Chapter 20 A Charm That Could Topple Countries!

Yes, my charm could topple cities!

Hey, even I was surprised when I looked at my status window after a long time.

During these three months, I was eating well and also exercising. Previously I had sunken cheeks due to how malnourished I was, but now?

I was healthy!

Ahhh, being beautiful is such a bliss.

I get discounts from the local clothing store because of it!

I couldn't even enjoy my regular face in my previous life for seven years because it got burned.

So I knew how people treated the ugly.

I knew very well how much your appearance mattered in life.

If you were beautiful, you were lucky and praised.

If you were ugly, you were unlucky and shat on.

But now I had a good face. Coupled with my weird blue diamond eyes, my charm was unrivaled.

Ahh, my long-lost social self-esteem was returning!

Anyways, enough about my charm.

Today was the day that my battle training was going to begin.

As usual, Ben came at the exact time he comes every day and we both went down into the basement training area.

"I'll limit my strength to rank. The goal here is for you to learn how to implement the techniques you learned in combat. So, are you ready?"

"Yes."

The moment those words left my mouth, he disappeared from my view and I slammed into the wall with a striking headache.

I couldn't even react to his speed.

"You're not limiting yourself to rank, you liar!"

"I am, sir."

This man was lying!

If he was limiting his speed to my rank then I should've seen it!

Fine, if that's how he wants to play, then so be it.

Dragon Eyes!

I activated Dragon Eyes and yelled out.

"Again!"

He disappeared from his spot again, but this time I could see where he was. The bastard was coming from above.

He was going to use the heel of his foot to kick me.

I could see his foot coming closer and closer, and I could feel my arms trying to go up to protect my head.

But alas, I was too slow. And right before my eyes, that heel came crashing down onto my beautiful face.

Crack.

The sound of my nose breaking could be heard.

I fell while grabbing my nose.

Blood was coming out repeatedly.

I wanted to curse this bastard so badly, but if I spoke I was afraid that he would become even angrier.

"Please take this, sir."

The bastard said in a sweet tone and handed me a healing potion.

Drinking the potion, I said, "...why are you doing this?"

"Doing what, sir?"

...

What did I do to make him so angry?

I recalled whatever I could from our previous training sessions. In every session, he would just stand in a corner watching me train.

Was the sight of watching me train that infuriating to him?

"Well, I'll have to go early this time, sir. It seems you're in no condition to fight."

Without even waiting for me to reply, he bolted outside of the training room and suite.

I just lay there, pondering how I had made him mad while my nose healed up.

Ben's POV:

I hurriedly left before Alan could figure out anything.

I needed to report his progress to the guild, but...

Damn, it felt good.

Beating up a prodigy with your own hands felt amazing. Although I knew I was far stronger than him, I just couldn't stand it — him breaking through far before my initial expectations by putting in the least amount of effort.

I went through hell to reach B rank, yet I saw someone reach the next rank so easily that the entire guild was dumbfounded.

The location of his suite was hidden from all eyes. And even still, the guild's top-ranked awakened that were trusted made shifts to keep him safe?

And the person in question?

He was putting in just the required effort while the guild was trying its best to provide time for him to grow.

If he wasn't going to put in a lot of effort, then Ben had no qualms beating the shit out of him and planting a seed of revenge inside his heart.

If he wanted revenge, then he would work hard towards it.

Little did Ben know that Alan did overtime training as well.

Although Alan only practiced his mana training technique, this was unknown to Ben because the guild hadn't planted any cameras inside due to the contract they had signed.

Another thing to support Ben's thinking was that Alan shared his mastery ratings with him every day.

And every day, Alan would completely drain his mana reserves during the mana training technique.

So, thinking about it, his mastery rating increase was known to Ben, and he could deduce that Alan only trained for two hours every day based on their steady increase.

As for mana, Ben used common sense. The mana of a person took a full day or even weeks to fully replenish without the use of potions — and Alan used none of the potions given to him by the guild.

And yet, he still broke through with minimum effort.

That was talent. That was true talent that could adapt.

Ben knew very well that Alan could not see his first kick, but could see his second.

And that was what made him afraid and envious.

Jealous of the talent he could never have.

But alas, no god would listen to his woes and grant him groundbreaking talent anymore.

Almost crying inside, Ben entered his car and drove to the guild.

Upon entering the guild, he gave a full account of what happened that day to the guildmaster — even the use of his strength — and explained why he had done so. He also told him that Alan had been able to react to his speed.

"Interesting. You say he could see your B rank speed the second time, but wasn't fast enough to defend against it?"

"Yes, Guildmaster."

Ben replied with respect in his tone and gaze.

"And he reached rank this quickly without even putting in the least amount of effort... huhu."

Richard had to agree that Ben's fury was understandable. Even he was starting to get jealous.

"Well, I permit you to continue. But don't take it too far."

"Yes, Guildmaster."

And so, on that day, Alan's brutal training torture would begin.

And their strategy would work, too — because Alan would finally practice his fighting techniques alongside his mana training technique over time.

And he would finally, after six months, beat the shit out of Ben.

That would become a story told for quite a while in the guild to mock Ben — about how a B rank awakened lost to a D rank one.