Being blitzed by another flurry of punches coming from all different angles, I couldn’t keep up and was caught by another powerful punch directly in the gut—dealing 500 damage from that one punch alone and sending me flying against the wall. “Urgh…!” The impact was completely absorbed by the runes on the walls, and my body simply bounced off and came crashing onto the ground. Looking at my Health, I picked myself up.
Health: 2,031/5,595
“Damn, she did more than half my health in a single combo again.” Spitting out the blood from my mouth, I stared at Odelia smugly grinning in her unorthodox fighting stance. “I can’t dodge her attacks, and I can’t land a single hit; what do I do?” She waited for me to come at her again, “This was only supposed to be hand-to-hand sparring to show her what I could do, but when it comes to actual fighting without a bow, I’m basically useless.” Casting First Aid to recover my Health a bit, I healed some of the big bruises and cracked bones I felt all over my body.
Then having enough being treated as a punching bag, I used Wield Mana to form myself a short bow to use, “Since there’s no way I’ll ever beat Odelia in hand-to-hand combat with my terrible fighting skills, I might as well use this chance to see how effective my new Magic Style Skills actually are in combat.” Seeing this, Odelia’s smug grin grew wider and gestured for me to come at her.
Drawing the mana-bowstring, I focused and formed 2 mana-arrows fully nocked and ready to be shot; though before I did, I casted Element Arrow on both and chose Lightning—imbuing an erratic yellow electricity around each arrowhead. However Odelia was unflinching, as she allowed me to carefully aim and fire the arrows at her chest. But knowing that wouldn’t be enough, I activated Sprint and quickly circled behind her as the arrows flew; forming and shooting one more arrow, this time casting Ensnaring Arrow on it and aiming directly for her ankles. I then readied my next arrow and Skill for her reaction, but when I saw Odelia was just standing her ground, I decided to quickly fire 3 high-arcing arrows above her.
I watched while the electrified arrows were just about to hit her in the chest, but with unbelievable ease, Odelia caught both of them in single motion and held the 2 arrows in her hands—absolutely unbothered by the electricity surging through her. Then when she turned around to face me, an arrow with 2 mana-strands—attached at the tip of the arrow—hit her left ankle and suddenly caused the strands to reach and wrap around her other ankle, magically tightening themselves and bringing her ankles together. Realizing now that one wouldn’t hold against someone as strong as Odelia, I quickly sent 4 more Ensnaring Arrows; 1 at her knees, 1 at her calves, and 2 more at her ankles.
Odelia acknowledged me, “You are quite fast, my Lord,” looking to be amused, “though surely you do not believe this is even close to being enough to hold me, right?” With the simple outward flex of her legs, Odelia instantly broke all 5 restraints wrapped around her and caused them to dissipate.
“I didn’t think they would, but they did work pretty well as a distraction.” At that moment 3 round arrowheads were falling directly on top of Odelia, “Kaboom…”
Odelia looked impressed, “Oooh, well played, Lord Eyes.” as she brought her forearms up to cover her head. The 3 round arrowheads then made contact with her forearms and immediately exploded on impact, creating 3 separate small blue explosions and causing the dust in the chamber to be blown all around.
Coughing and waving the dust out of my face, I asked “Did I get you?”
And appearing unscathed from the dust cloud, Odelia replied “It was a good effort, Lord Eyes, but that amount of magic is still too weak to even really damage my armour.” Showing me that my Explosive Arrows barely singed her black leather bracers—though it did cause her braided hair to be a slight frizzy mess.
“Really? Maybe I shouldn’t have held back so much then?” Releasing my focus and dissipating my short bow.
“I feel the same, my Lord, as you can take quite the beating with that First Aid Skill you have—much more than even Combat Style Masters.”
“Thanks? I think?”
“Though with that being said, we should call it for training today. I think I have to really reassess how I should be training you in the Combat Style.”
“What does that supposed mean?”
“Well as you know, Myeyl is also training in the Combat Style. And seeing how you already excelled at the other Styles, I thought you were around her skill level and sparred you as such; though I quickly realized that was very much not the case.”
“If you realized that, why didn’t you go easier on me then?” I questioned, still feeling the pain from her heavy punches, “I cracked like 20 different bones, you know?”
“Besides the point of it being fun for me, you were quite resilient like I said, my Lord.” Odelia smiled, chuckling to herself a little. “And if I recall, did you not say something along the lines of ‘bring it on’ and ‘that would learn Combat just as fast as Magic’?” Paraphrasing my words, “So how would you be able to do so if I went easy on you?”
“I guess you’re right.” Agreeing with her, “Then let's train even harder tomorrow!” determined to learn the Combat Style as fast as possible.
The next day, our training began as it always did, with Odelia lecturing me. “Not every fight for an archer can always be done at range. Sometimes we are forced into unavoidable close-range encounters.” She stated, pacing around while I was forced to sit down and actually pay attention to her lectures this time. “And for that reason alone, the Close-Combat Style was created and developed to utilize hand-to-hand or one-handed weapon combat whilst simultaneously wielding a bow, all to deal with those unavoidable close-range encounters.”
She then went on and on about the history of the creator of the Close-Combat Style, explaining to me that he was the Head of House Baen’Mtor during the time of the Great King Ven’Thyl, and that only the House Baen’Mtor could truly harness one’s full potential for the Close-Combat Style. “If that’s the case, shouldn’t I be trying to learn the Style from their House then?” I questioned, wondering why Odelia never mentioned that before.
“Yes that would be a good idea if it were not for the many Trinity Archers lost in the Second Trinity War a few centuries ago, which sadly took the life of the last Master Trinity Archer of House Baen’Mtor, the only one who was capable of the task in their House.” Informing me, “Trinity Archers used to be largely acknowledged as a Class only meant for the Nobles and those they deemed worthy, but after all the loss during the war, that no longer became the case. And thanks to the younger Trinity Archers, like myself, wanting to preserve the knowledge and the dying of the Class, we openly began teaching it to anyone regardless of status.”
“Wait, so are you saying you can bring out my ‘full potential’ like their House can?” I needed a clarification.
“As it currently stands, there are only 2 people left in the entire world who can guarantee unlocking a Trinity Archer’s full potential. And luckily for you my Lord, it seems like they both are willing to help you do so.” Odelia smiled brightly.
“Are you talking about you and Zebey? Does it have anything to do with the ‘Tri-Fusion Ritual’ Myeyl mentioned on the day we first arrived in Ven’Thyl?” Briefly recalling that day.
“It most certainly does, but I would not worry about such a matter until after you mastered all the Styles.” Odelia quickly changed the topic, and said “Now, follow along to my exact movements or you will surely fail in learning the Combat Style.” She then began demonstrating the basics of how to punch and kick, and I immediately got up and tried to follow along with her movements.
After about 3 hours of horribly trying to keep up with Odelia’s movements, her constantly adjusting and fixing my fighting stance and forms, and only practicing basic punching and kicking on the training dummies; I finally felt more and more used to all the unfamiliar movements and caused a new notification to appear.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
You have learned the Proficiency: [Hand-to-hand].
Hand-to-hand: Any form of fighting done using your body as your weapon. Increases Attack and Attack Speed of your Unarmed Strikes by 1% per Skill Level. Skill Level based on personal skill with fighting unarmed.
While we took a break, I asked Odelia “Learning how to fight without a bow is good and all, but why aren’t you teaching me any of the Fundamental Combat Skills I need to learn for the Style?”
“Ah, well first off; you have already learned Rapid Shot on your own, so that is one down already.” Odelia pointed out, “And second; the Combat Style is a little different from the others, only requiring the one Fundamental Skill, but the two Required Feats of completing a chosen Combat Test and meeting the Master’s expected level of fighting skill.”
“That’s it?” I reiterated in disbelief, but Odleia nodded yes. “I mean I’m not gonna complain for needing to do less work, but what’s the two Required Feats?”
“Depending on who is teaching you, and what they consider to be the expected level of a Combat Archer, each teacher's Combat Test will ultimately greatly vary in difficulty for those reasons.” Elaborating, “For example; most teachers are easygoing, simply allowing the winner of two equal or similar students fighting in actual combat to determine whether they pass their Combat Test or not. But on the other hand, there are a few very strict teachers that actually require you to beat an already acknowledged and handpicked Combat Archer for their Test.”
“Let me guess, you’re the strict kind?” Though I already knew the answer as she gave me another mischievous grin.
After our break, we then moved on to learning with weapons, as Odelia brought down a pile of different old and dull one-handed weapons from the storage room above. “You can choose any of these weapons, my Lord. I am skilled enough with each of them to teach you to mastery regardless of your choice.” While I looked over the pile, Odelia added “But if you would prefer another weapon not here, then you will need to learn how to fight with it on your own.”
Picking up a longsword and a short sword to choose between, I said “I can’t help but notice that these are all one-handed weapons, and you only mentioned using one-handed weapons earlier; why?” Looking over at the pile with axes, maces, hammers, daggers, and different other swords. “Is there a reason for it?”
“The reason is simple, Lord Eyes.” Odelia said, forming a bow with her mana, “It is far easier to draw a bow with them.” She quickly drew her sword with her drawing hand, with the blade facing down, and then drew the bowstring back. “Using two-handed weapons would clearly make this much harder to do, especially in intense combat.”
But then I remembered Myeyl’s weapons and I had to ask, “What about Myeyl, isn’t she using her dual-blades?”
“She is.” Odelia confirmed. “Myeyl was stubbornly adamant on using them, which of course makes her one of the very few who choose not to use a one-handed weapon with the Combat Style, and now spends all her current training developing a way to incorporate them whilst wielding a bow.”
“From seeing your demonstration just now, I can’t imagine not using a one-handed weapon. But out of curiosity, what else would someone use as a weapon?” I inquired curiously.
“Well besides Myeyl’s dual-blades, Cyspar who you have already met does not use a one-handed weapon.”
“He doesn’t? What does he use then?”
“To be more accurate, he never uses weapons—along with almost all of House Baen’Mtor.” Odelia revealed to me.
“What? They don’t use weapons? What do they use then?” I questioned, peaking my interest.
“Like I told you earlier, their House created the Close-Combat Style, which of course includes the most powerful and completely unique Fighting Style of the Abyss—far exceeding ordinary hand-to-hand combat, and is even on par or greater than using some weapons.”
“Huh, no wonder I didn’t see a single weapon on Cyspar when we first met.” I thought to myself, while listening to Odelia elaborate.
“To understand just how powerful the Abyssal Fighting Style is, know that 5 out of the 10 current Guard Captains are Members of House Baen’Mtor who have rightfully earned their positions through combat. And that is not even including the Head Captain who is also the current heir to House Baen’Mtor and the strongest of all the Guard Captains.”
“Woah, it’s that strong?” Odelia nodded yes, and I thought “Well I better avoid making trouble with their House then, I wouldn’t want to get arrested.”
Refocusing back to training, I picked the longsword to train with for now, and Odelia began showing me the basics of how to wield it. And only taking an hour less than hand-to-hand, I also gained the proficiency for a sword.
You have learned the Proficiency: [Swordsmanship].
Swordsmanship: Versed in the many arts of wielding a sword. Increases Attack, Accuracy, and Attack Speed of your Swords by 1% per Skill Level. Skill Level based on personal skill with wielding swords.
I tirelessly spent the next 4 days straight, on my own or with Odelia, only practicing the basics of both Hand-to-hand and Swordsmanship—day in and day out. Though I quickly came to realize they were a whole lot harder to increase in Levels compared to my Archery Proficiency—only being able to increase Hand-to-hand to Lv.7, and Swordsmanship to Lv.8 even after all the hours I spent training with them. And fully dreading my clear lack of inherent talent for fighting, I was able to gain Odelia’s pity and convince her of revealing the days until the end of the month.
Time Limit: 4 Days, 12 Hours , 26 Minutes, 51 Seconds
“Holy shit, Odelia! I only have 4 days left!?” I loudly exclaimed, taken by complete surprise of the Time Limit.
“Correct, my Lord.” Confirming her words, as she brought me a glass of water to refresh myself with. “I thought you best know after having watched you work so hard these last few days.”
Tired from training all day, I gulped down all the water and said “Thanks, I needed that.”
“You are welcome.” Taking the empty glass for me. “Now would you like the good news or the bad news first?” Odelia asked, avoiding direct eye contact with me.
“Good news, please.”
“Well the good news is, considering how horrible you were only a few days ago—now only being slightly horrible—your growth with Combat Style is actually remarkable!” Odelia sounded genuinely impressed by that.
“I don’t like how you just called me horrible, but I’ll let that one slide.”
Odelia gave me a cheeky smile and continued, “Jokes aside and apart from Myeyl, who is quickly turning out to be one of the most talented students I have ever taught the Combat Style to, your fighting skills are truly developing quite nicely compared to a lot of my previous students.”
“Oh yeah? Then what’s the bad news?”
“The bad news is, at your current level of skill, there is no way I can imagine you being able to pass my Combat Test by month’s end, and will probably need another year or two of dedicated training to reach the level I expect.” Odelia honestly stated; then pointed out the bright side “Which is honestly not bad news at all when you think of someone learning a Style in only a year or two.”
“Another year, huh? That won’t do...” Losing myself in thought, “I really don’t want to announce myself to the Kingdom yet, or not at all if possible. I also really want that Legendary Crafting Material Odelia will give me if I complete the quest, but how am I gonna do it all in time?”
“Do not worry, Lord Eyes, the House and I promise to protect you with our greatest abilities when you announce yourself to the Kingdom in a few days time. And I personally promise no harm will ever come to you as long as I am by your side.” Odelia kneeled to show her dedication.
“That’s the problem.” I thought to myself, remembering the vision of Odelia somehow dying in my arms. Then a thought popped up in my head, and I said “Wait, I know you're my Master and all, but how can you tell me that I won’t pass a Combat Test that you haven’t even told me anything about yet? I mean I could probably pass if I was ready for it...maybe.”
“Remember when I said there were easy tests and hard tests?”
“More or less. Something about beating someone else in a fight, which I personally don’t think is that hard at all.” Feeling confident enough to easily beat anyone 10 Levels above me thanks to all my bonus Stats.
“I very much agree, my Lord, and for that reason my Combat Test is quite different and much more deadly than the other teachers would require.” Telling me, “I have even lost 30 or so students who have died attempting the test when they were not yet ready to do so.”
I laughed at her trying to intimidate me, “Yeah right, you just don’t want me to potentially win the challenge. But whatever the Combat Test is, I’m doing it! Even if you say I’ll fail!” Thinking to myself, “Even if it is more deadly and I fail, there is no way she’ll let me be killed anyway, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
Odelia let out a great big sigh and explained her whole Combat Test to me, and when I found out what I was up against and what I needed to do to pass, I trained even harder than before to truly prepare myself for the daunting test.
Four days later in a blood-soaked forest…
Bloodied and surrounded by countless dead monsters, I was frozen in utter shock, barely being able to get my apology out to her. “I...I...I’m sorry...Odelia...” Staring at the fatal wound in her chest, “This...this is all my fault…I knew this would happen...but I still decided to come here…” The blood rain drenched and covered our entire bodies in red crimson, “And in a few seconds...I won’t even be here...” The feeling of being helpless again quickly boiled up inside and completely infuriated me, “AAAAAHHHHHH!! AAAAHHHHH...!!! AAAHHHH—”