Vile casts a barrage of Magic Missiles!
Squire suffers 8, 9, 5, 7 and 8 point(s) of damage!
Squire's HP has been reduced to 163!
The new training isn't quite as bad as I had feared. It isn't anything indecent, and even better, it doesn't involve any math. Still, it is both difficult and painful. Magic missiles aren't the most powerful spells (even if multiple fired at once can add up to a decent amount of damage), but their primary strength is in their speed and ability to track a target. They're essentially unavoidable, and it's my job to dodge them.
They aren't completely, of course. They will usually burst after striking an object that happens to be in the path of their intended target, and their ability to turn in mid air is impressive but not instantaneous. If quick and alert, you can escape their path, but they'll keep coming for you. You can also avoid it on the next pass, and the next one, but it's bound to hit you sooner or later, and in a proper fight you can't just keep running away. Otherwise more and more will just get fired at you. Temporarily dodging a single one flying at you is tricky but far from impossible. Dodging five at once, hurtling in from all sides, however? That's significantly less feasible.
Even putting numbers aside, (which is really easy for me!), there's no question that it's good training. They aren't damaging enough to be lethal, but are painful enough to make you dread getting hit by them, and trying to focus on so many targets at once is good for honing ones instincts, and teaching you to move quickly on your feet.
As for Vile, she seems to be enjoying the spectacle as well. I get the impression that Slave has nearly 'maxed out' training-wise, and the rat is excited to have a new toy to play with. Even when my attributes just refuse to raise, I do feel like I'm getting better, though. I was a little bit discouraged by the fact that I did not get an immediate bonus, but I'm not too surprised, either. Each stat boost represents a non-trivial difference which can't be expected to come about easily. People train for months, years in fact to perfectly hone their bodies and I've been training for... for...
Honestly, I have no idea how long it has been. I suspect not nearly as much time as it feels like. It's exhausting, physically painful and incredibly nerve-wracking, but it does pay off, eventually.
Base agility has increased by 1!
I collapse, panting heavily, not caring at all that my chin is resting in a puddle of drool.
Vile casts a barrage of Magic Missiles!
Squire suffers 5, 5, 6, 5 and 9 point(s) of damage!
Squire's HP has been reduced to 133!
"Who said that you could take a break?" Vile asks, her arms folded about her chest.
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I can only give a weak sigh as I rise back up to my feet. I really need to get better at saying 'no' to people. On the other hand, I am getting stronger, and the more powerful I become, the more likely I am to succeed in my mission. Plus, it's nice to feel a sense of advancement without needing to kill anything. Sure, it isn't easy, but that doesn't mean that I can quit.
By the time I had gotten the second bonus, I found myself rejuvenated, and ready for more! ...mentally, at least. It would seem that my body had other ideas. This time, all of the magic missiles in the world couldn't get me back up onto my feet, not that this discouraged Vile. I think she enjoyed pummeling me with them, even when, perhaps particularly when I was incapable of even trying to dodge.
All the while, Slave stares at me angrily, as usual. I wish that I knew what to say to the cat to make her like me, but I honestly have no ideas. I still have little experience with socialization, and even if that weren't the case, she's a creature that I can't even begin to figure out.
Strength training comes next. I had gotten a little bit of rest since the agility training. Not quite as much as I had needed, but a little. I was just happy that it wasn't endurance training, as I had experienced more than enough pain for one day.
"Just stand right there." Vile says.
"Like this?" I ask, stepping over to where she pointed, standing upright, looking over at the rat.
"Yup! Perfect!"
Vile casts Gravity!
Squire's movement speed has dramatically slowed!
Squire's agilty has dramatically decreased!
I find myself immediately slammed into the hard ground by an overwhelming weight pressing down from above. I whine softly. So much for no pain.
"Come on, get up. It's not that powerful of a spell."
"It's pretty strong..." I grumble. Rising back up is difficult, but not quite as impossible as it had first seemed. The sudden weight really caught me off guard, but while still incredibly heavy, now that I'm ready for it, it isn't unmanageable. "Why didn't you use this spell against the AbyssalWood Alpha?" I ask, panting heavily from the exertion.
"It's fairly mana intensive, and worse, it's region, not target based, and that region isn't particularly large." Vile says, a glowing paw still raised, maintaining the spell. "An unwilling target can just step out of the area of effect." I perk up my ears at the words. Well, sort of. The increased gravity is still pulling them down. "You, of course, are not allowed to get out of it. Ever done push ups before? Lie back down, then get back up, stand fully upright and repeat that until... well, I guess until I get bored, I suppose."
I let out a pitiful whine which does absolutely nothing to earn the sympathies of the rat. Quite the contrary, she smiles a little bit wider in response to it. It takes a little bit of getting used to, namely lying myself down gently and resisting the urge to simply go limp which results in an unpleasant impact. Once I adapt to it, it doesn't feel so bad, at first, but it really does wear on you quickly. Even breathing proves difficult, and it doesn't take long before every muscle in my body begins to ache. The merciful thing is that we are technically still travelling, and only have so many hours to spend sitting idle and training.
Base strength has increased by 2!
I'm simultaneously grateful for Vile's aid, and also feeling more than a little bit resentful towards her, just as I'm simultaneously disappointed that the training session has ended, and also relieved. I suppose that's the nature of hard work: Sure, it can be rewarding, especially when a task is completed, but, well, it's still hard work which nobody enjoys.
"Oh, look! These herbs can be ground up and mixed with water to make a particularly delicious paste!" Vile says with a cheerful voice which she usually reserves for when she's hurting someone. On one hand, I understand her enthusiasm: Hunting opportunities have proved oddly scarce, and we do need to eat. That said, I still have am ample supply of slime stored, which the others, strangely, have no interest in. Well, more for me, I guess!
The rat hops off of her loyal mount and bounds over to the thick plant growth. She doesn't seem to move much, but can do so quickly when she wants to.
"Squire..." the black cat says to me. I turn to her, surprised. She virtually never speaks to me, unprompted. "We need to talk. This way."
I hesitate for just a moment before following the smaller feline through the heavy grasses. I briefly worry about leaving Vile on her own, but then she's more than capable of taking care of herself. After walking a good distance, the black feline stops in the middle of a grass clearing, turning, staring at me with those oddly intimidating yellow eyes.
"I know what you're trying to do, and it's not going to work." She glares. "I'm not going to let you take my mistress!"
I am about to object, but instead find myself rather distracted. Why has the battle music started?
---
Vile: "You kind of gave away the fact that this conflict was coming at the end of the last arc."
Slave: "Yeah, I know, but it fit the 'training' motif, so I couldn't resist."
Vile: "While I can respect your efforts to go along with the theme, I can't so easily forgive your corrupting the overall flow of the narrative! I'll have to punish you severely for this."
Slave: "Yes, Mistress."
Squire: "That's what you're mad about? Not the fact that she's trying to kill me?"
Vile: "Naturally. A story can survive the loss of a protagonist, after all. This is far more important."