Chapter 43
Nick got out of bed and decided to look at the skill upgrade notifications that had accumulated over the past few days.
Congratulations, you have increased the skill level of [Ghost Flicker][Uncommon+] Lvl 114 > Lvl 115
Congratulations, you have increased the skill level of [Lesser Aura of Arcane Will][Common] Lvl 65 > Lvl 70
Congratulations, you have increased the skill level of [Low Mental Resistance][Common] Lvl 55 > Lvl 69
Congratulations, you have increased the skill level of [Stamina Manipulation][Uncommon] Lvl 152 > Lvl 154
Congratulations, you have increased the skill level of [Phantom Sword Mastery][Uncommon+] Lvl 180 > Lvl 181
Congratulations, you have increased the skill level of [Magic Arcane Will][Rare] skill Lvl 219 > Lvl 226
Copying Linella's magic has borne fruit, very interesting. True, I spent a lot of mana and will on it. I need to ask her about how she performs this spell.
Nick didn't meditate to accumulate mana, but went to look for his new hunting partner. Yesterday, while talking with the prince, he was thinking about who to take into his team. He didn't need another close combat specialist, and the magicians couldn't go hunting with him all the time. In their class, there was only one person with a ranged weapon class. So he went to look for her.
Nick left the camp and began asking his classmates where Ariana might be. After a short search, he found out that she was at home. Nick met her when she was making new arrows, they looked like wooden sharpened sticks with fletching.
These don't look like normal arrows, of course without metal and a blacksmith it's hard to get something better, but these arrows can at least pierce the skin of some animal?
As he came closer, Ariana looked up and greeted him. Nick assessed her at that moment.
Name: Ariana Kilsten, 15 years old
Race: Evolved Human [Rare] Level 31
Class: Adept of the Art of Unpredictable Shot [Rare] Lvl 5
Class: Not selected
"Hey Dylan, do you need something?" Ariana asked casually.
"Actually, yes, I wanted to go hunting with you. What do you think about that?" Ariana looked at him and silently thought about something, continuing to sharpen the arrow.
"Hmm, I don't even know, I'm almost out of arrows."
"And no one can help you with this?" Ariana looked at him a little angrily and answered.
"Do you think a Fire Mage would use mana to make arrowheads? Or maybe you know where a Metal Mage is?"
"Yeah, I get it, it was a stupid question. But aren't your arrows useless?" Ariana nodded at his comment.
"You'd be right if it was regular wood. A troll gave it to me, it's much harder and stronger than regular wood, but still worse than metal tips, so it's not useless. And if I'm fighting someone strong, I use Alistair's poisons."
"So what's the problem with going hunting with me?"
"It's not just the arrows, my equipment is very bad, the poisons are almost gone, the bowstring is starting to deteriorate, there is almost no mana, and so on. And these arrows really irritate me, it is very difficult to sharpen them so that the necessary balance is maintained and their flight path does not change." Ariana answered tiredly.
"I understand that things are really tough for everyone right now. But if you level up, or get a melee class, everything might change." Ariana's face became even sadder at his words.
Did I say something wrong?
"The melee class won't be in my sights for a long time. My weapon skills aren't advancing at all, and the techniques I use don't seem to suit my build. I don't understand it." Nick appreciated that she was taking her failure quite seriously, and after thinking about it for a few moments, he decided to help her.
"How about a little sparring? I certainly won't brag... Okay, I will brag, I'm the strongest swordsman in our group!" He said and took a heroic pose, placing his hands on his waist, raising his chin high. Ariana looked at him seriously for a second, and then laughed loudly.
"Ahahahaha, okay, let's start sparring." She said wiping the tears from her eyes.
Nick walked away a little and looked around for any obstacles, seeing nothing he began to look closely at Ariana and notice all sorts of details. Ariana was very tall for her age, about 180 cm, she was slightly shorter than himself. Her physique was well developed, this was especially evident in her pumped up legs and arms. Looking at her chest Nick estimated that she was about a 2.5 size, shaking his head, he quickly got rid of such thoughts. Nick paid close attention to her hands and saw many cuts on her fingers from the bowstring, and how her physique developed to accommodate this. Her forearms and shoulders did not look too large, as one would expect from an archer, and the cuts on her fingers were not that noticeable.
Hmm, apparently she also has some kind of specialized skill in the race. Perhaps she was able to develop [Minor Adaptation] [Common]. Or another skill that develops physique.
Ariana took the sword in her hands and waited for him to start sparring, but Nick was in no hurry to do so. He was thinking about what to use the [Reincarnator's Madness] skill on, he could find out her approximate statistics, or he could see how their sparring would go. Deciding that there was no reason to bother, he simply asked.
"Before we begin, please tell me what your characteristics are?"
"It's impolite to ask, but since you'll be helping me, I'll answer." She said and began to reread the characteristics from the status window.
Statistics Ariana:
Strength 116
Dexterity 150
Stamina 214
Vitality 125
Constitution 216
Intelligence 143
Wisdom 120
Mental Control 110
Willpower 124
Perception 200
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Charisma 38
Mana output 80
Mana 150
Mana Regeneration 151
Luck 31
Hmm, I have 680 more stats. Considering that she has three more levels in her race, and I have 6 more levels in my classes . Alchemy and my [Adaptation of Physical Characteristics] [Uncommon] skill gave me about 460 more stats. God, what have they been feeding me all this time?!
"Wow, how did you get so many stats?" Nick asked in surprise, he wanted to look like he was very impressed by this.
"I am our father's hope to raise the clan, didn't feel sorry for me resources from me at all." Ariana answered sadly.
Nick didn't want to pry into her soul with his questions, so he continued the conversation as if he hadn't noticed anything.
"Okay, first we fight without skills, but exclusively with the sword style."
Ariana pulled out her sword, standing in front of Nick 10 meters away, he did the same. The conditions now do not allow for blunt weapons, but Nick could easily stop his blow if he used skills.
Ariana didn't wait and immediately rushed at him. The way she used her agility in movement surprised Nick, it was very good. But not as good as he could do it. Nick moved forward and when they were in striking distance, he waited for Ariana to start swinging. After her move, he abruptly changed his trajectory and went around her to the right, dodging the sword.
His sword might have hit her if she had been a little slower in her dodge. Not wanting to give up the advantage, Nick began to throw many quick and light strikes with his sword, waiting for Ariana to make a mistake. At first, she skillfully blocked many of his attacks and even noticed that he was driving her towards a small hole in the ground. But as the sparring continued, she continued to lose ground, each swing of his sword causing her to lose speed and make unnecessary movements. Two minutes into the fight, she made a mistake in her positioning and let Nick get too close to her. He knocked the sword out of her hands, a deft feint he had learned from Sebastian.
Nick moved away from her a little, letting her pick up the sword, and spoke.
"It wasn't bad, my agility is higher than yours, and you were able to hold out for some time in defense against a superior enemy. From what I can see, you don't have any big mistakes, but you should have tried to attack me instead of continuing to defend yourself, even though you saw where it was leading. In my opinion, you need more practice and different opponents so that you can learn from them."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Don't get me wrong, I know swordplay isn't my strong point, but that's not the point. It's about using techniques."
"Well now, we'll use skills, I won't limit you."
"Okay, but you might regret it." Ariana said, a smile crossing her face.
She rushed at him using a movement technique. Nick activated [Accelerated Perception] and [Parallel Thinking], also using his movement technique, surpassing her in speed once again.
Everything happened the same as in the last round, he waited until she started swinging her sword and skillfully calculated its trajectory and speed. Having dodged, he was near her on the left side, when she was completely open. Nick could easily finish the sparring now, but he wanted her time to retreat.
"You're really fast, I remember that, but from afar it doesn't seem like such a big deal." Ariana said, slightly out of breath.
Nick noticed this and thought it was very strange. Why did she get short of breath after using the technique once. After all, Ariana's constitution was higher than his. Deciding that he would pay more attention to her muscles and how her muscles move, he continued sparring.
"Let's continue." Ariana nodded in response and used the movement technique again.
Looking closely, Nick saw that there were visible marks on the ground after her. She used the technique of movement, increasing the strength of the muscles and giving them a slight strengthening to withstand the consequences.
His technique relied more on agility, balance and skill in its use than on brute force, which significantly reduced the strain on the physique.
Maybe that's why she can't develop her sword techniques and mastery to the next level?
Continuing to watch her closely, Nick moved away some distance. He began to deliberately reduce his speed so that she could strike him.
When Ariana thought he couldn't dodge, her muscles tensed up before she even raised her sword to strike. Nick stopped and prepared to block the swing, so he got a good look at how her tight muscles suddenly moved with more force than he expected. Considering that his strength was 40 points higher than hers, this strike was too strong for her stats. When the blades met, Nick felt a noticeable pain in his arms, ignoring it, he stepped back and looked at her.
Ariana looked bad, the veins on her arms and neck were clearly visible and the way her face and hands were red from the rush of blood could not be something good. Nick raised his hand, indicating that the sparring was over and walked up to her, examining the already visible bruises on her arms. Now he was really surprised.
"Don't tell me you always fight like this? Your techniques have great power, but they cripple your body. Normally, I would say that you overestimate your physique, but that shouldn't be the case considering that you have over 200 points there. So either the techniques don't suit you, or you're not using them correctly." Ariana thought about his words and replied.
"Hmm, these are side techniques from the "Gradual Strength Increase" technique that I use to draw the bowstring. When I use a bow, I don't have any problems with it."
"Hmm, then it's either that you're not used to releasing power quickly, or that the techniques aren't working properly, or of course that you're not using them correctly." Nick answered thoughtfully.
"What should I do?" Ariana asked sadly.
"Well, you should know that advanced techniques change our physique. At my level in [Phantom Sword Mastery], it can already be felt. I can't put as much power into sword strikes using techniques as other adepts and strengthening techniques in my case have many nuances, but at the same time, I move much faster using techniques, we can say that in this my art is has no equal." Nick paused and continued the conversation. "I have a theory about this, perhaps your techniques remake the physique for a slow increase in physical strength, and when you try to do it quickly, you overload the body."
Ariana thought about his words and went into the hut to get a bow. Coming out, she put an arrow on it and pulled the bowstring using the technique. Her muscles began to slowly contract as she pulled the bow tighter and tighter. Having reached the limit of the bow's capabilities, Ariana did not rush to shoot, but held the bow taut, Nick saw that for her it took no effort, about the same as for him to use [Ghost Flicker], only after a minute she released the bowstring and shot into a tree. Nick could not understand how deep the arrow went in, since it was bad and shattered into pieces upon impact. But it certainly seemed impressive to him.
Not expecting him to comment on it, Ariana took the sword and walked up to another tree. She lifted it high and used the technique, waiting for the muscles to go through the same tension as when she used a bow. Swinging the sword, she was able to drive it 25 cm into an ordinary tree. Watching her, Nick saw how she winced from pain and how on hands new bruises appeared.
"Damn, well my theory seems to be correct. It's all about your build." Arina winced and nodded painfully.
"Like a fool, I believed my father that these techniques were suitable for all members of our family. But it turns out I just hurt myself every time." Ariana bit her lip in disappointment and kicked the tree.
"Well, don't rush to blame your father, perhaps if you used these techniques simultaneously from an early age, you could get used to both of them. But apparently, due to your greater skill in archery, this did not happen."
"Maybe, but what should I do? Without the right techniques, I won't reach the required level for a long time."
Nick and Ariana fell silent, Ariana thinking about the unfair situation she was in and blaming her cruel father for his training and for not wanting to see the obvious.
Nick was wondering if he should try to teach Ariana the techniques of the Phantom Sword Clan. It would be very difficult, but she would no longer have problems with the techniques, since they did not rely on strength. She might never reach the highest level, but in the short term, they would help her a lot.
Nick would have to spend a lot of his time on this, and he didn't know how his father would take it that he was giving advice on the art of the Phantom Sword. Thinking about it, he decided to teach her simple basic movement techniques and a few simple sword strike techniques to start with.
"Okay, okay, don't be sad!" Ariana turned a questioning look at him as if to say "what do you mean?"
"Oh, don't look at me like that. I'll try to teach you my techniques, let's see how your physique will react to them."
"Really?" Ariana asked without showing any visible emotion.
"Yes, indeed." Ariana nodded sharply at his words and patted her cheeks.
"Okay, okay. Where do we start?" she asked enthusiastically.
Nick took a deep breath and answered.
"From the basics, your feet are shoulder-width apart, your sword in front of you."
Nick began to teach Ariana the basic movement, thinking along the way where this would lead him.
Aaaah! I need to save mana, kill monsters, develop skills, and I'm training people! What an idiot I am!