Blaze smirked slightly. It looked as though a small rivalry had started between the two groups.
“Ready?” Rugrat asked. Although everyone had crossbows, he had created a bow with pulleys, like the modified crossbows, and a composite metal. It was even stronger than the crossbow in strength; matched with Rugrat’s added marksmen skill and speed, he was tens of times faster with his bow and just as deadly as those with the modified crossbows.
“Ready,” Blaze confirmed.
“All right.” Rugrat waved off some of the archers. He had spent yesterday and the morning working with the group to be medics; the rest of his time, he had been teaching the sharpshooters everything he knew from being a sniper.
They would go ahead to scout out the forest then guide the boars back to the heavy infantry. First, they would use the boars to test their abilities and techniques. They would even try to move while under attack; it was much harder but it showed their skill.
They would go through transitions from spears to swords. Although they expected boars, there was also the possibility of wolves being attracted to the battle like they had been before.
Blaze and Rugrat even planned on it, wanting to surprise and get the heavy infantry to react.
Rugrat had brought two of the medics in training with him as well to deal with any severe injuries.
“Prepare to move out!” Blaze yelled. The heavy infantry sections got organized. Blade section had been allowed to regain their title as Section One. All of them had the same haircut, was freshly shaved, and wore the same armor and weapons. There was no difference between them now.
Blaze was proud of how far they had come.
As they marched toward the forest, his eyes turned dark, knowing of the threats that hid in those trees.
Chapter: Heavy Infantry Armor
Erik slowly opened his eyes. It was dark outside his window.
He stretched, feeling his bones pop and crack. He felt a pulling sensation. Finding an IV needle, he pulled it out.
Feeling refreshed and a bit hungry he opened and closed his hand, finding the feeling odd, it felt harder, but it didn’t appear any different.
He felt power moving through his muscles; his entire body contained an explosive energy that just wanted to escape. It felt as if he was even stronger than when he was in his prime.
He took his time to review his notifications.
==========
Quest: Body Cultivation
==========
The path cultivating one’s body is not easy. To stand at the top, one must forge their own path forward.
==========
Requirements:
Reach Body Like Stone Level
Sub-requirements
Tempering of the Blood
Tempering of the Bones
Tempering of the Organs
Tempering of the Muscles
Tempering of the Skin
==========
Rewards:
3 to Strength
3 to Agility
3 to Stamina
5 to Stamina Regeneration
100,000 EXP
==========
=========
You have successfully tempered your Muscles!
=========
4 to Agility
5 to Strength
=========
=========
You have successfully tempered your Organs
=========
4 to Stamina
5 to Stamina Regeneration
=========
Erik’s body shook as he saw the massive increases to his attributes. This wasn’t just increasing one stat—this was as if he had leveled up four times!
He hadn’t gotten a notification when he had tempered his blood and he didn’t get one now when he tempered his skin.
One’s recovery ability wasn’t calculated in their stats, nor was the strength of their body, as one’s body wouldn’t recall how many health potions they had or the armor. It was increases that increased their combat strength but not overall level or attributes.
Erik looked into his character sheet.
==========
Character Sheet
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Name: Erik West
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Level: 13
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Race: Human
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Titles: From the Grave
Land Holder (Temporary)
Mana Lord
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Strength: (Base 12) +11
==========
230
==========
Agility: (Base 10) +13
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115
==========
Stamina: (Base 16) +4
==========
300
==========
Mana: (Base 6) +11
==========
170
==========
Mana Regeneration (Base 10) +21
10.05/s
==========
Stamina Regeneration: (Base: 12) +20
7.15/s
==========
The increases were added to his base stat instead of his modifier. Erik took his time. He felt refreshed as he examined his body.
Seeing that there was nothing wrong, he adjusted to his newfound strength and agility. As much as he wanted to show off his strength, he knew that it was a mistake and a quick way to look like an idiot.
Sometime later, the sun still had to come up as he heard Rugrat moving to his door.
Rugrat opened the door, rubbing his tired face. He stopped his hand, looking at Erik. “You’re awake?” Rugrat asked, waking up in a second. “It’s about time!”
Erik laughed, seeing Rugrat’s face lit up with a smile. “Wait, about time? How long have I been out?”
“It’s the tenth day since we’ve been in Alva Village,” Rugrat said.
“I was out for three days?” Erik asked in alarm.
“About,” Rugrat said.
Erik munched on food and looked to the IV. It was green in color. It must’ve been some kind of Stamina Regeneration powder or potion.
Back on Earth, someone who had slept for three days would be starving and dehydrated, but Erik only felt as if he’d missed a meal.
“What’s been going on since I’ve been out?” Erik turned serious. They had four days left, according to the voice from the Beast Mountains trials.
It felt as though it were a lifetime ago that they had appeared outside of Alva Village.
“The three sharpshooter sections have been stepped up—went through, trained them up. Picked out five for your quick reaction force, then the rest are helping out with work on the defenses, or on the walls acting as patrols.
“We’ve pulled everyone from the logging camp and broke it down. All of the heavy infantry are trained with their spears, swords, and shields. They’ve all broken through level ten and are helping with the defenses now. I’ve trained some twenty medics since you’ve been out—got five of them to deal with greater problems and got them some healing manuals. I checked on the local population, healed any issues that were left. Blaze has four people from the heavy infantry he gave to me and I’ve been cross training with the archers I picked for the quick reaction force.” Rugrat looked up, searching for anything he might have forgotten.
“Oh! I don’t have any idea what kind of mage Roska is. She’s not related to an element, or enchanting or crafting really,” Rugrat said.
“Did you get a testing stone?” Erik asked.
“Nope! They’re fifty silver each.”
“How much did we make from the auctions?”
“Umm.” Rugrat opened up his interface. “The hell?”
“Around twenty to thirty gold?” Erik asked aloud.
“Thirty-three,” Rugrat said.
Erik shook his head. He’d put the item
s up for sale and it looked as though Rugrat hadn’t been paying attention to them at all.
“Get the testing stone. We can use it on Roska and a few others. We can try to get some spells. Also, this is for you.” Erik took out the silence spell scroll and he gave it over to Rugrat.
“What is this?”
“It’s a new spell. It’ll silence anything that you cast it on.”
“Anything?” Rugrat asked.
“I think so. I didn’t check it out fully.” Erik shrugged.
“Where did you get this from?”
“I got it when I gained my Apprentice level in stealth.”
“Why are you giving this to me? Couldn’t you use it?” Rugrat pushed it away.
“I’m aiming to go more melee and healer style. I could do with ranged healing spells, but I don’t think that me sneaking around is going to be all that useful. Whereas you, working on making rifles, getting that sneak modifier is going to hurt our enemies a lot more,” Erik said.
Rugrat was hesitant but he put it away after some time. “So, plan moving forward?”
“What are you thinking?” Erik asked. Rugrat had been awake these last few days, so he knew the situation better.
“We keep doing what we’re doing—build up our defenses, improve on our weapons, level up as we can, promote people to grow in their own skills and ways,” Rugrat said.
It wasn’t a crazy plan, but they didn’t know what was going to happen in the coming days. They couldn’t mess around.
If they went crazy with training, then everyone might be tired when they needed to fight.
If they let them all off, then they might not be focused when the time came.
“Increase the amount of food that they get. We’ll raise up their morale and give them some more free time to enjoy their higher levels,” Erik said. They’d been working so hard for so long, everyone needed to blow off some steam.
***
It took Erik a half day to recover. He joined in on the evening meeting. Rugrat was talking with Glosil on techniques one could use with their crossbow.
Today was the last day of training for the heavy infantry, so they got the night off, with extra food and a few beers. Most of them devoured their food and beer, talking in groups at the tables.
Erik and Rugrat shared a look as they saw how they acted. It was as if they were back in any military cafeteria in the United States.
The groups went off to play games, or get some sleep or see their families.
They were different from before, not only in appearance but how they acted. Erik wondered what they’d be like with a few more weeks of training, higher-leveled enemies to fight, and better gear.
It sent a sort of thrill through him, the kind he had when a new unit passed through training and headed out to gain specialization. They had the groundwork, but with time and the right tools, they would become powerful veterans.
Everything was as Rugrat had explained.
Rugrat excused himself and headed back to the smithy.
Rugrat had made dozens of weapons while Erik had been asleep.
“I think that his skill level must be in the Apprentice level, but with the different ideas and practices he has, some of his works can rival Journeyman-leveled items. I think with the right materials, some more information, and maybe discussions with Journeyman smiths, he’d be able to advance greatly. He’s only just started on his path,” Taran said. Erik could see the glow in his eyes and the excitement there. His path ahead was no longer blocked and he was pushing his own boundaries as well.
At different tables in their off hours, people were talking to one another, not only discussing what had happened in the day, but also improving their own knowledge through discussion. Jasper was in charge of a new department, the library, that held a number of manuals that they had purchased from the auction. People were allowed to read them there and make notes but they couldn’t take them away.
Erik sipped on his weak wine and sat beside Taran. The others were off dealing with one issue or another.
“Don’t the villages and villages have libraries?” Erik asked.
“No. Manuals cost too much and they wouldn’t be willing to give them out to the general population unless they have an uprising,” Taran said seriously.
Taran saw Erik’s confused expression and could only frown to himself.
“I’ve meant to ask something for some time,” Taran said in a low voice so that no one else could hear him.
Erik indicated for him to continue.
“You and Rugrat. Are you really sent here by the king?” Taran asked.
Erik tapped his cup in thought, thinking of Taran as a man and what was to come. He swore to follow Rugrat and me, even when he had doubts about our identity. If I don’t trust him with the truth, can I trust anyone else?
“No, we’re not,” Erik said.
Taran seemed to sink into thought, a dark expression on his face. “Do you think that the king might order someone to help us?” Taran asked bluntly.
“I don’t know, but I don’t think so. Blaze sent word weeks ago. If they used their horses, they should have been here a week ago.”
Taran looked away at the ground, lost to his own thoughts.
Erik let him be.
Taran took some time to recover, clearing his throat and drinking some water. “There are a few reasons people don’t have libraries. One—the books are all treasures and they cost a lot to buy. They also need to have people managing them, so this is a large cost to any leader. The second is that the Ten Realms is based on the fact that the strong make the rules and the weak abide.
“To become strong, one needs backing, resources and information. If the people don’t have that information, then it makes it much harder for them to increase in level and turn into a threat to the rulers. Who would make a system that puts them out of power?”
Erik nodded slowly. An idea started to form in his mind, but he dismissed it. Right now he didn’t need to plan anything beyond defending Alva Village. Everything else would come later.
Erik and Taran sat there, looking over the village square. People who were on later shifts started up their work while others gathered with their families. There were a few people off to the side. Kids were playing and greeting their parents who had been working all day.
Erik stood. It was time he started to train.
Chapter: Oathbreaker
Erik left the village square and went to the barracks. It was quiet as the sergeants were either asleep, with their families, or on patrol of the village walls.
One could hear Rugrat still working away in the smithy.
Erik stretched out before he moved to do squats, burpees, and sit-ups. He went through one hundred of each with little to no fatigue. It felt like more of a warm-up as he stood up and started punching and kicking. It had been a long time since he had done a class on close combat fighting techniques.
He took his time through the different movements, going through them again and again. The more he moved, the more he remembered, the memories buried deep in his muscles.
After he felt he had a handle on it, he started to incorporate the Mana fighting techniques, using Mana in concert with his muscles to increase his striking power.
The strain was less on his body than it had been before and he could increase the amount of Mana channeled through his body and the duration he could do it for.
Erik then started to incorporate the Mana bullet spell into his close quarters fighting, shooting at the archery targets. He limited the power greatly so it wouldn’t make enough noise to wake those sleeping.
“It’s painful just watching you,” Rugrat said from the door of the smithy as he rolled up his sleeves, showing the tattoo sleeves that ran up both of his arms.
A simple bow appeared in one hand as he pulled out a quiver of failed arrows and put them over his shoulder.
“What you thinking?” Erik asked w
arily, facing Rugrat.
“Bit of arrow skeet. I’ll shoot arrows at you, you destroy them or dodge them?” Rugrat said.
“This doesn’t sound like a…” Erik didn’t finish what he was saying as Rugrat strung an arrow and fired at Erik.
Erik advanced toward Rugrat. The arrow hit his shoulder, missing his head. It made him wince, but it would have cut another person, leaving them with a deep bone bruise, maybe even a break.
Erik had no time to stop as Rugrat had already fired his second arrow.
Erik threw out his fist. The rush of air threw the arrow off target slightly as it sailed past. Erik grimaced; he wanted to destroy the arrow.
He threw out his fists, trying to break the arrows that were coming at his body. Erik grunted if they struck his body, opening him up for more attacks. After twenty arrows, he had pushed five to the side and he had failed to destroy a single one. The others had all hit him.
Rugrat had another arrow on his bow, ready to fire as he looked at Erik.
“Come on,” Erik said.
Being able to alter the direction of arrows with just the power in his body, it was incredible, certainly not something that was possible back on Earth. Erik was determined to destroy the arrows in flight.
Some karate shit, maybe even catch a fly with chopsticks!
Erik didn’t have any more time as Rugrat started moving through the barracks, shooting arrows at him. Erik not only had to fight back and try to hit the arrows so they wouldn’t hit him; he had to keep on moving to adjust to the new attacks.
He was surprised by Rugrat’s ability.
Rugrat paused another twenty arrows later. Erik’s breathing was more forced but he was still filled with energy, his Stamina recovering quickly.
“You’re level fifteen,” Erik accused.
“Yeah, made a breakthrough a few days ago.” Rugrat smiled unapologetically.
Erik was happy for his friend, but he felt that he was falling behind further and further. Rugrat had been able to find someone to talk about his craft with; he had also been able to find plenty of supplies to work with. Erik needed either wounded people or information manuals and technique books.
He wasn’t going to start hurting people and heal them up. The Ten Realms system wasn’t stupid and gave little to no Experience to people for healing themselves or others who they had hurt on purpose.
The Two Week Curse Page 39