CHAPTER 20

Jonathan was surprised to see the messages from the system. He had no idea how to identify the ranks of the skills Greyson was showing him, but thanks to the system he could tell which was which now.

Jonathan's eyes moved to the first box on the left hand side. Although the shape of the box was square, the item inside the box was a rectangle shaped substance that looked like a brick. 

The color was brown and the system was identifying it as the E ranked skill called Palm Strike.

"This is wonderful."

Jonathan said as he walked closer to Greyson, gaining a full look at the four square boxes. He could see that the four items were the same in shape, and they had the same symbol which was located at the middle. Jonathan believed that the symbol was a representation of the martial arts ability, because the symbol was a fist.

The only thing different about the items were the colors. The brown color item was identified by the system as an E ranked skill, so Jonathan believed color brown was a representation of an E ranked skill.

The color on the next box was orange and the system identified it as the D ranked skill called, Body Slam.

Jonathan's eyes moved to the next and the color was grey, which the system identifies as the C ranked skill called, Spinning skill. 

His eyes moved to the last which was the B ranked skill called Power Bomb. The color was white and it was glowing more than the rest of the other items. Since Jonathan was standing close to them, he could see that they had a sense of light energy inside them which Jonathan believes to be the skill.

"This... this is wonderful."

Jonathan said as he fully grasped what Greyson was offering him. He faced Greyson and saluted resoundingly.

"I feel honored, Sir!. I really appreciate these items you are giving me and I wouldn't let you down on them. I will make sure I get these skills to full practice and use them effectively to slaughter the enemies in the battlefield."

Greyson calmly placed his hands behind his back and voiced out with a small nod.

"I have fate in you, Jonathan. I believe you can mount into something great. With these, you can have an early start among your peers. 

The war is a few days away. You have to be ready for it and you will need this to even do better in the battlefield."

Greyson pointed at the E ranked skill.

"You should absorb them immediately. You will be leaving in a few moments from now, and you should be in your room before the announcement breaks out. 

I believe the news has already broken out. Your transportations has already been warmed up, it's just for the announcement to kick off and you will be on your way to the headquarters!"

"Right!"

Jonathan said as he put his hands down. He picked up the E ranked skill item. Immediately he held it in his palm, a system message came right up in his eyes.

[Would you like to absorb the skill? 

E ranked skill— Palm Strike]

Jonathan was reading the system message when Greyson voiced out.

"Squeeze the crystal hard until it breaks."

Jonathan's eyebrows raised a little when he heard Greyson's words. It seemed the system grants him the ability to absorb the skill on the brick without breaking it, whereas the real way was to squashed it to pieces.

Jonathan sighed heavily in his mind, thank goodness he didn't accept the system message right away. He squeezed the brick hard and it shattered to pieces.

[Host has acquired a new skill. 

E ranked skill— Palm Strike]

Jonathan cheeks moved when he saw the message. There was a sudden joy inside him for having a new skill, even though the skill was merely an E ranked skill, which he already had. This one makes it two E ranked skills in his arsenal.

"Go on with the rest."

Greyson said when Jonathan destroyed the first crystal. Jonathan went on with the rest. He destroyed them immediately he picked them up and a system message followed on each.

Jonathan got the last which was the B ranked skill. He picked that up when Greyson voiced out.

"If only you can use a B ranked skill at your current stage, but it's impossible. You have to be on the fifth stage of your magical path before you can use a B ranked skill."

Jonathan was surprised by Greyson's words because the system was saying something else.

[Would you like to absorb skill]

Jonathan wanted to say something when another system message came up.

[You can absorb the skill now, but you wouldn't be able to use it until you reach the fifth stage on your magical path.]

The little confusion on Jonathan's face vanished then. Greyson and the system were practically saying the same thing, except the system grants him the ability to absorb the skill even though he wouldn't be able to use it immediately, whereas in the real world he wouldn't be able to absorb the skill at all.

Jonathan dropped the B ranked skill back on the box.

"I thought I should pick it up to see how it feels, and it truly feels different from the rest. It felt like I was holding a different kind of species, compared to the E ranked and D ranked I touched earlier."

Greyson laughed silently at Jonathan words, talking with Jonathan felt like he was talking to a man that had lost his memory and had no idea how he was born into the world.

Greyson picked the crystal and tossed it up. The motion caused Jonathan heart to miss a beat, the crystal came down with force and Greyson casually caught it before it landed on the table.

He smiled at Jonathan then.

"A B ranked skill is a game changer compared to a C ranked skill and the rest of the skill below it. It's a phenomenal sight to see when you are allies with the person using it, but a terrifying stirring when your enemy is the one using it."

Greyson put the crystal on the box and handed it to Jonathan.

"I hope you reach stage five quickly so you will be able to harness the power of the B ranked skill. Unfortunately for me, stage four was the highest I could go and that was because I had so many life obstacles that I had to deal with which hinder my growth.

As for you, you have eliminated one of your obstacles, all you need to do now is to work hard so you can get more resources from the military."

Jonathan saluted once more before taking the box from Greyson's hands.

"You should head to your room now."

Greyson said as he placed his hands behind his back.

"Thank you, Sir"

Jonathan said as he turned to leave. He was about to take a step forward when he remembered something he had been meaning to ask.

"Commander Greyson. How does the magical path work? Could you give tips on how I could grow faster?"

Jonathan knew this was a dumb question. He should have an idea of how the magical path works, but better being a fool once than being a fool forever so he rather ask, and by the way, the thought of Greyson being at the four stages of his magical path was causing a heated debate in his head.

He remembered the system told him that he wouldn't be able to absorb another rune stone until he reached the grandmaster realm, he was wondering how far was the grandmaster realm. 

Greyson was old and he was at the fourth stage,which was making Jonathan panic, even though he had the 10X progression rate.

Several lines appeared on Greyson's forehead as he thought about Jonathan's silly question.

"That is a good question, soldier, but there are no tips to grow faster in the magical path. You can't temper with your progression rate unless you are putting on a magic boosting items which are very expensive. 

Even if you are putting on a magical boosting item, you can't enter the fifth stage of your magic path overnight, or in a week or months. It takes a lot of time, and probably years for some people. 

Even if you have a magical boosting item you still need to put in the hard work otherwise you will just fall behind like people that are not putting but are doing the hard work."

Jonathan's heart skyrocketed when he heard it could take a year. He believes he would achieve the fifth stage quickly, but if the fifth stage could take a year, what about the grandmaster realm?

"How long would it take for somebody like me to reach the grandmaster realm?"