Skill Proficiency

'Monster. Truly a monster.'

Arthur cursed in his mind as he looked at Zen.

The two of them each had a sword in their hands, they were currently sparring with each other.

Arthur could not help but remember what happened earlier.

He asked Zen about the proficiencies of his skills and was shocked when he heard that Zen's [Cold Weapon Mastery] and [Adaptive Combat Technique] were already at [Master Proficiency] while the latter was close to achieving [Master Proficiency] too.

One had to know that increasing skill proficiencies was very hard as it required comprehensive talent and potential, as well as repetitive use of the said skill.

Some even needed to experience life and death situations in order for their skills to reach [Master Proficiency].

The ranks for skill proficiency were Beginner, Familiar, Master, Perfect and Transcendent. And in the past two weeks, Zen directly broke past the [Familiar Proficiency] and was already close to the next level.

As far as Arthur could remember, in the past two weeks, Zen's focus was to train his body. Even though they sparred with each other from time to time, Zen's priority was still to train his stats.

Arthur really could not believe Zen's overly monstrous potential. This was more ridiculous than the fact that he managed to reach the racial limit of humans in stats in just two weeks.

'Even the so-called prodigies of other races can't hold a candle to him.'

At this moment, Zen rushed forward with his wooden sword, not giving Arthur time to think.

Arthur unhurriedly parried Zen's vertical slash and proceeded to raise his leg in order to kick Zen's chest.

However, what happened next was something that he had not expected.

Crack! Crack!

Zen bent his back at an impossible degree, cracking his spine in the process.

'This skill is made for adaptability. The user of this skill will be able to deal with a situation and achieve their goal through any means.'

Zen thought of the knowledge that he learned from the [Adaptive Combat technique] as he performed his stunt.

'Then together with my [High-Speed Regeneration], I'll be able to use my body to create openings for a counter attack.'

As Arthur's kick missed him, his bent back suddenly straightened, making him bounce back into a standing position like a spring.

It was the passive skill of his [Immortal Cells], [High-Speed Regeneration].

In the past two weeks, he also used this skill many times in order to recover from injuries he received while training. This made him able to subtly control the timing at which the passive skill activated.

Although it was something small, with Zen's flexible use of it, it became something that his opponent should look out for.

As he springed back into a standing position, he grabbed Arthur's raised leg and grinned, "Hah! I finally got you!"

Looking at Zen, Arthur was really surprised.

'To think that he would hurt himself and use his talent to heal with timing in order to create an opening… incredible!"

'However, this is not enough.'

Arthur grinned in return, making Zen feel uncomfortable.

All he could do was watch as Arthur quickly jumped using his other leg and rolled mid-air as he performed a kick, causing him to break out of Zen's grasp while kicking him in the face.

Due to the force of the kick, Zen landed a few meters away. As for Arthur, he landed gracefully without a speck of dirt on his clothes.

"Cough! Cough! Damn, you really made me eat dirt, huh!? Is this something a teacher should do!?" Said Zen, who was sprawled out on the ground, trying to cough out the dirt that entered his mouth.

Arthur said with a tone of admiration, "It's because I was caught off-guard by your move. I just moved instinctively."

Hearing this, Zen felt quite proud of himself. It was the first time he was able to touch his teacher during a spar.

'Hehe…'

Thinking this, Zen felt that the dirt in his mouth did not taste that bad anymore.

After seeing Zen's expression, Arthur was afraid that Zen would rely on it. So he reminded him with a serious expression, "I admit that the move you did earlier amazed me. But don't always rely on it, okay? After all, if the injuries that you did to yourself surpassed the limits of your talent, it might cause irreversible damage to your body."

"Understood teacher." Zen nodded.

Seeing that Zen understood, Arthur was satisfied.

Looking at the setting sun, he spoke, "That's enough training for now. Let's go back and eat."

Zen, who just got up, was in a happy mood as he replied, "Yes, teacher!"

As they walked, Zen said, "By the way, may I ask something?"

Intrigued, Arthur gestured for him to continue speaking.

"I want to learn more about this world. Can you recommend some books that's suitable for me to read?" Zen scratched his head.

Arthur paused for a moment before laughing. "Why do you look so nervous? Don't worry about it, all the books in the building are for you to read."

"Thank you, teacher!"

"No problem, you are my student and a member of the Fire Temple. As such, I'll do my best for your growth. You can also ask me about the things that you are curious about any time."

"Then let's start tonight!"

Confused, Arthur asked, "Are you not going to go back to your homeworld?"

Zen shook his head.

"No, at least for this week I won't."

Zen only had 3 days before their departure. He concluded that since his body improved, he would be able to play the game for 3 days straight.

'Since the state the body is in whenever playing the game is just like that of sleeping, the operation of my body would be kept at the minimum. Therefore, I can just treat this like sleeping for 3 days.'

He looked at his teacher and said, "I want to focus on gaining more information for this world instead."

Arthur respected his decision and decided that he would help his student to the best of his abilities.