The next few days were a blur. Training began at dawn, and Elder Wroth ran the Aspirants ragged until well after midday. Hunter pushed himself to the brink running lap after lap after lap around the Sacred Training Grounds. He lifted logs, carried rocks, and did more bodyweight exercises than a fitness instructor on a caffeine binge.

He was still the least physically fit of the four Aspirants, but each day felt easier than the previous one - and that, he tried to remind himself, was what mattered most. Gamification helped, too. Each message that he got renewed his courage and tenacity, and he got a lot of them. On the fifth day, his Athletics hit a major milestone.

Your Athletics has increased to 20.

Heavily regimented physical training strengthens and fortifies the body against all kinds of hardships. Conditioning passively provides an increase to both your Stamina and Stamina Regeneration, improving endurance and physical performance.

Running, panting and unable to even slow down, Hunter was tempted to learn Conditioning right then and there, just for the Stamina Regeneration increase to kick in and make his life a bit easier. The only thing that stopped him was that learning new Abilities required Inspiration, and Inspiration had proven difficult to come by.

That was something Hunter had often considered. He had so far resisted spending the single point he currently had, saving it to see what new Abilities would come up during training. Conditioning sounded great, but so did some of the other ones.

He waited until physical training was over for the day and Wroth let him and the other Aspirants catch their breath for a bit, then he sat under a tree and pulled up a list of all the Abilities he could learn.

Abilities Available:

Asymmetric Tactics

Conditioning

Eldritch Power

Make Contact

Mystical Phenomena

Pathfinder

Rite of the Hunt

Wildcrafting

Inspiration: 2

Asymmetric Tactics was the Ability he’d unlocked through his unconventional approach to fighting Mother and It That Whispers down in the depths of the Halls of the Cor Ancestors. He pulled up its description and took a closer look.

Asymmetric Tactics allows you to be more effective in combat against enemies that are more powerful, more numerous, or otherwise superior to you. It involves using unconventional strategies to offset your deficiencies and disadvantages.

This one was situational, sure, but Hunter was definitely going to get it. It wasn’t a question of if, but when. He could learn it right now and be done with it. Unless he planned to use unconventional strategies to get a leg up on the other Aspirants, though, it would probably be a while before he got the chance to use it. Maybe he should save the Inspiration point for something with more immediate benefits.

Pathfinder and Wildcrafting were the Abilities he’d unlocked when his Survival Skill had hit 20. He pulled up their descriptions, too.

Pathfinder offers an in-depth, innate understanding of the land and those who travel it, allowing you to discover and navigate fast and safe routes through almost any kind of terrain and natural environment.

Wildcrafting–an ability akin to Herbalism–is the practice of harvesting plants, herbs, mushrooms, and other natural resources, and using them to create a variety of items, including crafting materials, remedies, and more.

Both sounded useful, but neither particularly so for his current circumstances. Hunter would especially like to have the chance to try his hand in Wildcrafting at some point. For now, though, he’d have to prioritize something else.

The rest of the Abilities were the ones he’d gotten through his Mystic class by acquiring Insight.

Eldritch Power allows you to tap into your Insight quality and attack your foes with eldritch magic. Higher ranks grant access to additional forms of magical attacks.

Make Contact allows you to tap into your Insight quality and commune with a spiritual being or place of power. Higher ranks increase the chance of success and reduce risks.

Mystical Phenomena allows you to utilize your Insight quality to subtly manipulate the laws of the cosmos, ever so slightly affecting the outcome of events as you see fit.

Higher ranks allow you more substantial manipulations, and reduce the risk these manipulations have to draw unwanted attention.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Rite of the Hunt allows you to put a mark on your prey and declare a Hunt, gaining potential advantages in tracking and hunting down that prey and creating special hunting trophies. Higher ranks increase the variety and intensity of these advantages.

If Hunter had any gripe with the choice of Abilities he was getting, it was that almost all of them were good ones. He’d skipped Eldritch Power so far because spellcasting wasn’t a kind of playstyle that appealed to him. He’d skipped Mystical Phenomena, too, because that mention of unwanted attention at the end of its description simply gave him a bad feeling.

Make Contact, on the other hand, was something he planned to get sooner or later. Communing with spirits wasn’t something he’d had the chance to do - not after Lormenheere and his first death at the ghostly hands of Herne’s host of followers. Hunter had struck an accord with said Great Spirit, though, and accords were an integral part of his class as a Mystic. That’s where he’d actually gained these Abilities from. Ergo, Make Contact made the short list of Abilities he should prioritize to learn.

That left Rite of the Hunt. From the mention of special hunting trophies in the description, Hunter guessed that this was another Ability he should get in case he decided to make good on his accord with Herne. That wasn’t something he planned to do right now, though. So Rite of the Hunt, while it did make the list, would also have to wait.

On a sidenote, Hunter had acquired a ‘Grand Insight’ when It That Whispers had revealed its true form, which had catapulted his Insight quality from 2 to 5. Despite that, he hadn’t gained access to any new Mystic Abilities.

Why was that?

Fuck if he knew.

Focusing on his present predicament, Hunter considered his choices for a while. The consistent and significant improvements to his physical capabilities that Conditioning would afford him made it the most practical and immediately beneficial Ability to prioritize, given his current challenges. He could wait to see whether something better came along, but that would cost him in terms of growth. Wroth was putting them through the wringer day after day. Conditioning would start gaining ranks pretty much from the moment Hunter learned it.

That decided it. He’d spend one point of Inspiration on Conditioning now, and save one just in case. He willed it, and a notification popped up in his HUD.

Your Conditioning has increased to 1. Your Inspiration quality is now 1.

Hunter felt a tingle go through his body as the passive effects of Conditioning took effect. Was it his idea, or could he already breathe a bit better?

Learning Conditioning proved to be the right choice. Its effects weren’t flashy, being a passive Ability and all, but they were nothing if not reliable. As for holding on to his remaining point of Inspiration, that soon proved to be the right choice too.

Afternoons were for glaive fighting training. Elder Wroth drilled the Aspirants ad nauseam, making them repeat the same forms again and again until they could perform them running on instinct alone. They did no sparring exercises. Wroth had said he wouldn’t let them spar before they’d proven to him they knew which end of the glaive was which - a caustic comment Hunter supposed was mostly aimed at him. As a result, Hunter was learning the forms of glaive combat, but was getting precious little in the way of Skill ranks.

Coincidentally, it was the afternoon after he’d decided to learn Conditioning that his Polearm mastery finally hit 20 too.

Your Polearm Mastery has increased to 20.

Increases precision and speed with glaive-type polearms, granting a significant boost to hit rate and critical hit chance. Higher ranks provide even greater accuracy and a chance to disarm opponents.

If Hunter had any reservations about spending his last point of Inspiration on this, one look at Yuma’s arrogant mug was enough to dispel them.

Your Glaive Expertise has increased to 1. Your Inspiration quality is now 0.

He felt a tiny jolt go through his limbs as newly-found muscle memory emerged in his brain like a forgotten memory that had always been there and had just resurfaced. He hefted his training glaive and it instantly felt lighter in his grip, more familiar, more intimate.

“Hunter!” Wroth snapped, scowling. “Focus!”

He’d zoned out in the middle of executing forms.

“Yes, Elder,” he said and fell in with the others.

“Do you think that you can afford to drift off in the middle of a fight?”

“No, Elder.”

“Then what in the name of the Ancestors are you doing, drifting off in the middle of training? When fighting, your focus means the difference between life and death. Stay sharp!”

“Sorry, Elder.”

Yuma, standing nearby, sneered. Throughout these last few days, he’d made no attempt to hide his arrogance or disdain towards Hunter. He was the best at everything and he knew it, and he took pleasure in showing Hunter how big the gap between their skill level was. Unbeknownst to him, his scorn was often the focus of Hunter’s CBT journaling attempts.

Every evening, after the grueling training sessions, Alex would sit in his room at the Happy Motel, open the notebook he’d asked Carpenter to give him, and meticulously document his thoughts about the day’s events. He practiced cognitive-behavioral therapy exercises diligently, identifying negative thoughts and challenging them with rational counterarguments, just as Mort had suggested.

In the beginning, it all felt silly. He didn’t want to sit there and write down how Yuma's arrogance was more a reflection of his own insecurities than his - Hunter’s - worth. He wanted to get back in Elderpyre and wipe the bloody sneer from the prick’s face. Still, he had to admit the whole cognitive-behavioral thing worked. He hadn’t had one of those nosebleed-migraine combinations in days.

All in all, it hadn’t been a bad few days. Coach Grenier, Alex’s highschool wrestling coach, used to give the team whole sermons about how hard work and discipline were good for the soul. He was beginning to think the old grouch was on to something.

Elder Wroth looked like a staunch believer in hard work and discipline, too - but not like a great believer in Hunter. It wasn't that Wroth was unfriendly; he was always fair and even-handed in his dealings. However, there was a palpable skepticism in his eyes whenever Hunter was involved. He didn't berate or belittle him, but his overall manner made it clear. Wroth simply didn't see the spark, the raw potential, that he believed was essential for an Aspirant. To him, Hunter was probably just another well-meaning but ultimately unremarkable trainee, lacking the exceptional qualities needed to truly succeed.

It was late in the afternoon, near the end of their training for the day, when the Elder approached Hunter, arms crossed on his chest. Hunter was moving through the glaive forms absent-mindedly, his muscles remembering the motions even as his mind wandered. He was so focused on his routine that he almost didn't notice Elder Wroth approaching. He felt the weight of the elder's gaze on his back and straightened his posture, determined to show his best performance.

As he transitioned into a particularly challenging sequence, something called the Hawk’s Talon, he caught a glimpse of Wroth out of the corner of his eye. The elder had come closer, his usual indifference replaced with a keen, assessing look. He completed the sequence as best as he could, then turned to the Elder, waiting for the inevitable critique. To his surprise, Wroth's expression softened slightly, a hint of approval in his eyes. He gave a single, curt nod.

"Huh."

Did his new Glaive Expertise make such an obvious difference in Hunter’s performance? Or was Wroth so sharp-eyed a tutor to notice it? Probably a bit of both, Hunter guessed.

“Very well!” Elder Wroth called out. “It seems you have gotten the hang of the basic forms. You can put your weapons away. We are done for today. Go wash up, eat, get some rest. Tomorrow we’ll see how well you can put those forms in practice.”