Chapter 8

“Alright,” Kopius said as he squirmed out of the three-way hug. “Get off me sissy’s” He joked, throwing a few shadow boxing punches to remind himself of his manliness. Oh-jin took a seat and Cici opted to lean against the wall next to the open door.

The two looked at Kopius as if in some anticipation of a speech. Cory had no issues getting up in front of a crowd to spew his nonsense about one thing or another. Where most people feared public speaking more than death, Cory took a weird pleasure in it. So much so, that he briefly fancied a career in PR, essentially getting paid to be a bullshit artist. As it turned out, he wasn’t that clever. At least, not at the time. Even though he could–mildly–work a crowd, the only person he ended up BS-ing was himself.

That’s not what they’re waiting for, Kopius admitted. Wanting to get the show on the road, Kopius opened his interface window with the Non-Combatives and selected the three Practices in the order that he wanted to achieve them:

* Scout

* Spy

* Craftsman

Much the same as the Combative selection the three he picked bolded and enlarged while the unchosen items faded quickly and disappeared. The virtual window changed back to his profile page and a new tab appeared: Practice. He looked back and forth between his companions in anxious anticipation. Even though he and Oh-jin had already covered the boons and benefits it all still felt like opening an unexpected present. He rubbed his hands together and mentally selected the Practice tab.

The moment he ‘touched’ the tab his forehead felt a quick zap, like an electrical shock. It was followed by the sensation of that same currant rushing through all of his extremities before disappearing as quickly as it had occurred. Residual goosebumps ran up both of his arms and legs like he had been hit by a cold breeze. It tickled and felt odd but the overall experience had him feeling–better.

“What you just felt right there, my boy,” Oh-jin spoke from his chair, likely noticing the change in demeanor. “That was your new boon’s taking their place.”

Kopius glanced away from his virtual profile window to give Oh-jin an appreciative nod. When he returned his gaze to the new Practice tab his face went a little sideways, mildly shocked at what he saw. He wasn’t disappointed–per se–nor was he surprised, given the length and depth Oh-jin had gone to explain the whole thing to him. He had honestly thought that Ranger was the right choice and that of the three Non’s, Craftsman was more realistic than any of the others. What he wanted and what he, apparently, needed were at odds. SNAFU’s aside, his overall shock wasn’t that the Universe had given him the Variant, it was that Cici had suggested both. At the top of the Practice window in large bolded typeface read the following:

VARIANT

Fighter/Communications

“Told you he was a slash,” Cici joked to Oh-jin.

“I never disagreed,” the old man shot back.

“Slash?”

“A name for someone that has the Variant is all,” Cici replied with a grin, making a diagonal chop with hand like he knew karate or the like.

“It’s derogatory!” Oh-jin scolded. “Besides, he is working with limited knowledge.”

“Fine, fine,” the big man said, raising his hands innocently. “Meant no harm, lad. Variants have an advantage my boy, don’t let no one tell you different.”

“For those with focus and determination,” Oh-jin added. Cici gestured at Oh-jin and nodded in agreement. Before any other side chat could take hold, the chemist erased the board again and continued. “Recite the full list so we can be clear as to your new enhancements and Skills.”

Kopius obliged and the following was written:

* Fighter: STR, CON, WIL, DEX Mark

* Ranger: STR, INT, DEX, STB Traceroute

* Communications: PUR, DEC

* Scout: STB, PER

* Spy: Tread Lightly, Lock Picking

* Craftsman: AKI, ACR, Measure Once

The three men gathered around the chalkboard like a new car in a neighbors driveway. Absent was the oh-ing and ah-ing, but they all took a few moments to understand what was in front of them. Kopius could see how a person with a fire up their ass could really take advantage of the Variant Practice. Initially, it could come across as overwhelming but as long as none of the challenges were time sensitive it could all be accomplished. This also hinged on not dying or otherwise being maimed for unforeseeable reasons or circumstances. With all this in mind, Kopius made a mental note to start reading up on how this all worked. Oh-jin was acting frazzled and Kopius didn’t want to push the man over the edge when he could just pick the book up and read it later.

“This is a solid base my friend,” Cici said in all earnest.

“Solid indeed,” Oh-jin added.

“You know, lad,” Cici said while lightly jostling Kopius, “You are more like a tactical level 3 princess now.” Kopius just shook his head while Oh-jin stifled a laugh. The comment further removed any of the negative juju that had been stagnant in the room. Kopius couldn’t help but chuckle a little as well. They all enjoyed the moment until a window popped into Kopius field of view, startling him like a jump scare:

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

image [https://i.imgur.com/pCuivre.png]

“Fack!” Kopius yelped. “When the hell do I get used to that?”

“The time will come soon enough Kopius, soon enough,” Oh-jin answered as he wrangled in his laughter.

“I still get a startle every now and then, my boy,” Cici added encouragingly.

“Fair enough,” Kopius replied, “but seriously though, Cici, how in the Sherlock Holmes did you know what Practices I should pick?”

“Eh?”

“Eh, what? You sat there and told us both to pick Fighter and Communications,” Kopius looked over to Oh-jin for verification that he wasn’t making all this up. The chemist nodded in agreement and they both looked back to Cici for an explanation.

“Oh that?” Cici admitted. “Well, I do have a high value in Perception but, really, Communications because of the Speakeasy. I thought that was obvious.” Cici looked back and forth to see they had both missed that one. Kopius felt the common sting of his ego being bruised as the obviousness-ness became clear.

“And the Fighter?” Oh-jin prodded.

“I told you about this lad beating skeletons to death with other skeletons, right? You could almost taste the rage.” Cici answered deadpan, in another ‘I thought this was obvious as well’ tone. “You remember that Kopius, yeah?”

Kopius gave him an open palms ‘how can i forget the violent thing that just happened to me’ gesture and Oh-jin shook his head. Kopius had first regarded Cici’s predictions as a sort of divine power of foresight or something grand like that. In reality, the big guy had just been paying attention. Turns out that Cici would probably make a great recruiter on Earth, a real Susan Bridges.

“Let us focus back here,” Oh-jin suggested, repeatedly tapping the chalkboard with his chalk. “Now that we have completed the easy part, the real work is ready to begin! Practice challenges will vary from one individual to the next. Where one Fighter might need to focus on strengthening their bodies another may need work on their technique; things like that. The first three are always the same though, for any Practice. The other seven will be more tailored to the individual. Is that clear?”

“Only ten per Practice?” Kopius answered.

“Ten will be plenty, I assure you.”

“I’ll take your word for it. Where do I find these challenges?”

“With your Practice window open, you will see an empty square at the top to the right.” Kopius followed along by opening his page and locating the object. When he found it off in the upper corner he focused on it and a translucent word came into view: Challenge.

“I see it.”

“Good, good. Now, make the square whole–imagine it is a solid color instead of an outline.” Again, he followed the directive and after a few attempts was able to essentially ‘click’ on the box to fill it in. Once full, the window blinked and came back in a different arrangement. This new Practice window, with CHALLENGE boldly displayed at the top, was split in half horizontally. The top half had Fighter highlighted at the top left with three numbered sentences: the challenges. Below that, the lower box situated the same as the upper, was written Communications also followed by the three numbered challenges.

“For your Fighter,” Oh-jin spoke before Kopius read the challenges. “It should say, in no particular order: Stance, Movement, Striking. Completing these will set the parameters for the rest of your learnings.”

“Set the parameters?”

“The first three are more trials than challenges,” Cici answered, probably in an attempt to keep his eyes open. “They gauge your abilities, feats to determine what path suits you best.” Kopius shook his head, not understanding the explanation. He looked to Oh-jin and the chemist saw the confusion in his stare.

“Think of it this way Kopius,” Oh-jin started, “Currently, I believe, your strongest Attribute at the moment is Dexterity, yes?” Kopius opened his profile quickly to check and the old man was correct, so he nodded his assent. “Excellent, you will likely perform well with the Flow and Speedrun. So much so, that the challenges that follow will plausibly be absent of heavy armor or weapons usage. It’s not to say you couldn’t use them, it is just to say you are better suited elsewhere.” Oh-jin finished with a motion of his hands asking if this was a better answer.

“It’s like a placement test or something?” Kopius asked.

“In a sense, yes.”

“Hmm,” Kopius contemplated before mumbling to himself. “Standardized testing is bullshit.”

“What's that now?” Oh-jin peeped.

“Nothing, nothing,” Kopius waved the question away. He pulled up his Practice tab and read the descriptions:

* Stance- Perform the Flow.

* Movement- Complete a Speedrun

* Striking- Jab, Cross, Hook, Kick

*

“What is the Flow and a Speedrun?”

“The Flow,” Cici began, keeping himself in the conversation, “is a series of 18 movements while standing in a single spot.” He then pushed himself off the wall and started a performance of sorts. The movements had a strong resemblance to tai chi, or some other slow moving martial art. The big man stopped after a few moments but continued speaking. “The Speedrun, those are a mixture of danger and excitement; a course of obstacles of varying difficulty and skill.” Cici’s accent more present than it had been on their trek. “There are several natural Speedruns and many more in cities all over, made by hand. I don’t think it matters which one is used?” He ended with a question to Oh-jin.

“You are correct my boy, it matters not which you complete, just that it is completed and in a timely manner. In earlier times,” Oh-jin directed his attention back to Kopius, “Speedruns were a rite of passage. Entire villages would make the pilgrimages to watch their newest groups of Fighters complete. They were performed in specific, tumultuous terrain; filled with countless nooks, tunnels, ledges and more.”

“What about the ones that are in the cities?”

“Pfftt,” Oh-jin scoffed. “Those will complete the challenge but it's all… it’s all–fluff! It’s performative at best, they set—”

“Not Corundu, my friend,” Cici interrupted. “That course; it’s a killer. In every sense of the word.”

“Yes, yes; true enough. It is the one exception. The rest are designed to look the part but they do not act the part.”

“Soooo,” Kopius said, “which one should I do?”

“Do them all, starting in Cawbachu,” Cici replied. “It’s not much but it will give you a taste of what’s in store, yeah?”

Kopius gave a noncommittal shrug.

“Just be sure to complete one. Do you understand?” Oh-jin practically scolded.

“I’ll do what I can, thats about all I can tell you,” Kopius answered, rubbing his temple. The massive info dump, starting all the way back with the Combatives, was beginning to take a toll on his brain. He hadn’t tried to stuff this much knowledge into his mind in a long time and a lowkey headache was forming behind his eyes. He tried to squeeze-massage the muscle between his thumb and pointer finger. He wasn’t sure if it worked but had read somewhere that it helps with headaches. At a minimum, if he squeezed hard enough, the pain would distract him from the ache.

“Guys,” Kopius said with a deep breath and body stretch, “I need a break. Some fresh air, maybe a walk; something outside though. Whose with me?”