Cipher was fighting low-level monsters as the Heavenly Demon fought her battle.
Earlier, he had thought of farming low-level monsters for Cheat Points, but he had noticed that his calculation was flawed. Even if he could kill more F-rank monsters than E-rank without leveling up, the amount of Cheat Points he gained would be the same per level up.
As an E-rank, he needed two F-ranks to level up, and each gave ten Cheat Points. And for E-rank, they gave twenty. This meant that he'd always have just twenty points per level up.
Of course, he could increase the rank of the monsters he fought, but that would lead to more EXP too and might cause him to skip some levels.
Well, this should be solved slightly when his True Rank goes to D-rank. He just needed one more level up for this.
After his True Rank became D-rank, he would need two E-ranks per level up or a D-rank, meaning he would have forty Cheat Points per level. This was much better than the previous twenty where he had to level up five times to afford a card. But with forty, he just needed three levels, and if he upgraded his True Rank once again to C, then he'd just need two levels.
It seemed his cheat was more late-game focused.
He activated his Aura and swung at the monster, decapitating its head.
[You have slain E-rank Demon (Level 16)]
[+10,000 EXP]
[+20 Cheat Points]
[You have leveled up!]
Suddenly, the monsters around him exploded into nothingness. The Heavenly Demon appeared before him.
She held his hand that held the aura-covered dagger. "What an interesting aura," she said. "You're not even a third-rate warrior, yet you can use aura so proficiently."
"Do you know about the system?" Cipher asked.
"That voice that appears in your head? It told us about the heroes coming to save our world," she said.
"Yeah, that one. It allows us to use abilities like these through skills," he said before proceeding to explain the concept of skills to her.
"Hmph, in the end, it's just borrowed power," she said with disinterest.
Cipher just smiled. He had figured this would be her reaction, considering how prideful of her strength she was. Well, with her stats, she did indeed deserve to be prideful.
"Your power... why don't you teach me?" he spoke.
"What?" she asked in surprise.
"Your power, it's so strong. Can you teach it to me?" he asked.
…
"Does this mean you want to join the Heavenly Demonic Cult?" she asked.
Cipher shook his head. "No, I can't do that."
"Then I can't teach you," she said simply, turning to leave.
"Wait." Cipher stepped forward. "You look down on borrowed power, don't you? Why don't you train me to prove that one's own power is king?"
She stopped, glancing back at him. "Are you trying to manipulate me with that kind of logic?"
Cipher bowed deeply. "I just want you to open my eyes to something different. I am someone blinded by this borrowed power - can't you show me the true path of exploring one's own power? As someone who has reached the peak with that?"
The Heavenly Demon studied him for a long moment, then smiled. "You're very eloquent."
She crossed her arms. "Fine. I'll humor you a bit." Her smile turned sharp. "I hope you don't regret it."
Cipher straightened and bowed again. "Thank you for your guidance."
…
Two days later, Cipher pushed through another set of movements, his body trembling with exhaustion. Sweat poured down his face, his muscles screaming in protest.
His vision blurred at the edges, and he swayed slightly, catching himself at the last moment.
He gritted his teeth and continued, forcing his body through one more repetition. Then another. His legs threatened to give out beneath him.
"Stop," the Heavenly Demon said.
He stopped immediately, looking up at her, breathing heavily. "Is something wrong? I can still go on," he said.
The Heavenly Demon was impressed by his persistence. She had thought that someone like him who looked as if he'd never experienced hardship in his life wouldn't be able to endure this type of training.
But he had surprised her.
Even when he was about to pass out, he didn't stop and continued pushing. Such determination was definitely worthy of a disciple of the Heavenly Demonic Cult. Even worthy of the Seven Heavenly Swords position.
She sighed. It was a pity it was all pointless.
"No, you don't have to train anymore," she said.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"You can't improve," she said flatly.
"What?" he asked, his expression shocked.
"I've been watching your body over these two days," she explained. "You aren't improving. Even your muscle progression seems to reset. Every time you rest, your body returns to the exact same state as when we started."
"How is this possible?" he asked.
"This is either a consequence of a unique constitution," she said, "or perhaps the price for power."
"Price for power?" he asked.
She just looked at him.
His eyes widened. "I get it now," he thought.
This was the price for borrowed power. He couldn't improve his stats through personal development. It all must come from the system.
She gazed at him. "Have you realized the problem?"
He nodded.
"Then let's go. There's no need to waste time on this," she said, turning around.
"Wait," he called out to her.
"What is it? Although I admire your endurance and determination, there is nothing we can do about this," she said.
"No, there is. Teach me the technique," he said.
He thought that although improvement like this was impossible, skills could still be acquired this way. If you kept hurting yourself and recovering, there was a possibility of gaining a recovery-type skill. This meant that skills weren't limited by this restriction.
"With your body, you can't learn the technique," she explained. "Your body is too weak. That's why I told you to strengthen your body first."
"You can still teach me though," he said. "I'll learn the technique... as for my physical strength, can't I increase it through the way I know?" he asked.
She nodded in acknowledgment. "That's possible too," she thought.
Although he couldn't increase his strength by practicing, he could still increase it through the borrowed power.
"Alright then, I'll teach you," she said.
"It seems I won't be increasing the Cheat Points limit per level up this time," he thought.
He was planning to add all his points into Intelligence to reach D-rank requirement, but now...
He allocated two to Strength, two to Stamina, and two to Agility.