A strike from the left.
Duck and swing upward.
Pivot to the left and cut the next one.
Another step, another parry, then a transition into a strike.
Then back to ducking.
Sam felt rather nice as he weaved between the endless number of empty suits of armor.
After defeating the first batch of enemies, the fracture started sending more and more enemies in his direction, causing the floor of the arena to be filled with fallen armor (and some loot) while he danced between the sword strikes.
There was a rhythm to it, and somehow, he managed to flow into this rhythm.
It was quite magical to Sam, who had never been a sports person in his previous life. But now here, in this fantastic game, he was like the heroes of old. Just him, his sword, and countless enemies trying to bring him down. Yet, he resisted, dancing between strikes, parrying swings, and ducking under cleaves.
As he went through the movements of his sword skills, breathing skills, footwork, and other miscellaneous skills Sam felt them simply click with each other. The simple fact that he could practice them in a situation where he didn’t have to pay attention to at least seven other things helped immensely.
He could feel as his footwork synchronized with his breathing. He could see as his body flowed from one movement to another and could see what effects the minute changes he had made to those movements caused.
It was clearly visible when he made a wasteful movement, and after amending his approach a little, it was quite clear why Martha, back at the Training Hall, told him that simplicity and efficiency were his best bet.
Every modification showed him a new way to cut down on the movement, a new way to defeat his endless opponents with less and less movement and stamina wasted. He purposefully locked everything out, just focusing on his own breathing and the sword in his hand.
A heartbeat.
A swing.
Another heartbeat.
A strike.
Beat.
Swing.
Beat.
Strike.
Then, as he was in the process of hacking a suit of armor into two pieces, something gave. The next movement was easier, faster, and stronger.
His movement wasn’t just synchronized with his breathing and footwork, but all of them worked together at the same time.
Beat and swing.
Strike and a beat.
Beat and duck.
Step and a beat.
Sam grinned, but he didn’t stop. He simply luxuriated in the feeling as the movements came much smoother and the monsters fell much faster before him.
Then, as he went to execute another finishing move, his trustworthy sword found no purchase.
Sam blinked and looked around.
The arena was silent except for his own heavy breathing. The floor was littered with monster ‘corpses’ and loot.
Opposite where he entered the arena was a merrily swirling portal signifying that he finished the fracture.
Then, as this information reached his brain, his body suddenly realized that it was beyond exhausted and he collapsed on his knees, letting out a tired grunt.
“Ugh…”
Fumbling a little, he got out a stamina potion from his inventory and downed it with a pained grimace. Alchemists currently were only focusing on brewing the most potent and powerful concoctions and gave no thought to the taste of the potions.
“Tastes like socks… bleh…” he grimaced as he downed the foul drink.
After a few seconds, he could feel the potion working and he began working his limbs slowly to stand up. Another minute was spent calming down his trembling limbs and collecting the meager drops.
Mostly old knick-knacks, a few devices used for navigation, scrolls in different languages, and the odd skill books for basic sword skills. Sadly, he had all of them, with the exception of one.
Taking the simple-looking book with two swords on the cover, he channeled a little mana into it and instantly the book broke into motes of light that swirled around him for a second before being absorbed by his body.
[You learned the skill, Parry!]
[Parry: Level 0/100 (0%) (Passive) Decreases the stamina consumption of defensive weapon movements. It allows you to more efficiently and accurately parry incoming attacks. Decreases the damage of the blocked attack by 0,5% for each skill level at the moment of blocking.]
It was a pretty good skill, that’s why it was never up at the auction house. No matter who got it, they learned it or gave it to a person who needed it. Naturally, Sam could have gone through a very involved quest with certain NPCs but honestly, there was always something more important happening.
‘Still, better late than never…” he murmured as he went over the skill.
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Next, he opened his notifications.
[Mana Tempered Body is now Level 57!]
[Ethereal Channels is now Level 2!]
[Battle Meditation is now level 15!]
[Advanced Shadow Footwork is now Level 30!]
[Silent Shadow (Sword Mastery) is now Level 20!]
[Epic Breathing Technique is now Level 7!]
[You achieved a breakthrough with Calm Heart!]
[Calm Heart is now Level 50!]
[You learned the skill, Tranquil Heart!]
[Tranquil Heart: Level 0/100 (0%) (Passive) Your heart beats to the same rhythm as your body. It’s efficient and harmonious. You have an even easier time resisting mind-altering effects and a portion of of those effects are reflected back to the source. The portion is 1% per skill level. You also radiate an aura of tranquility that confers the resistance portion of the skill to your allies near you.]
[Flow is now Level 69!]
[Surprise Strike is now Level 20!]
[You achieved a breakthrough with Multitasking!]
[You learned the skill, Adaptive Coordination!]
[Adaptive Coordination: Level 0/100 (0%) (Passive) Improves the user’s adaptability by reducing the casting time or cooldown of skills when used in combination.]
Sam grinned as he read the skill he got. Adaptive Coordination wasn’t the best, but still, it made sense why he got it. Most people aimed to get the Adaptive Combination skill that allowed them to start making skill combos, but he wouldn't complain.
And with all the other skills, he felt much more confident in tackling the Training Hall again.
He lifted an arm and took a sniff.
“Ugh, first a shower and nap…”
With tired steps, he began walking toward the portal.
----------------------------------------
Sitting in a private room of an expensive restaurant, Sam leaned back in his seat and dialed a number.
It only rang three times before he was greeted by Lucy’s face.
“Heeey Lucy!” he called out with a smile. “Everything is ready for the… event?” he asked, whispering the last word dramatically.
His friend just rolled her eyes.
“Yes, Sam. We’re ready.” She replied as she followed his example and got comfortable in her chair while running her fingers through her raven’s feathers to the immense pleasure of the bird. “We recently released the last of the stock of antidote ingredients we earmarked for this operation. Prices have risen by almost two hundred percent. There is a lot of hype!”
Sam nodded as he absorbed the information. “The Black Blood books?”
“Sold for a premium to the stupid,” she said with a vicious smile. “I made sure to ‘subtly’ warn the people in the Heavenly Forest to avoid it.” She rolled her eyes again. “They were very thankful…”
“Good to hear. How is the situation at ground zero?”
“Abyss Vipers are kicking up a fuss, but after the ‘accidental’ reveal of their weakness…” here Lucy sent Sam an amusing side glance to which he just smiled. “Their effectiveness has decreased. I believe they’re still looking for something that can negate the skill’s weakness. Do you know anything?”
“What makes you think I know something about this?” Sam asked with a small smile playing on his lips. Lucy just sent him a scathing look.
Finally, he just raised his hands in surrender and laughed a little. “Fine, fine. There is a skill, or curse more like, I saw mentioned once in a book,” he explained while internally giving thanks to the library back at the base.
“Curse?”
“Yes. It prevents any healing potion from coming into contact with you,” he replied with an enormous grin.
Lucy just sighed again.
“Why do I feel like this is not that simple?”
“You have to ingest the curse via a modified healing potion!” he declared with a giggle.
Lucy stared at him for a moment, then also began to laugh. “Haha! That’s so ironic… I love this game!”
“Indeed.”
They spent some time discussing the minute details of the event, and how they would weather the shit storm that would break out when people realized that no antidote would work properly in the fracture. Before Sam asked about other things.
“How are things in the capital?”
Lucy instantly perked up and began talking.
“We got a pretty good warehouse, a shop location for a supermarket in the commoner district, and also managed to snag an old building in the noble district. It’s a fixer-upper, but with a little gold infusion, we can get back our investments in short order.”
“Any obstacles?”
Lucy shook her head. “Thankfully, none. However, I’m sure the other guilds noticed that we managed to get a permit, so I predict we’ll get some gentle and not-so-gentle inquiries about it soon. The spies have already started sniffing around.”
Sam looked away, out the window of his room at the capital city thoughtfully. “If they ask, tell them it was an epic quest chain.”
“What is an epic quest chain?” Lucy asked bewildered, as Magic Unbound didn’t give ranks to the quests.
“Dunno. But it sounds special… Don’t you think?” Sam asked slyly.
Lucy opened her mouth, but for a few seconds, nothing came out of it. Finally, she wrote something down and then shook her head in exasperation while the raven in her lap glared at Sam. “I’m so glad we are not enemies…”
“Me too. Me too…”
Then came the final discussion.
“Are you sure you don’t want to be there to do your usual chaos-sowing thing?” Lucy asked.
“Nah, I’m pretty sure we added so much crazy stuff that I would be useless there. Plus, I have a quest to do.”
“Another one?”
“Yeah, pretty important. I’m not sure how long it will last, but it probably will be finished by the time the event with the fracture finishes.”
“That long?” Lucy asked in surprise.
“Honestly? I have no idea. Could be five minutes, but it could also last a week.” And this time, Sam didn’t even have to lie. The other Sam never managed to enter the second Gauntlet because by the time he realized it existed, the waiting line was so long that without guild support, you would need to wait months (in real life) to get in.
He was honestly rather excited.
“You? Not knowing something?” Lucy ribbed him playfully. “Where is the world going?”
Sam just chuckled along good-naturedly.
----------------------------------------
Not long later, he was at the same training field, opposite Martha, as she surveyed him.
“I see you took my advice to heart,” she grunted after a minute of observation.
Sam simply nodded. Lucky was sitting in the shade of the nearest tree, nibbling on some bones that Sam got him and watching him attentively.
Martha took out her simple sword, settled into a stance, and called out. “Now let’s see how much you improved!”
Then it was pure pain.
No matter how much he improved, how many levels he got, how much his skill grew, Martha matched every strike, dodged every swing, and Sam could barely block or parry her attacks. And what got through was just strong enough that Sam wouldn’t fall over. Still, Sam knew what was at risk, so he soldiered through.
Finally, after he was once again beyond exhausted, with Martha still breathing calmly and hardly any sweat showing on her expertly sculpted body, she stopped. Stepping back, she raised her hand to her chin and looked at Sam thoughtfully.
“You still have no talent, but I respect hard work and those who listen to my advice.”
“T-thanks…” Sam replied while taking big gulps of air to refill his aching lungs.
“You even learned to parry. A little,” she told him with a smirk. Before Sam could open his mouth, she continued. “So, I promised a second chance, and you… passed.” She declared placidly.
“Yay?”
“Yay, indeed.” She stepped closer, grabbed his arm, and began pulling him toward one of the buildings bracketing the training fields while absentmindedly calling out. “Hey, wolf, follow us!”
Lucky looked up from his meal, which instantly vanished into the shadows, sprung up, shook himself, and began trotting after Martha and Sam, who was basically flopping in the woman’s iron grip like a kerchief in the hands of a woman who is saying goodbye to her boyfriend as he went to war.
“You’ve already done the first Gauntlet, but the second one is not like anything you ever experienced. Allow me to explain…”
[You completed the quest Returning Champion!]