After everyone had their fill of the Rusty Sprocket's lunch menu items that Lone had bought and kept in his Dimensional Storage, he got to work on training the kids.
"That was fast," he said, pointing at Scott. "Greatsword with no shield is your ideal weapon combo. Start putting on the armour now so I can judge that too."
Ten minutes passed before Lone stopped George. "Spears above three metres in length but shorter than five for you, so longspears."
Another five minutes and Hazel's ideal weapon had been found. "Sword and board. Trusty combo. I don't get the feeling from any sword with a blade longer than 120 centimetres nor ones shorter than 50 or so, meaning longswords for you. As for the shield, all of them feel ideal, actually. You'll likely be very gifted in Shield Mastery."
More time passed and Scott's armour had been determined. "Light, minimal metal. I guess you're meant to be an agile one despite the big fuck-off sword, huh?"
The teen flashed him a cocky grin in response.
George's ideal protective clothing was a mix of less restrictive armours and some plate for his vitals. Hazel's ideal mimicked Soph and Sophie's in that she apparently had the most potential for a full suit of heavy plate.
"Why is none of this perfect for us?" Emma asked in frustration, referring to herself and Alisa.
Lone shrugged. "I have a fuckton of weapons and armour, sure, but not everything under the sun. Who knows? Your most ideal weapon could be a steamforged trinket of some sort, or maybe a magical staff? Same for armour. Hell, it took me weeks to figure out my ideal armour was my own fuckin' bones. Just pick something you like or have a good feel for and we'll go from there."
"That sucks so much," Emma complained. "Whatever. I guess I'll stick to my lightning magic for now."
Alisa frowned. "I don't wanna fight really. I just want to go home."
"That ain't happening unless you are strong enough to force it or unless you get super lucky. Would you rather rely on yourself or on fate?" Lone questioned. "Just so you know, I don't plan to drop everything I currently care about just to satisfy your desire. It could be centuries or millennia before I feel the need to find a way back to Earth. I've got the time, do you?"
"... Myself I suppose," Alisa said with a pitiful nod before she walked over to the pile of weapons and picked out a quarterstaff just small enough to still look big in her hands. It would have looked like a wooden sword missing its handle in Lone's.
Just as he was about to get ready to start tutoring the kids in fighting properly, a series of notifications covered his vision.
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Teaching Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 1.
Congratulations! As the host has levelled [Teaching Mastery] all the way to Advanced Level 1 without once asking for recompense when teaching, it has resulted in the skill gaining a new effect upon ranking up when otherwise it would not have gained one!
Passive Skill: Teaching Mastery
A skill that makes teaching concepts 30% [+15%] easier to the unlearned. It also boosts the host’s ability to impart their own insights of skills to others by 30% [+15%].
[New!] When teaching free of charge there is a 0.5% chance the host will earn a skill their student possesses should their teaching result in a new skill forming in that student. Additionally, when teaching a skill to a student that the student already owns, the host's version of the skill has a 0.5% chance to instantly level up regardless of what level it is at and regardless of any rank-related bottlenecks. These effects are both limited to once per student.
Cost: N/A Mastery: Advanced Level 1
'What the... That's amazing. I assume I can skew that 0.5% with Luck, maybe even forcefully trigger it if I learn how to apply Luck...' This was only the second time Lone had ever had this happen to one of his skills.
The first time was with his Primal skill, Ungrounded. He hadn't been trying to earn anything new outside of the box, but he welcomed this with open arms and a big smile on his face.
Lone stopped to do some mental maths - a tricky thing to do under the layer of dummy maths his sister had to listen to. '100 divided by 0.5 equals 200. From beginner level 1 to master level 10 there are 49 levels. 200 times 49 is 9,800. So if I taught, say, Shortbow Mastery to 9,800 people and they all got one level from it, statistics would say I should be able to perfect the skill without so much as ever touching a bow. That isn't how statistics work in practice, but still, that's some food for thought.'
Considering his likely infinite lifespan thanks to Basic Regeneration, it really wouldn't take all that long to train roughly 10,000 people in one thing relatively speaking.
'Maybe that could be my retirement if I ever feel done with the wandering and adventuring,' Lone mused internally.
"Why do you happen to have a set of full heavy plate that almost fits me perfectly?" Hazel asked a bit randomly, tearing him from his happy thoughts.
"Because Soph and Sophie have the unique skill Body Manipulation. I explained that earlier," Lone answered.
"You made suits of armour for all three of her forms?" his sister questioned.
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Lone nodded. "Of course I did. She's the love of my life and my travelling companion. I had the power to make form-fitting armour for her for all three of her body types, so why wouldn't I do that? Just because she's almost always in her adult form, that doesn't mean she won't need to fight in her child or teen forms one day."
"That's thoughtful of you," Alisa commented.
"Shame her Armour Creation skill is sealed though. I bet it's just like your Creation Magic but cheaper and much less restrictive even if it only covers protective gear," Scott added.
Lone nodded again. "I agree. Now, less chatter. All five of you, attack me. I have some good knowledge of proper long and great sword form, as well as shield, spear, and lightning magic usage. Alisa, I have no clue how to fight with a quarterstaff but I have a lot of general fighting tips that I'm sure will help. I'm also a bit specialised in movement techniques, so fingers crossed one or more of you learn your left foot from your right as I grind you all into dust, huh?"
"You're an asshole," he heard Scott whisper.
Lone assumed a defensive stance as he raised his fists.
Alisa hesitated before asking, "Uh, you're not gonna use a weapon?"
"Unarmed Combat Mastery, advanced-level-ten," he stated. "Now come at me before I get tired and don't give you the chance to show me your flaws. If you're too slow, I may just choose to instead show your faces the backside of my palm."
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"I may have just ranked up but I certainly pulled my punches. Stop acting like I broke all of your bones," Lone demanded of the five teens that were groaning on the floor as they nursed their limbs.
Frustrated that they weren't exactly jumping at the chance to get up again, he stormed over to George's side.
"You look the most beat up," he said before invoking, "Full Body Diagnostics."
The skill told him everything he needed to know. "Barely any muscle damage, no internal injuries, minimal bruising, not enough fatigue to render further training pointless. No excuses. Get up, all of you. We're not even close to finished yet."
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Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Teaching Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 2.
"I-I got Greatsword Mastery!" Scott yelled in excitement, forgetting all of his surface-level injuries.
Lone grinned when he saw the instant boost in morale all of the teens suddenly experienced. "Perfect. Now hit me as hard as you can with your sword."
Not hesitating for even a moment, Scott hefted his blade well above his head and then brought it down in a single sweeping motion, driving the weapon right into Lone's shoulder.
It cut his flesh with little resistance and made it down to the bone before the sword stopped dead and bounced out of the wound the teenager had just created.
"Fuck! Are your bones made of steel?" the boy complained.
Lone wasn't sure how strong his bones were exactly but considering what Guildmaster Hilda had done to them, he suspected nothing less than a physical-focused S-ranker could even so much as crack them, let alone break or cut through them.
The fact an I-ranker could get through his skin, however, did bother Lone. 'Gotta use the credit slate later to see if there's some sort of skin-hardening passive skill I can work on getting.'
The host has developed the passive skill [Greatsword Mastery].
Passive Skill: Greatsword Mastery
A child skill of the parent skill [Sword Mastery] commonly used by knights and warriors of great strength. Uncommonly used as a pair by the absurdly strong and practised.
Things attacked by a greatsword will act as if they are 5% more brittle than they really are.
Cost: N/A Mastery: Beginner Level 1
Lone smiled. At the same time, a notification regarding his Blood Clone improving outside of a level-up entered his vision. He dismissed it promptly.
The Blood Clone was being given minimal attention as it swam around in Lone's bloodstream. He flexed his shoulder muscles and the wound Scott had given him closed instantly.
"Very good. Terrible form and no real strength put into the swing. Damn sword was only working with the momentum of its own weight, not anything you were putting into it. Still, very good nonetheless," Lone said. "Now, if Scott here can earn a skill from my pointers, then the rest of you can too. There's still a good few hours until dinner time."
The small amount of morale the teens had mustered up at Scott's success all crumbled in an instant. The words of encouragement hanging on the tips of their tongues instead became curses for him.
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Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Teaching Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 3.
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Teaching Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 4.
The afternoon and evening had both come and gone. During the training, Hazel had learned Tower Shield Mastery and that was it.
The luck of Scott earning a skill Lone himself didn't have sadly didn't happen again with the other kids. Hazel hadn't learned Longsword Mastery, Alisa hadn't learned Quarterstaff Mastery, George hadn't learned Longspear Mastery, and no one had gained a parent skill like Spear, Sword, Shield, or Staff Mastery.
Emma claimed to have levelled her only lightning magic skill, Lightning Bolt - one of the only two lightning magic skills Lone just so happened to also own - twice, but beyond that, nothing as exciting as Scott learning Greatsword Mastery had happened.
They'd had dinner courtesy of Hamish, chatted for a while, and then said their goodbyes before Soph teleported the kids back to Golden Pass City.
Lone had mixed feelings. He wasn't particularly torn up over saying goodbye to his sister so soon. She wasn't exactly an adult yet what with her being only 16, but she also wasn't his responsibility.
Sure, they shared the same parents but he wasn't going to uproot his whole life just to look after her. Besides, he didn't even know if that was what she wanted.
'She did look quite upset when I told Soph to bring them back, but I also said it wasn't an issue for Soph to go get them for regular meet-ups, training, and catching up. Maybe she was just pissed she couldn't get past my math equations?' He didn't know.
"No... anything... but the floof..." He heard Soph mumble in her sleep as she lay there snuggled up to his chest.
He chuckled and kissed the top of her head before positioning one of his many tails in her hands. That seemed to calm her and it put a smile on her face.
Lone bit his finger hard enough to draw blood before he forced his Blood Clone to exit his body.
He made it fly around the room a bit as he asked the clone, "I wonder if you'll be joining me at tonight's meeting?"
Of course, the blob didn't answer him. He controlled it to reenter the wound on his finger he was forcefully keeping open.
Congratulations! The host's active skill [Blood Clone] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 4.
Lone sighed. "Getting advanced levels like it's nothing today, I am."
And with that being said, he felt his consciousness slipping. Once more, he was being summoned to the inner depths of his own soul.