New Skill
Knock! Luke knocked once on Ayumi Yamazaki's office door. Soon after, he could hear a chair dragging and quiet footsteps.
Before opening the door, the Matriarch of the Strogueher's was ready to kick anyone's ass for only knocking once. However, when she saw that it had been the novice Bodyguard, she just smiled and stepped out of the way, so he could enter.
"Hey, Luke. You took a while, didn't you?"
"Sorry, I was watching Shiro and Nathalia talk." He said, bringing his hand to the back of his head in embarrassment.
The boy always got quite nervous when facing Ayumi, that's because the first time they were alone, he couldn't control himself and kissed her.
"Is she progressing well? She says your fencing is great."
"I'm not that impressive, Lady Yamazaki. I am just a beginner with swords too."
"No need to be so formal, just call me Ayumi."
The boy nodded, and at the same time tried to look away from the vast cleavage in the woman's clothes. When she was at home, she was usually much more sloppy than usual.
"Nathalia told me that you can't use your gene skills, explain that to me."
"Until recently, I've been focusing on improving my physical and stealth skills, and since I always judged genes as cheap sorcery, I never thought of using them. However, an urge was born the day I killed the goblins and gained the skill
The blonde Elf walked over to her armchair, sat down, and began to smooth her lips as she thought.
"Normal Inventory? That is a very useful skill, but I don't see how a beginner could learn it from scratch. Mentalizing it would be difficult."
"Mentalizing it? What do you mean?" Luke questioned as he sat down in one of the chairs that stood in front of the woman's desk.
"The so-called abilities of genes are not given, they are learned. Consider them as precognition."
The half-wolf frowned and flicked his fuzzy ears, a little confused as to what she meant.
"What do you mean?" Although he had learned to speak well from Ynosuke, he still didn't know many words.
Ayumi pouted with her mouth, before answering, "For example, many people think that genes give the ability itself, when in fact, it just gives you the talent to have that ability. Do you understand?"
"Does that mean that anyone can learn a skill from genes?"
"To a certain level? Yes, it could. However, these special skills are not like martial arts, which can be learned by anyone who is trying hard enough."
Luke bent forward and questioned: "How talented a person must be to naturally learn a skill without ingesting a gene?"
"The most talented in the world, so much that I've never heard of anyone like that. The most common thing is for a person, who already has a skill, to develop a new and stronger skill from the first learned through genes."
"That's interesting. Well, how do I mentalize the skill I want to learn?"
"I'm glad you asked." The woman smiled and rose from her chair. As soon as she walked to the office door, accompanied by Luke's unknowing gaze, she turned and inquired: "Are you coming?"
After they reached the training hall on the second floor, the half-wolf saw the same three training dummies he saw when he practiced with Nathalia there as soon as he arrived, however, now the first dummy was much more worn, counting several cuts.
'She's really putting in a lot of effort.'
Although he still didn't understand the reason for so much effort, coming from a person with her life already won, the boy admired Nathalia quite a bit.
"Shall we get started?" Ayumi questioned.
"Sure! Please." Luke, immediately, went to a stand of wooden swords.
"N-no, Luke. Hahaha!" She said, smiling, and put her hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Let's not do that with swords. Also, I'm terrible with blades, so I'd rather stay away."
"Huh? How shall we do it then?" The boy understood little about how to train without using a weapon. His muscles got developed by wielding knives, swords, spears, and axes, as for his stealth was pure practice, in which he could exercise a lot as a child.
Saying nothing more, the woman merely called him with her right hand to the center of the room. There, she gestured for him to sit down, and that's what he did.
"First, close your eyes."
With his legs crossed, the half-wolf closed his eyes and kept his hands on his thigh.
"Luke, can you tell me why people can't teach the skills given by genes?"
"I don't know."
"Then I will tell you the reason: the sensations. Before you ask me, I'll explain..." Ayumi said while circling around the boy. "For most gene abilities, there is no specific movement needed to activate them, so the key to that is found in the sensations and emotions we feel when we want to use it."
"So, I need to learn the feeling of what it feels like to use a skill, and then focus on that feeling when I want to use the skill?" He said, opening his eyes to look at her.
"You pick things up easily. Yes, you are right. Although, the voice itself in your mind will let you know when it is possible to use the skill or not."
"Ok... so how can I learn a feeling I've never felt?"
"Close your eyes once more and think about the name of the skill. When a clear mental image appears, focus on it and the feeling it gives you."
After the woman's explanation, the room became quiet and Ayumi even stopped circling him, so as not to make noise.
Because it seemed more useful, the half-wolf chose to want the
'The girl told me that this is a rare skill, which is used to store items... A chest? No, it would be quite problematic if my skill were to spawn a chest. I see a hole?'
The boy remained in the same focus for a few minutes, until Ayumi saw him stand up, still with his eyes closed, and then he stretched both hands forward.
An instant later, yellow sparks appeared in front of him, forming a medium-sized square.
When Luke opened his eyes, he was also surprised by what he did. Although the square was not discreet, it was still evident in his mind, especially the warm feeling it gave him.
"Can you throw me a wooden sword, please?" The boy asked the Elf.
Ayumi went to the sword stand, took what he asked for, and threw it to the half-beast, who was still a little afraid, but stuck the blade into the square, which absorbed him like a cloth, stretching backward.
The moment the woman saw the sword disappear, she looked at Luke, satisfied, and he looked at her, pleased as well.
Booom! The square exploded into millions of sparks, causing a loud bang that could be heard throughout the mansion.