“Which cup is the coin under, young man? Putting your copper on the line here adds to the pressure, so it will help you grow your perception skills. Which cup? Did you follow my hands? Cup 1, 2, or 3?”
Students were quite gullible. I suggested simple games to help them grow their skills and put their copper on the line, and I was learning sleight-of-hand while earning coins.
“I am sorry, it is actually under cup number 3. You are almost there. I bet you get it next time. Do you want to go for two coppers this time? The pressure helps the skills grow. Two coppers it is. If you watch carefully, miss, you’ll get the trick of it, and we can test you next.”
New Skill Learned: Sleight-of-hand.
+1 Dexterity.
That didn’t take long at all. These academies are a good idea. They are a good training ground.
I picked up a Swimming skill stone cheaply. Swimming uses Stamina to compensate for weight like Armour. It doesn’t compensate for the drag.
I was picking up clothes for disguises. I had Old Poor Man, Old Poor Woman. Rich Noble Man, Rich Noble Woman. Woodsman, Apprentice Crafter. For apprentices, men and women tend to dress similarly, so fake boobs make the difference. I made my own fake boobs - two different sizes.
I also made some fake teeth to appear like I had an overbite. I couldn’t eat with them, but drinking was fine. I also made some elf ears.
The voices were the key. Making the accents sound realistic and different. Female voices were harder for me.
There was a Skill I could buy for a single point called Mimic Sound. That was tempting. I put it on the wish list. Single-point skills seem to be ones I could teach myself, though.
Then I had to practice. I would dress like an old man, go out and buy a cup of tea, and interact with people. The Noblewoman was the hardest. I will need to observe them. Unfortunately, we are in a small town with few nobles.
I took the rich nobleman out for an evening of cards at the local Tavern. I even made sure he lost, and that was harder than it should have been. I found that my Perception ability meant I knew where every card was and who was swindling who. He got invited back.
All in all, my training was progressing.
I have also changed how I run groups through the Trial. Before, I joined their group for a fee. Now, I have a reputation, and they join me for a training run. I make the decisions and teach as we go. It cost to pay for a Guild Charter designed for temporary training groups, but if I get the leadership skill out of it, then it will be worth it. Any charter is expensive, which is why single-trip charters are never seen, and this is only worthing as I am doing five to six runs a week. Students pay to join my group, and I have a deal with some senior students who are good at filling in some gaps if I need to. Having someone with Taunt or similar to control the boss means students are less likely to panic. The healers cost more than the taunt skill.
I could probably learn or purchase a Taunt skill, but do I want one? I decided I did when my learner tank was knocked out and the boss went wild. The healer kept him alive, but I had to go full out onto the Lizard boss of the third floor while the others backed off. I brought out Shadowbane and went wild. Holy Strike, Death Strike, Burning Strike, Cutting Light and the works. There weren’t enough pieces left to harvest as this was the boss with the regeneration.
My reputation with the students who watched went to almost hero worship level, and I had students knocking on my door. Good for my rep, but if I had a Taunt Skill, I could have controlled the boss, and the students could have stayed in the fight. We, and by we, I mean the students, would have been in trouble if it happened on the previous floor with the spider swarms. I might not have been able to keep them alive.
Most of the students try to learn the taunt, Battle Cry, and you can hear them practising at all hours. The second most common is the Enraging Shout. It is often learned by those trying to get the Battle Cry and getting frustrated. An Enraging Shout can send the monster into a rage, which is not ideal a lot of the time. I had the coin that students didn’t, so I purchased something a bit more flexible and subtle. I found a merchant selling the Provoking Aura. It would become more powerful and wider as I levelled it, but I could control how many I provoked by the size of the aura. I could attract all the monsters in an area or keep the aura close to my body and stay close to the one I really wanted to provoke. They would stay provoked for longer as the skill levelled.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Academies are a good idea overall, and I guess I am learning to be a leader. I learned enough to get the skill at the start of the third week. At the first level, I could have five others join me, so six total. The more I levelled it, the larger the groups would be, and the more the benefits would grow. I started using it right away to level it. I could control how much information to share with the group or designate one person to get more information, like the healer knowing all the health information, etc. I normally kept an eye on the students Stamina and Mana. Some of them were not careful managing that. The Leadership skill was a big improvement.
All of this is great, but I still have eleven Skill Points to spend.
At this time, I was also reading Myantha’s information on the ruins we were going to. The Ruins were called the Merryport Stronghold and were razed about 1200 years ago in the Al’rashian/Elvish war. Actually, when the fighting started, I was not sure if they ever stopped, so it was a battle in the war—the Battle of Merryport.
As the name suggests, the Stronghold overlooked the town of Merryport, which was a quite sizeable trading port on the sea called the Majestic Abyss. The Account in Myantha’a records the Elves chasing Al’rasian raiders to Merryport and demanding they be handed over to be judged for their crimes of hitting a civilian village and killing everyone, including the children. The town refused and struck at the warriors, killing the leader and defiling her body.
Elvish warships blockaded the port, and battle mages pounded the town and stronghold. The warriors then moved into the town and discovered everybody had retreated into the stronghold, whose barriers were standing strong.
The Elves were settling in for a long siege when the leader in the fortress activated a powerful artefact that killed many Elvish warriors and ships but also turned the fortress into rubble. They were unsure if it was a deliberate suicide act to take as many elves with them as they could or if they had thought they would be safe from the blast. Knowing the fanaticism of the Al’rashians, it was probably the first.
My book on the History of Al’rashia has a paragraph on that battle. There is no mention of raiders or defilement. The elves struck at night without warning, killing indiscriminately through the town, and their mage covens pounded innocent civilians. The Al’rashian warriors saved as many civilians as they could by getting them into the stronghold. The barriers were strong and would last until reinforcements arrived, but the elves would not wait and used an artefact to level the stronghold, including all the civilians.
About the only thing in common between the two accounts is that an artefact was used. Well, that and the fact the stronghold was levelled.
Over the last 1200 years I am sure the ruins have been picked clean. This doesn’t say what she is looking for, but I would bet it is not the artefact. Neither account says what the artefact was or how it caused the destruction.
There is another obvious piece of missing information. We build towns around permanent trials to be safe from wandering trials and farm them for resources. Do you think they did things differently 1200 years ago? I would suggest not. There is no mention of the permanent trial. Myantha is a Professor of Trials: Theory and Practice. I am betting what she actually wants is related to the trial.
If a permanent trial exists, a new settlement will probably be built near it. So what is she actually after? If the Academy is paying for this, she has promised them something. There must be a reward for their outlay. A big reward. The risks are great. We could get caught in a wandering trial and killed or dropped off; who knows where?
Actually, I would know now, with my Map skill. I can zoom out to see this place so I will always know how to get back, and as I map more, this will only increase. It is a fantastic ability.
When it came to the final week before we were to leave, I needed to make a decision on my Skill purchases and then level up. Even the new Leadership will open options, and Provoking Aura and Sleight-of-hand will as well.
I haven’t learned Mimic Sound or the companion skill of Voice Throwing. I want both of those skills, as they will give sound to my images and greatly boost my disguises. They are both one point, and I have been trying hard but failing. If I buy them, I will reduce myself to nine points, which will exclude a lot from my wish list, including Time Manipulation. That just sounds like a fun skill.
If I, reluctantly, only have four and five-point skills to choose from, I need to play to my strengths. I need to choose either Blackout or Nights Embrace. Both are 4 points, and both can be used in conjunction with Umbral Cold. Blackout is designed as a sudden battle changer and plunges a wide area into sudden darkness. It is sudden and designed to turn the tide of a battle or as part of a finisher move. It is better if used in bright areas, as sudden changes are part of how it is designed to affect the battle.
Nights Embrace is more subtle and covers a smaller area per level. It doesn’t have a sudden shock value like Blackout, but it lasts longer and clings to the enemies. In addition to reducing sight, it also restricts other senses. Muffles Sound and smell and mana senses. This also gives Umbral Cold longer to work.
Thinking about it, Nights Embrace is the way to go. I am not orientated to large battles.
That leaves me five points. I really like the Radiant Slash Skill, as it bypasses a lot of armour. But it is another fighting skill. What I have really learned about working and leading a party is that you can never have too much healing. I have a good self-heal, but we are going to be away from potions and shops. I spent my last points on Rejuvenating Aura, which is not quite a healing aura. I couldn’t afford that. It rejuvenates, so it boosts stamina and mana regeneration, as well as the body's ability to heal itself.
I am done. It is time to level up, and I have a week to train these skills before we leave.