“What the hell is this, why are there more of you than before? You know you can always join the guards if you just want training!”
“Glad to see you’re doing well too, Sir Verakith.” Leo replied as the group made their way in. The Knight’s protests died down soon enough once multiple people in the group presented some fine wines as tribute. Between admiring the wines, storing them for later, and following the group to his training area in his backyard, Sir Verakith seemed to accept his fate.
“So what is it, seriously. You wouldn’t have brought this many people if it was just to see if I was still alive.” He asked, looking at Layne. “I heard you took down the big fucker who showed up at the end of it all. Good on you for that. I also heard about some guards running around saying that they saw lightning and heard thunder.”
“That’d be right. I’ve mastered the Collapsing Sword Dance, and that was what I used to deal the final blow.” Layne answered. “I…didn’t participate in much of the fight before that, I only came in at the very end. In any case, I came to tell you that and to thank you, but also to introduce you to her.” He gestured toward Kazato.
“Kazato Akaria. I’m a Sword Saint.” Kazato said. “It’s nice to meet you, Sir Verakith. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Oh, I see.” Sir Verakith replied with a nod, rubbing his chin. “Get all you can out of me and then bring me an actual sword saint.” He looked from Kazato back to Layne, whose eyes widened in surprise.
“You knew?”
“‘Course I did. Kid, you’re good with a sword- I wouldn’t have taught you the Collapsing Sword Dance otherwise, but you’re not Sword Saint good. They’re a different breed. You also brought me some damn good drink.” Sir Verakith’s attention switched back to Kazato. “So yeah, I’m duty-bound to teach you, no payment required, but appreciated.”
“I’ll find something to bring next time around. Either way, I’ll be glad to learn. Seeing that Collapsing Sword Dance in action was stunning to watch. When can we start?”
“Right now, if you want. I gotta see what I’m working with.” With that, he looked over to Axilya. “What about you? You look like the least in-need of training out of everybody here.”
“I wouldn’t mind getting a refresher from an accomplished knight, especially since all my sword ability comes from skills.” She replied.
“Fine, you brought some good stuff too, so I’ll see what I can do. Now you two,” Finally, he switched to Leo and Rize. “same as usual I’m assuming?”
“Unless you’re also really good at archery.” Leo said with a grin, and the look on the knight’s face suggested he could at least tell that Leo was joking. “I figured - I’ll have to look into that some other time.”
“For that, you get to be the one to warm up the Sword Saint.” Sir Verakith said, and quickly went to get everyone else situated, while Leo and Kazato moved off to their own corner of the knight’s backyard training area.
“Is it too late to ask you to go easy on me?” Leo asked, grabbing one of the wooden swords and tossing another to Kazato.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m not going to even touch you.” Kazato replied. “Just come at me, full force if you’re up for it.”
That, and the almost serene smile on her face didn’t do much to inspire his confidence, but Leo decided to take her at her word. As the two of them got into position, during the brief moments at the beginning of a spar like this, where they’d usually circle each other and try to look for openings, Kazato stood stock still, holding her wooden sword in one hand. To prevent psyching himself out, Leo took a deep breath and went for it, rushing her and coming down with an overhead strike. Kazato still didn’t move until the very last moment, where she brought the wooden sword up to block.
"Don't worry about it. I'm not going to even touch you." Kazato replied. [https://i.imgur.com/NRFg3bp.png]
His sword stopped dead where it met hers. She didn’t move an inch, halting his sword swing so abruptly that he nearly fell back in the aftermath. With a small smile on her face, pushed back with the sword enough to cause him to move away from her. “Was it that surprising?”
“Sir Verakith wasn’t kidding.” Leo replied.
“Sword Saint and all. In a battle of pure swordplay there’s no way I’m losing to anyone at or below my rank.” Kazato brought her sword into place. “But like I said, I’m not going to touch you. I’m only going to defend.”
She stayed true to her word, for several minutes Leo tried, with everything he’d been taught about sword fighting and even some old maneuvers from his boxing knowledge that he managed to dig out of his memory. Kazato hardly moved an inch, and blocked or deflected all of his full force swings with one hand. Strangely, Leo felt less frustrated than when Sir Verakith decided to put him up against Layne, who frequently countered or simply outdid him so well in their sparring that Leo felt like he’d end the bout full of bruises. Kazato almost felt like a punching bag with a sword, though he wouldn’t dare say that out loud or she might really show him what a Sword Saint could do.
After a while, Sir Verakith finally called for Kazato, at which she lowered her wooden sword and looked over toward Leo. “You take to the basics well, but you really like to stay light on your feet until you actually dig down to swing. Did you have some experience with another martial art before you started training with Sir Verakith?”
“Yeah, actually. Surprised you caught that.”
“I have a good eye for other people’s styles. It's somewhat of a goal for Sword Saints to emulate as many as possible, after all.” Kazato shrugged, starting to walk off. “It also makes us pretty good teachers, too. I could probably teach you a style that fits how you like to move. But only if Hayumi says I can.”
“You’re trying to convince me now?”
Kazato paused, glancing back Leo’s way. “Not intentionally, know. I just don’t want to get on her bad side and I don’t know how petty she'd be if you didn’t sign on. Just consider it another benefit to think about, I guess.”
As Kazato went to Sir Verakith, Rize and Axilya began to spar, leaving Layne paired up with Leo. “Alright, the Sword Saint went easy on me since I just left bedrest, can I get you to do the same for once.”
“If you’re well enough to swing a sword, I’d say it isn’t needed, but sure.” To his credit, Layne did come at Leo with a series of swings that Leo found profoundly easy to block and dodge, but Leo quickly realized that Layne’s softness seemed to come more from general distraction than an active desire to not give Leo any new bruises.
“Something on your mind?” Leo asked, he wanted to ask Layne about what he figured out earlier while they were walking, but decided against opening with it. Layne’s attention snapped back to Leo.
“Just thinking about where I’m headed next.” He replied, thankfully staying light on the sparring.
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“Already? The city’s still recovering and you’re thinking about heading out again? The world’s status just shifted to neutral, too. I feel like if there was any time to take a break it would be now.”
“The outsiders aren’t taking a break. In fact they’re usually more active right after a status shift like this so they can gain some momentum back. You’re right though, most people should be taking a break. But I don’t want to sit idle for too long.”
“What’s the rush, Neo? Isn’t this like an eternal war between the gods and the outsiders? Will it hurt that much if you take a well-deserved break?” Leo said he noticed Layne’s hands gripping the handle of his sword fiercely, and gave him a questioning and concerned look. He hadn't meant to strike a nerve.
“There’s…no rush.” Layne said, practically through gritted teeth. “I’m just an impatient person, but you could probably benefit from some more training before you really start actively going out and doing quests.”
“You’re telling me, I feel like I barely made it out of this last mess-” Leo said with a nod. On a whim, he decided to Appraise Layne again.
[Warning! This user has a skill that hides parts of their statistics from prying eyes.]
Name:
Layne Blackburn
Title
Second Life Swordsman
Class
Soul Sunderer
Element
Aether
Total Rank
B-
“-and, Jesus Christ, you’re way too high a rank for me to maybe ask for some less stressful questing.”
That caused Layne to pause for a moment before continuing the spar. Leo could practically see Layne holding himself back from upping the intensity. “You Appraised me?” He asked, and then quickly continued right. “Right, you’re a Mixer. Can you tell me what you can see?”
“Your name, Title, Class, Element, and Total Rank.” Leo answered. “Also gives me a warning that you have a skill to hide the rest”
“So that’s treated as a skill…” Layne muttered. He’d completely stopped sparring “Thank you for telling me. I’m surprised your Appraisal gets that much, but I imagine a Mixer’s has to be stronger than normal.”
“I don’t think even people higher rank than me can see much more than that.” Leo said. “The person who helped me out while I was unconscious thinks you made a pact with some god.” He waved the statement off. “And you know what? I’m not gonna ask about that, or why your rank has gone up so fast when I’m pretty sure you were D-something when we first met, though. You can tell me on your own time when you feel like it. If you’re heading off, since you gave me the advice about what I should do as a Mixer who fights- can you hook me up with someone who can help me with archery before you go?”
“Thanks for that, I’ll talk to you about it when I’m ready, I promise. In any case, I don’t think any decent archers I know are on Heom, or are planning on coming any time soon, but I’ll keep a lookout. I’m not going anywhere far just yet. There are a couple of places pretty close by that I want to take a look at, but it’ll be better if I take care of that myself. I’ll be busy, but I’ll be around.” He paused, glancing at the ground as if looking for the words. “It might be hard to see, with everything that’s happened, but believe me when I tell you: your personal skills matter just as much as your stats do. You can really punch above your weight if you know what you’re doing. I can’t stress enough how good it is for you to keep training like this- too many people are just tossed into the Labors with no experience and a tutorial that barely actually tells you anything.”
“I’ll take your word for it. Now let’s get back to sparring before Sir Verakith notices we’ve stopped.”
They continued on into the early evening, which allowed Leo to get used to his strength boost from his newly raised Fortitude stat- though against Layne he couldn’t see that much of a difference. Before, there were some days they got so into it that the sun fully set before they even thought of stopping, but so quickly after a major battle, no one seemed to have the steam for a regular training session. Sir Verakith seemed satisfied with teaching Kazato and Axilya, (as long as the wine kept flowing, Leo guessed) and everyone parted from the knight’s estate. Layne left to take care of his own business, leaving Leo, Rize, Axilya, and Kazato.
“Well, I’m heading home, but I can’t thank you enough for introducing me to Sir Verakith.” Kazato said.
“I don’t wanna overstay my welcome at Zumra’s - do I still have that inn room?” Leo asked.
“You don’t - but I went and asked for your belongings after we made sure you were stable - they didn’t have much to give me though.”
“‘Cause I keep everything in storage. Thank you for that.”
“Are you saying you need a place to sleep?” Kazato asked. “I hate to bring it up, but Hayumi does live in a pretty nice villa with plenty of open rooms. In fact, she probably wouldn’t mind you staying over for a night or two with no strings attached. That’s where I’m headed.”
“Of course she wouldn’t, but honestly, I’ll take you up on the offer. I’ve got some things I want to talk to Hayumi about, anyway.”
“Did Layne knocking you upside the head a few times have you seeing her deal in a new light?”Axilya asked.
“Kind of, I’ve just realized what I’d really need her to be able to give me. Like I said, I’m not going to commit to anything right away, but depending on how this conversation goes, we’ll have some things to talk about.”
“If you’re sure…” Rize said, glancing from Leo to Kazato and back. “We'll meet up back at Zumra’s shop, alright?”
“Sounds like a plan.” Leo agreed, then turned to Kazato. “Alright, guess I’m following you.”
Name:
Leonell Bolden
Stats
Title
Equalizer
Fortitude: D- (2/10)
Class
Mixer
Reflex: E (8/10)
Element
-
Intellect: E (0/10)
Total Rank
D
Intuition: C- (0/10)
Status
Health 100% Mana 100%
Will: E (0/10)
Skills
Combine, Auto-Loot, Appraise, Storage, Replicate, Inoculation, Soul Harvest
Luck: D (5/10)
Skill: Combine
Mix different raw materials into a new item. You choose the shape of the form. Final form is affected by rank and element of materials.
Store Combine results into a mental guidebook that grows based on Intellect rank.
Skill: Auto-Loot (Mixer)
Automatically separates mixable materials from slain creatures. If the [Storage] skill is active, automatically places loot into storage space.
Skill: Appraise (Mixer)
Look at a creature or material and gain information on them. Information includes: Rank, Element, Class, Statuses, Titles. May have difficulty appraising creatures of higher rank, or creatures hidden by another skill or effect. Skill effect boosted by Intuition Rank.
Skill: Storage (Mixer)
Creates an inter-dimensional storage space that only you can access. Storage increases with Total Rank
Skill: Replicate
Create an item that you have previously created using materials of a similar element. Final product will be lowered one rank due to Replication.
Skill: Inoculation
Ignore Toxicity gained from items created with the Combine skill.
Skill: Soul Harvest
By using Mana, automatically create Aether materials from slain creatures when you use the Auto-Loot skill.