Days blurred into a mess of endless naps and twitchy muscle aches. Auron's room had turned into some twisted training chamber where comfort met torture. His only companions? A bloodstained rock and the absurdly stubborn determination to milk his 'Iron Skin' skill like a broke farmer squeezing his last cow.
He squinted at his modified system interface.
[Skill Progress Increased: Iron Skin (12.6%)]
"Damn, it's slow. Like trying to sharpen a sword by rubbing it against a pillow," Auron muttered, rubbing his sore arms. But the progress was there. And it was free. Sort of. If free meant waking up feeling like he'd been body-slammed by a bear.
"Whatever. I'll sleep my way to the top if it kills me."
Suddenly, a loud banging rattled his door, followed by an familiar voice.
"Auron! You in there, man?" Dante's booming voice echoed through the room, sounding way too lively for this hour.
"Leave me alone. I'm dead. My ghost will haunt you if you open that door," Auron groaned, rolling over to hide his face in his pillow. His body ached from last night's grind session — or more accurately, sleep session.
"No can do, bro. Lyra's losing her mind thinking you've died or something. I told her you were just being your usual slacker self, but you know how she is."
Auron felt the irritation building. Dante's talent for turning concern into annoyance was downright magical. Still, Dante was his friend. Kind of. And Lyra… well, she was more like the academy's unofficial pest control officer who couldn't leave him alone.
The door creaked open, and in walked Dante and Lyra. Dante was his usual upbeat self, grinning like he'd just scored a free meal. Lyra, on the other hand, looked like she'd aged ten years from worry.
"There he is. The legendary shut-in himself," Dante said, plopping down on the chair like he owned the place.
Lyra's frown could curdle milk. "What's wrong with you, Auron? You haven't been showing up to classes. Not even to get laughed at. What's going on?"
"Just been… training. You know, honing my skills and all that." Auron waved a lazy hand, trying to act casual.
"Training? You?" Lyra's eyes narrowed, like she was trying to figure out if he was joking.
"Believe it or not, yeah. I've been working on something special," Auron said, letting a smug grin slip onto his face.
Dante raised an eyebrow. "Special, huh? Please tell me you didn't try to contract a beast and get kicked in the face again."
Auron rolled his eyes. "No. I'm trying a different approach. One that doesn't involve making myself the laughingstock of the academy."
Dante chuckled. "Good luck with that. The only way you're not getting laughed at is if you somehow become stronger than all those beast-taming freaks."
"Exactly."
Dante's smirk faded. "Wait, you're actually serious?"
"As serious as a Raventor can be. Speaking of which, you wouldn't happen to have any beast cores lying around, would you?"
"Beast cores?" Dante frowned. "The hell are you planning, man?"
"Just… research. You know, expanding my horizons."
"Those things are expensive as hell, Auron. Even the cheapest Iron-ranked beast cores go for more than we make in a month."
Auron's shoulders slumped. Damn, there went his backup plan, to think carrying the Raventor name would at least earn him a decent allowance, but damn those bastards who were miserly as hell. The rats weren't going to cut it forever, and he needed something stronger to push his Iron Skin skill to the next level. But if beast cores were that pricey, he'd have to find another way.
"Yeah, figures. Guess I'll just keep doing things my way for now."
"What's your way?" Lyra pressed, crossing her arms. "Because right now, it looks like you're doing your best impression of a corpse."
Auron forced a grin. "Let's just say… I've discovered a new form of cultivation. Sleep Training."
"That sounds like something only you would come up with." Lyra huffed, eyes rolling so hard Auron wondered if they'd pop out of her head.
"Hey, call it what you want. It's working."
Dante shook his head. "Alright, dude. Just don't turn into some kind of rat-obsessed lunatic. You've already got that 'crazy shut-in' look going on."
"Noted. Now, if you two are done playing concerned parents, I've got training to get back to."
Lyra huffed but didn't protest further. Dante just laughed, clapping Auron on the shoulder before they both left, murmuring something about him being a lost cause.
As soon as they were gone, Auron let out a relieved sigh. Friends or not, he didn't have time to waste on them right now. Not when he was on the verge of something big.
He flopped back onto his bed, activating Iron Skin again. The familiar sensation of his skin hardening felt almost comforting now.
"Alright. Back to business."
The days continued to blur. Eat, nap, Iron Skin, repeat. The progress crawled at a snail's pace, but it was progress nonetheless.
Finally, on the seventh day of his insane regimen, something miraculous happened.
[Skill Progress Increased: Iron Skin (99.9%)]
Auron's eyes widened. "I'm… I'm almost there." His heart pounded like a war drum, excitement surging through him. Just one more push, one more sleep session, and he'd reach 100%.
He lay back, his mind spinning with wild thoughts. Would the skill evolve? Would it just get stronger? Either way, it didn't matter. Whatever it took, he'd find out.
But he knew one thing for sure. If this plan worked, the next step would be something far riskier than hunting rats.
He was going after real prey. Iron-ranked beasts.