Chapter 45 - A Low Blow And A New Skill.

After our little family moment we all decided to get back to training our individual skills. I found out that if I just used my skills without a target like an enemy or an opponent of some kind then my skills only go up by 1/4th at Lvl 0, meaning that I need to use a base level skill 4 times to get 1 increase in usage.

It was a pain to figure that out solely because I wanted to level up my Breath of Light skill without endangering anybody by actually trying to face the attack head-on. I was able to get it to 2/10 but my MP bottomed out because of it even including my fast MP regeneration. So I just decided to leave it for now as a last resort for a hard fight, like the upcoming queen battle that I am sure will happen as soon as it recovers.

"Master I think it is time for a .... 'Test of strength' so to speak with your companions. We all know your the strongest here either due to your abilities or creativeness, but the others have been wanting to show off a bit and to also blow off some steam after what you put us through."

Shorunt said rather boldly, I was a bit taken aback by the looks on every ones faces that nodded and agreed.

"Are... Are you guys serious? You guys want to fight me?" I couldn't help but stutter a little bit considering the sheer conviction that each of them had. Even Digger wanted to have a go at me, which I wasn't opposed to as I wanted to see what he could do aswell.

"Fine, whose first?" I said after a quick second of preparing myself and putting on a cocky attitude. If they wanted to have a go then we can go. I consider these guys family but I won't let them win without a few bruises to remember the occasion.

"Me, Master I spoke first so I called... What was the word? Oh right, I called 'Dibs'."

I laughed so hard at that just because in my head Shorunt had become somewhat of a butler type. And for him to use such a word from earth like that was just hysterical. After a few seconds where I needed to catch my breath we went to the training ground that was further extended by Sondar and Digger.

"Shorunt you had better be prepared because your master is going to go pretty quick right from the get go. I am using this as a training exercise to strengthen my skills after all." I spoke as I smiled at my first Minion who had grown to the point of being confident enough to speak on equal terms with me.

Granted I had proven how crappy of leader I am so this is understandable aslong as he is still loyal I have no complaints, I even encourage it.

"I will do the same now Ms. Kitsoma if you please start a countdown."

As she started counting I felt a short burst of lethargy go through my body. I didn't know what happened but I didn't have time to think as Kitsoma yelled 'GO' and Shorunt immediately used a new wind spell he created which he yelled like a mainstream protaganist.

"Wind of the north, Wind of the south, Wind of the east and west, Come together and collide to decimate my enemies..... [Tornado]"

'Shit' is all I thought before a circling windstorm picked up rocks and loose dust and dirt to form a circulating tornado of earth. I was rather impressed even as I started getting sucked up by the tornado and slung every which way even while the small pieces of debris slammed into me at Mach 2 speeds.

By the time Shorunt ran out of MP I was impaled by a few sharper pieces of rock and was heavily bleeding.

"Holy hell Shorunt don't you think that was a bit much? This hurts, I may be strong but not that strong man." I said as I was forced to use up a little bit of my stored nutrients to heal up. I wasn't really upset with him, I was proud he gained such power but what I was upset about was that he had used up all of his MP in doing so. Right now his main job is as the healer/supporter. If he used up all his MP in one attack than his main job would be pointless.

"This attack was extremely powerful but you used up all your MP, Can you even stand right now if it wasn't for that staff?" I said as I noticed his legs were wobbling like a toddler just learning to walk.

"I assure you I have plenty of MP left. Just if you don't mind can you give me a second?" He said with a smile as he tried to play it off. I ofcourse knew otherwise as his master, and as payment I used Lightning muscles and added Quick Step to appear right in front of him and used a quick headbutt to send him flying into the back wall.

He got about a good 5 seconds worth of airtime before slamming into the wall. Which I walked over slowly towards as everyone else ran to make sure he was ok.

"Shorunt are you ok? That was a powerful hit you just took." Tinoa and the other goblins crowded around him and asked. I walked up to see Shorunt barely conscious bleeding from his head, I felt a little guilty about doing so much damage. I guess the speed I used might have added a bit more power than I had expected.

I quickly used LIfe Share to heal him back up and used MP Share aswell to get him back to full health.

"Shorunt buddy, I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you that badly." I said with a shameful look on my face as a heavy guilt laid on my mind.

"Oh stop it master it was a fair fight. We all knew that physically I am one of the weakest here. I just didn't expect you to use your stored nutrients to heal. But I guess that was also my fault that the tornado had caused you so much damage."

"Ok this is going to go round and round so I am stopping it now Shorunt your attack was amazing, You just need to work on your MP usage a bit, either increase your MP pool or learn how to lower the cost of your spells. Vexsus what you did was a bit surprising as I could almost see a faint afterimage but you need to regulate your power when training with companions. We aren't trying to kill you so don't go 100%"

Sondar said like a veteran fighter, he was able to go on further about what we lacked either in technique or how we used them. I was thankful for his insights and decided to go ahead and use up some of the materials to create him an accessory or maybe a weapon? I don't really know I just know that I needed to show him how thankful I was.

"Ok so Shorunt's turn is over now its our turn master" the 2 sisters spoke up at the exact same time, almost like they were the same person. It kinda spooked me out a little as I just had a flashback to twins standing in a hallway of a haunted hotel.

I quickly shook my head. "Sure sounds good but I am gonna need you 2 to never speak at the same time ever again. OK? Lets go."

They turned to eachother with a look of confusion before shrugging and taking their position as my opponents. I decided to accept a fight with the both of them because I could tell that their true potential would only show itself when they were together.

"OK master we are ready whenever you are."

"I told you not to talk at the same time. It's creepy.... But fine I'll let you guys go first, Kitsoma start the countdown."

As yet again she yells 'GO' they both unleash a firebolt and a ball of ice and combine it together to create a fog.

"OH hohoho it looks like you 2 took one of my skills and used it as a idea to create your own. Very smart girls I am very impressed. But can you girls keep it up whenever your opponent can remove it?" I said with a smile as I shot out a small powered Spatial Bullet that I manipulated for maximum suction but severely decreased attack power in case they got hit.

Quickly the fog was sucked into the small black hole that I created and after all the fog was gone I dissipated the spell to make sure nobody was further affected.

"Awww that's not fair. HMPH" Vinoa said as she was uncovered. Amazingly she had sneaked behind me in that short time span and was about to hit me with what looked like a staff/club it had a long handle but at the end was a densely packed ball of unrefined mana crystal that could easily deal some damage aswell as have a naturally occurring side effect of draining the enemies mana.

"Holy hell that was quick Vinoa how did you get behind me without me realizing it? And where did you get that staff?" I asked

"Don't forget about me Master HAAAAA" Roared Tinoa as out of nowhere a misty form showed itself right above me and actually connected in landing a hit straight on my head, I instantly felt my MP drain at a rapid pace as my eyes went blurry from the force.

"Oh damn now that hurts. but your gonna have to pay little one." I quickly grab her and say. I jump up high almost touching the ceiling and perform a swirling dive bomb. I knew this would cause her extreme pain but I was only using it to scare her. When we got close to the floor I activated Quick Step to increase the strain on my muscles and land safely before dropping her.

"HAHAHA, Your master is very pleased with your hard work. After we are all done I want to talk to you about what those staffs are and how you came to get them. I also want to learn how you both used the fog to such a degree of skillfulness."

I was extremely proud of these two girls, as a normal goblin they seemed as old and worn out as a woman who had lost all hope in her life, but as soon as I became their master it seemed like they regressed and even de-aged to early teens or even younger. I could only feel like a proud father when they were able to hit me.

"Thank you master we worked really hard in secret." They both said at the same time (Ugh) then they left to go rest.

"Up next is..... lets go Digger." I wanted to decide my next opponent before anybody else stepped up and it was about time that I saw him in action.

"Ok but man let me tell ya I ain't a fighter. I am totally fine being a scout and having little to no action whatsoever."

"Yea I know, but when the time comes for you to act I need to have a better understanding of how you can fight for when that happens. Kitsoma when your ready."

When she yelled Digger instantly dug a hole and went underground. I could faintly sense him using Detection but due to the cave having multiple veins of unrefined mana crystal it disturbed my spell more.

Before I was able to read where he was he popped up right below me and hit my..... Dragon balls with a fist covered in stone. I shot out vomit like breath attack as the pain surged through my stomach and forced everything else out.

"OH SHIT!!!!" The others yelled before laughing as hard as they could. I was on the ground wheezing as it was hard to catch a breath.

Digger came up to me and apologized.

"Hey I'm sorry but I told you I'm not a fighter. If I have to fight I do whatever it takes to end it quickly." He went and dived through a wall that led towards the Ant colony shortly afterwards while the others were still laughing at me and could barely breath or even ask if I was ok.

Shorunt thankfully cast a small healing spell over me which lessened the pain enough for me to start to walk around.

"MotherFcker that was not only a low blow but he even used his Earth skills aswell. You guys don't know the pain I just went through.....Well maybe Sondar but still that was excruciating."

"AHAHAHAHA dude that was Fcking hilarious the way you looked around before suddenly just going wide eyed and shooting out a spray of vomit all over the wall was spectacular I couldn't have paid to see a better show." Sondar the Asshole said while slapping me on the back wheezing while trying to catch a breath.

"My gods, my lungs hurt, my abs help me hahahaha." I saw Howy on the floor laughing while holding his stomach.

"Well I'm so happy this was entertaining for you I think it would be best if we postponed the rest of the fights till I healed up. Maybe till I gained some dignity back aswell." I muttered that last part as I limped off to a corner to try and rest. I didn't really have any methods to heal myself except for Life steal or using up my stored nutrients but I wanted to save those for the really drastic situations.

I needed to get something, anything, even if it was a incredibly low level healing spell. It was better than nothing.

I went back to the thought I had when I was still a hatchling and was nest ridden after yet another fight with Aurum. Back then I had wanted to learn a way to regenerate passively by circulating my bodies energies, but at the time I was just starting to grasp at anything I could. But now maybe if I focused on my mana instead and combined the different skills I have using my unused skill Synthesis maybe I could get lucky.

So I went through my skill list again and tried to find the best candidates for what I was looking for.

After looking for a few minutes unfortunately it looks like I didn't have anything that could give me what I want. I did however have the Mana Share and Life Share skill that could potentially make something. I also saw that I had multiple resistance skills but I had a feeling that I needed a few more to really make something. I decided not to combine skills just because I wanted to first try and get the skill I needed first.

I had the idea that using MP Share I could create MP Steal to get the counter part to my Life steal. I added that to the todo list but after thinking I could only think back that maybe manipulating the mana in my body could create some kind of passive skill that helped boost my natural healing.

So with nothing to lose and with a shit ton of pain radiating from the boys. I decided to just say screw it and use my Mana Manipulation as I closed my eyes to focus. It took me over an hour which thankfully the others could see that I was trying to do something and left me alone. But After that hour I could finally start to sense the pain go away slowly at first, then a cool refreshing feeling washed over my body and a ding sounded off.

[User has gained skill: Regen - User will recover from bodily harm slowly. Amount healed is determined by amount of MP used.]

Ok so it looks like I gained an active skill instead of what I wanted but hey beggars can't be choosers. Hopefully at max level it will turn into a passive and I can become OP like the dream of every Isekai Protagonist.

I was thankful for the new skill as I opened my eyes to see the others staring at me with curious glances.

"Whoa guys why are you staring at me like that for?"

"Well we were curious because its been over an hour and suddenly you glowed green for a second. So we came over to find out what happened." Kitsoma with a sideways glance said as she leaned in closer and sniffed me.

"Hmmm you don't smell different so maybe you gained an ability?"

"Yea I did as a matter of fact and why did you just sniff me?" I asked with a bit of a blush appearing on my cheeks.

"O-OH well that was because Beast-kin can smell certain abnormalities. And I just wanted to make sure your ok." She said while looking away shyly.

"By the way Vexsus you said you got a new skill tell us what it is." Sondar took over the conversation dragging attention away from the now shy Kitsoma

"Well I gained the skill called Regen, it lets me heal slowly by using up my MP, I figured it was about time learn something incase I do something stupid and get myself hurt again."

"Or you get a nut shot isn't that what you meant to say HAHAHAHA." Howy said before making the others laugh yet again. I was embarrassed again but was quickly dragged out of that moment by a loud screech coming from the tunnels.

"Dammit looks like its go time guys get ready."

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[Breath of Light] 1 -> 2

[Lightning Muscles] 5 -> 6

[Quick Step] 7 -> 8

[Life Share] 1 -> 2

[MP Share] 11 -> 12

[Spatial Bullet] 8 -> 9

[Mana Manipulation] 20 -> 25

[Regen] lvl 0 0/10 - User will recover from bodily harm slowly.. Amount healed is determined by amount of MP used.