But that wasn't all the reward he was going to get.
The system continued.
Jelo looked at it in excitement. He had a skill now!
This meant as long as he completed quests, he would get Essence and sometimes new skills.
He lay there wondering if quests would someday give him weapons too, since there was a shop.
Uhmm Jelo? A voice cut into his thoughts.
Jelo blinked, confused for a moment before remembering he was with his roommate, Atlas. Yeah? He replied.
Why are you smiling so hard at the ceiling? Atlas asked.
Jelo's smile suddenly froze. He imagined what he would look like to an observer, laying on the floor and grinning like an idiot.
They'd probably think he had rocks for brains or that he was drunk.
He sat up, smiling even more. 'Drunk Jelo, drunk Jelo, haha'
He then composed himself when he realized he probably looked weirder to Atlas.
He stood up. I was just ecstatic. He said. They say we're rank F, but look, we just beat a stronger rank.
Only cause we outnumbered him. Atlas replied as they walked. It wasn't a fair fight.
Life isn't fair, my friend. Jelo shrugged. Besides, how did humans defeat the ihes? By teamwork.
xxxx
In his bed, Jelo read the book. He flipped through it from cover to cover and he now had some information on dragons.
For example, if dragons didn't get enough sunlight, their bodies became sluggish and they became more vulnerable to external factors.
Another was that dragons were highly territorial and greedy. This meant they lay claim to things and once they were bounded to those things, it was impossible for them to let go of it.
It was why some mythology depicted dragons as gods worshiped with riches and precious metals that filled up their caves.
To Jelo, this seemed familiar with his flaw, dragon hoard, but he still didn't know exactly how it worked. He wasn't territorial of his room or belongings.
He wondered if it needed to be triggered by something, maybe like a girl.
That would be impossible, cause Jelo wasn't here to frolic with women. He was here on serious business.
He closed the book and got off the bed. He needed to train his dragon claw.
xxxx
The next day, Jelo and the other recruits were in class.
The teaching was being done by a skinny, frail-looking instructor named Olmo.
Of course, Jelo knew the man's frame was deceiving and he was most probably a very powerful super. After all, only powerhouses were allowed to teach young supers.
Who can tell me what the essence of combat is? Olmo asked as he paced around.
A girl shot her hand up. Defense.
Olmo shook his head. No.
A boy raised his hand. To disorient the enemy.
Olmo shook his head. No, but you're close. He then pointed at Ken. What about you?
Ken cleared his throat. The essence of combat is murder.
Olmo looked at him with a little bit of shock in his eyes. He quickly became composed however. No. He replied. The essence of combat is control.
He began to pace again. You have to impose your will on the opponent from the very first moment. Whether you're attacking or defending, you need to make sure the opponent makes the only decisions you leave for him to make.
He pointed at Ken. Come to the front.
When Ken was in front of the class, he told Ken to take up a fighting stance. I hope you're not too scared to spar with me. He asked.
I'm not scared of anything. Ken replied with a determined face.
Good. Olmo replied and then sent a jab to the right side of Ken's face. With Ken's speed, he was barely able to dodge it, but he managed to do so. He jumped to the left quickly, and landed right into Olmo's left fist.
As Ken fell to the ground, Olmo turned to face the class. You see, your opponent must never have a choice in battle, only the illusion of choice.
Which is why the strongest or most powerful supers don't always win. The smartest ones do.
After that lesson, he divided the class into pairs. Each pair was to fight each other. There are no set rules or techniques. Olmo yelled. Since you all have different abilities and attributes, your task for today is to find a way to use them to your advantage, and defeat your sparring partner.
Jelo found himself standing in front of a boy who was slightly shorter than him but way more muscular.
Now how do I use dragon claw to win this fight? Jelo wondered.
The system suddenly popped up.
Jelo's eyes widened. The reason was because he had been in his own head so much that he had forgot to check the badge on his sparring partner's chest.
He now glanced at it and a slight tremor went through his body.
His partner was a rank D.
The last time he had fought a rank E, he had been unable to keep up and Atlas had to step in, and now he was facing a rank D.
The muscular boy smiled cruelly, but Olmo suddenly came to them. Oh no, this was a mistake, sorry. He said. A rank F cannot possibly spar with a rank D. He dragged Jelo away. Let's find you a new partner.
Jelo's new partner turned out to be a rank E girl who looked nervous. Her name was Tayla.
The system popped up again.
Yeah yeah, I know. Jelo muttered with a sigh.
Start. Olmo replied and Tayla immediately rushed at Jelo, sending a kick.
Jelo blocked it with his arms and skidded back.
But she wasn't letting up on him. She was running at him already.
Well damn, she internalized the lesson well, didn't she? Jelo thought with a slight chuckle. Despite her shaky appearance, it seemed the girl would be a formidable opponent.
Jelo decided to do what Olmo had done. He lunged back at Tayla and sent a punch to her left jaw, hoping for her to turn to the right, but she didn't dodge the punch. Instead, she took the hit and barely flinched.
Jelo's eyes widened in shock and a moment later, her fist crashed into his chest, sending him flying back and hitting the wall.
Argh. Jelo groaned as he sagged to the ground. He couldn't prove it, but he was sure if it weren't for the system, he would be unconscious at the moment.
How do her punches hurt so much, argh. He muttered and winced as he tried to stand up.
It seemed his strength and speed were too negligible to hurt her and her strength was too much for him to handle.
This meant he had to stop the close combat and stay far away. Hopefully she doesn't have an ability that would be good for far-range combat.
Filled with new resolve, Jelo stood up and moved back.
Then he sent a dragon claw at her. Instantly, a claw in the shape of fire left his hands and flew towards her.
Tayla managed to move out of the way, but Jelo wasn't done. He had an unlimited number of dragon claws and he was ready to unleash them on her.
He sent another two, one to the left and the other to the right.
Tayla saw through his move and instead jumped back, avoiding them entirely.
But as she did so, she collided with another student and the two of them tumbled to the ground.
Wasting no time, Jelo immediately rushed to the two students and jabbed two of his fingers into Tayla neck.
As she went unconscious, the sweet sound of the system filled his ears followed by a pop-up.
Brilliant! Olmo cried out, clapping softly.
Jelo looked up and what he saw made him surprised.
It turned out that most of the class had finished their spars and had been watching his spar with Tayla. They had seen him get thrown around and they had seen Tayla collide with another student and fall.
To them, it was just luck, but Olmo saw through it all. He saw the carefully crafted plan Jelo had put in place to disorient Tayla and cause her to be on the back foot.
He saw how Jelo had sent a dragon claw to the right and one to the left so if she dodged the first, she would hit the second.
But Jelo's trap didn't end there. If she saw through the trap and jumped back instead, she would hit the other student and lose her balance.
It was a perfect trap with no escape.
After Olmo explained this to the students, their eyes filled with understanding and some had grudging respect for him while others were envious that a mere rank F would get the instructor's lesson the most.
Jelo smiled politely as he watched Olmo excitedly praise him. However, Jelo knew he hadn't won due to the instructor's philosophy. In fact, Jelo had a different philosophy.
To him, the essence of combat wasn't control. The essence of combat was survival.