Attempting to be presentable

Skyler sits up while brushing himself off. "Sure, come in." His voice softens to a whisper as he continues to speak. "It isn't like you don't own the place." The door slowly opens as Taki walks in. "I was asking to make sure you were still dressed." He lifts a brow. "Disappointed that I am?" He tilts his head a little as he spoke. A little smirk creeps upon her lips. "Maybe a little. I hope I'm not intruding." He was more than certain that she was just messing with him now. He turns to look into her dark brown eyes. "I guess next time I will undress before saying it is all right to come in." Her cheeks redden, but her expression doesn't change as she gazes back into his hazel eyes.

Skyler sticks out his tongue a little, blushing lightly before continuing to speak. "Seriously though, has the copy been finished?" While approaching the bed, Taki nods slightly. "It doesn't have a proper cover, but yes. It's finished." He looks down toward her hands, noticing a stack of paper bound by thick thread. "Is that it?" She gently holds the paper book to her bosom. "Yes. I hope it's enough. I would hate to lose the original." He extends a hand toward her and the paper book. "There is only one way to find out." She looks to the book then to his hand. "True enough." She says while handing it to him. Upon touching the book, the following notification appears in the center of his view.

(Original) Essentials of Reiki: When learned will teach the following skill.

Reiki Arts lvl 1 - Touch

Cost: 50 Mp

Through the manipulation of Qi, allows for the restoration and distortion of another's Qi.

Any of the following may be chosen per cast:

- Remove all curses, diseases, and toxins.

- Restore 25% health and mana and removes vulnerabilities.

- Apply curse, reduces all stats by 25%. Lasts 1 min.

- Apply vulnerability, increases all damage taken by 25%. Does not affect immunity to damage. Lasts 1 min.

Special note: You cannot use this ability on yourself.

Requirements: 43 Endurance, 32 Intellect, 55 Wisdom, and 28 Agility.

Skyler was surprised by how oddly specific the requirements were for this book. However, the skill was rather impressive. He was a little disappointed by the special note. 'Figures. This would have been broken if I could use this on myself.' His concentration when he heard Taki ask. "Well?" He looks from the book to her. She looked so hopeful, but he wasn't going to lie to her. He uses a mental command to open his character sheet to look at his stats. He had 41 Endurance, 31 Intellect, 54 Wisdom, and 27 Agility. To his surprise, that was exactly one level worth of skill points.

Skyler's eyes glance to how much experience he had until his next level, 979/1,400. 'Hmm, I need 421 xp to level. That shouldn't be hard.' His eyes look to Taki. "I have some good news and bad news." She blinks. "What's the good news?" He set the book down by his side, realizing that putting it away in his inventory would reveal an important part of his powers. "This book is good enough to learn the skill." She smiles brightly. "That's good. What's the bad news?"

Skyler let's out a soft sigh. "The bad news is I can't learn it yet. I don't meet the requirements." Taki's eyes lower slightly as she nods slightly. "Will it be hard to meet the requirements?" He shrugs slightly. "I need to increase my stats some. I need two more endurance, one intellect, one wisdom, and one agility." She blinks several times. "Sounds like a video game character." He looks off to the side. "I won't argue with that." She lifts a brow as a knowing smile appears upon her lips. "Hmm, so what would you recommend to achieve this?"

Skyler's mind started to run wild. 'I could be blunt and recommend going into an illusion barrier, but she might think I'm just trying to get away.' His head tilts very slightly to the left. 'I could have her or one of her underlings go with me.' That was when he remembered his quest's bonus for doing it alone. 'No, if I do that I'll lose out on the optional bonus.' He gently flexed his right hand. 'I should be able to increase my stats by exercising or training here.' A new red notification appeared right before Taki's pointer finger gently touches the tip of his nose, snapping him out of his own thoughts. "Hm?"

Taki giggles while tilting her head slightly. "You were focusing awfully hard. I couldn't help myself." She smiles warmly while looking gently into Skyler's eyes. "Did you think of a solution?" He nods slightly. "I just need to work on those areas. Jogging for a long time should work for my endurance. Something like dodgeball would work for my agility." He was pretty certain that coming up with a really good idea would ascertain a point in Wisdom. Alas, he wasn't sure what it would take to get himself a point in Intellect. 'Maybe if I try to read a lot to increase my information absorption capacity? Or simply overwhelming my mind with too much information? Could it be that simple?'

As this thought went through Skyler's mind, the red exclamation gained a two by it. He decided to allow them to pop up as Taki started to speak. "It sounds like you have everything in hand, but is there anything I can do to help?"

Achievement Unlocked!

Information overload!

Focus so hard that you lose sight of reality!

Reward: 2 xp and 1 Intellect

Experience has increased from 979/1,400 to 981/1,400.

Intellect has increased from 31 to 32.

Achievement Unlocked!

Inside job.

Wrack your mind until you think of a solution!

Reward: 1 xp and 1 Wisdom

Experience has increased from 981/1,400 to 982/1,400.

Wisdom has increased from 54 to 55.

Skyler read all of that with a mildly surprised expression upon his face. 'It really was that simple.' That was when he thought back to what Taki had just said. "Oh, um. Actually, I could use your help improving my agility. Do you know of any exercises I can do to improve my agility? May something like dodgeball or something?" A little smirk crept upon her lips for just a second before she smiled softly. "I could help you with that." He felt slightly nervous because of that smirk, but smiled softly in response. "I would definitely appreciate your help. Are you sure it isn't too much trouble?"

Taki smiles brightly. "Oh no, I think it would be fun to pl... I mean help you train." Skyler felt even more nervous now. 'She definitely was thinking of this as playing instead of training.' He let out a soft breath. "In that case, I appreciate it." She bows her head slightly. "Would you like to begin as soon as possible? Or would you like to prepare first?" He looks down at himself. He was still dressed like Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy 7, but that only made this seem a little cooler to him. "I'm as prepared as I'll ever be."

Taki turns to walk toward the door. "In that case, follow me." Skyler follows her. 'I wonder what she has in mind.' He followed her to the right of the room then down the hall. At the end of that hall was a room filled with different types of training equipment. He expected to see something similar to a gym, but nothing of the sort was to be found. Instead, he saw a tightrope (which was only a few feet off of the ground), weapons, ranging from daggers to halberds (both wooden and real), and traps, ranging from easy to master level. Upon entering the room, a notification appeared in the center of his view.

You have entered Miss Saito's Training Room.

Weight, health regen, and mana regen increased by 100%.

Dodge, movement, and run speed have been reduced by 50%.

Hp cannot drop below 1 while in this room.

Skyler's eyes widened as he read that while simultaneously feeling all of those effects taking place. Taki brings a hand to her lips. "I can see you noticed the effects of this room. It's quite helpful for training at any level. A few minutes in here is equal to hours in a normal environment." He nods slowly, trying not to let his head just drop. "Yeah, I see why." She leans in. "It also keeps stamina from running out completely. So you can pound away at it forever and never get exhausted."

Skyler's cheeks turn bright red. 'Did she just say what I think she did?' His mind was in the gutter, but he was fairly certain she was talking about actual training. Taki walks over toward the weapon rack and pulls out a wooden kunai with a chain. "This'll do nicely." She looks to him with a playful smile. "After you get used to the increased gravity, I'd like you to walk the tightrope. I will attack you at random to keep you on your toes. How does that sound?" He looks at the wooden kunai then to her eyes. She reminded him of a mother about to give tough love to one of her children.

Skyler would feel less worried if Taki didn't look so pleased with herself. 'Good thing I know she doesn't actually want to hurt me. At least, I'm pretty sure of that...' He softly smiles. "You certainly know how to motivate a guy." She smiles brightly. "Thank you for that. I knew I wasn't being too hard of a taskmaster. Some of my initiates think I'm simply cruel. You don't think I am, right?" He glances off to the side. "I don't know yet. I'll find out after a few minutes of training."

Taki giggles. "That's the spirit." Skyler starts to walk around the room to get a feel for this higher gravity. 'Hmm, funny. I don't feel like I weigh double.' He used a mental command to open his character sheet and noticed his weigh had increased from 190 pounds to 285 pounds. 'What the..? Oh, right! My gravity spell said it would reduce gravity magic applied to me by fifty percent.' He jumps up and down a few times before lightly jogging around the room. 'These ladies are used to double this? No wonder they are so strong and nimble.'

Skyler gently jiggles his stomach. 'To be fair, my base weight is a lot higher than theirs.' Taki tilts her head a bit while watching him. "Are you hungry again?" His cheeks redden. "N-no, I. I was just thinking of how much weight this will make me lose is all. I'm a bit overweight after all." She giggles. "That's true. It's rare to see someone overweight around here. It's either from lack of discipline or because they are showing off their wealth. I hear Americans eat in excess all the time. Is that true?"

Skyler shook his head. "That's true for some, but um. For many it is because they don't have access to higher quality food. Cheap foods with empty calories and high amounts of sugar adds a lot to the gut." He says while rubbing his stomach. "I need to eat better. Now that I have some money. I can do that more easily." Taki nods slightly. "Don't you cook?" He nods slightly. "I do, but I can only do it so often. My health keeps me from doing it all the time. That and I usually have other things to do."

Taki tilts her head a little. "I see. I would like to hear more about this later." She slowly adjusts the kunai in her hand. "You look like you have adjusted enough to the gravity. It's time to start your training." Skyler nods as he approaches the tightrope. As he does, a new yellow exclamation flashes which he allows to pop up.

New Quest!

Walking the Tightrope

- Successfully walk across the tightrope without falling five times

- Successfully run across the tightrope without falling once

Reward: 75 xp, 2 Strength, 2 Endurance, and 1 Agility

Optional: Do so without getting hit.

Reward: 250 xp, 3 Agility, 2 Charisma, and - 5 pounds of weight

Accept or Decline?

Skyler mentally hit, 'Accept'. He let out a soft breath while looking over to Taki then back to the tightrope. The tightrope was just one inch thick. 'I've balanced on thinner.' He glances back over at her. 'Although never while being attacked.' He wasn't sure how well he would do, but this was going to be interesting. Will he succeed in obtaining the optional bonus or not?

Name: Skyler Peterson

Title: Fragile Prince, The Gamer

Lvl: 7 XP 982/1,400

Hp: 286/286

Hp regen: 7.932 per min

Mp: 357/357

Mp regen: 11.868 per min

Money: $7,991,492.37

Build: Dad Bod

Weight: 285 lbs

Height: 5' 10 ¾"

Dick size: 9 inches

Inventory slots 12/25 (**** Collar, Tome of the Light, It's not "Luck" it's you, Wuoliffside's Scales x 50, **** Master's Cloak, Faux One Punch Man's Gloves, Princess Zelda's Dress, Stasis Gel x 18, Slaver's Collar, Black Pearl Ring of Enthrallment, Small Living Core, and Vial of Slime x 2)

Unspent skill points: 0

Str: 34 + (0) + (0) End: 41 + (0) + (0)

Int: 32 + (0) + (0) Wis: 55 + (0) + (0)

Agi: 27 + (0) + (0) Cha: 28 + (0) + (0)

Lib: 16 + (0) + (0)