This chapter took a little longer because it required me to look beyond Arc 4 to plan this. I had to do a ton of rewriting (including scrapping two whole chapters worth of material).
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Today was finally the day Ruby would have to leave. At the age of five, all children of noble birth are traditonally sent to schools to be educated so that they could rule their lands in the future. There were a few that did not follow this. For Garnet, this was something happy because it meant that Ruby was recognized as the child of Charles and Garnet. It also meant that she would be protected from the upcoming war between Duke Wellington and Duke Gray. At this point, it was inevitable.
The equipment left behind by the assassins were made in the South under the orders of Baron Gray. The goal was to kill Duke Wellington and Ruby so that there would be no one who was willing to oppose them. "The moment that King Caligula passes away is the moment that the war will begin," said Duke Wellington.
"Can't it be avoided?" asked Garnet.
"No," said Duke Wellington. "Duke Gray's assassination attempts failed."
"More than one?" asked Garnet.
"They foolishly tried to kill Duke Innes and Duchess Kiko and made enemies of all of them," said Duke Wellington. "When the King dies, we will be in an alliance against Duke Gray."
"That sounds too easy," said Garnet. "They wouldn't be stupid enough to make everyone into an enemy."
"I feel they will accuse us of being traitors and poisoning the King when King Caligula is killed," said Duke Wellington.
"Can they even do that?" asked Garnet.
"You forget, Baron Gray is in charge of security at Antium," Duke Wellington added. "It would be easy for him to poison the King. This whole situation might even be his fault as well."
If Duke Gray wanted to be King, he had a way to poison the King. He could even kill the King and then falsely accuse the others of rebellion. It was the perfect trap.
"But how would he be able to fight against all of the other Dukes?" asked Garnet.
"I don't know yet," said Duke Wellington. "But I think we still have some time. I've already put your plans into motion."
"Which one?" asked Garnet.
"The steam engine," said Duke Wellington. "With it, we will be able to manufacture at a large scale."
Garnet had given him plans for a steam engine. It needed fine tuning, but the engineers were able to figure it out after a few tests once they understood the basic premise. The result was a five horsepower steam engine used to power looms and make clothes. However, it was still just a prototype model that easily broke down. It would need to be refined before they could put it into practical use. It was most likely not going to be ready any time soon. For now, the watermills were the primary source of production. There was a workaround to this, but it would amount of nearly human slavery and it was something that she wanted to avoid at all costs.
"We're ready," said Leeroy.
Anna brought Ruby out who was wearing a red dress, their traditional color. Leeroy was going to stay with Ruby. It was his job to protect Ruby from others just in case though responsibility ultimately fell on the school for maintaining neutrality. Ruby wanted Anna to stay, but Anna was tasked to help Garnet once the child came. All students were allowed to bring one attendant with them. Duke Wellington, Garnet, Anna, and Ruby all rode in the carriage together while Leeroy and his team of guards followed from the outside. Garnet was asked to come along by Anna who insisted that Garnet go even though Garnet was already planning to.
"Where are we going?" asked Ruby.
"To Anzio in the North," said Duke Wellington.
"Anzio?" Garnet and Ruby both had no idea what it was.
"It is a very large city," said Anna. "It makes Antium look like a small village by comparison. It is also neutral ground ruled by a very powerful King and Queen."
"Inside of Anzio is the Anzio Academy, founded over three hundred years ago," said Duke Wellington. "It is where all nobles in the region send their children to study nowadays. I was there myself."
"I see," said Garnet. Garnet wanted to see what made Anzio so successful. If she could recreate the conditions in Antium, it would be saved. Tariffs were a big problem, but it was always possible that other things caused tariffs to be so high in the first place.
As they headed north, Ruby kept moving back and forth in the carriage to look out the different windows. "What's that?" she asked pointing outside.
"That's a water mill," said Anna. "Your mother taught us how to do it and now all our farms are much better."
In under a year, the technology had already spread to other farms thanks to Duke Wellington's sponsorship of it. He would subsidize the building, but they would pay the same amount of taxes this year and reduced taxes in the following years if their output increased. It encouraged many people to adopt it and there was a massive increase in overall food production, freeing up others to take on manufacturing jobs. It was the beginnings of industrialization, but further developments were a big leap that they were not ready for yet.
After about a day of travel, they reached a rest stop. "We stop here," said Leeroy. It was very big for a rest stop and could be considered a hotel.
"How far away is Anzio?" Garnet asked.
"About a week," said Duke Wellington.
"A week?!?" shouted Garnet. It was only supposed to be three days from Antium to the Duke's place. It was a week from the Duke's place to Anzio.
"Don't worry about it, there's a lot of rest stops along the way," Duke Wellington added. "And once you get there, it will be a quick trip back."
Garnet could use the Teleportation spell to bring them back of course. She had a habit of laying Teleportation Summoning Circles everywhere, even at the rest stop that they stayed at overnight. She knew that Zedd was taking advantage of them and even saw him once or twice, but he avoided the manor and Garnet. Zedd was not going to do anything until Garnet forgave him. Soon, she would need to call on him, but for now, she was intent on letting him stay the way he is.
"Just one more week in a carriage," thought Garnet. That was a lot more than she could handle though.
The next day, the journey continued. "Come with me," said Anna as she hopped out of the carriage onto the top of it. It was the first sign that Anna was not a normal maid. She was someone who was a very capable fighter.
"Hey what are you doing?!?" shouted Leeroy.
"Don't worry," said Anna.
Garnet followed Anna out onto the top of the carriage. "What are we doing up here?" asked Garnet. She was struggling to maintain her balance on the carriage.
"Training," said Anna. From her ring, she pulled out who staves. It was a magical storage ring.
"What are you anyways?" Garnet asked. "You're not some normal maid."
"I'm a monk," said Anna. "And I heard you wanted to use my weapon, so I decided to train you myself."
The metal staff that Garnet had taken from the armory was Anna's. Only now did she realize it. Garnet watched as Anna twirled the staff in front of her with her fingers before swinging it horizontally and readying it for a thrust attack. There was barely enough room on top of the carriage to avoid it. "Don't worry, I won't knock you off," said Anna as she took out a second staff and threw it to Garnet.
"What do I do?" asked Garnet.
"Follow my lead and mirror my movements," said Anna. She proceeded to hold the staff horizontally in front of her. One hand on the top half, one hand on the bottom half. "This is if you want to block a slash, but there's many things you can do from this stance, but your disadvantage is the length of the staff."
Anna proceeded to demonstrate. The first and fastest was transitioning to a swing attack from one of four possible directions. The staff was a very versatile weapon. Garnet proceeded to imitate the movements.
New Skill: Swinging Smash
A diagonal swing with the staff that partially ignores defense.
MP Cost: 20
Garnet had learned a new skill without having to train her staff. "Was it because Anna was teaching her?" she thought. If there was a teacher, it would ignore the requirements, like when Zedd taught her how to use the Teleporatation Summoning Circle even though she was not a Space Time Mage or a Summoner. If someone teaches you the skill, it was possible to ignore requirements.
"Thank you for the instruction Master," said Garnet.
"We're not anywhere near done yet," said Anna. "I'm going to teach you the full style before we arrive in Anzio."
"What?!?" said Garnet. "Learning a full style in a week?"
"You can do it," said Anna. "I've seen how fast you've gotten used to those wings of yours. So let's continue."
Anna demonstrated the thrust attack. "This is the most basic attack and is able to penetrate most defenses, especially if you infuse it with mana," Anna explained.
It was the attack that Garnet had already learned on her own. The reason why it ignored defenses was because it was infused with mana, making it a magical attack and not a physical one.
"Now do it all at once," Anna instructed. "Start with a high swing followed by a low swing with the opposite end."
Garnet did exactly as instructed.
New Skill: Double Strike
A high attack followed by a low attack. If the low attack connects, it will knock down your target.
MP Cost: 50
Staff attacks seemed to have more effects than just ignore defense. If Garnet had trained her sword more, chances were that her attacks would have different effects as well. But with this, it was clear that Anna was an expert, not some kind of amateur. It was also proof that the Hero System did a lot more than respond to the user's desires. It allowed Garnet to learn extremely quickly. Garnet repeated the strikes as quickly as she could. Upward swing, a middle swing, a downward swing, followed by a thrust.
New Skill: Triple Strike
An upper attack followed by a middle and a lower.
Effect: 150% of normal damage per strike
MP Cost: 100
New Skill: Quadruple Strike
An upper attack followed by a middle and lower followed by a finishing thrust attack to the body.
Effect: 150% of normal damage for first three, 500% damage for the final strike
MP Cost: 500
It was the first time that Garnet had seen a weapon skill cost so much mana. It was more than the cost to lay down a Summoning Circle and higher than the cost of many of her spells as well. "That last one felt like it was meant to kill," said Garnet.
"It is," said Anna. "Even though the staff is not a sharp weapon, it is still capable of killing with blunt force trauma to the head or to the chest. It just isn't as lethal because it is not sharp. However, internal injuries and bleeding are nothing to laugh at either."
"Are there any uses of the staff that are not as predictable?" asked Garnet. "These attacks seem very straight forward.
Anna flipped downward into the cart. "If it gets loud up there, don't worry too much about it," she said. "I promise we will not break anything." She then flipped upwards again back on top of the moving carriage. It seemed like the movement did not even matter at all. "This is the next stance," said Anna as she held the staff like a two handed sword.
"Isn't this a sword stance?" asked Garnet.
"Yes," said Anna. "But this is also for smashing type attacks."
Garnet watched as Anna used the staff for a vertical smash attack. BAM. It was the sound of a loud smash on the carriage. It was so strong that the staff that Anna was holding cracked a little at the top. Garnet followed.
New Skill: Vertical Smash
A powerful vertical smashing attack that breaks defenses.
MP Cost: 100
"It is near impossible to guard against an attack like this," said Anna. "You can do it the same way, but horizontally as well."
"I see," said Garnet. The Hero System had explained it to her. "Is there more?" asked Garnet.
"Just stick to these for now and practice," said Anna. "If you want to do a little more, learn to twirl the staff in your fingers like so," Anna said as she swung the staff in circles towards and away from Garnet. "We will do more tomorrow."
"There was still more," thought Garnet. There were a lot of skills tied to each weapon. The most she ever learned was three from the sword. In a single day though, Anna had taught her five more. It was far more effective than when she was learning it on her own. A teacher was very important and allowed Garnet to skip requirements, making it easy to learn powerful skills.
Stat Increase: Agility +1
Stat Increase: Dexterity +1
Even so, practicing still gave Garnet some stat increases, which was nice. She was housebound for so long that she did not get a lot of chances to practice, but this was a huge opportunity since Anna was teaching her.
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The next day, they trained on top of the carriage again. "This time, we combine hand to hand with our staff attacks," said Anna.
"How?" asked Garnet. The staff was fairly big, making it difficult to wield like a sword.
"That's cause you're thinking of it as a sword," said Anna. Garnet watched as Anna tucked the staff under her elbow, allowing her to still use a basic swing or stab the staff with one hand and kept her other hand free. In addition, she was able to use her feet for kicks and sweeping attacks.
It was not as effective or free to use as a sword, but still decent. Garnet repeated and followed the movements.
New Skill: Sweeping Kick
Has a high chance to knock your opponent down with a very low attack
MP Cost: 20
New Skill: Horizontal Kick
A straight kick meant to knock your opponent back. Low chance for a knock down.
MP Cost: 20
Garnet most likely was not going to use the some of these skills, but knowing that they existed gave her an idea. There was a chance that many of these skills could be combined with magic and there was overlap between different weapons as well. The sweeping kick looked like it would do well with fire or wind elemental, but she did not want to try it while on the carriage. There was no way to tell what would happen.
Stat Increase: Agility +5
Stat Increase: Dexterity +5
The hand to hand skills could also be used with the sword or alone as well. A good fighting style needed versatility. "Thank you Riley," Garnet thought to herself. This was all knowledge that she would not have had without Riley to provide it. Riley's knowledge had continued to support Garnet even though the original Riley personality was gone. Garnet was not any closer to bringing Riley back. The Hero System showed that it was possible, but to actually do it was another matter altogether. There was no reference to spirit transmutation.
Despite all of the moves Anna was teaching Garnet, it was basically limited to those two kicks. Everything else was just a variation of it. In terms of hand to hand, the staff was limited. However, it would still serve its primary purpose for Garnet, to have a way to fight people without killing them. "Do you know anything about swords?" Garnet asked.
"Do you want to learn that too?" asked Anna.
"Yes," said Garnet.
"Then we can do that some other time," said Anna. "It's best to focus on one at a time."
"Alright," said Garnet. Anna had become her Master, one that was very capable. Garnet noticed something though. Anna's hand to hand techniques were very familiar, it even resembled the fighting style used by Duke Wellington. "Did you teach the Duke too?" Garnet asked.
"Yes," said Anna. "I taught him and Leeroy as well."
Anna was their instructor. That was her real job. Helping to protect Ruby was just something that she did on the side. She was clearly very capable and trained in multiple weapons. "Why do you dress like that?" Garnet asked.
"Looks can be deceiving," said Anna. "It is best to take every advantage you can get. When I'm like this, they think I'm just an ordinary maid under the service of the Duke."
"So what are you really like?" asked Garnet.
"That's a secret," said Anna. "But I can tell you that I'm much older than I look. Just like how you got younger after fighting those Siren, I too have a way of keeping myself young."
That was another mystery for Garnet. Anna had some knowledge of mana and magic. In addition, she was ridiculously strong and respected by the members of the Duke's staff. They answered her call to arms without question. "Can you at least tell me what you meant by the secret you said the other time?" asked Garnet.
"You can't feel it yet?" asked Anna. "That's strange."
"Feel what?" asked Garnet.
Anna pointed to Garnet's stomach. Garnet reached down there and touched it. There was nothing. "I don't feel anything," said Garnet.
"You're pregnant!" shouted Anna.
"What what what?!?" shouted Duke Wellington as he pushed his head out the window to see what was going on up there.
THUMP. Garnet collapsed onto her knees on top of the carriage. The shock was too much for her. Anna caught on to Garnet so she did not fall off the carriage. "And she's down," said Anna.
When Garnet finally realized what had happened, the Duke was sitting next to her with his hand on her stomach. He was trying to feel something. "I keep telling you it's too early," said Anna. "You're not gonna feel it that easily."
"How did you know?" Garnet asked. "When did you know?"
"I felt it from your aura," said Anna. "You suddenly gave off a stronger one, that meant that there was something else inside of you with life so unless you were trying to sneak in a cat or something, there was only one possibility left."
Duke Wellington had a big smile on his face and he was trying to still act dignified, but he could not keep it up. He held Garnet and started hugging her. "Finally!" he cried. "After five years I will have a legitimate heir!"
"Congratulations," said Anna.
"You're going to have a brother or sister!" Duke Wellington said to Ruby. Ruby had no idea what it was, but she was happy with him and just followed the mood.
Garnet still could not believe it and wanted to stop thinking about it. "Can we change the subject please?" Garnet asked.
"But I think this is the only time I get to pick on you without you fighting back," said Anna. "Don't worry though, I'll help you."
"Thanks," said Garnet. "Is this why you did not want to fight me on top of the carriage?"
"Of course not," said Anna. "I'm an expert and I'm teaching a beginner. It is best to just let you practice the motions until you get used to it and we're going to continue tomorrow as well."
The next day, the Duke was still giddy about the announcement. He had trouble keeping it together. Garnet was able to keep herself distracted by training with Anna though. "Are you okay?" Anna asked.
"Yes," said Garnet. "It was a scare, but I'm okay."
They waited a day before continuing. After all, Garnet's mindset would have changed after news like that and if she was distracted, the training would be pointless.
"Then we continue today," said Anna as she handed Garnet a new staff. Anna twisted the left and right sides of the staff and it split into three sections, each one connected by a chain. "The staff you took has this too."
"What is it?" asked Garnet.
"This is called a three section staff," said Anna. "It is much more versatile though you are slower to recover.
Garnet watched as Anna swung the staff around. The focus was on controlling the middle section and letting the other ends swing freely. However, It was possible to also hold onto one end and utilize it as a whip. Using both hands, it was also possible to use the far ends of the staff as two smaller short staffs.
"The techniques are pretty much the same as the regular staff," said Anna. "The only difference is that it is flexible, allowing you to circle behind objects."
Garnet tried swinging it around. Immediately, she found it much harder to control. The staff would continue to move even after Garnet stopped.
"Start slowly," said Anna.
Garnet tried to swing it around herself. BAM. She hit herself in the face. "Haha," Anna could not help but laugh at it. "Don't worry it's a very common mistake," said Anna.
"Any special tricks?" asked Garnet.
"Stop moving a split second early," said Anna. "Remember that the part of the staff that you are not touching will move on its own unless when it is the middle section."
Garnet kept those words to heart and continued to swing the three section staff around. She practiced all the moves in order.
"Now mirror my movements," said Anna. Anna went in order through all the moves and Garnet matched it, they parried each others' attacks.
"What's the purpose of this?" asked Garnet.
"It is to get you used to the movement in actual combat," said Anna. "Remember the feeling of it being blocked and remember the transition."
It was what a lot of martial artists did in Riley's old world. Two people would train their movements with each other and simply match the incoming attack. They would speed up over time and it would resemble a dance. Because the movements become embedded in their memory, they are able to do it much faster when they actually fight. "I see," said Garnet. "That's why people train like this."
The two continued like this for most of the remainder of the trip. At the end, Anna said she had one more lesson. "This is your final lesson," said Anna. "Watch closely."
Garnet watched as Anna positioned herself for a sweeping kick. WOOSH. The kicked ignited a burst of blue flames that scattered outward. Anna had combined magic with hand to hand. Anna then swung the staff and blue flames scattered outward from it as well. "This is what ultimately makes the staff deadly," said Anna. "It is one of the styles that combines magic and melee without the need for a high quality weapon." Anna demonstrated the same moves with wind magic. It extended the reach and would also throw enemies off balance. Because wind could not be seen, it was much harder to avoid and highly deceptive.
Garnet realized the difference between a powerful mage and a top tier warrior was not that big. The difference was how they chose to use it.
Spoiler :
Name: Garnet
Level: 14
Class: Dark Mage
Sub-class: Temptress of the Night
Stats:
HP: 1010/1010
MP: 2780/2780
Fame: 20
Strength: 20 (+5)
Dexterity: 18 (+7)
Intelligence: 73 (+22)
Vitality: 21 (+5)
Agility: 27 (+7)
Charisma: 24 (+20)
PROFICIENCY:Weapon:
- One Handed Sword – 6
- Hand to Hand – 2
- Staff - 1
Magic:
- Fire – 5
- Lightning – 8
- Wind – 1
- Summoning – 7
- Blood – 5
- Spatial - 0
SKILLS:Weapon (One Handed Sword):
- Horizontal Slash (Level 3)
- Double Slash (Level 2)
- Crescent Slash
Weapon (Hand to Hand):
- Palm Strike (Level 1)
- Wind Palm (Level 1)
- Explosive Palm (Level 2)
- Lightning Palm (Level 1)
- Sweeping Kick (Level 1)
- Horizontal Kick (Level 1)
Weapon (Staff):
- Thrust (Level 2)
- Swinging Smash (Level 1)
- Double Strike (Level 1)
- Triple Strike (Level 1)
- Quadruple Strike (Level 1)
- Vertical Smash (Level 1)
Class (Dark Mage):
- Fire Bolt (Level 5)
- Fire Ball (Level 1)
- Lightning Bolt (Level 8)
- Chain Lightning (Level 2)
- Light (Level 1)
- Air Bullet (Level 2)
- Mana Strike (Level 2)
- Mana Shield (Level 2)
- Call: Skeletal Hounds (Level 3)
- Call: Skeletons (Level 1)
- Call: Lilith (Level 1)
- Recall
- Dismiss
- Enhanced Mana Regeneration (Level 2)
- Lightning Fire (Passive)
- Blood Absorption (Level 6)
- Blood Bind (Level 1)
- Teleportation (Level 1)
- Teleportation Summoning Circle (Level 1)
Sub-class (Temptress of the Night):
- Enhanced Body (Level 3)
- Captivation: (Level 3)
- Mind Read: (Level 1)
- Pleasure Inducement (Level 1)
- Sexy Walk (Level 1)
- Stealth (Level 1)
- Shadow Walk (Level 2)
- Sonic Scream (Level 1)
- Illusion (Level 1)
- Alluring Song (Level 1)
- Flight (Level 1)
- Aura of Fear (Level 1)
- Scale Armor (Level 1, Passive)
- Transformation (Level 1)
- Transformation: Temptress of the Night (Level 1)
Tradeskills:
- Hunting (Level 3) - Hunter
- Cooking (Level 5) - Cook
- Inspection (Level 3) – Farmer, Coroner
- Inventory Expansion (Level 3)
Passives:
- Hand to Hand (Level 1)
- One Handed Sword (Level 1)
- Staff (Level 1)
- Reflex (Level 5)
- Haste (Level 1)
- Scale Armor (Level 1)
Unique:
- Hero System (Passive)
- Otherworldly Knowledge (Passive)
- Golden Tongue (Passive)
- Mana Compatibility (Passive)
- Quick Learner (Passive)
- Channeling (Passive)
- Charging (Passive)
- Night Vision (Passive)