul Sword Level 1;
Slash Level 1;
Elemental Power Increase Level 1;
Unreadable Illusion Level 1;
Preparation Level 1;
Preparatory Item Creation Level 2
Personality: <Implausibly Inscrutable> <Impossibly Cautious>}
'Ah. I almost Died. That fucking explains it! What the heeellll is with that bracelet?!'
Kumi yelled loudly in her head, trying not to think about how she almost killed herself by sleeping.
Kumi quickly looked through her new resistances and new skill as she silently cursed the evil item.
{Deep Sleep Level 1}
{Passive Ability}
{You slept through quite a party didn't you? This Skill helps the user with recovering while they sleep, reducing the amount of time the user needs to sleep.}
{Side-Effect: It is slightly harder to wake up. Also, Reduce Pain perceived while sleeping.}
{Heat Resistance Level 2}
{Resistance}
{When in a particularly cold environment, most would seek out fire to warm up. You also follow this logic, even when it is summer and you are in a desert. Consider Fire Magic, it might help you in the future. Slightly increase resistance to heat and fire.}
{Shock Resistance Level 3}
{Resistance}
{Lightning is dangerous, the shock it sends through your body often lethal. You have survived quite a few of said shocks either from a stormy night or an angry Lightning Mage. This Skill increases resistance to shocks from both natural and unnatural sources.}
{Water Magic Resistance Level 1}
{Resistance}
{Water Magic is dangerous. Whether used to boil someone alive or slowly freeze them to death or even simply cut them in half with high water pressure. Having survived against the effects of this type of magic, you gain a slight resistance to it.}
{Cold Resistance Level 2}
{Resistance}
{When in a particularly cold environment, most would seek out fire to warm up. Interestingly enough, you do not. You would rather stay in a freezing blizzard than go inside and enjoy some tea. Slightly increase resistance to the cold and to ice.}
{Bleeding Resistance Level 1}
{Resistance}
{Bleeding is, in most cases, bad. You have learnt that it is indeed, bad. This Skill assists in slightly reducing the amount of blood you lose from wounds.}
{Mana Loss Resistance Level 2}
{Resistance}
{Some creatures and items have the innate ability to steal the Mana of their prey. Having survived such an encounter, you gain a slight resistance to the effect to help you survive just as well next time.}
{Stamina Loss Resistance Level 1}
{Resistance}
{Some creatures and items have the innate ability to steal the Stamina of their prey. Having survived such an encounter, you gain a slight resistance to the effect to help you survive just as well next time.}
{Health Loss Resistance Level 1}
{Resistance}
{Some creatures and items have the innate ability to slowly steal the Health of their prey. Having survived such an encounter, you gain a slight resistance to the effect to help you survive just as well next time.}
'So these are the reasons I survived, huh? Have to thank Deep Sleep. Though, the descriptions seem a little rude. Who writes this stuff? My subconscious?'
Kumi let out a sigh as she slowly stood up and fell on her bed.
'The Side-Effect of Deep Sleep doesn't sound very good. It's basically a liability if I were to be hunted by assassins.'
She thought as she strained her body just to pick up the bracelet and place it further away.
Waiting to recover, she delved into her thoughts.
'So the devil's kid garden creation also drains Mana, Vigour and Stamina too huh? I guess that explains why my Regeneration wasn't kicking it full throttle.'
Kumi then remembered something as she slowly weaselled her way beneath the blankets and started slowly searching.
'Ah. So that's it.'
She thought as she saw a small blood stain on the sheets.
'Huh. All that for a drop of blood.'
She thought in a deep voice, her own reference escaping her as she moved her head out from below the blankets.
And so, Kumi rested in bed, having pushed the bracelet to the farthest side of the bed away from her.
'When did training start again?'
She asked herself as she glanced out the window, towards the sky.
'Meh.'
She closed her eyes, ignoring the singing of birds.
*Thump*
"ah!"
Her eyes opened after an underwhelming yelp escaped her lips, the yelp in question sounding more like an audible and unamused sound of pretending to be momentarily scared than anything else. Kumi realized what had happened a moment after she had heard the loud thump against her window.
'Dumb birds. Scaring a kid like that.'
She lightly sighed as she closed her eyes yet again.
...
About ten or so minutes later, Kumi opened her eyes and stretched.
'Much better.'
She thought and yawned quietly, having enjoyed her quick nap.
Standing up from her bed, she put on her clothes and reluctantly took the bracelet as she placed it in her pocket.
'Another day of torture awaits. Hopefully the food today is good.'
She thought as she walked out of her room, still occasionally rubbing her eyes.
As she closed the door, she could see both Ayaka and Hilde walking towards her with a few guards in tow.
'Ah shit. Here we go again.'
Kumi thought as she started walking towards them.
"Morning." Kumi said.
"Good morning Kumi. You are late for training you know." Hilde said with a slight smile.
"Mhm. Tired." Kumi said as she yawned slightly. Still visibly tired from the stressful bracelet situation and a small lack of sleep.
"Right. Well, it's fine, but don't be late too much. Training is important. Okay?"
"Okay."
"Hand me the bracelet." Ayaka suddenly said as she held out her hand.
Kumi obliged and handed the devil's trinket to her.
Ayaka looked at it closely before handing it back to Kumi, who in turn put it back in her pocket.
"Did you use it?" She asked, Hilde, turning her gaze from the questioning Ayaka to Kumi.
'Well. Either yes, which gets me in trouble since she wasn't there. Or no, which might get me in trouble because I might not seem driven enough.'
"No. You didn't tell me to."
Kumi said as she looked at Ayaka.
{Unknown Becomes Level 2}
{Unreadable Illusion Becomes Level 2}
'Oh. Nice.' Kumi thought as she dismissed the notification bubbles.
'Levels should be good.'
"Okay. Let's get going then. You'll get to eat when training is done since you're late."
"I'll come along, see what the good old master and disciple pair get's up to."
Hilde said as she looked at the guards.
They in turn nodded and moved near the wall where they stayed in place.
Kumi ignored the seemingly silent commands Hilde had given and followed behind Ayaka.
Reaching outside, she followed Ayaka's instructions and got to work. Training this time included the bracelet as well.
Through Kumis observation she noticed how the drained Mana, Vigour and Stamina were used to create different elements that would attack the wrist that the bracelet hung around.
'So that's how it works. Not that I know the intricate details or anything.'
Kumi thought as she finished another pushup before being teleported yet again.
'It's definitely not as difficult as it was before. That doesn't make it easy or less painful though.'
She thought as she moved on to sit-ups.
She continued this for a few hours.
Her Skill Level gains were steady.
{Time Magic Resistance Becomes Level 4}
{Space Magic Resistance Becomes Level 3}
{Weakening Magic Resistance Becomes Level 4}
{Water Magic Resistance Becomes Level 2}
{Water Magic Resistance Becomes Level 3}
{Shock Resistance Becomes Level 4}
{Heat Resistance Becomes Level 3}
{Cold Resistance Becomes Level 3}
{Mana Loss Resistance Becomes Level 3}
{Stamina Loss Resistance Becomes Level 2}
She finally got that skill that Ayaka was supposed to teach her.
{Passive Ability: Training Level 1 Is Aquired}
{Training Level 1}
{Passive Ability}
{Going through gruelling and devastating training at the Mortal Rank, willingly or not, you have survived. It is recommended not to overdo it. Slightly increase the rate of All Skill Level Ups when training and not in active combat.}
'Well, this is slightly underwhelming but definitely helpful either way.'
Kumi thought as she stopped doing exercise and looked towards Ayaka.
"Got it?"
She asked, waiting for Kumi's response. Receiving a nod, Ayaka told her to remove the bracelet as she disabled all the magic in the area and collected the knives.
Following orders, Kumi took off the bracelet and put it in her pocket.
"On to the next stage then."
Ayaka said while glancing at Hilde who was walking towards the two while slowly clapping her hands.
'Ah. That's something a villain does.'
Kumi thought as Hilde reached them with a few guards in tow.
'This is extremely ominous.'