Forging Connections: Aren't those Functions Overpowered?

Shay, standing beside the corner, introduced himself. Words came out of his mouth with ease, yet pain tied his stomach. The others' gazes dripped with malice, not welcoming him into the class. He cared little about this, as he had experienced this a while back.

"You can sit down. And pay attention during class. If I see you dozing off again, you will head straight to the principal's office." She said, thrusting a threatening gaze at him.

'I think I already feel the heat.'

Wherever he turned, some still stared at him, looking elsewhere, when his vision clashed with theirs. Shay sighed and closed his eyes, this time directing his awareness to his surroundings through ears. He had to regain some energy. Thus, he focused all his attention like a bat, listening to the teacher's plans for the year with eyelids dropped.

His mind came down to one thing. He aspired to be hated. Since his fighting capabilities improved through his system, accounting for the quests timing, he wanted to fight his classmates and farm skills. Although he wasn't sure about it, the worth of the try was immersive.

The school allowed fights wherever but the Academy. Most of the time, some challenge the 'mightier' to prove their strength and gain the attraction of girls. A childish game, yet it happens. The second reason was a direct confrontation with disagreements, proving their point by winning a fight. The last cause for a battle, although prohibited, was for mere annoyance. Individuals who hold themselves in high regard, believing in hierarchies, and dominating those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Shay wanted to reach higher standing with strength, but wished to crush anyone who abused their power, which this environment allowed him to do. However, baiting everyone in his lash might not be so ideal. He required a reliable partner, someone unconcerned about attracting enemies.

That's why he was observing the guy he had seen on the bus. He was tall, muscular, and his spiky hair aimed higher than the horizon; forgetting about him would take a while. Shay could consider him, at least in the future, because he seemed to not care about any of those, showing a magnificent later on teammate.

Classes ended early because all the teachers presented their year schedules and then dismissed the class.

Growl!

Shay's stomach twisted, sending pain through his nerves. A whirling world intermittently obscured his vision. However, a few snack machines were throughout the school. He headed straight to one of them, staggering and accidentally bumping into the blue-haired guy in the hallway.

"Em… Are you okay—Shay?"

He scratched his head and looked into his white eyes while searching for a suitable answer. "Yeah, yeah, I should be fine. If I get to buy something from this machine, while you stand by, ha ha." An awkward laugh escaped his mouth.

"Go right ahead, then. I can wait so you don't collapse directly in front of me."

Shay showed a praying sign with his hands, passing by to purchase the chocolate bar. A few mechanical sounds banged from within and the sweet dropped. He grasped for it and ripped the wrap, gobbling it in a second.

"This should last until lunch, thanks. What's your name btw? I wondered if we could get along."

"Sure, why not? And, I am Flint, Flint Zecker."

[Contacts - 2]

"Zecker? Are you the Chief's grandchild?"

"Um…"

Flint stood, eyes on Shay, his shaking lips opening with no sounds exiting through his vocal chords.

"Everyone probably calls you the Mayor's grandson, right? We aren't in Soubord, so you don't have to be stressed about such detail."

"I must say… no one has ever guessed my struggles so quickly."

Flint wasn't good at expressing himself at all. When he had to answer, he tried to keep it as short as possible, to avoid further interaction, while keeping the information on point so others wouldn't ask more.

"Why do you leave a space between words? I thought self confidence rises from gaining strength?"

Beep. Dispensing. Thud.

While Flint was bending for his snack, he sighed and continued to speak. "I've changed my appearance recently, after developing my healing ability further than anyone in my family, even without the help of this academy and in a little time."

He straightened his back and faced Shay, eager to tell him more. So, he headed toward the cafeteria, which was connected to the main building from behind. So, they started walking through the hallways, talking to each other a bit more.

"Your family has high expectations of you, right?" Shay asked, wanting to discover more.

"No, not really. My parents wanted me to go straight to the military to help them with training and gain a sustainable amount of money. Only my grandpa insisted that I should study for another four years after high school."

"Wait, help others exercise? How far did you develop your Bloodline Mastery?"

"For myself, I am able to regrow one of my limbs at the cost of my whole mana. Or I can almost limitlessly remove strain from my muscles, not by recovering them to their previously undamaged state, but by speeding up their process of development with no consequences."

Shay had stopped walking for a second. His mouth was opened from the shocking talent that turned to him the moment he forbade his legs to move.

Usually, healers lacked the ability to do anything else but reverse the injury. This meant healing during an exercise was useless, and the torn out limbs couldn't regrow, but only be reattached.

Ding.

His head buzzed from the sudden notification.

'Why is this happening now?'

[Mission: Do 75000 sit-ups, 50000 push-ups, 60000 squats, and 500km run. Reward: System Update]

Shay fell to his four, looking at the floor, while sweat slowly formed on his forehead. He wanted to collapse from exhaustion, lack of food, and from this quest.

'How am I supposed to grow with this!!! It's going to take two months at the very least…' His eyes drooped and his heart ached, piercing pain shooting out through his chest.

But, when a hand had occurred below his head, something clicked inside his mind. He clenched the palm and rose. His determination skyrocketed, his hands and pupils trembling. He knew the fastest way to complete the task.

"Flint? I know we have only met, but do you think you could help me train for two weeks straight? And I'm not talking about just a few hours a day. I want to use all the free time we have. If, of course, you don't have any plans beforehand." He said, hoping Flint would agree.

"Well… Why not… I suppose I could…"

"Don't give such a vague answer to me. Take it as a self growth in healing someone else than yourself. I'm able to guess why you had specified that you can regrow a limb yourself. This way, you will streamline your mana usage per certain range."

Shay knew this situation benefited them both.

"When you put it like that, it kinda makes sense." He nodded while his thoughts leaked from him.

"So, wanna give it a handshake on it?"

Saying nothing, they readied their hands between them. Although Flint stopped before grasping, Shay moved towards his palm and shook.

"I'll also help you with expressing yourself."

He knew he shouldn't be the one to advise, but the chance to connect with others would prove valuable.

He said nothing to that, seemingly deep in thoughts, processing the plans.

******

Two weeks later, during the last session, both were drenched in sweat, panting, exhaustion flowing in their bodies. For Shay, three simple exercises and a long run around the academy's grounds exacted a psychological price. Aditionally, Flint would collapse here and there, trying to expand his mana boundaries, ultimately depleting all his reserves.

Frshhh.

Shay stumbled upon finishing his last round, grinding himself across the concrete ground. He ripped chunks of skin on his forearms and on one side of his face, blood flowing lazily from those spots. Unimaginable pain traveled through his arms, killing the one on his cheek.

'Fuck!!!' Only one word came to his mind, as the pain gradually increased because of the air landing on his flesh.

He lied on the ground, swinging from side to side in an egg form, trying to ease the pain by obscuring his mind with a repetitive action. After relying on Flint's healing Bloodline Mastery, he stopped bringing reserve water with him for this reason. This injury was a waking call, showing him the importance of self-dependancy, and preciousness of his Root Regeneration.

Flint got up from the nearby bench and helped him to recover. Warmth surrounded his bloody marks, and his skin regenerated in an instant. The relief that filled Shay's mind almost made him fall asleep on the ground.

Ding.

A familiar noise sounded through his inner self. Finally, after two weeks, he could take a break and focus a bit more on the mandatory courses, like in high school, but for him, maths and magic stone studies were easy. The other subjects concerning magic development and other similar stuff he couldn't understand well, as he didn't have any magical power, might hold him back.

[System Update Unlocked - New Features: Hunting, Bestiary, Recipes]

[Hunting: The user can create a skill by slaying beasts, transforming their fundamental characteristics to an appropriate ability. This action may be repeated endlessly. Duplicates don't stack their statistics and the root skill stops working when a superior skill is crafted from them. However, other arrays of root skills can apply.]

[Bestiary: Keeps track of killed beasts and which root skills they provide after a certain kill count.]

[Recipe: Stores discovered skill combinations.]