Boku No Toraburu

So he let her be and started pondering on the knowledge of Martial Arts he had received. There were various techniques on how to relax the body and increase the pace of recovery. He started making comparisons and slowly increased his depth about his own understanding of martial arts.

Meanwhile, Mikan kept on thinking about the story.

She started to compare her father, Saibai with the father stated in the story. Saibai wasn"t the most partic.i.p.ative person in her life and even if she wanted him to be around, he had his job and his own "method" of protecting both Mikan and Rito.

As she kept on thinking, she did feel that her father was making sacrifices on his own a.s.sumptions of helping his children. But in the end, she did not blame him. She had been living with Rito for a long time and she knew that most of the food they ate and the shelter they lived in was provided by her dad and mom.

She thought about the word husband, since she was too young to even feel any kind of emotion towards another guy, she did not understand the meaning of being in company with someone.

"Brother..."

Her gaze turned towards Rito as she understood the relationship she had with him. She would usually mock him for being useless, but he was the one who actually raised her in the absence of their father and mother. He would always smile when he chats with her and never let her feel lonely. Even though he isn"t good with many useful tasks, he will always smile and help her whenever he can.

She closed her eyes and leaned back on the chair. She did not think of telling about the bullying incident to Rito and only felt that she could see the true nature of the bond that they both held for each other.

She had a sweet smile on her face and felt relaxed.

Meanwhile, Rito was already making contingency plans.

"If she doesn"t want to tell me, it is fine. It"s her life and her choice... and I am the same!"

"Now that I know that she is being bullied, I have to take measures to protect her."

This what a brother is supposed to do. Even though he told her in the story that the brother would help the girl with a smile whenever she would ask for his a.s.sistance, he withheld a part of the story.

"It turns out that Brother was sensible than the father and more accommodating than the husband. So to make her safe, the brother had decided to go out and venture inside the forest in the night to kill any dangerous beast eying the girl from the shadows."

"This way, the girl would open her eyes every day and look at her smiling brother with a warm expression and always felt close with him."

Actually, this story wasn"t his creation, but his "co-worker"s" imagination as they met each other during the break time. He still hasn"t finished the story and he only knew a small part of it before he arrived in this world.

As the duo enjoyed the silence, the door was once again opened and two beautiful figures entered the room with a smile. One of them had a packet of snacks while the other one brought a basket of fruits.

They were Ochaco Uraraka and Sairenji Haruna— Rito"s cla.s.smates!

"Hey, we brought you something to eat, Rito-kun!"

Uraraka spoke with a cheerful voice and sat near Mikan, who also opened her eyes and immediately jumped on the bed with Rito to stay away from her.

"h.e.l.lo, Yuuki-san, Mikan-chan, I brought you some fruits. These can help you recover quickly."

Sairenji spoke politely and placed the basket on the nightstand and sat next to a crestfallen Ochaco.

After all, she wanted to give Mikan a big hug, but she had already run away like a startled bunny.

"h.e.l.lo, thank you for all your troubles!"

Rito smiled as naturally as he could since Mikan had touched the burnt area on his stomach accidentally, causing him great pain.

Soon, they all started talking and chatting. Ochaco and Rito talked the most while Sairenji was still a little reserved. Since they only had an hour"s time and then had to go to their homes, Rito was soon left alone once again. This time, Mikan had left together with them and Sairenji also took the responsibility of dropping Mikan home as they lived two blocks away.

Rito was quite grateful at the act because he had been secretly worrying about her security ever since he saw the bluish mark on her left cheek, that the other two girls failed to notice.

Since it was already evening and there was still some time before Tearju arrived with his dinner, he quickly opened the shop and found the items suitable for his needs and affordable.

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Burn Heal: A soothing and healing item specialised in dealing with burn marks on the surface of the body.

Buy: Y/N

Price: 100 KP

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As he purchased the item, a cream tube was placed inside his inventory. He looked at the name of the item and found that it was the item he had just purchased- [Burn Heal].

He had already noticed the fact that healing items were relatively expensive compared to other items of the same level. He looked at the small tube, almost the size of a pinky finger, and felt that he was getting ripped by the system.

Till now, he did not have any source of acquiring Karma Points except for the quests given out by the system. But until now, no quest has been activated except for the hidden quest he had completed because of the accident.

This was the reason he did not want to spend too much of his Karma Points, but right now, he also knew that if he doesn"t invest in himself, he wouldn"t be able to grow strong in this dangerous world.

He uncapped the tube and pulled up his gown and started applying the light-blue colored cream on the most severe burn marks. Since the quant.i.ty of the cream was very small, he could only choose between high injuries and mild injuries.

Since treating the former was more beneficial than concentrating on the latter, his skin around his navel started to heal as a numbing sensation spread across his abdomen.

He was very happy to see that the potency of the cream was much higher than he had expected and the medicinal effect was spread to the nearby marks and treated them lightly.

Even though he still felt uncomfortable near his stomach region, it was still way better than before.

With his medical treatment completed, he now started finding items usable for his training.

Since he had [Limit Breaker] and martial arts knowledge, it wasn"t hard to decide his route of training.

Right now, he was looking for body strengthening items that can help him contain the power released after his limiter is broken. If he did not start training now, he knew that he would only become helpless in the future if something bad happened to him or his family.

"... if I am going to go through the route of physical training, it"s not hard to understand that the pain involved will be great. At higher levels, to break past the limits, I will have to go through even more extreme conditions...."

As he thought internally, he looked at the particular item in his inventory.

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Skill Upgrade Scroll.

Rank: S

This item can increase the rank of any skill of the user. This scroll will not work on skills with rank equal to or greater than Rank S.

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The description was simple, but the use was otherworldly. Since Rito had already played a lot of games and read a lot of mangas, he knew that "Rank S" could only be applied to items or skill that can provide extreme, otherworldly effects.

Since he had the scroll, he did not mind using it now instead of saving it. He decided to use the scroll because he had an appropriate skill that could use the effect of the scroll and provide him with greater benefit.

He opened his skill section and concentrated on [Pain Tolerance]. He mentally commanded to use the [Skill Upgrade Scroll] on the skill and the name of the skill blurred for a moment before its rank and description changed completely.

He focused on the newly upgraded skill and the description was brought in front of his eyes.

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Agony Lover (Pa.s.sive)

Rank: S

This skill allows the user to bear extreme pain and provoke the hidden potential of the mind and body. This skill also allows the user to enter a state of an extraordinary calmness and find happiness in the pain afflicted on the body and the mind.

Caution: This skill has severe side-effects on the mentality of the user. If the user isn"t wary against the skill, he may be controlled by the state of pleasure provided by the skill and lose his own self.

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As he read through the description, Rito felt very satisfied since this skill will indirectly a.s.sist him in breaking past his limiter, but when he read through the caution, he couldn"t help but frown.

Even if it didn"t look like much and many people may only shrug and laugh off the matter by saying "Well, doesn"t that mean that this skill should belong to a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t!"

Rito felt that this skill had a hidden danger.

"If my guess is correct then I will have to always try to keep control of my own self when this skill helps me bear through the pain. Since it can directly affect my mentality, I think that this skill won"t completely take control of me, but instead, take control of my personality."

"Personality is the foundation on which various decisions are made. If I actually couldn"t keep a check on my own personality, then it means that I can"t control the future decisions and my life if I get infected by the skill."

Thinking till here, Rito felt that most of the S Rank skills will be like [Agony Lover]. He felt that he was quite fortunate to gain a SS Rank skill [Limit Breaker] that did not have side-effects on the personality of the user.

But the benefits provided by the skill [Agony Lover] easily surpa.s.ses the possible side-effects. All he can do now is grit his teeth and keep himself in check whenever he is fighting or training in extreme situations.

Alas, it was easier said than done.

With his skill upgraded, he started to shop for various body strengthening items and waited for the night to descend so that he can start his training without getting disturbed by anyone.