Vina was given a house to live in for free. She only had to agree to a few rules and she would receive free food, water, clothing, shelter, and an education. She really could not believe this was real. There were a few minor concessions. She was not allowed to take her lantern out of the house. She was not allowed to power the runes on anything in the city, and she also had to attend classes every day. Ebba also had made it clear she also could not leave the city without prior approval. Should she break these rules, she was told she would be asked to leave Termily permanently. These were sacrifices Vina was willing to make as she hoped to be here a long time. She would be here until she had some kind of lead on her sisters. Once she had verbally promised to follow these rules, the city was opened to her.
The one thing Vina was unsure about was that Ebba requirement on Blood Rune training. Vina was told to not practice any blood runes at all without Ebba being present. She wasn’t too worried about this restriction as she had no real need to further her skill at the moment. Nonetheless, Ebba encouraged her to continue and Vina wasn’t going to rock the boat.
Initially Vina was reluctant to go outside alone. The thought of leaving her lantern behind made her uneasy. Regardless of what Ebba said, she still felt the lantern had feelings. Soon her desire to find her sisters overrode her feelings for the lantern, however. She began small excursions away, looking for any small excuse to head out.
This morning, Vina had left her armor behind and was seated at a cafe in the market while studying. Occasionally she would activate Observe and limit her focus to hair color. She had done this a few times now and disappointment is all she found. The women here had hair colors ranging from blonde, to brunette, to black like her own. Vina looked back down at her homework and groaned. Much of what she had read was consistent with Priya’s notes. However, The Watch had a clear bias toward their actions. They considered themselves heroes and those who disagreed were troublemakers at best and treasonists at worst. Her experience with world history on Earth laid bare the revisionist history that The Watch was dumping on her. While she didn’t know the true history of this world, she could clearly see bias in everything she read.
Regardless, Vina had learned a lot more about this world's history. It had its heroes and villains the same as any other. The messaging on Trina however interested Vina the most. Every book she read in this place viewed Trina as a good person. Trina’s history and the history of The Watch were separated, so Vina didn’t see any of the bias included in her records. While sometimes the sequence of events would change in the stories, generally Trina acted in a consistent and genuinely altruistic manner. Vina found that fascinating as in her own experience, there was always a critic ready.
Vina was also given a skill book by Ebba. This one was titled “Basic Skills'' and Vina found it chock full of skills she hadn’t even considered. She wished she could get her hands on the rare or epic books, but Ebba said they were one of the benefits of being part of The Watch. As part of her studies, Ebba required Vina to learn some of the basic skills. She said they were life skills and everyone should have them.
New Skill Learned: Climbing: Climbing has reached level four. Your hand grip is 6% stronger. You burn 9% less stamina while climbing. You climb 6% faster. New Skill Learned: Cooking: Cooking has reached level three. Your food is 10% more delicious and your food may randomly improve one of your stats per day. New Skill Learned: Swimming: Swimming has reached level 4. You can hold your breath 3% longer and your swimming speed is increased by 6%. You have gained 280 experience points from leveling skills. Quest Completed: Learn Skills 2. New Personal Quest: Learn Skills 3 27/75
Vina closed her studying notes and looked around once more for Annalina, but she didn’t see anyone matching her description. She got to her feet, packed her backpack and headed out. Today she was due to start basic adventurer training. Ebba had warned her this would be more combat training focused with just a bit of strategy. When Vina arrived, she saw a basic stone building with a courtyard. The building reminded Vina of the old ones she had seen in pictures of England. The courtyard reminded her of every zen like approach to decoration she had seen. It was filled with many plants and sandy areas and stones to step on. As Vina entered, she saw a wooden deck where people matching her age were sitting. On the deck, Vina also saw several wooden racks set up, filled with various kinds of weapons
She stepped up to the deck and sat down beside the other students and waited. It didn’t take long for a man to exit the nearby building and address the class. “Hello everyone. I am Samire. I am going to be running this introductory adventurer course with you. Before we figure out how best to help you individually grow, I’d like to see where each of you currently are.”
Samire picked two men from the crowd and told them to select from the weapon options. “You two will conduct a duel now. Whoever wins will fight the next person. We’ll continue in this manner until a single person is the victor.”
The two men selected swords Vina had never seen before. They began their duel and they swung their swords around like children. They were so slow, her eyes could easily read their movements. “Is this because of my agility?” she asked herself quietly. She gasped, however, when one of the men ran the other one through the belly. To her shock no one else seemed surprised. The injured man got up and returned back to the crowd and the victor remained.
Vina was still processing what she saw when her name was called. She awkwardly got to her feet and selected a winged spear from the racks. “Was it like the fish she once caught? Did they get healed if it was just a duel? Did Trina make a way for people to get better without risk?”
Samire looked at her weapon choice, “Hm.. Yes. I heard you favor the spear, Vina.” She looked at Samire with a question on her face, but she didn’t ask it. “Who did Samire hear that from? Is Ebba sharing her personal information?” she thought to herself.
Vina’s competition opted to pick up a shield when he saw Vina using a spear. She stepped forward and waited for the attack. Instead she got a popup window.
Patirn would like to duel you. Do you accept? Yes? No?
Vina selected yes and a countdown began in her vision. When it expired, Patirn stepped forward with his sword and shield. Vina was not impressed with this man before and nothing had changed now. He charged her, his sword held up to his ear, shield forward. Vina quickly stepped to the side as he charged past her, unable to arrest his momentum. She poked him in the side as he passed her. She didn’t press hard and thought maybe that would be sufficient. It was not. When he came at her again, Vina stabbed his thigh. Patirn fell to the ground face forward and Vina plunged her spear into his back between the shoulder blades.
Vina looked around when everyone gasped. “Oh no… did I just…”. Vina began to panic. But the man soon stood up and Vina received a pop up window.
You have won this duel. You have earned 120 experience points.
Seeing she was flustered, Samire stepped up to her and quietly spoke, “These are just duels, Vina. They were only impressed with your execution. Are you okay to continue?” Vina nodded and reset her stance. Vina proceeded to win against six more people and she was feeling pretty great about it.
She was surprised by the different styles she encountered and she could also feel the difference in their attributes. Some were like her, very agile with bobbing and weaving. Vina had a harder time sticking the point of her spear into those ones. The ones who had dumped points into strength were entirely different however. With their strength they could easily push her spear to the side with their own weapons. Vina had a challenging time keeping her weapon in front of her. However, their attacks were easily avoided. They almost seemed to be moving in slow motion and she adeptly moved around their strikes.
You have won multiple duels. You have earned 820 experience points.
After she had won against 6 more people, Samire called out the next name. “Etana. You’re next.”
Vina’s heart jumped into her throat as a young woman with brown hair stood up. She was shorter than Vina by an inch, but she held an air of confidence. She had long brown hair that cascaded down her back. She had caucasion features that Vina has seen back on Earth. As Etana readied herself for the duel, she tied her long hair into a bun. Vina stared at her dumbfounded. “I found her!” her heart sang with joy. Then Etana stood before her. She held a single bladed sword that Vina had never seen before.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Vina suddenly didn’t want to duel anymore, but she felt she had no choice. Etana seemed quite eager and prepared, and she didn’t want to disrespect her by not giving her all. When the countdown finished, Etana exploded into action. Vina’s spear was clearly longer than Etana’s single bladed weapon, but it was still fairly long. Vina thought it looked a bit like a rapier, but different. The sword had a basket guard made of some kind of metal wire. It wrapped around the hilt, guarding Etana’s hand. The spine of the sword was thicker as well, giving it a rigid structure.
Vina brought her spear down between them and did a quick poke to see how Etana would respond. To Vina’s surprise, Etana raised her sword and deflected the spear head to the side. Vina’s agility told her to go with the motion and she did. She danced to the side as Etana stepped forward to stab her. Vina couldn’t stop the motion of her spear, so instead she swung it around and used it like a staff. She aimed for Etana’s feet, hoping to sweep her. Etana simply hopped over the spear like it was a jump rope.
They reset their stances and Vina smiled, nodding to her sister with respect. Etana smiled back. She held the sword out front of her with her elbow slightly withdrawn. “It has to be some kind of rapier even if it has only a single edge. It’s a piercing weapon at the least. It’s too narrow to be used for slashing” Vina thought to herself. She barely had time to make a plan though before Etana somehow pushed off the ground and flew through the air at her, sword held ahead of her as if to impale her in one strike.
Vina tried to slide to the side as before with the first student, but Etana changed her trajectory with a single step to the ground. Suddenly Etana was right there, pushing the sword toward her chest. Vina activated Mobility, hoping to get an answer. The skill told her to duck and Vina tried, but suddenly she had an idea. She choked up on her spear with her left hand and thrust her other hand forward onto the Etana’s blade.
The blade bit into her hand, passing straight through. Vina pressed and Etana pressed until Vina’s hand was all the way to the sweeping guard of the blade and embedded in Vina’s shoulder. Vina grabbed the guard with her fingers, surprised her hand actually still worked. Etana looked into her eyes with surprise. Vina pulled Etana closer into a sort of one armed hug, and used her other arm to stab downward with her spear through her sister’s back.
Vina and Etana fell back, away from each other. Vina felt the blade slice through the rest of her hand as it pulled free from her shoulder. She held her hand in agony. Suddenly she was completely healed.
Samire walked over between them. He loudly said “That was a great duel! You two have both given us so much inspiration. Unfortunately, you’re both dead as well.” His voice dropped to a whisper, “I can see you two are both experienced. Do you mind if we let some of the others show what they can do?” Vina and Etana both agreed to take a seat on the side.
Vina stood and walked to the side. To her great joy Etana followed and sat down with her. “Vina, thank you for that wonderful duel. I have learned a lot.”
Vina was all smiles. She was so overwhelmed at knowing her sister was here, she wasn’t sure what to say. “Me too. You are great with that sword.”
Etana smiled at the compliment and said, “Let’s chat after this.”
Vina’s smile slightly waned when saw something out of the corner of her eye. She spotted Ebba watching her through a window.
~~~
Soon Vina and Etana were leaving the Institute together talking about their duel. The afternoon had arrived both faster and slower than Vina wanted. She enjoyed the experience of learning, but she was dying to talk to Etana. “How did you jump off the ground and fly like that?” Vina said excitedly.
Etana smiled, “Well that was an active skill called Charge. I’m curious how you avoided my attack after I charged you. Is your agility extremely high?”
Vina shook her head, “I honestly don’t know if it is high. I use an active skill as well called Mobility. It takes a lot of stamina, but it tells me how to escape or avoid attacks.”
Etana looked at her in surprise, “I haven’t heard of that skill before. It seems very valuable. Are you able to teach me?”
Vina considered for a moment, “I’m not sure if I can. I got it when I selected my class. Are some skills restricted to classes?”
Etana acted surprised, “You have a class already? How did you do that so fast?”
“I did some fighting before I came to Termily. I even did some work off of a bounty board for a while.” Vina answered quietly, not sure if she should be humble.
Etana seemed thoughtful for a moment, “I tell you what. You try to teach me mobility and I’ll teach you Charge.”
Vina had a bartering popup window appear, but she immediately dismissed it and accepted Etana’s proposal. She was not going to mess up an opportunity to spend time with her. They instead headed out to an open field that Etana knew and they tried teaching each other their respective skills.
Etana decided to share her skill first. She started off with Vina pressing off of the side of a building with one foot and running as fast as she could. Once Vina had done that a couple times, she had Vina kick off the ground instead. Vina tried over and over again until she had to ask Etana, “Is this one of your class skills too?”
Etana shook her head, “I don’t have a class yet. I’m close though. Sitting at level 4 now. Oh that reminds me! How much experience did you get for winning our duel?”
Vina brought up a window showing her combat log and saw Etana was right. Although Samire claimed they had killed each other, the log showed Vina actually won. “I received 260 experience points. That’s actually a lot. Most of the creatures I fought don’t give more than that.”
Etana held her head high in pride, “I’m worth quite a bit.”
Vina laughed, but she couldn’t tell if Etana was making a joke. She suddenly had a realization “Hey can we duel again and I can let you win? You can get experience points from killing me and level up faster!”
Etana shook her head, “Unfortunately we can only duel once a day. We can do it again tomorrow, but I wouldn’t expect you to lose on purpose. Dueling is also an opportunity to level our skills. Also we do need to duel other people. If we duel each other we’ll get less experience each time. I also heard there is a maximum amount of experience you can earn per day. How much did you get from your duels today?”
Vina added up all of her experience and said, “Uhm… 1200 experience in total. That’s probably the most I’ve received in a single day.”
Etana shook her head, “Dang… I wish I could have gotten some of that. That’s almost a third of my level. I got some bad luck being selected so late in the process.”
Vina apologized, “I’ve never done duels before. All of my combat was previously the real thing. I even took the duels very seriously.”
Her sister waved her hand as if to dismiss her apology, “Don’t worry about it. Samire did his selections intentionally. I could tell he knew you. No doubt he selected you to go against a bunch of the newer students to improve you faster and motivate everyone else. He used you to show where the expectation level was. He picked me to go against you because he felt you had earned enough experience points for the day. I think he didn’t know we would end up in a draw, however. He probably thought I would clear the next six students. Just watch, he’ll pick me first tomorrow, and you’ll get selected further down the line. How does Samire know you?”
Vina was impressed. She hadn’t considered that there might be a pattern to Samire’s choices. It made sense though. Maybe Ebba had told him to select her? “I don’t really know actually. I suspect Ebba might have told him about me.”
Etana gave her a curious, analyzing look, “Who is Ebba and why would she have told Samire about you?”
Vina hesitated for a moment. Not because she didn’t want to answer, but because she wasn’t sure what Ebba’s relationship was to her. “I guess Ebba is sort of like a private mentor. When I arrived in Termily, I was very injured. Ebba has been helping me recover and adjust to this new place. She has constantly been pushing me since my recovery.”
Etana looked at her with accusing eyes, “It’s you isn’t it?”
Vina got nervous, worried she offended Etana, “No... wait what do you mean?”
She smiled then, “You’re the one my sister saved.”
~~~
Etana led Vina to her house. It was just a small walk away from Vina’s own house and very similar in design. “Ann has been talking nonstop about you. She’s very worried. I keep reassuring her that you’re fine, but she won’t believe me. You’ll be able to finally prove to her there was nothing to worry about.” Etana said as they stood in front of the home.
Vina felt nervous to her bones. This day had been a whirlwind of emotions after meeting Etana. She desperately wanted to make a deep connection with both of these people and the possibility of messing it up was on her mind. But there was nothing to worry about. As soon as Vina saw Ann, Ann burst into tears and hugged her. “I’m so glad you’re okay! They wouldn’t tell me anything.” Vina hugged her sister back, a mixture of emotions evident on her own face. Ann’s tears were from relief; Vina’s were sourced from the desire for a deep connection with family she never had.
“I am okay now. Thank you for saving me.” Vina said, still embracing her sister.
Ann pulled away and Vina could finally see her. Ann was much shorter than her or Etana. She couldn’t have been any taller than five feet. Vina had to bend over when Ann hugged her. Her hair went just a few inches past her shoulders, and was incredibly curly. Her face was freckled and her smile was wide, showing nearly all of her teeth. Vina was most captivated by her bright blue eyes.
“Okay Ann.” Etana stepped in, “This is Vina. We met in class today. She wants to be an adventurer like us.”
Vina suddenly had a window pop up in her vision and her stomach dropped.
Quest Completed: Find your sisters. You and your sisters will be rewarded.
Leather pouches appeared in front of all three of them. Vina and Etana caught theirs, but Ann stepped back in surprise. Etana started to say something, but Vina got another popup window.
New Group Quest: Keep your sisters alive for 6 months.
Ann and Etana spoke together at the same time, “Sisters?!” They looked at Vina.