by Tamryn Tamer
“Paladins?” Fayeth looked confused. “Is that a class?”
“Maybe,” Frost said. “It’s just a theory based on what I know but they’d combine healing, support, and defensive magic while also wearing plate armor. They’re similar to a knight except their primary purpose is to defend and heal.”
“I’ve never heard of that,” Fayeth’s eyes lit up. “Is that really a thing? We should tell Ena before she puts too many points in cloth! She chose cleric because she wanted to support the people but she always wanted to be a knight!”
“I don’t know if it’s an actual job,” Frost said anxiously. “Anyway, we can talk to her about it later. Right now, I need to figure out what I want to do.”
The idea of wearing plate armor did not appeal to him. It just sounded horribly uncomfortable and realistically plate was most effective on cavalry units. It made you slow and clumsy on the ground and if somebody pulled you onto your back, you were as good as dead.
Scale armor was a good compromise between Chain and Plate but there would be similar comfort issues. In the end, he’d prefer either cloth or leather but was concerned about his defensive capabilities and the types of classes it’d lock him into.
In the end, he decided on leather since it seemed like the most widely used among the classes. Even if he decided later to master plate or cloth armor, leather would always be useful simply because of its versatility.
“Whoa,” Frost said as he leveled his leather ability to one. That single level made the glove he was wearing instantly more comfortable. He didn’t want to spend a lot of points but armor was probably at least as important as dodge so continued to level it and with each level the armor felt more malleable. By the time he reached level ten it felt like he wasn’t even wearing armor anymore. “If I were to level plate would it feel like this? Like I’m not even wearing armor.”
“We don’t have any plate wearers in the village,” Fayeth answered. “Plate armor is very expensive and difficult to craft. But I know that Shael can wear scale armor and that she finds it extremely uncomfortable compared to leather.”
“Good to know,” Frost said while staring at the glove. “My guess is that there are limits to the comfort. Now that I think about it, this feels like wearing a cloth glove. So, at level ten you’re probably at the comfort level of the previous tier.”
“I couldn’t say,” Fayeth said with a frustrated expression. “Maybe I should help the children and Shael should help you.”
“Sorry,” Frost looked at the busty blonde elf. “Did I do something to upset you?”
“No,” Fayeth pouted. “You didn’t do anything.”
“Something’s wrong,” Frost said while staring at the frustrated elf. “I’m only asking so I can avoid doing whatever I did in the future.”
“It’s not you,” Fayeth said irritably. “It’s just that out of Shael’s students I was considered exceptional. But you are thinking about things I never even considered and I’m having trouble keeping up.”
“Oh,” Frost said pensively as his mind flashed to the many times his efforts were overshadowed. People are told there’s always somebody better and they understand it as a concept, but it’s completely different when they actually experience it. “I suppose that’s a good thing.”
“A good thing?” Fayeth stared at him suspiciously. “How is it good?”
“If you’re having trouble keeping up that means you’re pushing yourself,” Frost said. “If you push yourself, you’ll get stronger. Anyway, I can choose a job now. Do you happen to know the difference between soldier, squire, and fighter? I can choose any of them.”
“There isn’t one that I’m aware of,” Fayeth answered politely.
“There has to be one,” Frost grinned while activating the classes he’d unlocked. Swapping between them was as easy as leveling abilities. All he needed to do was focus on his class and select the one he wanted. “Hm.”
“What?” Fayeth asked while staring at him.
“I’m not sure,” Frost said. He was cycling through the classes and while looking at his abilities and power levels and they were identical. The only problem was each job felt distinctly different. “Can you attack me for a few minutes?”
“If you want,” Fayeth said while picking up a wooden sword. “Will a sword work? The only other weapon I’m skilled with is a bow.”
“A sword works,” Frost said while swapping to squire. “Whenever you’re ready.”
“Yah!” Fayeth yelled while swiping at Frost. He easy sidestepped the attack and Fayeth followed up with numerous others. While her swings lacked speed and power, her precision was impressive. He realized that abilities allowed less powerful individuals to bridge the power gap in levels and it was something he needed to make note of. “How long?”
“Just keep going,” Frost said while swapping to soldier. “Interesting.”
“I feel like you’re toying with me,” Fayeth grumbled while unleashing a flurry of attacks. It was true it probably seemed that way to her since he was level ten dodge but he was actually impressed by how close she was getting given their massive difference in level. “And it’s embarrassing.”
“Huh?” Frost glanced over and saw the children, Shael, and several other elves watching. “Don’t worry about them. We’re conducting a test.”
“Gah!” Fayeth swung like she was trying to take his head with the wooden sword. “What are we even testing?”
“Classes,” Frost answered while swapping to fighter. He smiled as rather than dodging Fayeth’s next swing he stepped forward, grabbed her arm, and flipped her onto her back while disarming her. “Oh! This is the difference!”
“Ouch,” Fayeth whimpered as Frost hovered over her.
“Shit!” Frost said. He immediately covered his mouth as several children started laughing and he quickly moved to help Fayeth up. “I shouldn’t have done that. I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
“I’m okay,” Fayeth blushed while adjusting her top to keep her large breasts from popping out. “But you should have warned me!”
“Right,” Frost nodded. “I’m really sorry. It just happened when I swapped to fighter.”
“What do you mean?” Fayeth asked as Shael came running toward them.
“Are you okay Fayeth?” Shael asked. “Do you need to see Robin?”
“No,” Fayeth answered before turning back to Frost. “So, are you going to explain what happened?”
“Yeah,” Frost said excitedly. “The difference between the classes! The abilities are the same but the way they used them is different! A squire can block, dodge, and parry but the fighting style itself leans toward blocking. Then the soldier job felt really balanced. But fighter, oh, fighter has to evolve into berserker or something because there was no desire to block or parry. I wanted to dodge, counter, and disarm.”
“Show me,” Shael said while standing across from Fayeth with a wooden sword in hand. “Fayeth, attack me please.”
“You better not throw me,” Fayeth grumbled while standing across from Shael.
Fayeth started swinging and Shael easily parried the blonde elf’s attacks. After deflecting several strikes Shael switched to an awkward combination of blocks and dodges and appeared to struggle. A few moments later the redheaded elf dodged several attacks before attempting a counter.
“I said no trying to throw me!” Fayeth snapped while throwing down her sword.
“I didn’t mean to,” Shael said excitedly. “Um, Emmy, come here for a minute.”
“Yes ma’am,” Emmy said rushing to Shael’s side.
“Can you go ask your mom for a notebook for me?” Shael pleaded. “Pretty please.”
“Okay!” Emmy said while running off toward the village.
“A notebook?” Frost asked. “What for?”
“To write this down!” Shael said. “This is completely new information for us. I’m sure the human academies already know this but this information can help us a lot. Herald Frost, we have squire
s in this village attempting to learn two-handed weapons when they should either be soldiers or using swords and shields. This is very important information.”
Frost stared at the excited elf. He thought it was only natural to check for those types of differences. It was probably the difference between a real education versus simply learning to read and write. Serfs during the middle ages probably weren’t big on tests and experiments either.
“Alright,” Frost nodded as he picked up a wooden sword. “Since I’ve decided on fighter, I should start learning some actual swordsmanship abilities, huh? How do I go about that? Do I just need to swing?”
“Yes,” Fayeth nodded. “That’s how you begin. Then you’ll attempt more advanced techniques and eventually hunt monsters. There will also be specific abilities that unlock based on level while others will become available once you perform them.”
Frost found himself naturally fall into a fighting stance with his free hand in front of him and his sword hand behind him. While it felt safe it didn’t feel quite right for practicing attacks. He intuitively shifted his position so his sword hand was in front of him and felt more at ease.
“Just slash,” Frost said while performing a downward slice. An explosive crack resounded and all of the elves around him fell down as a shockwave of air burst forth tearing into the grass and dirt for a good five feet. “Holy…”
“Shit,” Fayeth finished his thought and quickly covered her mouth. Fortunately, the children were so shocked by the blast they didn’t even notice. “What was that? Why would you use a dangerous ability like that with children around! What if one of them were in range of that attack! What were you thinking?”
“It was a normal overhead strike!” Frost said defensively while looking through his swordsmanship abilities to be sure. “It says downward slash and I don’t even have any levels in it.”
“Herald Frost,” Shael said while checking on the children. “Are you saying that was just a normal downward slash?”
“Yeah,” Frost said knowing full well that a downward slash should not have looked like that. He glanced at his wooden sword, or more accurately, the handful of splintered wood where his sword used to be. “I shouldn’t have been so reckless.”
“It’s fine,” Fayeth sighed. “Shael, I think if Herald Frost is going to train the children should probably leave the area.”
“Aww,” the children simultaneously groaned.
“Come on,” a teen elf grumbled as she stomped away.
“I want to watch!”
“Me too!”
“Absolutely not,” Shael said commandingly. “Fayeth is right.”
“What if we watch from the wall?” an older elf child said while pointing at some adult elves watching from the stone wall surrounding the village. “If we’re behind the wall it should be fine, right?”
“I don’t know,” Shael grumbled. “You know what, ask your parents. If your parents say it’s okay you can watch from behind the wall.”
“Yay!” the children rushed off to the village.
“As for you,” Shael playfully poked Frost’s chest. “You owe me a wooden sword. In the future, look at how much strength a weapon can handle before you go overfilling it.”
“Strength a weapon can handle?” Frost asked.
“Frost,” Fayeth covered her face. “How can you understand advanced concepts like combat theory but not even know weapons have strength limits for what they can take? It’s the same as armor. You need to infuse the weapons with strength or magic.”
“If you push weapons or armor beyond their limits they will eventually break,” Shael stared at the splinters everywhere. “Or instantly break if they’re pushed to this degree.”
“Hm,” Frost scanned Shael’s intact wooden sword and saw several important pieces of information he wished he’d known earlier. “I see.”
Frost compared Shael’s wooden sword to the handle he was holding as well as the daggers from before. The handle didn’t register as anything which made sense since it was shattered. The metal dagger was massively higher in both strength and durability suggesting materials used in crafting significantly impacted those metrics. The strength and durability stats were the core components but there was also an affinity, enchantment, and enhancement section.
“What’s affinity?” Frost asked since he understood the other two.
“Affinity?” Shael smiled as she looked at her wooden sword. “I’m afraid you’ve asked another question I can’t answer Herald Frost. I’ve never seen a weapon with an affinity.”
“I understand,” Frost sighed as he wondered how he was going to acquire the information. It wasn’t something he needed to immediately investigate anyway. “I don’t suppose I can use your wooden sword to practice?”
“Don’t break it,” Shael said handing it to him. They all turned to the stone wall and half the villagers were waiting for him to do something. Emmy was sitting there as well waiving around the journal she’d brought for Shael. “It’s alright if we watch, right? I want to take notes.”
“I don’t mind,” Frost smiled while scanning the sword as he imagined infusing it with his strength as if he were allocating ability points. The numbers gradually rose and around eighty percent they turned yellow, at ninety orange, and at ninety-eight they turned red. He wasn’t going to swing it so he pushed it over the top and the red numbers began filling the durability meter. Once the durability meter was filled the numbers kept going but turned black. He pulled back until the numbers were in the green again. “I think I get it. So, durability only decreases if you go beyond the maximum strength.”
“Or if it’s struck by a significantly more powerful blow,” Fayeth said. “So, as long as you don’t use too much strength it should be fine. But just to be safe I’m going to wait on the wall with everybody else.”
“You don’t trust me?” Frost asked the blonde elf.
“Trust is earned,” Fayeth bowed politely while gesturing at the slashed ground. “Show me you can control yourself and I’ll come back out.”
“Fine,” Frost laughed. “I’ll show you.”
Frost practiced safely swinging the sword and unlocked dozens of abilities. He was looking at potentially tens of thousands points if he wanted to really master things. He reminded himself of his conversation with Lysandra about diminishing returns and decided that the key skills weren’t as important as the core ability.
He also thought about how effective Fayeth’s strikes were despite their level difference. If an ability’s level could potentially bridge that type of level gap, it was important to have at least one maxed out. He thought about spears, axes, and other weapons but swords were the most versatile. He decided to bring swordsmanship to level ten.
“Wow,” Frost said to himself as various muscle memories activated. It was similar to balancing on the dagger, he simply knew he could do certain things that he previously couldn’t. He glanced at the dummy on the other end of the field and it felt so much closer than before. Everything did. “Okay. Let’s try it.”
It happened in a single breath. Frost launched off his back leg while drawing the wooden sword behind him. He sprinted and within a few seconds the dummy was in range and Frost swung for it, but the swing was completely different from before. As naturally as breathing, Frost’s blade pivoted, twisted, and a follow up strike came from the other side of the dummy creating an illusion of two blades slashing, then a third, fourth, and finally a fifth as the dummy fell to pieces.
“You owe me a dummy!” Shael screamed from the wall while jotting down notes.
Frost looked into his abilities and saw five-point slash become available as an ability. It must have been one of the abilities that became unlocked level ten swordsmanship. He also noticed something else as he stared at the ability, a tiny sliver. He started looking at his other abilities and under counter an ability called throw had a sliver. Disarm also had a sliver under one-handed disarm.
“That’s it,” Frost said excit
edly as he realized the abilities with slivers in them were ones he’d actually used on opponents. He’d thrown Fayeth, he’d disarmed Ena’s cudgel, and even five-point slash was used on the dummy. Restricted ability points were likely earned each time he leveled the ability. Although he started wondering about the experience curves.
He needed to try again on another target. It was obvious he needed to strike the target so practicing on elves wouldn’t work. He wondered what qualified as a target.
“Frost,” Lysandra appeared to have joined the crowd watching him. In fact, he noticed that almost the entire village was now watching him. “What are you doing?”
“Stand back for a second,” Frost said as he looked around for a suitable target but the only things in striking distance were rocks and trees. He focused in on a tree in the distance and smiled to himself. “I guess it’ll have to work.”
Frost sprinted toward the tree with the same speed as before. He wasn’t moving impossibly fast as much as he was moving with incredible conviction. As each footfall landed, he knew a dozen ways in which he could attack, dodge, block, or parry if he needed to. He had a new awareness of his surroundings and how best to attack or defend.
But he didn’t need to worry about attacking or defending. His target was a tree and his weapon was a simple wooden sword infused with his power. He decided to use a little more strength and the sword was instantly in the red.
He arrived in front of the tree and it was strange how comfortable he was as the starting slice began. Thanks to the mild increase in power, it was much faster than before. In fact, so fast that something was wrong. He was holding the blade as if he’d completed the five slashes but he was still watching the five slashes take place in front of him. He quickly dashed away as the phantom blades left behind from his technique vanished.
“Huh?” Frost heard an ominous creaking sound from the forest and a second later not only did the tree he sliced fall, but so did another that was positioned behind it. He glanced at the wooden blade and it was still in the same condition he’d gotten it.
He quickly looked at the five-point slash ability and sure enough, the sliver increased slightly. It turned out that training required him to actually strike things but didn’t require those things to be living. Then again, he wondered if live opponents increased the rate of growth.