The next day, after spending a night with Imani, Alex sat on his bed looking at the screen. He had managed to level up again after having sex with Imani, and that wasn't all, he unlocked a new skill, and now he wanted to see what it could do.
[Flame Dancer's Blessing: on activation gives host powerful flame ability for a one-hour duration; cooldown: 24 hours]
Alex looked at the skill; it was pretty decent, to be honest, but yeah, cooldown was the only thing he had an issue with, it was pretty long. But as long as he had something added to his arsenal, that was fine.
He thought that was all for now and was ready to close the system, but then he noticed something: another notification.
He selected it without hesitation.
[Congratulations on your first time having sex, you have gained a special reward.]
"A special reward? What could that be?"
[Appraisal]
He looked at it in shock, the same appraisal that he left to choose something else. He couldn't believe the system still allowed him to get the skill.
Knock, knock.
A knock came from the door. He looked up. "Who is it?" he asked.
"It's Mia," she said, her voice sounding as stern as the first time they met.
He got up immediately and walked to the door. He opened the door and Mia was standing there.
"Hello," he greeted with a smile.
"Come with me," she said, not giving any explanation.
Did something go wrong? She is being cold, he wondered. He followed her without question and went down. She led him to a part of the tribe, the training grounds.
Right off the bat, he saw a ton of young women and some men training: some thrusting their spears, and some sparring with each other.
They all stopped to salute as she passed; their eyes lingered on Alex, who was behind her.
She got to an empty part of the training ground and then turned to look at him. "The way you were found in the forest hints that you are weak. Our tribe prioritizes strength and the ability to protect yourself," she said, and then walked to the racks. She pulled out two wooden carved spears and threw one to him.
Alex caught it and took a good look at it, then he looked up. 'Is she trying to train me? I guess that's nice; she is looking out for me. But she has greatly underestimated what I am capable of. I am the mortal that mastered a thousand weapons and fought hundreds of battles.
Even if this current body is weak, it doesn't mean I am a pushover, not in the slightest. I'll make sure I bring her to her knees; I'll dominate her,' Alex thought, a smile forming on his face.
"Wipe the smile off your face and focus." She roared as she launched forward like an arrow. She was extremely fast; she ran low with the spear in her right hand.
'She's fast.'
Alex moved as fast as he could, his body barely reacting in time. He slashed down; his spear slammed into hers and deflected it, but a shock ran up his hands.
'She is strong.'
He parried it.
She looked at him, her eyes going cold. She swung from down; Alex reacted in time and used the shaft to parry her attack. He was pushed back a few steps, but managed to survive.
His hands felt numb; they trembled as he gripped the spear.
'Shit, this body is weak. Despite the fact that I blocked it, the shock was still too much. And her, she isn't just explosive; she is powerful.
I can tell she is holding back and yet she is still this strong. Just what sort of strength does she have?'
Mia didn't allow him to have his thinking time; she rushed at him again. "Focus!" she said before thrusting. He raised his spear and used the shaft to precisely block the attack.
The spear bent back a lot, and he was thrown back. He slammed into the ground, rolled, but got on his feet again, one knee on the ground.
'He blocked it, precisely. I thought he would attempt to parry and not block,' she thought, looking at him with pure confusion in her eyes.
"Why did you block and not parry? The risk that existed in blocking was great; you could have missed it and taken an attack to your chest," she said.
Alex looked up and gave a smile. "That's because I was ensuring I got out, and that's the only way. With your speed and strength, if I had parried the attack, you could come back from the side faster than I can counter," he said as he got to his feet.
'So he took the risk to ensure that I wasn't able to follow the attack up?'
"It seems I underestimated you, Alex. But now I'm going to see just how skilled you are," she said, and Alex replied with a smile.
By now, all the young tribesmen that had been training had stopped and started watching what was going on. They wanted to see how this outsider would hold against one of the strongest of the tribe.
Alex looked at her and took a deep breath. 'If only this body wasn't so weak, I would be able to take her down easily.
Regardless, I'll make sure I do my best.'
He dashed forward. She smirked, spun her spear, and thrust it for his chest, but this time, rather than block, he dodged to the side. The spear missed by a few inches. His gaze focused on her side; he saw the opening.
"Bingo!" He thrust for her side at top speed.