“Arghhh, my damn head…” I wake up with the usual headache, although it’s worse than expected, pounding in my ears this time. Part of me thinks I can feel my heartbeat in my skull. I blink my eyes awake, as I am complaining about my usual migraine, and immediately close my eyes again after seeing a blazingly bright blue screen.
“WHY IS THIS DAMN SCREEN STILL HERE?” I yell in indignity, not expecting an answer, but lo and behold…
“Oh… you musta leveled up in the last battle. Yeah, no, that won’t go away until you distribute your stat points. You didn’t even know that? What kinda backwater…” As he trails off, I ponder on the information he just unveiled.
All right, so that means a few things! First, everyone has this system…, or he’s an otherworlder, but I highly doubt that unless he got a head start. I mean, the guy is in full plate. That’d just be unfair if he started with that! Second, I have to distribute my points, or well, I guess I don’t have to, but the damn screen is annoying, and having a few extra stats wouldn’t hurt. So what should I put my 10 points in…
Please distribute your stat points!
STR: 10
AGI: 10
END: 10
INT: 10
Free Points: 10
I reflect on my previous fight and guided by that travesty and the pain in my body, I decide to put 5 points in END. Besides that… well, I ran outta mana damn quick, so I guess I’ll put the other 5 in INT. Now how do I-
Selection confirmed, Distributing stat points…
Stat points distributed
Name: Elaine
Race: Human(Otherworlder)
Class: None
LVL:3
HP:54/150
MP:33/150
STR:10
AGI:10
END:15
INT:15
Titles-
Skills-
Unique: [Shapeshifter Lvl:1] [Temporal magic Lvl:2]
Racial(Otherworlder): [Disease Immunity] [Fast Exp&Skill Growth] [Universal Language Comprehension]
Oh well, that solves that! I think as the pain that racked my body lessens, only slightly, but even that tiny amount is blissful.
“I can’t believe I’m repeating this, but uhh lass, this is the part where you respond.” The armored man says, with an exasperated tone, in a gruff voice befitting his stature.
I sit up in acknowledgment and open my tired eyes to see that the sun is still up in the sky. Four people are sitting in various poses. The armored man sits on a log to my right. He’s eating some kind of stew, and somewhat disappointingly, he’s no longer wearing the monocle. The armored man then hands me a bowl of stew with some sort of meat. As I start to eat my meal, I look around. A man with a scar over his right eye, in mismatched leather armor, with two daggers at his waist and a bow on his back, is leaning on a tree. He has short brown hair in a similar style to the armored man. Another man is sitting on a stump across from the armored man in what I can only assume are priestly robes. The robes have a symbol of what I think is supposed to be a sun plastered on the front of them. He has short blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Then there is a woman sitting across from me. She has long, shoulder-length brown hair and is wearing mismatched leather armor with a long sword at her hip.
“Oh yeah… Uh, sorry, I spaced out and was, uhh, distributing my stat points…What were you saying?” I say hurriedly, looking up from my meal as I realize I am getting distracted again.
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“I suppose that’s understandable. It is an important decision. I was just saying that introductions are in order. I’m Gerald, the Shield Bearer of the group.” He says, pointing to himself, and he then points to the man leaning on the tree. “That’s Jon. He’s a ranger, the eyes and ears of the group if you would.” The ranger replies with a grunt and nod of his head. He then motions to the blonde man across from him.
“I’m Percival, a priest of Mir and the healer of the group.” The blonde man- Percival, says in a pleasant voice, an ever-present smile on his face.
Then the woman speaks, “And I’m Cora, a mage and the only one here with a brain.”
“Ignoring my rude colleague,” Gerald says in a tone that implies he’s used to her impolite behavior. “We’re the knights in service Countess Charil.” He says, pointing to a fancy carriage that I somehow hadn’t noticed before. The carriage sports a crest of a wolf with its jaws open and a blazing fire behind it and has two horses tied to the front, with three horses behind the carriage tied to various trees.
“And you are…?” He questions.
“Oh.. right! I’m Elaine!” I answer, almost forgetting the name I had dubbed this form. Then I look to Cora, “You’re a mage…? You’re all knights?”
The woman looks at me with scorn in her eyes. “What, you think all Mages wear robes? I’m not like those stuffy scholars in Arcron!” She says with contempt.
“No need to be rude, Cora. Those are both common misconceptions. Not all mages wear scholars' robes, and not all knights wear plate armor.” He says, in a lecturing tone.
“No yeah, right… that makes sense. Hey, while you’re teaching me stuff, can you explain skills?!” I ask, excited to finally have a source of information.
“Skills? Shouldn’t your Father have taught you this? you really are from a backwater… where are you actually from anyway?” Gerald says with a cock of his eyebrow.
“Well… Uhh, nowhere anymore…” I say in my best attempt to feign despair.
“Oh… I see…” Gerald says, in a tone that tells me I’m not the first misplaced person he’s met. “Well, Skills are what allows us to use mana. It’s a common misconception among kids that gaining a skill will all of a sudden allow us to be more ‘skilled’ at whatever the skill is about. This is wrong. Skills allow us to use mana when doing the skill's action. For example, having the Skill [Swordsmanship] does not make you better at wielding a sword. It allows you to use mana when swinging one.” Gerald explains, “Another common misconception is that skills are the same as techniques. They aren’t. Techniques like the one you used in your punch are ways to use mana in a way that allows us to do things like be faster when swinging a sword or have that same swing be far more potent than it should be. Although using mana, in general, allows you to swing that same sword faster and stronger and with less rebound than usual, using a technique allows you to break the limits imposed on you by a skill, albeit usually for a cost in mana, and or stamina.” Gerald continues. “Although that technique with the punch was quite impressive, your dad teach you that?”
“Yeah, my father taught me many things.” I rush to explain, still attempting to feign sadness.
Gerald looks down and says, “He must have been a great warrior and a great man.”
I repeat his action and respond, “He was the strongest man I’ve ever met.” A little of the acting was made easier by remembering the fact that I will never see my actual father ever again.
Gerald continues to look down as his face scrunches up in thought. After about a minute of contemplation, he looks at me, “You know, you have talent. And seeing as you have nowhere else to go, maybe you can join us on our journey to the capital city of Arcron. Fortunately, the first semester at Arcron Knight’s Institute is about to start. I could get you in with a recommendation…” Gerald trails off.
“That would be amazing!” I exclaim, “Although… would your lady be okay with that?”
“To have an in with a talented new knight? Yeah, she’d be okay with it. Although you’ll have to prove your talent to me.” Gerald says, with a severe look in his eyes.
“And how do I do that?” I question.
“Well,” Gerald says as he sets down his meal and stands up, “We’ll have a little sparring match, I’ll grab you a sword from the carriage, and we can start.” True to his words, he begins walking to the carriage. As he starts this trek, I roll my shoulders and begin to pump myself up. This… This is my chance! I think… Ya see Jack was not my name; it was the name of my ideal. The name I promised to give myself if I ever got a chance at a second life. If I ever got to fix my mistakes, make something of myself. And this system, this world, is giving me just that chance. All I have to do is beat the boss in front of me.
As I revel in my delusions of grandeur, Gerald opens the carriage trunk and pulls out a sword. The sword is longer than a short sword but shorter than a long sword. I’m sure there’s a name for this kind of blade; I just don’t know it. I watch as he tosses the sword hilt first in my direction in blatant disrespect to every rule of safety surrounding bladed objects. After a bit of fumbling, I caught the sword, surprising myself. The weight is awkward, and I realize the implications of this as I take a few swings.
“All right, I’ll give you some time to familiarize yourself with the weight, and then we can begin,” Gerald says in a serious tone.
And true enough, after about a minute of an embarrassingly terrible attempt at swordsmanship from me, he unsheathes the short sword at his hip, grabs the shield from his back, and then shouts, “NOW COME AT ME WITH ALL YOU’VE GOT!”
I, of course, oblige him. Before I can even ponder that sparring with bladed weapons is exceedingly dangerous, I’m already running at him as fast as my legs carry me, my sword at the ready, my hopes of proving myself moving me forward. As I swing the sword at him, I realize the futility of not using [Temporal Magic]. As he blocks every strike, I activate my ability, and the world seems to slow down. I strike as fast as I am able, and surprisingly enough, he blocks the blow.
“That trick won’t work on me twice!” He says as he responds with a shield bash. The world slows again as I leap to the right, then strike again.
Come on. I can do this!
Just a little damn faster!
And as he blocks again, I lament that this isn’t an anime and that thoughts alone won’t win me the fight. Seeing me freeze, he strikes again with another shield bash, which almost catches me as I leap to the right. Time slows again as, this time, I take out my anger by throwing out multiple attacks, each one blocked with contemptuous ease. As my mind begins to be blinded by rage, Gerald feints an attack with his short sword to my right, and as I dodge hits me with a heavy shield bash which sends me sprawling to the ground.
*Beep*
Congratulations! You have acquired the skill [Swordsmanship LVL 1]
I look at the blue screen in front of me as I nurse my wounds on the ground. “Now is not the fucking time system!” I mumble in indignity.
“I suppose that was good enough,” Gerald thankfully says, acknowledging my efforts. “For somebody untrained anyway, although it is surprising that your technique works for fists and swords…” He says as he extends an arm out to me, which I grab. Standing up, I lament that I had never trained with a sword in my previous life. It might’ve made this easier… or at least less embarrassing.