Cassian walked home that morning once again in despair. The pain never stopped, and it never got better.
He understood another of the reasons Cypher gave him the regenerative skill. It didn't allow him to gain resistance skills, so he would never get the pain resistance skill.
Cassian should have been able to complete the five-mile walk within two hours, but he didn't get home until ten in the morning.
This time, nobody tried to stop him; his clothes were covered in blood after all.
After returning home, he changed his clothes but couldn't eat. Whenever the thought of putting something in his mouth came, he would remember the pain.
The only thing he could do was grab his sword and start swinging. The next step on his path to power was to level up his skills and work towards obtaining two new ones.
The next skills to aim for were power slash and sword cut, and the way to obtain the former was to pour mana into the sword and attack with a powerful slash.
The sword cut on the other hand, was like sword slash; when activated, it increased the speed of the sword. While not an increase in damage, if one were skillful enough, they could land multiple attacks.
To obtain it all, you need to do is cut with the sword.
There were a couple of problems with obtaining Power Slash. Besides being F-rank, he had low mana, which would mean he couldn't continuously make attempts. The other problem was his control over mana. Since he had just awakened, he didn't really have any.
Mana regeneration was set at 1 per hour per intelligence point while resting. Basically, one would be fully regenerated after five hours of rest.
So he balanced practicing swordsmanship, the slash skill, and trying to gain the new skill. It was no surprise that he didn't gain a new skill, but he had another discovery once he checked his stats.
Stats
Strength 6.7
Agility 5.2
Stamina 7.4
Intelligence 5.3
Free Stat points: 0
His strength had increased by .2 and his stamina by .3, both of which were big increases. Research determined that on average, a person could raise a stat by .1 in about a week if they worked solely on that stat.
However, in just two days since he had increased his stats by half a point. To this, Cassian hypothesized the Psuedo-Immortality skill, which gave him huge regenerative powers and allowed him to work for extended periods of time.
'If I can increase my stats faster than others, that's one of the weaknesses of F-rank solved.'
To this, Cassian redoubled his efforts, swinging again and again on the metal dummy.
At eight o'clock, Cassian decided to finish his training. His stomach was begging him to fill it. The pangs were annoying, but easily handleable with what he had been through.
Since he refused to chew on anything, he instead opted for a warm soup; however, once he went to drink the soup, it slid back tastelessly.
Returning to the torture room was once again a challenge; however, this time there was slightly less hesitation. He knew he couldn't ignore it.
Cypher and William were once again waiting for him.
"Let's begin immediately."
Cypher said with a kind smile.
"Wait," Cassian spoke.
Both Cypher and William looked intrigued.
"Let me take off my clothes, you ruin them every time." Cassian stripped to his underwear and proceeded forward.
"It's just that, good. Let's continue." Cypher snapped his fingers, and chains once again wrapped Cassian's arms.
They lifted him an inch off the ground; if he stretched, he could touch the floor.
In Cypher's hands was already a potato peeler.
"It looks like you already know what will happen."
Cypher began to peel the skin off of Cassian's body. The pain was like his skin was getting ripped off, but even worse was what came after.
'It burns.'
"The skin protects the flesh underneath," Cypher stated.
The times before he could bear it, but now…
"AAAAUUUGGHHH" Cassian's scream echoed through the room.
"Beautiful."
Cypher replied happily as he continued his work as if he were simply scraping gunk.
Cassian looked down and saw a pile of his skin on the ground. The image was so disturbing that he threw up in his mouth.
He immediately swallowed it back down and looked away.
Even Cassian's skin grew back, and each time it was peeled away, the pain started anew.
…
After the sun rose, Cassian had trouble putting his clothes back on; his skin was too sensitive. The pain, however, was bearable.
Walking home, this time, people did not avoid him. His clothes weren't ruined or bloody, but that doesn't mean anybody talked to him.
'I have to go to school tomorrow.'
The three days given to sort out their powers were up; he would have to go back to school.
'I wonder how Alizée is doing?'
She was likely in a position worse than his, powers-wise. He didn't know much about her class, but it would be hard for her to acquire another skill that is worth something.
Magic classes rely on mana control; all Magic classes start with a skill that teaches the person how to control mana. Only after gaining control of mana would they be able to learn other skills.
However, spiritualists start with the contract skill. If they can't use that skill, then it will be nearly impossible to learn how to control mana.
Basically, as long as a spiritualist had a spirit to contract, they would be able to move forward.
Cassian went back to sword training; it was the only thing he could do.
To enter a dungeon, he would have to register with the hunter association. The school went through and paid for this process, so he wouldn't be able to do that.
Additionally, the only dungeons free to enter are of the lowest level. While that's what he needed at the time, the school would pay for a slightly higher-ranked dungeon for their school year.