I have no connection and own nothing related to The Gamer

Edit: Sorry, had to change the ending stat points. The thing is accident-prone with copy and paste

Chapter 14

"What's wrong?" Kain's dad asked, frowning.

"U..Um, nothing. Sorry." Kain was finally recovering from the shock, probably due to Gamer's Mind. "How was your trip?" he asked.

"Not bad, but it was boring. And of course I missed you two." He continued to hold Kain's mom.

"I have to talk to him about this as soon as possible," Kain thought. "Let's all go inside."

They went inside their house and sat down. For a while the parents talked back and forth, talking about what had happened since he had been gone. "Kain got a new friend," his mom stated after a while, trying to bring Kain back into the conversation.

"Did you now? How's that been going?" Himamura was well aware that his son had been bullied constantly throughout his life. That was why he had taught him how to fight a little.

"Good. I hung out with him for most of this week before you got home," Kain replied, trying to act normal.

"Have you had any trouble while I was gone?" Himamura asked, hinting towards the bullies.

Kain caught the hint. "Last time I saw them, they were on the ground and I walked home without a scratch."

Himamura was pleasantly surprised. "Gotten stronger, have you?"

Kain's mom spoke up then. "He joined the martial arts club, too. He joined late in the school year, but I think he learned some from it."

"Really?" his dad responded. "Well, I might just have to test you, then." Himamura grinned.

"I'd like that. You wanna do it today?" Kain responded, seeing a chance to talk to him alone.

"Hell, let's do it now!" The response from Himamura made Kain's mom shake her head.

"You boys. If you're gonna go do that, go outside. I'll get started on something to eat," his mom said, not bothering to stop them.

The two of them walked outside into their backyard. Kain made sure no one was able to see them, including his mother.

"So what style did you learn?" Kain's dad asked, stretching lightly.

"A few," Kain said distantly. "You ready?" After seeing his dad nod, he raised his palm into the air. An illusion barrier surrounded the backyard, separating them from the outside world.

Instantly his dad was serious. "What have you learned?"

"I've learned of the Abyss, dad. I gained an ability. And I can tell you're from the Abyss as well. I can even tell you that you're called the Illusionist."

"How do you know all of that?" Himamura was defensive.

"Because of my ability. I can treat the world as if it's a game. I have a level, and I can see the name above your head."

Hearing that made Himamura relax a little. "Well, at least I know you're not an imposter. Only my son would get an ability to treat the world like a game. How do you know of the Abyss, though? What's happened?"

Kain told him everything that has happened up to now and described his ability in detail. "The Crimson Rain, huh. They're a nice clan. I'm glad you chose to help them over others. I personally work alone," his dad responded.

"Do they know you then? Wouldn't they have recognized my last name?" Kain asked.

"Just like you said, I'm the Illusionist. They don't know my real appearance or identity. No one in the Abyss does. Well, I guess except you. And before you ask, yes, that's my job. My trips are for the Abyss. That's why we've never had to worry about money. I'm sure you've discovered how much money can be made in the Abyss."

"I'm actually surprised we're not rich considering that I can't even see your level," Kain replied. "That means you're ridiculously powerful."

Himamura chuckled a little at that. "Well, I'm glad you think so. But I guess we should hurry up if your mom isn't going to get suspicious."

"Oh, don't worry about that. This is a time illusion barrier, it slows the time by 10." Kain had leveled up his barrier some more earlier in preparation for harder training.

"Then I guess we have a little bit of time. I want to see all of what you learned." Himamura dropped into a martial arts stance. "Whenever you're ready. And you don't need to hold back."

"Okay, let's do it." Kain dropped into a stance as well. His aura spiked, immediately going into the outer ki technique. His dad matched it. Kain rushed forward, using the style he had made. His dad was blocking each attack perfectly.

"Very good! But you're still holding back. You told me about some of your other skills, show them to me." Himamura's aura grew, pushing Kain back.

"If you're sure you'll be okay, then I will!" Kain used the Gravity Field, and the air around them grew heavy, but Himamura showed no sign of discomfort. Kain summoned Tinder, who immediately attacked with fire attacks. Similarly, Kain began using Fire Fist.

Kain rushed forward, attacking again. His dad's defenses turned into a shadow like blur, and none of Kain's attacks reached him. "Very good! This could beat many in the Abyss. You've learned a lot while I've been gone." Kain's mana was dropping with the use of so many techniques, but he continued to fight for a while longer. When he finally gave up on fighting at this level, he decided to go to the limit of his mana. He increased his outer ki technique.

Increased output, Str + 150, Dex + 150

He rushed one last time and attacked. When Himamura blocked the hit this time, he noticed that Kain hadn't attacked with his fist, but his palm. "Mana Beam!" The attack blasted out, the blast being the size of Himamura's body. When the blast cleared, Kain's dad was nowhere to be found. Kain quickly glanced around.

"Right behind you." Kain swung around to see his dad standing there, smiling. "You've grown incredibly strong. That last attack was incredible. And I'm glad you didn't choose to focus specifically only on martial arts or magic and chose to mix it together. It's a much harder route when you decide to focus on one or the other."

"You didn't get hit even once," Kain said in between breaths. "You're incredible."

"That's what happens when you fight for a living. I've trained my body to its peak and I've gained experience in battles that have made me able to predict people. If you continue to fight in the Abyss, you'll most likely reach this point, too. Especially since I don't have a special ability."

"It's... frightening." Kain said. "I've been treating my life as a game as best I could. But seeing you, and seeing I still can't even touch some people... It's frightening. I don't want to die in the Abyss."

Himamura put a hand on Kain's shoulder. "I'll make sure that never happens. I understand that you're scared. I was, too. It's too late for you to leave the Abyss, but you have the potential to get extremely stronger. And I'll protect you the whole way." He ruffled Kain's hair. "I have plenty of money now, so I won't need to leave again. We can work together." Himamura broke Kain's illusion barrier and led him inside.

"So how did it go?" Kain's mom asked.

"It was interesting," Himamura replied. "I'm thinking of taking Kain for a camping trip tomorrow."

"Really?" his mother scorned Himamura. "You just got here and you're already taking off. At least you're taking him with you, I guess."

"Sorry hun. We can go on a camping trip next," he winked towards her, making her giggle.

"I don't want to know what you meant by that," Kain muttered, grossed out.

After they ate, his dad pulled Kain to the side. "Tomorrow we're going to train all day. And it's going to be in my illusion barrier, which is not going to be easy. It's the only one I can make, and it's meant for someone fairly stronger than you are."

Considering his dad's level was well over his, Kain was slightly frightened by the thought. "If they're meant for someone of your level, I'm doomed."

"They're a little lower than that, don't worry. You should be able to manage with a little help. But it won't be easy."

The rest of the day was spent hanging out with the family.

The Next Day

Kain and his dad were standing in the middle of an empty forest. "I think this is a clear enough area," his dad said. "I've never had a need for it, so I never learned it, but time would be useful. Wanna create a time barrier?"

"Sure," Kain replied. He raised his hand and created a 10x time illusion barrier.

"All right, my turn." Himamura raised his hand this time, and another illusion barrier was created. Suddenly, they were surrounded by creatures that were similar to shadows. "This is where I learned the technique I used to block your attack. These creatures all have the ability to block you. The only way to beat them is through breaking their mind, which I do, or using a purely mana-based attack, which you used against me."

Kain looked above their heads to see their info.

Shadow Creature Lv 74

"They're...they're over twice my strength." Kain backed away from them.

"That's why I'm going to help you defeat them. Don't worry, I won't let you get seriously hurt. I'm your dad after all. Now attack them."

Gulping, he raised his palm outwards to them. "Mana Beam!" The huge blast fired out, but they simply dodged it and started advancing slowly.

"You're going to have to do a lot better than that! These creatures aren't dumb, they dodge and actually think."

"I can't hit them with that attack if they are going to just move around like that!" Kain thought for a second. Then he used his outer ki technique and activated his mana sword. "This'll work." His dad nodded in appreciation.

"That's a much better idea. If you get a chance, you can attack with the beam attack, but your specialty is definitely up front and personal. I'll protect you from any attacks for now."

Kain ran forward at the creatures. He swiped at the first one as he came up to it. The creature jumped back, avoiding it. The others were suddenly blocked off by a large black wall. "One at a time for now," Kain heard his dad yell out.

The fight went on for a very long time. Kain would swipe at it with his sword, but it would dodge and then attempt a counter attack, which was only blocked by a wall of shadows caused by his dad. It breathed out a black smog at one point, which made Kain's dad push Kain far away from it, making him wait for it to disperse. "Trust me, you don't want to breathe that in," he had said seriously. Finally, after what felt like forever, Kain was able to get a small cut on the creature. It screeched and attacked him more ferociously. The black shadows that defended Kain suddenly washed over the creature holding it down. "Kill it," his dad said. Kain stabbed it where the heart would be, and the shadow monster disappeared.

Level Up!

"Twenty-three times. That's how many times you would have died had I not been protecting you," Himamura said as he walked up to Kain. "All of that for one scratch."

"It's way stronger than me! What do you expect?" Kain defended himself.

"So if you fight a stronger person in the Abyss, do you just assume you have no chance?" his dad retorted. "That's how you die for real."

Kain dropped his gaze. "But how do I beat these things?"

Himamura replied, "Experience. You need to learn how these creatures fight. These guys are much closer to humans in how they fight compared to what you've been fighting until now. You'll actually have to pay attention to it's movements and be prepared for the unexpected. The increase in level is nice, but that's not the real purpose to this. It's so you can get practice in predicting your opponent's next attack."

"I've already done some of that with Murkuro," Kain responded.

"To a point, yes. But how do you counter something that fights in a completely different style than him? Each of these monsters fights differently than the other. You can't get used to one style."

Kain nodded. "Okay. I'll fight at my current strength."

"Good. We'll keep going then." Himamura let the next come into the barrier.

This method of fighting continued for about three hours, leaving Kain tired. He had leveled up four more times, but he wasn't allowed to use the stat points since he had to fight at his current strength. He had started to get a hang of it though. The next fight gave him a new technique.

Through a high Intelligence and a special action, a new skill has been created

Precognition (Passive) Lv 1

Ability to see slight glimpses of the future. Channeling it is a very difficult task, however

The next couple of fights were a little easier, but not by a lot. The level of precognition went up by one, and he had leveled up again.

"You're starting to get a hang of it," Himamura stated. "You would have only died twice that match, and you were actually successful in striking a killing blow."

"Gee, thanks." Kain didn't like the thought that he would still die if he fought them alone.

By the time the first day inside the illusion barrier was finished, Kain had leveled up eleven times total and precognition had rose to level 9. The creatures had dropped a lot of money as well, which Himamura was surprised about. "Damn, I wish they would have done that for me when I trained in here. I wouldn't have had to do all those things for the Abyss."

"Okay, if you want, you can use your stat points now." Himamura said. "It'll be the only time I let you for the rest of our training, so choose what you increase wisely."

Kain knew exactly what he would need for the battle. He had 85 points to spare. He put 50 into his Dex, raising it to 100, and 19 into his Wis, raising it to 50. He still had 16 points left, so he chose to save them. "I need speed and wisdom for this kind of training, there's no doubt about that."

Speed of Gods (Passive)

30% increase to movement speed

20% increase to reflex speed

Wizard's Wisdom (Passive)

100% increase to speed of brain

50% increase to speed of anterior cingulate cortex

"What in the world is the anterior cingulate cortex?" Kain asked out loud.

"It's a part of your brain that focuses on decision making," his dad said casually.

"How do you know that?" Kain asked.

"I know a lot of things," Himamura smiled. "Ready for more training?"

Kain nodded.

The Gamer of Crimson Rain

Kain Rockbear Lv 43 Exp 2.75%

Health: 1700/1700 (+340/340)

Mana: 1190/1190 (+59/59)

Vit: 50 + 26% + 40%

Str: 65 + 26% + 40%

Dex: 100 + 26% + 40% + 26% + 15%

Int: 64 + 26%

Wis: 50 + 26% + 6%

Luk: 22

Points: 16

Money: 846,983,500 Won