Even with the achievement obtained in its first days, Alexander didn't slow down the pace. Quite the opposite: he pushed himself even harder upon seeing his training was bearing good fruit.

  After a week and a half of relentless training in the academy’s practical classes and the dungeons, Alexander continued to push himself. The progress was so significant that he increased his proficiency with the |Spear Mastery| skill—now boosting his damage by 10%—and even acquired a new skill.

  Ding!

  [|Spear Mastery (Beginner)| leveled up to |Spear Mastery (Intermediate)|]

  Ding!

  [You developed the proficiency skill |Thrust|]

  *[|Thrust|: Delivers a piercing energy-imbued attack that increases penetration by 1-5% and damage by 5-10%. Cost: 10 energy.]*

  Alexander was quite satisfied with the |Thrust| skill he obtained when he finally managed to combine the thrusting motion with the |Energy Control| and |Spear Mastery| skills in a harmonious way.

  He began analyzing the structure of the skill, or at least how he imagined it worked, hoping to understand it better and use it as a reference for creating new skills.

  An inspiration that proved fruitful, because on the last day of the second week of training he obtained a spear-related proficiency skill focused on wide attacks.

  Ding!

  [You developed the proficiency skill |Sweep|]

  *[|Sweep|: Delivers an arcing strike imbued with slashing, or blunt energy, if the user so wishes, that increases damage by 5-10%. Cost: 20 energy.]*

  Alexander improved his |Spear Mastery| considerably in just two weeks, but that wasn't the only proficiency of his that improved.

  The constant use of his bodily energy, {Ki}; his inherent energetic affinity as a {Dual-Core Goblin}; and the training he did every night to improve his energy and mana control, improved the |Energy Control| skill.

  Ding!

  [|Energy Control (Peak)| leveled up to |Energy Control (MAX)|]

  What surprised him most in these weeks of training wasn't how much he improved, but the fact that his development seemed laughable compared to Diana's. She seemed to have become a different person.

  Reaction time; Understanding of how to behave in combat; Mana control; Spellcasting ability; and Assertiveness. All these points of hers, among others, made huge leaps compared to when Alexander first met her.

  The only thing that could still be pointed out as her weak point was her spell arsenal, because even with all the improvements, she was still behind the other students for not knowing good spells or good techniques.

  The funniest thing about this whole change was that it only showed itself in combat.

  Whenever she fought as his support, Diana became decisive. But the moment the battle ended, she shrank back into her timid self—like Battle Cat losing its ferocity and turning back into a shy pup… or rather, a black-dog pup.

  Witnessing the transformation Diana went through during those weeks made Alexander rethink the decision to get involved with her: "Maybe I shouldn't have interfered in her life."

  "I-, is there something on my face, Alexander?" asked Diana, her face extremely red from seeing him observing her.

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  Her question snapped him out of his thoughts and he found himself looking at her as they walked.

  "There's nothing on your face," assured Alexander. "I was thinking about something regarding you and ended up getting distracted… I'm sorry."

  "A-, a-, a-, about me?" asked Diana, her face even redder, if that was possible.

  "Yes," he admitted. "I was thinking you should maintain a low performance at the academy."

  As soon as she saw the serious expression on his face, the blush on hers began to fade and was replaced by apprehension.

  "Why?" she asked, very confused.

  "Combat academies are great places for those who enter them to develop," pointed out Alexander. "But what do you think the empire gains in return for maintaining them?… I'll tell you in advance, it's not for the huge amount of money they must earn every year during the enrollment period, because it wouldn't cover the costs."

  Diana was ready to give another answer, but she kept it to herself as her face grew more and more uncertain. "I heard it was to improve people's lives and the Empire's security."

  "You're not wrong," replied Alexander. "But it's not the whole truth."

  "Put simply, the academies are nothing more than huge traps to attract and capture talents," he said, speculating on some points that weren’t far from the truth. "That's probably why they require people to demonstrate potential before receiving anything."

  "(…)" Not knowing exactly how to respond to his words, she chose to remain silent and listen to what he had to say.

  "What I'm telling you to do is get as much as you can and draw as little attention as possible," explained Alexander. "This way you'll be able to have a relatively peaceful life in the future."

  Diana didn't fully understand all the points and implications, but she understood enough to see the core of the issue.

  "But what about you, Alexander?" she asked, remembering the weapon he had received from the academy. "Aren't you the one in more danger?"

  "Not really," replied Alexander without hesitation. "Our situations are very different, mainly in three key ways."

  "The most compelling of them is that there are already many warriors and mages within the empire. They don't need to chase after a student like me," he began to explain. "But you, on the other hand, are a healing supporter. Who doesn't want another person who in the future could, literally, save their life?"

  Hearing this, Diana grew even more worried. "But aren't you scared?"

  "I shouldn't have any problem with that for now," replied Alexander. "They must just be observing me at the moment. Especially since there is the second big difference between our situations."

  "My development necessarily makes me more destructive," he explained. "In other words, the more I develop, the more power I'll have to defend myself and retaliate against something or someone that oppresses me."

  Seeing Diana looking a bit lost while thinking, he gave her some advice: "Don't think too much about things we have no way of intervening in, because it will do you more harm than good. Just focus on absorbing as much as possible from the classes, as the exposure will be low and the academy's teachers are all top-notch."

  This advice calmed her. And although it was easier said than done, she decided to try to follow it.

  After finishing the last mission they did, Alexander said goodbye to her and returned home with Ocean. "These weeks bore good fruit, but they also stagnated my gain of growth points and free attribute points, as well as XP… I have to reconcile at least two of those things."

  After a night of much deliberation, Alexander drafted the outline of a plan. But for his plan to work, he would need permission from Lucas, the professor in charge of his class, to be absent from the academy for some time without losing his spot due to truancy.

  In the next day's practical combat class, Alexander began to feel he wasn't improving in spear usage. Even after spending half the class training, he didn’t feel like he had improved at all.

  Not sure why this was happening, Alexander admitted defeat and asked Lucas for help.

  "It's hard to say just by listening to your report. It will be better if I know what's happening in practice," explained Lucas, signaling for him to attack.

  Alexander understood what Lucas meant and attacked using about 80% of his base capacity.

  Even if it was meant to increase his proficiency in |Spear Mastery|, he wasn’t willing to reveal his limits.

  Lucas obviously noticed Alexander wasn't using everything he had, but he also didn't pressure him much, as his goal was just to help him, not discover his limits.

  After 10 minutes of simulated combat, Lucas understood the problem and pushed him back, ending the fight. "You've improved a lot in just 2 weeks, but the way you're using your weapon still has some issues… The main one is that you don't seem to have understood that the spear is a weapon of oppression."

  "Weapon of oppression?" asked Alexander.

  "Weapons of oppression are those that can somehow oppress opponents of a similar level," explained Lucas. "The best-known representatives are: The great war hammer, which oppresses the enemy by ensuring they won't come out unscathed from its blows, even if they defend; The great heavy sword, which oppresses the enemy by ensuring its blows cannot be parried by any weapon; and the spear, which oppresses the enemy by keeping them under constant pressure."

  "That's your current problem," he pointed out. "You're using the spear's mobility and reach to gain small advantages in combat. But the spear's true strength lies in dominating your opponent."

  "Your opponent should always feel that no matter what move they make, be it advancing, retreating, or dodging to a side, the tip of your spear will still strike them," concluded.

  The instruction was to keep the adversary under constant pressure to control the flow of the fight, and Alexander understood that. But doing it in practice is much harder than in theory.

  For that, he would have to always be ready to thrust, sweep, advance, and retreat, which would require a lot of mental power.

  Only then would his opponents feel overwhelmed regardless of the move they made.