by Jez Cajiao
“I don’t know what ‘Kung Fu’ is, but I know the Art of Asha’tuun…I must…I…” He shook his head as though in shock.
“Sounds freaky.” I said shrugging. “Is it any good?” Flux slowly nodded.
“It… it will take some time to work this into our training, but by tonight, I will have a plan.” He assured me shakily, and I smiled at him.
“Seriously, Flux, if you think it’s worth studying, then that’s great; we all need to be a lot better at fighting, but if it’s just another style, or you think that another style that you use would be better…”
“No. You don’t understand,” Flux said, shaking his head. “A master of this art would be practically unstoppable; you gave me a primer. It covers the absolute basics and was created to give new members of the Special Forces Legion a very bare bones understanding of the art before they began to train. We have to find more of the series.” He spoke adamantly, and I turned to scan the space. Not finding Oracle anywhere, I reached out to her with my mind. She’d turned up while Flux and I were training and had gotten bored and wandered off again since then.
“Oracle, do we have any more books on Asha’tuun in the Hall of Memories?”
“Hi, Jax, how’re you?”
“Sorry… Hi, Oracle. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m having sooo much fun with Bob. We’re exploring the forest, just outside the Tower!”
I got a mental image sent by her that showed Bob absolutely covered in flowers. She’d even pushed them into the gaps in his armor. Poor bastard…
“I know you and Bob are having fun, but about the Asha’tuun…?”
“Okay, yes… there’s a memory crystal and one more book in the Hall of Memories that reference it, but I wouldn’t use them yet."
"The book is an advanced one, and the Memories are from a member of the Special Forces Legion. She was a Hunter-Killer for the Emperor, and we haven’t got anyone that I know of that’s even looking to be an assassin or bodyguard beyond Bane, and he’d have no chance of understanding the details.”
“Okay, thanks, Oracle.”
I turned back to Flux and shook my head.
“Sorry, mate; that was the only lower level book we had for that art. We have memories for a Hunter-Killer, whatever that is, and one advanced book, but until you’re more experienced, I’m not going to consider using those; it’d just be a waste,” I said.
“Hmmm, well, I understand that. It would be a waste…. but…” He shook his head, and I clapped him on his shoulder, nodding.
“I know, mate. Look at it this way: as soon as you can level your skill high enough, it’s yours. Okay? Besides, doesn’t teaching help to level your skills?”
“Not as much as you’d hope.” He shrugged. “But I know more than I did, and I have a goal now, so thank you, Jax.”
“No worries. Shall we?” I asked, nodding toward the group that was milling around, waiting for something to happen.
We joined the rest of the group, and while I got a lot of strange looks for joining in with them all, once Cai, Oren, and Barrett also showed up, people seemed to accept that it was training for everyone.
Flux separated us all out until we surrounded himself, Cheena, and Bane in a giant ring. Each of the three faced a different direction, and they guided everyone through a series of basic stretches, jumps, and exercises for the first ten minutes.
Once everyone was warmed up and sweating, he introduced a series of moves that were practically dances, fluid steps forward and back, a low, high, and side kick, and two different punches, one high and fast, one low and aimed at center mass. We spent the next forty or fifty minutes following his instructions, before a long slow cooldown that was almost exclusively stretches and lunges.
By the end, combined with the morning’s two-hour intense workout, and the insane sprint down the Tower, I was absolutely exhausted, and I walked away on wobbly legs as I tried to hide just how hard the workout had been.
The group part hadn’t been so bad at first; it was when those three murderous bastards began to circulate through the group, pausing to order people to go faster, kick higher, and to work to their absolute hardest level, that it got worse. No matter when I tried to slow, to just take it easier a bit, just for a minute, one of them was there, by my side.
They’d just pause, looking at me, then looking at the others, and they’d draw everyone’s eyes effortlessly to me. I was stronger than most, and faster, and if I just did the same as they did, well… So, I worked harder.
I was filled with the thoughts they might be having, concerns over my abilities, and I pushed harder. And harder. And even harder.
As I stood at the railing of the balcony, looking out over the miles of forests and mountains spread out before me, I gripped the enchanted stonework as hard as I could and tried to project relaxation, even as I frantically tried to keep my legs from buckling.
I had notifications waiting, and I opened them after a minute. I felt optimistic, having seen the smiles from the dispersing crowd and heard their oaths of delighted surprise.
Congratulations! Through hard work and perseverance, you have increased your Endurance and Strength stats by one point each. Continue to train and learn to increase this further.
Congratulations!
Through dedicated training with a skilled instructor, you have increased your Unarmed skill. Continue to train and learn to increase this further…
Congratulations!
Through dedicated training with a skilled instructor, you have increased your Spear wielding skill by two points. Spears are a subset of Staffs, and as such, your staff wielding skill has increased slightly. Continue to train and learn to increase this further.
Those notifications had made me smile again; increasing skills always cheered me up.
For the first time in what seemed like ages, I summoned my stat sheet and read it over, my heart finally coming down from its frantic rhythm to a more normal one as I examined my levels.
Name Jax
Titles: Strategos: 5% boost to damage resistance. Fortifier: 5% boost to defensive structure integrity, Chosen of Jenae
Class: Spellsword > Justicar
Renown: Unknown
Level: 13
Progress: 116,530/120,000
Patron: Jenae, Goddess of Fire and Exploration
Points to Distribute: 0
Meridian Points to Invest: 0
Stat
Current points
Description
Effect
Progress to next level
Agility
39
Governs dodge and movement.
Average speed + 290% (+10% increase in darkness, -20% in daylight)
36/100
Charisma
12
Governs likely success to charm, seduce, or threaten
Success chance +20%
2/100
Constitution
30
Governs health and health regeneration
HP+380, regen 23pts per 600s (+10% regen due to soul bond, -20hp, each point invested now worth 20hp)
17/100
Dexterity
19
Governs ability with weapons and crafting success
+ 9% chance to wield weapon successfully, + 8% chance of crafting success
60/100
Endurance
23
Governs stamina and stamina regeneration
STM +130, regen 13pts per 30s
13/100
Intelligence
26
Governs base mana and number of spells able to be learned
+140 mana, spell capacity: 13 spells (-20mp due to soul bond)
43/100
Luck
17
Governs overall chance of bonuses
+7% chance of success in area luck affects
99/100
Perception
24
Governs ranged damage and chance to spot traps/hidden i
tems
+140% ranged damage, +24% chance to spot traps/hidden items
72/100
Strength
22
Governs damage with melee weapons and carrying capacity
+12 damage with melee weapons, +120% carrying capacity
22/100
Wisdom
29 (23)
Governs mana regeneration and memory
+190% mana recovery, 2.9ppm, 190% more likely to remember things
98/100
I was about to pull up my skills sheet next, when a cough drew my attention. I dismissed the page and looked around, finding Barrett and Oren standing nearby, clearly waiting for me, while Ame berated someone within hearing distance.
“What’s up?” I asked, and Barrett gestured to the people as they were split up into individual groups by Bane, Flux, and Cheena.
“I wanted to confirm that what we’d planned before was okay; you remember, the training schedule we were talking about?”
“Yes, sorry, mate; I approve. The only concern I had was the healers, and Ame agreed to go out with the groups, so that’s fine. I’d suggest you have the hunters work from a set location that they all agree on, then split off to hunt. That way, they can bring back anything they catch to that location, and Ame and the fighters can be waiting there, in case they’re needed. They’ll be close by, but far enough back that the hunters can get some experience as well. Does that work?”
“Yes, that makes sense. One more thing, though… we need to talk about Himnel, and the people we left there. You were talking about a trip to get supplies and to try to get our families out. Each day we delay means that things will get worse for our families. Not all of us can afford to wait; I…”
“I know it’s not ideal…”
“No, Jax; please, listen to me,” Barrett pleaded, shaking his head as he interrupted me. I stopped and frowned, gesturing for him to continue.
“Look, some of the crew’s families, hell, some of our closest friends and the people who we’d most like to recruit, they can’t afford for us to wait much longer. When we talked about it, I thought it was just two of my friends, and I figured it was better to wait until we had a proper plan, rather than risk it. I figured they’d be able to survive. I’ve asked around, though, and a lot of our people are in the same boat. At least a third of the people that we’re most wanting to recruit are the ones that will be in the shit, now that Oren’s and Decin’s ships are ‘missing’. People relied on us, on our wages, on us being able to get cheap food on our trips…when word spreads that we’re gone, whether it’s because people think we’re dead, or whatever, our families are going to spread out. They’re going to need to go looking for work in places they wouldn’t normally consider. The mines, the Arena, the Pits… some will end up taking contracts for adventuring, and then they’ll never come back. As it is, our people will be scared, wondering where we are. Another day or two, and they’ll be getting frantic. We don’t have the weeks and months it’ll take to do this properly, Jax. Do you understand?”
“I think so; how long?” I asked, my mind going into overdrive. I’d wanted to get things set up here first, get the Tower running better, maybe take Decin’s ship out for a trip to Isabella’s village and recruit some more first…
“Literally a few days. I’ve also asked around, and without including the Engineers and Shipyard rats and their families, there’s nearly three hundred people that we’d be looking at trying to get out of the city.”
“Fuck!” I cursed, running my fingers through my hair, and glaring at him. “Seriously, man; three fucking hundred? Plus, the Engineers and their families, so it’ll jump to what, three fifty, four hundred? How the hell am I supposed to get them out of there? Plus, how the fuck would we feed them? I bet none of them are hunters or anything useful like that!”
“No, but they’re a cross section of a city, Jax. Some are crafters, guards, cooks, and cleaners. Two of those who’d want to come are hookers, and they’re some of the nicest people I know, so…”
“I’m not gonna look down on someone for being a hooker, for fuck’s sake; I used to drink with a couple. Weirdest conversations I’ve ever had, but still cool as fuck people…” I muttered, shaking my head. “No, I’m not being an arse here, Barrett. I want to bring anyone that wants to come, but to increase our little group by three or four times its size in one go, and to have to smuggle them out of the city, along with food and supplies, plus the goddamn manastones that we desperately need…”
“I know,” Barrett said, taking a deep breath and shrugging. “I needed to let you know, though, because as the days pass, those people are going to start starving, and when your people here know it, and compare their new lives to their friends and family starving to death back there because of their choices? It’s not going to go down well. My sister and her bairn are back there, and thinking of either of them starving…Well, it makes me want to leave you and go help them, despite my Oaths…”
“Fuck!” I spat, shaking my head. “All right leave it with me. I wanted more time to come up with a plan, but that’s not the way the world works…I’ll have a think and come back to you soon, okay? It’s the best I can say right now. I’m sorry; I know you’re worried, but we only have the most basic plan in place. We need to figure this out more, and then we can go in and make sure that we save them. If we just go rushing in now…we could lose more than we save, mate. We’re not ready to fight Himnel’s forces in a head-on war.” I motioned them to come closer as I dropped my voice. “We need to prepare; if we can damage their infrastructure somehow, maybe bomb their shipyards or something, and then get people out with supplies, it’ll make a huge difference. We have to take our time and do this right, though.”
I looked from one to the other, sympathizing with the torn expressions on their faces, and I nodded toward the ships.
“How’s the rebuild going on them?” I asked and got a surprising mix of looks in return. Oren looked depressed, while Barrett looked annoyed, when I’d been expecting a much happier mood. “Wait, what am I missing here?” I asked.
“Well, laddie,” Oren admitted, “th’ truth be tha’ we hit a wee problem…” He shook his head and gestured to the ship. “C’mon, it be better iff’n I show ye.” The three of us set off walking toward the ship, moving quickly through the groups of people training. I had to look twice when I noticed virtually Decin’s entire crew in one group, learning to wield spears.
“What’s going on there?” I asked, and Barrett smiled as he followed my gaze.
“They asked to be trained as well. In fact, by the time we were done with the first session this morning, almost the entire population of the Tower had turned up to join in. It seems a lot of the people wanted to learn to defend themselves, even if they don’t intend to be fighters outright.”
“Glad to see it, then. I can’t complain at people for that; god knows they’ve all learned what happens when you can’t defend yourself, after all. Maybe we need to speak to Cai about shifting things slightly, have people do the workout in two groups, with everyone having a day off in between. I don’t want people to burn out or hurt themselves by pushing too hard. If people do a morning of exercise and fighting training, followed by the afternoon, and next day doing their normal routine, their bodies will adjust faster.”
“I’ll talk to him because that makes sense. The original plan was fine when it was just going to be the fighters, but not if it’s going to be the entire Tower,” Barrett agreed.
“Thanks, mate. Okay, Oren, so what’s the… problem…?” I asked, but as we moved around the far side of the warship, I saw where the engineers were all congregating. There was a long, dark line that snaked from around mid-deck to near the stern on the starboard side of the ship, and the Engineers were busy removing the engines from the entire starboard side.
“Well, now ye see th’ problem, laddie. Some fool dinna use the same wood fer th’ entire ship. Inside there, under th’ claddin’, ye see, is a
bunch o’ green timber."
"We found it las’ night. It’s warped and cracked th’ outside; one good hit, or a particularly hard turn…tha’d be all it’d take to change ma ship into a pile o’ scrap full o’ screamin’ sailors.”
“Well, fuck.” I articulated my feelings as clearly as I knew how, while Oren waved one of the engineers over to join us.
“This here be Derik, an’ he’s done got some options fer ye, but I’m warnin’ ye, they do no be good,” Oren said, blowing his beard out in irritation.
“Ah! Lord Jax! Sorry, I be a wee bit o’ a mess here…” Derik said, wiping his hands frantically on the front of his coveralls. He was short, even for a dwarf, which, combined with his massive arms, chest, beard, and eyebrows, gave the impression of talking to a silverback gorilla in a jumpsuit. A very stained, and, in places, torn, jumpsuit.
“Hi, Derik; don’t worry about it. I’m more worried about the ship! What happened?” I said, looking up at the side of the ship and the team of engineers crawling all over it. Some were leaning over the side, while others hung suspended on ropes as they examined the damage.