She pushed the tablet at him. "Look, he didn't see them, he didn't know they were coming, but see how he moved and dodged them all. Some even claimed he had awakened some sensory talents. Even I believed that at first before Brother Elias said it was just an intuition of danger some were able to hone!"
Elias forced out a smile. "She is a fanatical fan," he sighed.
Hearing his sigh, Sasha flared at him. "Still jealous!"
"You only like him because he's good looking."
Her cheeks became beet red before she lashed out, "So what? He's strong too. From the Grimhammer Noble Family. Hmph!"
She harrumphed and walked back to her room upset.
Elias doesn't have a sister, but he imagined she would behave like this if something like this were said to her.
On the table with his breakfast was a stone hand and tiny thumb-sized wheel. Elias filled with possibility—could he get a prosthetic stone relic?
Sasha came down in a uniform: grey-blue, with a professional design that had many pockets on the long jacket.
"Will you be my bodyguard next week? Or do you have plans?"
"Bodyguard? Why do you need that?" Elias sat, prepared to tackle the breakfast.
It was a thick omelet filled with spices. A sauce on the side, and something akin to potato but wasn't cooked or fried.
There was also bread, cheese made from an unknown bovine animal, and a piece of fried mutton.
A teacup sat nearby, and sadly he needed to add the amount of sugar he wanted from the glass container beside it.
"Just say the word and I will help you!" she said, pity evident on her face.
"No. Thank you."
"Alright. Bye!"
"Wait. Why do you need a bodyguard?"
She came and sat opposite him; without asking, she scooped sugar into the teacup and stirred.
"I'm an Explorer, attending Explorers' seminar. Next week I will have an assignment to go deeper into the Gravel Stone Ruins. The goal is to identify important relics and extract some that are useful and bring them back for inspection."
"Alright. That means I have 6 more days to train!" Elias said with a smile. "Thank you for the job." He was genuinely happy.
"How do you feel about this?" She pointed at the stone hand.
"Sigh. Is it mine?" he asked.
"You didn't even understand what I meant!" She made a fist and pushed her hand into a hole where the wrist was, and lightning sparks made the hand glow.
It was heavy but became light, then the stony fingers clenched and opened with ease, emitting the sound of stone gears grinding.
"This technology is primitive at first glance, but studies showed that it was extremely advanced, beyond even our current era's technology."
"Really?"
"Yes. If I were to attach this to myself, pouring talent energy and syncing with it, the stone hand would continue to refine continuously until it became as small as my other hand. It would basically become part of me."
Elias gestured around with his stump before he said, "This house was nurtured to look like this?"
"Yes. Its refinement started with my grandparents, and we still haven't excavated its full secrets. Just recently, my brother found out we could actually turn this into a Sand Ship Glider... don't tell anyone, please."
"Zip... you want me to attach this stone hand to me?" Elias said, trying to appear optimistic.
"No. This is mine. My exploration assignment will be to get you one that suits you, with also a little surprise. And also the stone book you are fascinated about and other trinkets."
Her smile was wide when she said this, "That will be your payment as my bodyguard!"
Using the stone hand, she touched a tiny stone wheel, and it came to life, rolling down ahead as she followed it.
"Bye, and don't break anything!"
"Yes, boss!"
The breakfast had changed form; Sasha couldn't help herself but to help him in her own way.
"She can't resist helping!"
He didn't know what to think about it. He also noticed she was looking at his origin; that's what led her to pull out that clip about him. Unknown to her, his skin wasn't the only thing that changed, but his bone shape and density too.
Elias didn't even know if this was reversible or not.
After some thought, he came to understand being close to that ginormous black hole had bent and twisted his bones into this.
It was a miracle that he was still alive.
Elias then turned his razor-sharp focus on the meal ahead of him; he released gravity force toward the food and made it float.
------
Sasha was late. Elias was hungry, but that wasn't his main concern. He had made great progress with the Skills he was training, but he made one mistake, and that was activating his Talent, which activated the house defense system.
Elias now stood inside a steel bar cage, lightning running through the bars, sparking from time to time at him, but his natural barrier came on to bail him out.
He would have been BBQ.
"What do we have here?" Sasha's voice came as she entered the training field. "How did this happen?"
"Training, and the house got angry!" Elias tried to appear innocent.
"Don't lie. You used that heavy skill I told you not to. Last night nothing happened because I stopped it."
"Sorry."
"Sorry for yourself." She turned and left but then added, "Don't worry, just let the lightning touch you!"
"Hell no!" Elias would never let that world-destroying combustion lightning graze him.
"I can't get you out of there. That's my brother's trap. Only if you faint will the trap believe you are subdued."
"Your lightning is dangerous. I may end up exploding."
"No, you won't." Seeing that he wasn't agreeing, she walked away. "I'm tired!"
She started cooking, but her nature took over, and she came back furious and grabbed the bars; the lightning turned off. "Happy? Now you will have to break the bars because I really don't know how to turn them off."
She was telling the truth.
"What if I fall asleep? Will the trap guess I'm subdued?"
"And you want me to stay like this until you fall asleep?" Sasha flared up.
Elias gave her a sheepish smile before he lay down and closed his eyes.
***
"You are a good cook."
"Spare me your apologetic compliments. Just don't use that thing again. Too dangerous."
"It's my core training; if I don't, I won't grow. As your hired bodyguard, I need to have it!"
"Ah. Now that you said that… I think I can help."
Her white long attire made her appear mature and filled with wisdom. "You will only use it when I am around!"
"Yes, boss!"
The next day was the same; he trained all the skills he could before deciding that was it.
He had the feel of those he could do, but from now on he would focus on two or four until they became Standard Skills of his.
Skills are divided into Minor Skills, Standard Skills, Major Skills, Brand Skills, and Noble Skills.
Elias sighed, "How can I push them to Standard in such a short amount of time!"