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The Manly Training
Chapter 2 Volume 1
Don entered the training hall, it was filled with hundreds of unattended scarecrows in rows and columns. Immediately he was greeted by the instructor, a great, bearded barbarian. The man started up, “Young adventurer, I presume you-.... An elf? An elf in my training hall?”
After getting a good look at Don the instructor said, “I’ve seen many adventurers in my day, but this is the first time an elf has passed through these doors. With the exception of the ones who choose to be dual wielding rangers, most elves don’t rely on swords, and those who do never take the effort to train them up.”
Don said, “Yes sir. You’ll find I am different from those half hearted elves, I came here with the intention of completing basic training program.”
The barbarian took another good look at Don, not his physique, but his eyes, and the commitment within them. “HA!” He yelled, “That I would like to see. Very well, take any scarecrow and strike him in anyway you want. There are wooden swords in front of each.”
Don looked at the scarecrows and asked himself, what was the manliest way to do this training?
Well, the most cowardly way would be the easiest, softly striking each scarecrow with only enough effort to barely complete the training. The opposite of that was to give 200%, go over the top and strike it as hard as possible as fast as possible. Just like the man he saw in his favorite hall of fame video. But he wanted to do more, what the instructor had said about elves who use swords gave him an idea. He asked, “Sir, would it be ok to use two swords? One in each hand?”
The barbarian nodded and said, “Of course. However doing so will not diminish the amount amount of time it takes to complete the training, only make it more difficult. That being said, when your agility rises you will likely generate the skill, Dual Wield. Of course that skill is only useful if you actually intend to use two weapons to fight.”
“Thankyou, and one more, thing, can I use more than one unoccupied scarecrow?”
“You mean attack several at once?”
“Yes sir.”
“Hmmm, not out here, but follow me.”
The instructor lead Don to a small area in the back that had a several scarecrows much closer together. “This is where my students practice fighting against numbers. This was what you had in mind right?”
“Yes sir, thankyou.”
The instructor nodded and said, “Practice hitting while moving between enemies to get the best experience.” Then he returned to the entrance.
Don started beating the scarecrow, trying to get used to the feeling of the swords in his hands as well as figure out a good pattern to strike with two swords. After about an hour he figured he had a decent four strike pattern and started moving around and between scarecrows. The group was arranged irregularly so how far he had to move between scarecrows was not fixed.
Don’s will was not made of iron, if it was he would not have looked up to the man in the video so much. To prevent the onset of severe boredom Don regularly changed up his striking pattern and tried various steps while moving between the dummies. By changing back and forth he got a good feel of how to strike to get the hardest impact.
Ding*
New Skill: You have learned Sword Mastery
After learning a weapon mastery skill the damage that a weapon of that type did increased as the mastery increased. So it went on for hours. Don decided to practice in a certain way and did so until he go horribly bored, after which he switched a variable and practiced again, trying to determine which method was the best. Six hours in he got his first stat bonus.
Ding*
Strength increased by 1. (+1STR)
Don was tired of course but as soon as he received the message he felt the wooden swords become lighter, he actually felt it. Don tried all the steps and strike patterns again, starting back from his basics to see how the increased strength affected anything and whether or not he should adjust his fighting style to something he couldn’t use now but would be effective when his stats increased.
He kept fighting and thinking about more ways to fight differently. When he couldn’t think of anything else he would hit a lone scarecrow until he got bored then start back up with the varied practice.
Fourteen hours after starting he heard his stomach roar. He had been ignoring it for the past two hours but he felt his strength leave him as his satiety plummeted. He stopped his onslaught to look through the bag his sister had left him. The first thing he noticed was a note.
-There is a water fountain a few streets over from the entrance. The yellow herbs restores stamina so you don’t have to take as many breaks, the food increases the rate stamina regenerates and lowers the rate satiety decreases. Good luck brother.
-Love Sierra
Don silently thanked his sister again for her thoughtfulness. He ate the bread and cheese stored inside and got back to work.
After twenty hours he got a message he had been expecting since starting.
Vitality increased by 1 (+1 VIT)
Agility increased by 1. (+1 AGI)
New Skill: You have learned Dual Wield
After his agility reached 15 he obtained the rumored skill. After swinging around a bit the difference was substantial. His movements while swinging both swords became smoother and easier to use. Don was thankful, this would give him more things to practice with, but not tonight.
Don had logged in around 9pm, and since then five hours had passed. He had a full day of work tomorrow and needed some sleep. Luckily his college had just gotten out for the summer and he elected not to do any summer classes.
At 10am Don got to work, his roommate had been out all night so he hadn’t seen him on the way out. Eugine wouldn’t come in till 2pm so for now it was Don, the manager Tomas, and another employee Phoebe. The manager asked Don, “How’d the capsule work out?”
Tomas was the manager who approved of Don’s use of store funds to buy the broken capsule under the condition Don paid for it on layaway. Tomas knew Don was good with fixing things but even he had doubts about whether or not Don would succeed.
“Yes, the capsule was in perfect working order, ran a diagnostic before playing and it came out green.”
Tomas showed a mildly impressed and pleased look, as well as something mischievous, before nodding and saying, “Impressive work. For today you’re on the register. Phoebe will be taking over for logging yesterday's inventory and answering calls.”
“Yes sir.”
To Don no matter what he did it would seem interesting. Compared to the monotony of hitting a scarecrow for hours anything he did would seem like the most entertaining activity of his life. After a few hours a blonde woman walked in and said, “Excuse me, does this place buy broken capsules?”
Don took in a deep breath. He had a momentary flashback to what happened in RR and needed to calm himself. After that a moment of clarity as to what his manager was thinking about was revealed. Don said, “One moment.”
Don went to confirm his suspicions. He went to Tomas and said, “Did you advertise that this shop buys broken capsules expecting me to fix them for you to sell?”
Tomas looked up from his computer for a moment and said, “Yes, but only buy the ones you can fix cheaply.”
Don decided not to comment on the absurdity of that statement before leaving. As he did he noticed the position of his manager’s fingers on the keyboard. Right hand on the arrow keys, left hand on the space bar and upper left keys. His manager was playing an online game. Don rolled his eyes and went to the back of the store to get some different meters. He got Phoebe to take over the register for a moment before returning to the customer. “Show me the capsule.”
The woman brought it in the back of a pickup truck. Don slowly lifted it down to where he could get to the hatch on the capsule's side. After unscrewing it he looked inside and attached the clips of some of the sensors he brought to exposed outlets. The numbers showed the capsule had a dead internal battery and if Don guessed correctly, the charger was loose. Although capsules are powered by an outlet, they also have an internal power source that recharges itself on the wall. It maintains several internal maintenance features and extends the life of the product, but if the charger that charged the battery somehow got disconnected it, would no longer charge and after sometime the maintenance features would stop. If bought it at that point it could be fixed by disassembling a bit to access the charger and reattaching it. However the capsule worked without its maintenance and unless a diagnostic was performed you'd never know. If used in that state the parts that needed maintenance would slowly degrade until they were unusable. In that case all those parts would need to be replaced.
Don explained all of this to the woman who said, “That may have happened when we dropped it a few weeks ago. After that it started acting funny and later it died completely.”
Don began his sales routine. “Then it is likely that those parts are dead. The expensive parts in these things are the ones that needed the maintenance so it would probably cost more to repair than we could sell it for. I can offer you decent money for the working parts, I’ll likely sell the rest for scrap.
The woman accepted and Don got the manager to come help move the thing into the back. After she left, money in hand Tomas asked, “So how much can we make off this?”
Don got some tools out and said, “Well that depends on the degradation of the parts. The part are either repairable or unusable, but I bought the thing for a price less than we can sell it for scrap as is so some will be made regardless. Give me an hour and I’ll tell you what we have.”
Tomas said, “Alright. I guess I’ll take the register.”
Don got out the select wrenches and screwdrivers for Unicorn Products. Capsules, like all of their products had unique heads to their screws and bolts that prevented people without the matching tools from accessing them. Don opened up the bottom hatch and examined each of the components, starting with the battery.
After an hours work he was satisfied with the purchase. The part that broke was relatively expensive to replace, but the other parts could be repaired cheaply. Overall it was in better shape than his own had been when he got it. Don went up to his manager and said, “Since this job doesn’t fall within my original duties, I’m going to get a cut of this right?”
Tomas said, “We’ll see. For now this is something of a trial run. Neither of us will see any of the profit. If the profit is large it will be put into a budget account that will be used to buy more components for future acquisitions, if small then we probably won’t be allowed to buy more in the future.”
Don nodded, “Alright, the price paid for the capsule and the components to repair it, as well as my own labor costs is less than half of what it can be sold for after being repaired. How you sell it is still your problem though.”
Tomas said, “Alright, write up an estimated schedule for how long you think it will take you to do the repairs in separate parts. I’ll change your schedule this week accordingly so you can do each of those part during your shifts."
In other words if he did it right, Don could control his own schedule, something uncommon for someone working part time.
Don arranged his schedule and afterwards was set to go work full time over the summer from 12 to 6, weekdays, and 12 to 5, weekends.
After work and a meal Don went home and took a shower. For now anyways he could spend his evenings and nights in RR. Don got into his capsule and started another day of hitting the scarecrows.
For two weeks, real world, that was Don’s routine. After ten days he acquired the Fighting spirit and endurance stats. Four days later he finally acquired the long awaited message.
Strength rises by 1. (+1 STR)
Agility rises by 1. (+1 AGI)
Vitality rises by 1. (+1 VIT)
Fame rises by 20. (+20 FAME)
Life rises by 100. (+100 HP)
Don took a deep breath and calmly said."Show stat and skill window."
Status WindowAvatar DonAlignment NeutralRace Lunar ElfTitle NoneLevel 1Class NoneFame 20Infamy NoneHealth 630Mana 100Strength 49Agility 51Wisdom 11Intellect 9Vitality 50Affinity to Nature 0Leadership 0Fighting Spirit 41Endurance 61Attack 27Defense 0Magic Resistances None
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Light of the Heavens [Max] 00%
Gives a buff dependent on what celestial bodies are in the sky.
Duration: 2 Hours.
Mana Cost: 100
Can be used once per daySword Mastery [5] 12%
+50% ATK +50% ATK SPDDual Wield [3] 65%
Stamina used while fighting with two weapons decreased
Accuracy while fighting with two weapons increased.
When comparing fighting with one swords to fighting with two, it was more exhausting and strikes made were less accurate. The dual wielding skill made up for a bit of the difference but the skill leveled up slowly.
The instructor met with Don at the entrance
“Good job, Don.”
“Thankyou, sir.”
“I didn’t expect you would come so far. Yet you overcame my prejudice. I am very proud of you.”
“Thankyou sir, I would not have been able to go all the way were it not for your generosity in allowing me the use of that room.”
“Haha! You’re absolutely right.” The instructor laughed heartily.
The instructor took another good look at Don, this time with a bit of pride in his student and handed over a sword. “This sword is awarded to a man who completes the basic training programs. You have done well. I would give you two but its one per trainee.”
“Thankyou sir, I’ll be fine.”
He nodded and said, “Have you given any thought into what class you’re going to be? You’d make a fine Ranger.”
Don nodded, “I’ll check it out.”
“Aye, make your own path.”
Don left the training hall and wandered around the city. He hadn’t explored yet but he knew the general layout. He knew he had to avoid at all cost the noobie spawn zone. His sister had explained to him that there are some people are so active in recruiting for their groups they send beautiful women to the spawn point to get players that look like they had potential. And with Don’s unique race and looks, their were highly motivated to recruit him.
Don of course still had to decide what class he was going to be. The instructor said that he would make a good Ranger but there were other options as well. He could have just gone to an intelligence guild and asked for a fitting class but that was like running away from the problem. Don asked, What was the manliest thing to do? Well the best answer for cowardice was to go to the intelligence guild and have them pick out a class for him. The exact opposite of that would be to personally go to every class guild and check them out himself to see which seemed the manliest. He decided to do this, but only for the guilds that were physical damage combat classes, so no craft or mage guilds.
The closest was the warrior’s guild. Don walked right up to the counter and said, “What is needed to become a warrior?”
“Well the quest to get the warrior class requires you to slay twenty rabbits and return here with their pelts.”
Don left and moved to the next one, the quest did not seem very manly.
Like this Don went to the basic combat guilds that were the starting point of most higher tier classes. If he wanted to be a ranger, he needed to become an archer or warrior first, if he wanted to become a Knight, he needed to be a warrior first.
However none of the classes seemed manlier than the others. To be an archer one had to shoot some targets with a bow and arrow, to be a monk you had to defeat a weak opponent in a spar. Assassins were required to finish something of an obstacle course, and Kung Fu masters needed to break a cement block in one strike.
If he judged the classes by their quests then they were all about as manly as a cupcake. Don’s original plan of being a warrior meant he had to kill rabbits. It wasn’t that he loved cute animal or was against violence, he simply considered fighting something that was so much weaker than him unmanly.
Don was left with no other choice but to go to the Intelligence guild and see what they thought. If they didn’t give him something good, he would fight classless for now.
The man at the counter said, “Good evening, what can I do for you today?”
“I need a manly class. A class that suits me.”
The man looked over Don for a moment and asked him to show his stat and skill chart.
He said, “Hmm, never seen a Lunar Elf before, not that that means much. Won’t find any Elf exclusive classes in this city. Hmm.. Wait here a moment.”
The man left and went to a back room for about twenty minutes before returning with a pair of books. He said, “Alright. Most people come in here off the bat and ask us what we think they would be best at. For you this seems to be more of a last resort. You’re the first foreigner I’ve seen to come here after completing the training hall.” The man set the books on the table and said, “You said manly right? Usually we decide the class and give the appropriate quest. But I’m guessing you want something appropriate to your abilities. These are two classes we don’t just give to just anyone. You can choose from them and I’ll give you the quest.”
Don was surprised, his demand was fairly unreasonable for someone who was still level one to be asking. Before picking up the books he said, “Thankyou very much sir.”
The first book was about the Hunter class. It was a variant of the ranger class that focused on higher damage and independence. The next was the blade master class, they could use any blade in combat and were experts in dealing damage. Between the two options, the blade master appealed to him more. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to like the hunter class, it was more that he would rather be in the front line of a party killing a boss monster than hunting lone monsters solo. Of course he still wanted to know the quests for each. After asking what they were the man said, “For the hunter you must track and capture a certain elusive creature of our choosing. For the blade master you must go to a certain dungeon and kill a few of a certain monster there. Can’t give more details unless you accept the quest, and of course you can’t accept more than one of them.”
“Thankyou, I would like to be a blade master.”
The man nodded and said, “Very well. In the mountains south of here is the tomb of the great Blade Master Bourrrick. His tomb is inhabited by Raysics. They sometimes drop a special ceremonial dagger when killed. Obtain that blade and you can convert to a Blade Master.”
Ding*
Retrieve the Blade
Within the tomb of the Great Blade Master lies a raysic holding onto a blade. Obtain it and receive your reward.
Difficulty: Unknown
Requirement: Above average abilities
Reward: Blade Master Class
Don didn’t know of the tomb but he heard that raysics were about level 50, though he didn't know what they were. If Don trained himself up some he would be able to take them.
“I will get that blade.”
You have accepted the quest.
“Good Luck.”
Don left the guild and headed to another. Tombs often had traps and hazards that could instantly kill whoever tripped it. Before going to the dungeon he decided to go to the adventurer’s guild to see if he could acquire some skills.
Again Don walked up to the counter of a class guild and made an absurd demand. “I would like to learn adventurer skills but I intend to choose another class.”
The guy at the counter who was reading a book looked up for a moment and said, “No,” before going back to reading.
Don thought, ‘It seems that not all NPCs are alike.’ He tried again, “Why not. I’m able to learn them.”
The man looked up from his book again and said, “Talk to the guy over there.”
Don looked over to a corner where an old man was sitting. Don said, "I wish to learn adventurer skills."
The old man looked at Don and said, “Hmm. Actually, we don’t just teach anybody … However, if you can perform a small task, I'll think about it.”
If someone wanted to learn blacksmithing without becoming a blacksmith, a trial had to be passed. The same thing went for most guilds whose classes learned useful skills. And always the trial to acquire the skill set required more than the task to become the class. Don said, "I am ready for anything."
The man nodded before saying, “Alright, this city has an extensive catacomb network beneath it. I want you to explore and map every inch of it by hand. Return with a map and I’ll teach you skills based off how good it is. But be warned, there are giant rats in the catacombs that can swallow a man whole.”
Ding*
Map The sewers
Below the city of Hiritol is a large network of tunnels and passages. By hand you must draw an accurate map and return with it.”
Difficulty: Unknown
Requirement: Able to learn adventurer skills
Reward: A number of Adventurer skills determined by quality of map
“I’ll gladly accept the challenge.”
You have accepted the quest.
New Skill: You have learned Drawing
“If you want a to make a map you’d best be able to draw. See you.”
Don thanked the man and went to the sewers. He got some paper and pencils to write with, so the first thing he did was draw lines for passages. He had a good sense of direction so even when the tunnels turned slightly he noticed. He found several giant rats, they were larger than a full grown boar and nasty, each took a few hits to take down.
You have leveled up!
However they gave good experience, Don guessed they were about level twenty, weaker than a wolf, but stronger than a fox. With his stats and +10STR sword he was able to kill them without problem. After two days of exploring the foul smelling depths he was sure he had an accurate line map. It had all the tunnels and how they connected with each other. After finishing he took out another paper and started over. This time while going through each he made sure the line's distances were to scale and made notes of passage width, depth below the surface and small points on areas that had different colored stone. Another day and a few hundred rats later Don left the sewers back to the fresh air and found a table. He took out another sheet of paper and some different colored pens and began drawing the exact map of the underground, using different colored pens for areas of different colored stone. When finished he was satisfied. Not only did he have a respectable map but he also gotten to level 21 and found another sword as well as some pocket change.
Don confidently handed the map over to the old man who inspected it thoroughly. “Hmm.. Excellent, this will sell well.” The man handed the map to the rude fellow at the counter, making Don ask, “What do you mean?”
He answered, “Well, adventurer guilds often sell maps to people. There are quite a few quests that require going into the catacombs, but no one here could stand the smell so we didn’t have one yet. You’ve done a great service for us.”
Quest Complete
Your accurate map of the catacombs will help the adventurer guild generate additional revenue
Reward:
New Skill: You have learned Bluff
New Skill: You have learned Automapping
New Skill: You have learned Detect
New Skill: You have learned Disarm Trap
New Skill: You have learned Identify
New Skill: You have learned Scan
New Skill: You have learned Unlock
The old man said, “Don’t feel too bad. Since this map is pretty good, I threw in a few extra skill for ya.”
Don did feel slightly cheated, but the skills were good. He recognized them all and knew he had done well. “Thankyou sir.”
After spending the money he earned on a few supplied like lockpicks Don left the city and headed south.
Chapter 3 The Manly Class viewtopic.php?f=185&t=1543
Chapter 1 A New World viewtopic.php?f=185&t=1504&p=9076#p9076
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