She nodded. "Yeah, let's do that. Don't waste the rest of your skill points."
They left the bed with a quick move and both walked into the nearby mirror. In merely a few moments, they were back in the torture room where the cheetah was detained.
Ryan immediately went and touched the weak creature's forehead.
Seraphina began calculating.
1, 2, 3, 4… 60 seconds.
1 minute.
2 minutes.
3 minutes.
A force of attraction appeared at the depth of Ryan's body and the Cheetah whimpered as something left its own body and entered Ryan's.
The creature's whole complexion became incredibly weak and it laid against the floor in tiredness.
Ryan ignored it and looked at his stats.
[Speed Burst Lv. 1 has been plundered]
[This skill allows the user to receive a burst of strength on the muscles that are used for acceleration, making you gain 2x the speed of your physical body for 10 seconds after use.]
[Mana Cost: 10]
[Skill Plunder going into cool down for the next 10 hours]
That was one new Skill under his belt. Prepared for him by Seraphina herself. He knew that since it was a skill she chose, it wouldn't be bad, but it truly was quite something!
Since I have 21 Physical Body stat, I should get the same level of speed as 2 x of that physical strength, right?
That meant, when he activates the ability, he would have the same speed of someone with 42 points in Physical Body stats.
This skill should become much stronger after I level it up.
But before that…
Ryan's gaze subconsciously moved to the assassin that was tied on the corner. He noticed a plate of food on the side. Seraphina must have handed the food to the assassin to keep him alive.
Then, Ryan's gaze moved to the assassin's familiar beast, the owl.
Both of these creatures had unique abilities that he should Plunder, but for now, they were still beyond his level. He could not appraise them, either, as they were of a much higher level.
Well, his appraisal barely ever worked on anyone.
I need to level that up.
Appraisal (Lv.1) –
[Reveal basic info on targets. Only works on targets of equal or lower levels. (Mana Cost: 1).]
Silently, he added 9 skill points on Appraisal.
His eyes stung for a few moments.
[Appraisal (Lv.10) (Max)]
[Reveal basic info on targets. Only works on targets of equal or lower levels. (Mana Cost: 10).]
[Skill Points remaining: 27]
Ryan turned to look at the assassin and mentally turned on Appraisal. The sensation was akin to turning on a switch, but within his own body.
The appraisal activated with a buzzing sensation.
[Appraisal level insufficient]
[Beast Tamer]
[Level???]
[Skills???]
Still too weak.
Seraphina turned to look at him. "Appraisal is alright, but first level up Speed Burst before you level up anything else for now. That thing can save your life."
He nodded.
Level up speed burst.
[Speed Burst (Lv.2)]
[This skill allows the user to receive a burst of strength on the muscles that are used for acceleration, making you gain 2x the speed of your physical body for 15 seconds after use.]
[Mana Cost: 12]
The usage time increased from 10 second to 15 seconds, he noted. Mana cost also went from 10 to 12.
He continued to level it up.
[Speed Burst (Lv.3)]
[This skill allows the user to receive a burst of strength on the muscles that are used for acceleration, making you gain 3x the speed of your physical body for 15 seconds after use.]
[Mana Cost: 14]
The usage time did not increase this time, but the multiplicative index went from 2x to 3x.
He leveled it up again.
[Speed Burst (Lv.4)]
[4x speed for 20 seconds]
Level up!
[Speed Burst (Lv.5)]
[5x speed for 20 seconds]
Again.
[Speed Burst (Lv.6)]
[6x speed for 25 seconds]
Again.
[Speed Burst (Lv.7)]
[7x speed for 25 seconds]
Again.
[Speed Burst (Lv.8)]
[8x speed for 30 seconds]
Again.
[Speed Burst (Lv.9)]
[9x speed for 30 seconds]
Again.
[Speed Burst (Lv.10) (Max)]
[This skill allows the user to receive a burst of strength on the muscles that are used for acceleration, making you gain 10x the maximum speed of your physical body for 35 seconds after activation.]
[Mana Cost: 28]
Ryan clenched his hands. He had a feeling that he could explode with immense, skin-numbing speed at any moment, but he did not do that. This skill had a huge mana expenditure—in fact, if he used it once, he won't be able to use it again for a while.
But still, the power of the skill was also immense.
It would give him the same level of speed as someone with 10 times his Physical Strength.
Ryan looked at his remaining Skill Points.
[Skill Points: 18]
What should I use this on? Should I store some at hand?
After a bit of thought, he decided to level up Apex Predator.
Apex Predator (Lv.1) –
[Intimidate targets with weaker bodies and gain +10% physical prowess]
(Mana Cost: 10).
Level up till level 10!
[Apex Predator (Lv.10) (Max)]
[Intimidate targets with weaker wills until their minds submit on a psychological level temporarily. And gain +50% strength, speed, reflexes, & battle awareness.]
(Mana Cost: 50).
He gulped. That's quite a terrifying skill.
Now, it was no longer limited to targets with weaker bodies than him, but weaker willpower.
Then, he looked at his final bit of Skill Points.
… Nine points.
I will keep this with me just in case I get another more intriguing skill. For now, this is enough.
He looked at Seraphina.
She nodded. "For now, that is your skillset."
"Am I as strong as my peers now?"
She raised her eyebrow. "Nowhere close. If one of them attacked you, you can barely run away with your skills."
Ryan licked his lips.
He didn't really think he would reach the level of his peers in a single day anyway.
After all, it was the target of his whole training plan's first Phase.
"What level is an average royal at our age?"
"Hm, that depends. But on average, they are at around level 13 to level 17. For the first phase of your training, I want you to defeat the Prince of Fire—he is a Level 17 Fire Mage. But if you want to do that, you must remove all your weaknesses first."
Ryan nodded. He had too many weaknesses—he needed more skills, more training with using the said skills, and a more general understanding of battles.
Seraphina smiled at his contemplative expression.
Not to mention battles, people like the Prince of Fire were well-taught individuals. They were generally capable at all departments of life: politics, finance, art, general knowledge—everything.
Ryan was lagging behind them in more things than met the eye.
But at the same time—a glint passed through Seraphina's eyes.
He also has a lot of advantages.
Basic knowledge from Earth. Mere middle-school and high-school education!
That alone was a major advantage.
Nobody knew what an electrical circuit was in Mugen, and he knew that at least. And she herself could think of a lot of ways to use that knowledge alone. Not to mention the thousands of other knowledge hidden in his memories.
It was the knowledge of an entirely different civilization, after all.
Ryan stretched. "Anyway, I am going to my room. I'll be back next morning. Prepare something else to plunder for me."
Seraphina kicked his butt.
He coughed and escaped the room in awkward silence. She just watched him with a smirk. What an idiot.
Both of them knew that he just wanted to go meet Kaelith.
She shouted: "Be at my room by 7 am!"
"Sure, sure!" he shouted back.
"And don't let mom know anything about our business!" she shouted again. "She will notice your physical strength pretty easily, you are not really breaking anything here because everything in my room is enchanted. But your control is too wack, so it might be better to refrain from doing weird things to your maid or you will hurt her."
Ryan blushed. "I have good control!"
She smiled.
I wonder how many things he will break outside?
But anyway, he had truly entered the first Phase of his training.
She wondered whether he would soon catch up to her.
Just as she had that thought, her gaze shifted to look at the cheetah that had been whimpering near her.
The creature shivered, then spat out a mouthful of blood.
She frowned.
Then, the cheetah was no more.
It had died.