Week 2, Day 1
Instructor Sorus counted the number of students, and then smiled. “Looks like some decided to skip.”
As he counted, he walked past Alia, Ethan and stopped. “I also heard the two of you managed to clear a Level 1 rift, and also a Level 2 rift. That's a good start.”
Ethan immediately clarified. “We had a friend for the Level 2 rift. We were just planning to check it out, but... uh... we won by a hair’s breadth.”
“I see. It’s good to have friends in high places, but don’t rely on them too much. You must carry your own weight."
Alia bowed. “Thank you for your advice, Instructor Sorus.”
“Don't mention it. I’m glad some of you have started to take on the rifts. A few others also completed a Level 2 rift yesterday, and a few already attempted level 3 rifts.”
“May I ask a question?” Alia raised her hand.
“Yes.”
“When we fought the level 2 rift, it felt like we should hit the 2nd realm before attempting a Level 2 rift, but, why is it open to all of us?”
Sorus laughed. “It’s entirely possible for a well-planned group of 1st realms to take a level 2 rift without losses. If let’s say 6 people joined a rift, you could split the GP and still come out ahead of the level 1 rift.”
Alia's face turned red, it was an obvious solution. “Oh. I... I didn’t think of that. We should do that next time!”
“Wild rifts are usually assaulted with a large force, after all, high-realmers are hard to come by, so we have to make do with a large number of mid-realmers.”
Instructor Sorus smiled, and then faced the rest of the crowd.
“Anyway, let’s practice!”
***
Training started with some basic drills, some simple movements, and Instructor Sorus spent a lot more time on the group that wasn’t ready for rifts. They needed to be ready, quickly.
The better group had more spars, with the assistants, and with each other.
“David Vivan is not here today.” Basil noted, as he ducked one of Ethan’s slashes.
“Oh now that you mention it.” Ethan wanted to smack his head. He wasn’t even paying attention to the hero? Was he getting sidetracked by a sidequest?! “Where is he?”
“I heard he took on a level 1 rift by himself, a few times! He did three rifts yesterday.”
“Wow.” Ethan had to admit, that was impressive. He didn’t see himself taking three rifts a day, solo. Zaram could, though. Hell, Zaram was just a few upgrades away from taking a level 2 rift solo.
“He’s nothing like the rumors. It sure doesn't sound like a ‘failure’." Basil said as he thrusted his practice blade. Ethan ducked, and found his stab blocked by a shield of earth.
“I wonder who spreads that kind of shit.” Ethan ducked Basil's strike.
“Probably another jealous noble family. Noble families take potshots at each other all the time, especially if they are competing. You know how petty and envious noble houses can be. They're like a bunch of snakes-”
Another noble student overheard the conversation and glared at Basil. He somehow fumed and then shouted. “You have no right to talk shit about nobles, come! Spar with me and let me beat that out of you.”
Ethan felt his heart skip a beat. Was this noble just looking for an excuse?
Basil rolled his eyes. “Oh darn, this shit again." He turned to face the angry noble. "Give it a rest, it’s true.”
A different noble student, even agreed. “Eh, what he said is true. We nobles do actually take potshots at each other all the time. Let's not pretend nobilities are all that great with each other.”
"It may be true, but it’s not their place to criticize us. Commoners should keep their mouths shut. So you, Basil Blackboulder, let me show you the immensity of heaven and earth. Spar with me.”
Basil feigned ignorance, but his hands trembled slightly. “Very well. Show me what you can do, then, Lord Pithold. Let us exchange discourse.”
The noble, Merif Pithold took a stance, and charged. Strangely, the assistants didn’t do a thing, but just watched.
His sword flashed blue, and Basil’s one turned brown. Alia, of course, frowned. “This won’t be good.”
The blue sword exploded in a small explosion of water, and Basil winced. His [Stone shield] blocked the effects of water, but the noble was faster, stronger.
“They both have rare-grade cores, but Merif has the stronger cultivation, and the advantageous element.” Each attack from the noble left Basil wincing, his face contorted as he parried the strikes.
They exchanged a few more blows, and Merif’s blade flashed blue once more. “[Wave Blade].” Basil blocked the blue sword, but he only blocked the sword itself. A wave exploded out of the noble's sword, and that wave smashed right into Basil.
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Or it would have. Instructor Sorus’s green aura covered Basil in a protective shell “Alright, spars between students are permitted, but that’s a bit much. That’s the end of it.”
The noble student grinned. “As you say, Instructor Sorus. Perhaps he should learn how to watch his mouth, next.”
Basil groaned, but didn’t say the words in his heart. Ethan and Alia walked over. “You alright, dude?”
“I’ll be fine.” The slightly injured student got up and turned to the instructor. “Thanks, Instructor Sorus.”
Instructor Sorus Greyhouse sighed. “Keep gossiping to yourself, guys and not in the public areas. It’ll help you a lot in the Garden.”
The three commoners nodded. The session felt slightly uncomfortable afterwards, as the nobles seemed to watch them intently, waiting for them to slip up.
Eventually, the same noble pulled the trigger.
“May I request a spar with Ethan Blacktree?” Merif grinned, and now aimed for Ethan instead. The instructor nodded, and they got ready. Basil looked concerned. “Be careful, he’s probably trying to get you in trouble.”
Ethan sighed. “Got it.”
“So, you’re one of the trash-talker’s friends, aren’t ya?” Merif waited and his sword flashed blue again. “I figured I should educate his friends in the art of dignified silence.”
The sword wooshed through the air, and Ethan ducked. Rather than engage in battle, Ethan decided it was not worth it to use his abilities to fight. So what, if he won? This student just wants to take out his frustration on him. It even felt like Merif was just trying to reinforce the social order.
He activated [Shadow Step], and dodged. He dodged three slashes, and Merif was already annoyed. “So all you can do is run? How appropriate that you get a shadow-element core.”
Provocation. He smiled. “Well, yes. I’m good at it.”
He ducked and sidestepped. When Merif’s 8th swing missed, the noble's frustration grew. His sword flashed blue, and unlike before, it even radiated some of that blue light. “Then let’s see how you dodge this.”
Merif slashed and Ethan activated his skill to step sideways. A small torrent of blue just surged outwards in it’s wake, and he dodged it right in time with a well placed [Shadow Step].
Ethan couldn’t take his opponent’s sword head on. The power in the blue sword was clearly superior to his sword. When he sparred with Basil, Ethan barely managed to parry Basil’s heavy strikes, and extrapolating from Basil's performance, he'd be a fool to even try.
“Agh! You good-for-nothing, cowardly trash!” He cursed and charged. Ethan noticed Merif’s swings got more erratic, and less ‘sharp’, as his frustration at being led around bled into his swings.
Ethan kept dodging, and Merif revealed more openings in his attacks, even with his superior core and stronger skills. Ethan felt a sensation, strangely similar to the Ogre in the level 2 rift.
Merif was the angry ogre. And he believed Ethan would not strike back.
“Come-back-here!” Merif did a vertical slash that went a little too high, and a little too wide. Ethan ducked, immediately landed a simple strike to the chest. The attack flung the noble backwards, and strangely, Instructor Sorus clapped. It didn’t hurt much, but before Merif tried to get up, the instructor started to talk.
“Good job, Ethan Blacktree. That was a superb display of dragging out the fight, frustrating them and forcing your stronger opponents to make errors. Those watching, this is a good learning moment. What would you have done if you were in Merif’s place?”
One noble said, and smirked at Merif. “Keep cool and not fall for the delay?”
Merif’s face turned red, and Ethan felt his hateful glare.
“Exactly!” Instructor Sorus said. “Ethan has a weaker core, just common grade, but he used his superior speed and evasion to frustrate Lord Pithold. In the future, you will encounter monsters with strength superior to you, and this is a good tactic.”
Ethan overheard someone laugh at Merif. “You lost to a common-grade, dude. You bring shame to the nobility.”
“Just you wait.” He heard Merif curse, and Ethan sighed. This wasn’t going to be the end of it.
Instructor Sorus continued to speak. “This, again, brings up the importance of knowing what battle strategy suits you. Ethan did well with an evade-and-strike strategy, that’s common for ranged-cores and cores with higher speeds like wind, or shadow, or lightning.”
Ethan wilted under the praise. Some of the nobles seemed amused and smiled at him. He swore he felt their wicked intention, and immediately walked closer to Alia and Basil. Basil grinned brightly and tapped him on the shoulder. “That’s a good strategy.”
A strategy he stumbled on.
“So, students.” Instructor Greyhound continued. “Think about the core you have, and what strategy works for you. This is a ‘sword’ or ‘blade’ core focused class, but that doesn’t mean all sword-types need to take the same strategy. The elements you have, and the skills you unlocked should factor into your personal style.”
He felt Merif's glare throughout the rest of the class, and he had that sinking feeling in his heart. Trouble was coming.
“I think I’ll need to run.” Ethan gulped immediately after the class. “To the cultivation chamber.”
Alia grinned. “Well, me too.”
He had 15GP, and Zaram had 35GP.
Zaram’s haul, would be saved to buy him a rare-grade core, but at the same time, Zaram’s not strong enough to take a Level 2 rift solo. Ethan needed to find out all the five-goddess temples in the nearby area, and visit them asap. A few upgrades to his gacha abilities, and Zaram would be able to solo them.
***
Ethan and Alia took their own cultivation chambers, since they were each attuned to a different element. During the first session, he didn’t get any increase in the stage of his cultivation as the difficulty of each stage increased. But halfway through the 2nd and at the end of the 3rd session of his 12-hour cultivation maraton, he advanced two full stages, and gained two new skills into his storage.
***
[Ethan Blacktree]
[Core: Common-Grade Core of Shadow Swords]
[Core Cultivation : Tenth Stage- First realm] (two stages gained)
[Skill Frame : Skills slots available 0/4]
[Common-grade Shadow Steps - Level 8] (+3)
[Common-grade Body Enhancement - Level 8] (+3)
[Rare-grade Sword Unity - Level 2] (+1)
[Common-grade Shadow Copy - Level 4] (+1)
[Storage]
[Common Grade Stab of Darkness - Level 1]
[Common Grade Illusion Blade - Level 1] (new)
(Turns your swords into illusionary attacks. Enemies may be able to see through your multiple illusionary swords. Illusionary blades deal no damage)
[Rare Grade - Vanished Shadow - Level 1] (new)
(Temporarily transform into a shadow moving through the floor. You can be attacked when in shadow-form, and you take exceptional damage from light magic damage, and extra damage from magic damage.)
He looked at his new rare-grade skill. It was useful, but he felt they had a limited application, and he was so close to his next realm up. Once he reached 2nd realm, he should be able to assign a few more skills to his list of abilities.