I’m sulking at the back of the crowd gathered to watch the group exercise. The current fight is a 6 vs 6 with balanced team setups aimed towards practicing fighting side by side with others and battlefield awareness. It looks a lot more chaotic than a duel, with more variables to consider, and more participants to keep in mind.
Looks kinda fun actually.
BUT, I’m not allowed in on the fun??? Why? That’s so unfair… And now I have to just stand around and watch. Which is basically doing nothing and I hate waiting around. At least let me get back to skill grinding, right? Noooo. Observe and learn. What’s wrong with doing and learning, huh? Knowledge through experience, or whatnot.
Boredom wins out in the end and I begin to slink back, towards the grassy area. Just as I take my second step Martha’s head whips in my direction, her eyes narrowing on me.
She rolls her eyes and shouts to Bennett. “Take care of this will ya? I’ve got something else to deal with.” And she nods with her head in my direction.
Bennett just scoffs at my antics and nods in response. She massages her temples and just appears right in front of me, cool and mysterious as always.
“I know you’re bored and excited to get your skills to level 18 but can’t you just wait a few hours?” She chides me.
I pretend to actually consider what she said. Then look at her seriously and shake my head.
“Nope. Theory without experience is mere intellectual play or something like that, mom’s book said some weird things.” I get lost in my thoughts again. “Anyways just let me do something. I hate being the weakest, what wrong can I do by shooting spells to practice them?” I ask with big pleading eyes and pouting lips.
Martha just huffs at that.
“Oh trust me, plenty of things could go wrong.” Then she seems to have an idea. “So you want to skip theory and just do things up and close?” She asks like this wasn’t what I’ve been saying all along.
I nod vigorously, expecting to get somewhere finally.
“You asked for it.” She disappears, again. Isn’t that supposed to be really mana-intensive? Also really lazy… a~nd she’s next to me, this time with a bag slung over her shoulder.
She leans forward and places a hand on my shoulder.
“Let’s make a bet. You get the training that you want. If you complete it we’ll do it more often. If however you fail you’ll do what I tell you to. Deal?” She asks with an innocent smile while leaning closer.
I smell a trap here, just looking at her is enough. It's too easy. This is not the first time I’ve seen that smile, mom used it countless times, I’ve learned it from her myself.
So… a trap to get me to be obedient… Even so, there’s a chance for me to have fun more often if I win… At the end of the day I would have to listen to Martha one way or the other, so what can I lose? Uh, one more thing.
“That sounds fine but my mana won’t last very long, so we won’t be able to do anything consistently.” I feign concern.
“Oh don’t worry dear, I’ve got that covered.” She pats her bag.
“Deal it is, then.” We shake on that. Both of us grinning, thinking we tricked the other.
“Wonderful.” She grabs me and teleports us again and just like she said this time is more bearable than the last, though I still need to shake off the dizziness and fight the slight nausea. “Come with me, we’ll have to walk for a little, it's not far away.” She strolls in the direction I arrived from yesterday.
Yesss. No better place to grind skills than the forest. I’m not saying the duels and team training are meaningless, they are hella important… probably. More so than skill grinding… Okay maybe not, still significant tho. Right now my problem is that I’m too weak to actually take part in those exercises.
“It’s not that you’re behind in strength, not only that at least. You lack other important aspects. Knowledge and patience are two of the many. You don’t know your opponents, nor your allies. You lack the qualities of a team player, like trust in others and maneuvers.” She never looks in my direction as she explains. “Those are techniques no beast will be able to teach you, otherwise I would just let you throw spells around aimlessly.”
I stare at the sky, contemplating her wisdom… Uh, fine she convinced me, I’ll take a more active part in those boring observing games. Yet again there’s not much I can lose and dad always said to learn from those more experienced than you.
I glimpse towards Martha. She should be at least twenty times more experienced than me with those wrinkles.
“You just thought something rude, didn’t you?”
Just like Bennett. How?
She just sighs. “Elyssia, you need to learn some discipline. I’m way older than you and also outrank you by quite a lot. Show some respect will ya? I’m only lenient when it’s less official like currently. In the presence of other members however and especially command I advise you to act more appropriately.” She continues walking and adds “And your face is like an open book, your every thought is written on it.”
I stop at the revelation, eyes wide as her explanation hits home. So there are no secret abilities? Is it just me being dumb?
“Can you show me how to read these face books?” I ask hopefully. This sounds like one of the most potent abilities.
“This is not something that can be explained, time is the greatest teacher in this case.” She smiles at my confusion. “Just observe the movements and faces of people. You’ll be able to see telltale signs of their emotions and thoughts if you’re experienced enough.” Then she winks at me and tilts her head. “Isn’t that what you’ve done during your last duel?”
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“Me? No, I just imagine what I would do in their place and guess the likelihood of their actions. It’s an important skill at tag and hide and seek.” I announce proudly.
Martha just stops in her steps, in fact, she stops blinking and breathing as well. What a weird reaction, maybe she didn’t play much tag as a child. I just continue down the road undisturbed.
Now that I look more closely a lot of other species are roaming the streets of Granhall, not just humans. They are still the overwhelming majority. There are many demikin, humans with beastly features, a stray few gracious elves and ever watchful halflings are also visible. Some of the roadside stalls selling heavenly-smelling food are manned by beastmen of many kinds, animals with human-like features. There’s a distinct lack of dwarves and gnomes but as far as I know, those are more of the industrious type, sitting in their workshops and tinkering day in and day out.
The streets are as full as ever, the middle part designated for wagons and carriages and the sides bustling with foot traffic. The messengers don't use the common roads, since their speed is too high, and any mistake could endanger normal folk. Restricted paths are built in cities to provide a shorter and unimpeded path for these runners, a rather ingenious design altogether. The only problem I see is when the two types of roads cross their path. What happens then? Someone not necessarily smarter, maybe wiser must’ve found a solution for that, else the whole thing wouldn’t be worth it.
I continue inspecting the city, my home for the foreseeable future, scouting for places promising an adventure. As much as I hate this whole forced to do this, taken away from home, in constant danger and secrecy thing… I must say Granhall looks quite… grand. I like it, and I’m sure mom and dad will like it as well when they visit me in quite a few years. Even the Fist doesn’t seem that bad but I won’t be too quick to judge, I haven’t even gone through a whole day yet.
Another thing I should really consider is how I look at the kids around me. Maybe I’m a bit condescending, maybe because of my Blessing I think I’m better and I might not be wrong… Anyhow, this surely isn’t the right angle of approach to make any friends. Victor is different, he’s weird. We aren't really friends although I’m certain he’d say otherwise.
For sure I wont get on well with all of them, the incident in the mess hall is a perfect example of that but I’ll put in the work, and give them a chance.
***
We continue walking in silence, Martha sometimes throwing a question at me or some weird and useless facts about our surroundings all the way till we reach the outer edges of the good old forest.
“As I’ve heard this isn’t your first time wandering into these woods, courtesy of a certain idiot. Still, a quick rundown might not hurt.” Martha stops us before wandering any deeper.
She keeps an eye on our surroundings, being ever vigilant, a likely side effect of years of service.
“This is Bolna Forest, named after the huge Bolna Lizards nesting deep in its center. The outer edges are inhabited by anything ranging from level 10 to 80 so I’ll stay nearby but other than that I’ll let you run free. We usually take the higher-leveled kids deeper for some wilderness training and leave them there for a day or two…”
As she says this we look into the other's eyes, both of us having the same thoughts. Really Bennett, really?
“Yeah… So your challenge will be to kill some beasts with a combined level of 100 and you’ll only get two tools for this task.” She pulls out a familiar colored crystal and a knife. “A small Hadron crystal for additional mana and an emergency knife. If I have to come and save you I’ll consider that a failure, although if a beast is more than thrice your level maybe I can be a little lenient. That's all, have a good hunt.” And she disappears without another word.
I don’t panic having expected something like this before. I’m not sure whether she realized that despite being often mad at Bennett she’s not that much different. A bit kinder and more thoughtful yet clearly on the same wavelength. She’s still fine in my book, however, if things continue on like this it’ll just mean one more person on the skin them alive list.
I turn my eyes back to the forest, which on its outskirts looks no different than a simple oak forest with a thicker underbrush. There are still some rays of daylight piercing through the canopies of the lush oaks home to plenty of birds and insects already this far out. I should make haste if I don’t want to end up like last time. Let’s make use of the bright before dusk. No restrictions.
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Martha keeps an eye on her new prodigy from a respectable distance with her Mage’s Domain. Far enough not to disturb her, yet close enough to jump in if need be. She’s more than willing to lose some of her free time to break in the newbie. The girl might be talented and slightly special but becoming arrogant and complacent can lead to an early death.
After walking deeper into the forest for ten or so minutes the girl crouches down and inspects a few broken branches. Oh, looks like she learned some rudimentary tracking from that old goat, nonetheless only knowing that something passed there won't be enough. This might teach her how little she knows. It's important that she learns her limits at the start rather than on a battlefield.
Elyssia just follows the trail leading her even deeper into the forest and she seems aware of that, observing her surroundings vigorously while trekking after the beast that left those trails maybe three days ago. Again, it's clear she has a great head on her shoulders but lacks crucial knowledge or the raw instincts to make something of the situation.
To Martha’s great surprise, the girl actually finds something after five minutes.
[Locust lvl 24]
Should be a Devouring Locust.
Not the greatest start. Even though the creature is a bug, it's the size of a dog, extremely aggressive and fairly fast which makes it a difficult enemy for mages. It's also a swarm insect which is further bad news but their population should be culled constantly. Thankfully it's only slightly above plants in the brain department which means that the appropriate tactics can bring down the creature easily, and it can’t fly, yet.
Elyssia notices the bug first and crouches down to observe. The creature is reddish brown in color with powerful hindlegs and huge mandibles feasting on some smaller prey. The girl seems to have come up with a plan.
She’s in a perfect position to deal a decisive blow, but from what I’ve seen she doesn’t have the kick to kill it right away. Especially since the insect is facing away from her so the head can’t be targeted. What’s your solution then? Martha grins, actually enjoying the little bugger working her way through this challenge and curious to see what her little mind managed to come up with.
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I gather some water and compress it into two thin blades. This stretches my limits a bit as the mana I control is almost too much for me to handle. I aim at the hindlegs of the locust, specifically at the joints and release the crescent blades, one at each leg. I don't have any experience fighting against insect-type beasts but I’d have to be fucking blind to not notice that the joints are weak points and the rest of its leg is armored in chitin.
The bug’s antennae snap upright, probably hearing the incoming attack, it twitches, trying to sense the danger… too slow. My attack hits home, one severing the leg and the other digging in just halfway into the carapace. Still, it's enough to cripple the target.
The locust buzzes with its backside somehow, making a sound akin to raking a stone block and clumsily turns towards me.
Actually, can insects even feel pain or is it just pissed?
Since its jumping legs are useless the bug can only limp around on the four remaining support legs. I conjure a spear of flames, just to get this skill some usage as well and wait for the opportune moment. I don’t want to waste mana, the thing can barely walk, why risk missing the shot? The locust stumbles in my direction undeterred yet quite slow, so I get a brilliant idea.
I pretend to dash towards the thing, like I’m about to pounce on it. It reacts by instinctively jumping at me, which just turns into an awkward kick with mangled legs, making it fall face first. I graciously show mercy to the vile beast, launching the fiery spear straight through its head.