World's Best Protagonist [BL]

I now understood why Etienne came with them. After introducing himself as the healer of the team before, why didn't I expect this kind of training?

Excepting Etienne, these motherfu—

No. Jade, let's calm down. Breathe in, breathe out. Think of happy times and—

"Shit!"

"Dodge!"

Etienne was the only one concerned...or was he only like that because he didn't want to use his ability?

Although I am curious as to how it works, fortunately, I haven't gotten hit by Lexie's flying daggers.

The purpose of today's training is to harness my reflexes, endurance, and physical combat. Terrius had me fight with Lexie, the specialist of the team, which I just found out earlier. I had no idea what that meant at first but after the dark-skinned, sexy, and macho lady pulled out a weapon in thin air, I realized what her ability was.

Infinite Armory—unlimited weapon summoning, and Godhand—a skill that implies divine mastery over any weapon she summoned.

I was doomed from the beginning. Thankfully, Lexie pitied me, so she was only using, perhaps, five percent of her power. I was really glad, but everything Terrius taught me about selective nullification vanished whenever a dagger flew toward my face.

"Don't be a coward, newbie~. A single cut won't kill you~."

I ignored Noir's annoying remarks and focused on Lexie. Sure, it won't kill me, but I don't want any bloodstain on my clothes when I only have a few!

If I had known this would be a bloody training, I would have dressed poorly.

Lexie disappeared out of thin air suddenly. My eyes failed to follow her movements, and that only put me at a disadvantage. The hair at the back of my neck stood, and before I could react to the incoming attack from behind, Lexie already struck me with her right hand wearing a gauntlet.

I died.

I mean, I'd rather. Because, fuck, it hurts so much!

My body skidded on the ground, even bounced a few times before it hit the metal wall of the training center. I could feel something trickling down my head, and my eyes began to blur.

That bi—no, Jade, let's not go back to that foul-mouthed, gangster son again.

Recite your mantra. If you think of it, you'll end up saying it, committing it, and regretting it. If you don't, you'll forget it, you'll get dementia...was it?

Lexie was just helping me train. I'm sure that punch doesn't have any bad intentions.

"Yo, Lex! That's low! Why would you use a gauntlet with increased damage dealt?"

Noir's unconcerned and laughter-filled voice rang in my already ringing ears. My blood boiled. Is that true? That bitch! What the fuck is wrong with her?!

"Vice-captain, isn't that too dangerous? Look at what had become to our precious newbie! He's dying!"

That guy's dramatic tone wasn't helping at all. I tried to push myself up, but even my shoulders ached from a slight movement. I groaned from the pain. It felt like my body was wrung like a cloth.

"Etienne."

Terrius's voice reached my ears. My blurry vision saw a figure running toward me, and then not long after, I felt the pain slowly disappearing, replaced by something warm touching my skin, as though I was embraced by a gentle sun.

It wasn't scorching, just...too relaxing and putting me off to sleep.

"Don't sleep, Jade. I'm sorry, I couldn't run to you as fast as possible. I had to abide by the vice-captain's orders. He was checking how much pain and injuries you can endure," Etienne explained in a sorry tone.

My eyes were closed, but I could picture his worried expression. Even his voice trembled a bit. I wanted to reply, but I was afraid only profanities would leave my mouth. To reassure him I was fine, I grabbed his hand on my chest, and squeezed it.

Damn, his hand is so soft.

Someone snorted. I'm certain it was that apathetic, insulting, unlikable horse.

I peeked through one eye and coughed uncontrollably after meeting those obsidian eyes. What? When did he arrive? 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"That's enough, Etienne. You can stop."

"Captain, he's not fully recovered yet."

"Let him heal on his own. He'll get dependent if you keep treating him every time he gets injured."

"This is his first time, captain."

"That's better. You shouldn't use your full power to just anyone, Etienne. The drawback of your ability is worse than ours. He needs to know that."

I quickly pushed Etienne's hand away, as gently as I could. My body was lighter, and most of the pain in my upper body was gone. The wound on my head was healed as well. Hearing what Claude said, cleared my head.

"I'm fine now, Etienne. Thank you for treating me."

Etienne smiled at me apologetically, his golden eyes shifting to my right side. He probably felt sorry that my right arm wasn't fully recovered. It was a bit dislocated, but the pain was bearable.

One thing this injury brought me though, was that I could have a break in training. I haven't read a book in a while now, so—

"Since you're fine, let's resume with your training."

I shot the captain a murderous glare. Yes, I wasn't thinking of the consequences, but I was just extremely pissed off by his face. He knew my arm was throbbing and yet he dared to say that?

"You're ability doesn't require too much physical effort. You can just stand and activate it whenever you want. What's the big deal in resuming your practice?" The bastard remarked.

I hissed at him. "If that's the case, what's the point of learning short-range combat?"

Claude eyed me sternly. "If one day you encounter someone like Lexie with ill intentions, you'd be glad that you learned that. Your ability was deadly to all awakened individuals, but what about the non-awakened? That skinny, muscleless body, will be thrown the same way you did earlier."

My eye twitched in displeasure. I opened my mouth to defend my body, but Terrius interrupted.

"Captain, he still needs to get treatment for his arm right away. It's swollen."

"I'll bring him to the clinic," Lexie volunteered. She glanced at me with a crooked smile. I frowned at her attempt to pacify my anger, but I didn't complain.

Claude agreed in the end. He left without saying anything. Terrius forced Etienne to receive counseling, while Noir...well, I don't care about him.

"Sorry about earlier," Lexie said as we headed to the clinic.

"Yeah. I almost died."

"I'm really sorry. Usually, I can see the skill of the weapon I'm using, but when I wore the gauntlet, nothing appeared, so I thought it was just an ordinary one. I should have checked properly. I'm really sorry, Jade."

"But Noir said that its attack was increased?"

I clearly remembered it.

Lexie grimaced. "That guy was just messing with you. There's no way he can tell what my weapon's skill is. It's my ability. He probably just saw me use the same gauntlet before, and remembered its attack power, still...I'm certain it wasn't increased. If it had, then you would have burst into two...ah, sorry."

Wouldn't that mean that I was just too weak against a female's punch? If it's just an ordinary weapon... wait.

"Is it really the same gauntlet you used before?" I asked Lexie again, attentively.

Lexie nodded, giving me a confused look.

Then, is it possible that I turned off the weapon's skill? At that time, I was focusing on nullifying Lexie's combat boots due to its user's increased speed and agility skill.

But it nullified the gauntlet instead. This means that my ability will automatically activate against any imminent danger, even without my permit.

Is this what you call a cheat skill?