51 Are You A Human?

Arthur smiled in encouragement and said, "I told you that as one's stats go up, it also becomes a lot harder for them to increase through practice, right?"

Zen nodded in reply.

Seeing this, Arthur continued, "Then maybe it's because your stats have already reached a high number. That's why you are experiencing what you are experiencing right now."

Hearing his teacher's words made Zen feel enlightened.

"Then it's not because my efforts are fruitless… It's more like the fruits of my effort are so small, I could hardly see them."

Hearing the latter of his student's words made Arthur a bit speechless.

However, he still agreed. After all, even if his student's analogy was a bit strange, it was still correct.

In the next moment, Arthur's encouraging smile returned on his face.

"That's right! By the way, how many attributes have you gained in the past two weeks?"

Hearing his teacher's question, Zen opened his status window to take a look.

However, what he saw made him widen his eyes in shock.

He hasn't checked his status window in the past two weeks since he can vividly feel his rate of improvement, making him instinctively judge the accurate amount of improvement he received in a day of training.

Zen also felt that checking his status window from time to time just to see if he had any improvement was annoying and could even disrupt his training and focus.

That was why he felt shocked after looking at his character's attributes through his status window.

Looking at Zen's shocked expression, Arthur could not help but feel strange.

'Hmm? What happened?'

'Why is he like that? Did he get offended when I asked what his attributes are?'

'Even though I did say that he shouldn't show his status window to strangers, I'm still his teacher for god's sake!'

'Besides, I only asked him the amount of attribute points he gained in the past few days. Nothing more, nothing less!'

'Or maybe he became disappointed because the amount of attribute points he gained was pitifully low?'

'But it wasn't the case when he first started training! He even had the benefits of the title that he gained when he joined our temple…'

'Then why…'

Feeling a little uneasy, Arthur could not help but fidget around.

Soon after Arthur had this string of thoughts, he decided to let Zen keep it a secret if he did not want to disclose it.

His smile of encouragement widened.

"Don't worry, it's fine even if you don't want to—"

"99."

However, just as he was talking, he was interrupted by Zen.

"What?" Arthur confusedly asked.

"My stats are at 99…"

Zen, who was still staring at his status window, dazedly replied.

[Player Name: Deadman

Mana: 0

Level: 1

Age: 20

Race: Human?

Class: None

Title(s): Apprentice of Fire

Stats:

Strength = 99

Agility = 99

Dexterity = 99

Constitution = 99

Intelligence = 11

Unused Stat Points: 0

Talent(s): None

Skill(s): Immortal Cells, Basic Mana Gathering Method, Cold Weapon Mastery, Hot Weapon Mastery, Adaptive Combat Technique]

Arthur's smile of encouragement became forced as his lips twitched.

"I think we need to have an emergency constitution training right now…"

"Wait, what!? What emergency constitution training!? Is that even a thi—"

In the next moment, Arthur unconsciously applied some force on his hand which was still on Zen's shoulder.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!!!"

"Teacher, we can talk about this! We should first calm do—"

Zen's miserable cries soon sounded all over the training grounds at the backyard of the dilapidated building.

***

After a while, Zen was lying down on the ground, his clothes were worn out and the injuries on his body were healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Clearly, he had received a good amount of beati— constitution training from his teacher.

However, happiness could be seen in his face.

'Damn… my stats are at 99!! Even though it's only the stats that affected my body and did not have any effect on my magic, it was still amazing!!!'

'Does this mean that I can just use a single punch to defeat my opponents!?'

…

Being an avid fan of anime, Zen could not help comparing himself to the bald main character of a popular anime in the past. He hoped that someday, he could be just like him. Not in terms of baldness, but in terms of power.

Just as thoughts were running rampant on Zen's mind, Arthur, who was stretching his body a few meters away, spoke like a caring elder.

"Are you done healing, my beloved student?"

He was feeling a little guilty but he had to admit that he quite liked beating Zen.

It was because since he had entered the territory near the Temple of Light's headquarters, he mostly stayed idle and had not done any fighting to stretch his body since he was afraid that his position was going to be exposed.

Now that Zen, who had a very powerful regeneration talent, was here, Arthur could now let loose.

Of course, he always controlled his strength in order to make sure that Zen's regeneration talent could keep up. After all, every ability has its own limit whether they are learned skills or talents that one was born with.

In short, he's treating Zen like a punching bag to release stress.

Zen rolled his eyes and replied, "Yes, my very, very kind teacher~"

Although being beaten hurts, it helps him improve his Constitution. That was why he really did not dislike being beaten.

Arthur chuckled awkwardly and sat on a bench near them. Then, he gestured for Zen to sit beside him.

Although Arthur had calmed down a bit after beating Zen up, his heart was still full of different emotions.

He was relieved because it meant that Zen did not have any problems in his body. It also meant that his student's potential was even above that of other powerful races.

However, this also made him question Zen's origin.

This was because the fact that Zen's body stats reached 99 was very shocking. After all, it had only been two weeks.

Even with all the benefits that he had because of his title, this could only mean one thing; Zen's potential was monstrous. So monstrous that it was even more monstrous than all the other races that can be described as monstrous.

One had to remember that Arthur was a priest of the Temple of Fire which was the most glorious temple of the past. This meant that he had seen countless races and individuals with monstrous talents, including the Fire God himself.

However, despite his encounters and experiences, not once did he know about someone who increased their stats from 1 to 99 in only two weeks.

Of course, it was possible for others if they leveled up. But Zen reached this only through pure practice. Plus the fact that he was a human and not a part of a more powerful race made Arthur all the more confused about what kind of monster his student really was.

That was why Arthur could not help but become a little suspicious about Zen's origin.

After Zen sat beside him, Arthur kept silent for a moment before asking. "Are you a human?"