"Another skill? So skulls can be learnt from NPCs, that will be great if it's true. I'll just have to put a good impression you on the character and get the skill I want" 

All sort of thoughts popped up in Sean's mind and he answered "of course I do"

Excluding the skills that his bounded player added to their arsenal, Sean only has one skill for himself. Although he doesn't know how powerful a skill might be, judging from the description of his skill, it must be a game changer. 'The more skills you have, the more powerful you get, especially when you start to level up your skills', he learnt that from his sister Trina. There was a time when Trina tried to teach him how to play video games with a low realism percentage but he never had time. Work, school, medical treatment, all of this used up his time. Well, he did learn about attributes, they could help supporting skills and vice versa 

What happened next confirmed his hypothesis

After he agreed, Lyla started to explain her evading technique and performed a demonstration for him. When the demonstration was over, a system window notification appeared popped up 

[Agility reached F, sufficient enough to learn the blocking skill]

[Skill Learned: Blocking]

[Name: Blocking (Basic)]

[Skill Type: Ancillary]

[Effects: Blocking increased by 10 percent. You have learnt attack blocking technique]

[Consumes: Stamina]

[Requirements: F in agility, F in strength]

[Remark: You can use anything strong enough to block your target's attack, your hand included]

"Just as she said, attributes and skills support each other"

Sean confirmed what Trina had once taught him.

"Well then, when skills increase, attributes should follow too" he made z guess that he is yet to confirm

"How was it? Did you get it?"

Lyla said standing to the side after her demonstration.

She looked at Sean's vacant expression, she frowned a little, wondering if everything with him was okay.

Obviously she did not like the fact that he was not concentrating while she was demonstrating 

When Sean noticed her dissatisfaction, he tried to distract her with a demonstration of his own

Since the skill had been learnt, Sean did his demonstration and it was very easy for him, he felt like he had been learning it for a long time 

Lyla's jaw dropped at the demonstration 

"You do gymnastics?" She asked.

Lyla, who was once a member of the school gymnastics team, was aware that for someone to reach this level , two to three years of practice are necessary. A beginner might not be able to might not be able to block an attack coming from before him, key alone a side and from behind.

"No, I told ya I was a wrestler. It's quite easy for me to learn things faster" Sean provide her with an acceptable explanation

Although the game did not mention keeping his identity as a player a secret from the NPCs but his instincts told him the NPCs won't agree easily since the realism of the game is so high 

Sean's explanation seemed to work whereas such explanations are bluffs to real humans.

"I see…" Lyla accepted his explanation.

Sean was distracted again when his eyes focused in his attributes

His stamina had dropped from 100 to 80

The demonstration of his new skill must have consumed his stamina a lot. Blocking attacks with objects might really consume his stamina a lot but blocking with his own hands or other part of his body, it consumes less stamina.

Sean thought about his actions while looking at his skill window.

[Consumed: Stamina]

With no exceptions, all skills consume Stamina but it doesn't state how much stamina each of them consume.

"It does not tell how much they consume because it differs. It depends on how hard you are performing the action"

Remembering the battle he fought earlier, and his actions just now, he drew an easy conclusion.

He looked all over the system log for more information, it did not state how much stamina his actions had consumed.

But his stamina had gone down for real just like his [Hunger] status on the character window

"Is it a hidden message or is it…" he is thought to himself, frowning

Trina had told him about this kind of game before, where some messages are hidden on purpose.

The system normally does filter these messages out of the notification to somewhere else because the system thinks they are useless. But there are some of them that can be game changing.

Playing this dangerous game, he surely can't let go off any information that might help him survive 

He quickly collected his thoughts 

It seemed futile to try to figure it out any further and he didn't want to waste more energy on it.

"Sean, can you teach me some of your techniques?" Lyla asked him when he came back to his senses.

"Of course no problem"

He did not have any reason to decline"there are different kinds of wrestling techniques but I only have basic knowledge about them. Anyway, I'm more familiar with the dagger which I learned as a self defense skill"

Sean had vague knowledge on wrestling skills and that is because he watches wrestling fights a lot and even tried to use them on his co workers whenever he got into a fight. But he succeeded in making a good movement, like everybody else, so he doesn't think teaching someone these skills is a good idea.

[Sharp Weapon (Dagger)(Basic)] is an exception.

This skill, he had learnt through the help of the system and he is confident in himself that he already is a professional. The way he wielded the dagger made him look like he had been using it for years and even his brain was full of dagger related information.

A skill for a skill, that is the beginning of friendship.

"That is what I want"

Lyla smiled. She was happy Sean is willing to teach her hid dagger skill 

Afterall, she had watched Sean fight with the dagger and not only did he strike precisely, he managed to hurt his opponent too 

The time being a hard time from everyone and everyone stealing from each other, the dagger skill as a self defense skill is a good idea, people won't rob her easily or steal her food 

Sean performed his demonstration and  while explaining his technique, he was expecting a message from the system to confirm whether he wanted to teach her or not 

Obviously, the system can only help Sean learn and not teach.

**************************************

"I am" Trina steps forward.

"I'm Zi Xuan, please follow me"

The man turned around and slowly disappeared into the darkness the cave 

Trina lets Liu follow the lady back to Cheng who will take him to whatever Sect he wishes to join.

Alone, she followed Zi Xuan into the cave.

The interior of the cave was pitch black, only the faint green hue radiating from Zi Xuan's body lit up the ground slightly.

Trina followed closely behind him stepping over large uneven pieces of rock. On the darkness, a stream flowed in the gaps between the rocks, producing the sounds of gentle flowing water 

After walking for an unknown length of time, perhaps a Joss stick span or maybe an hour, they had covered at least several hundreds or even a thousand meters.

"Thud" 

Suddenly, Trina seemed to hear something

She spun her head to look in the direction of the sound , only to see a pit set into the wall on the right

In the pit, he saw a lady dressed in white, standing and facing him squarely , her hands held onto an ax with its head pointing down.

The lady's head was wrapped in white clothes so much that get facial features and hair were not visible 

There, she stood in the pit, silent.

However, she seemed to be able to see Trina as her face shifted slowly, following her as she passed 

Trina noticed that a basin with blood on it's edges was placed beside the lady That's…Kins Lady, according to seniority she should be your Senior Apprentice Sister" Zi Xuan whispered 

Trina averted her gaze placidly.

After walking on for a while, she turned around to look at that Lady again.

In the distant, she could still make out the lady staring at him without a budget 

Plainly, her head had been wrapped in white cloth; it looked difficult for her to even breathe. Yet, somehow, Trina still felt she was staring at her 

"She likes it very much when there are new members, you'll get used to it" Zi Xuan said

"Is that so?" Trina spoke no further.

This Anti Devil Sect…it seemed different from what she had imagined.