A month has passed since the training started. While one would expect to have some sort of time-limit concerning Bastion’s potential invasion, there were two factors that made it impossible for them to attack again.
One was that the Barrier of Eve Glade was fully on and active. That alone had made any attacks against the town easily defended, and whether it would break or not didn’t matter as they could just turtle up and call for reinforcements.
During an ambush that no one expected, it was reasonable for the kingdom to not send in reinforcements during that time frame. But if the town knows how to hole up and conserve their resources, it would be the enemy that would be on a time limit while trying to strike the barrier down.
The second was the reinforcements themselves. The kingdom won’t care about the scuffles of the minor towns and factions, but if another force continuously batter one of them, it would only rattle the hornet’s nest, so to speak. In other words, there’s only so much indignation the kingdom can handle before they are forced to step in.
So that was probably why Bastion hadn’t made a move all this time, and probably wouldn’t until they settled their own business. While nobody knew for sure how much information they had on Eve Glade, it was a situation where it didn’t matter how much they knew since it wouldn’t matter regardless.
At least that’s what Zeke thought as he stared at his masterpiece of a creation which the soldiers named the Hell Barrier.
It was aptly named.
The soldiers were forced to train on this specialized training course Zacharia made specifically to test their limits. While it seemed like a normal training course to Zeke’s eyes, the design really showed the brutality in Zacharia’s sense of training.
For example, each small pillar spinning their slabs were so close to one another, it seemed impossible to get away scot free with just evading. One has to put in the effort to defend while evading at the same time, testing not just their Endurance, but their Dexterity as well.
The course was designed to aid their survivability rather than focusing on their damaging stats, like their Strength and Intelligence. And if one fails to evade in time, one can get lucky and train their Vitality as well–much to their dismay.
The purpose for all of this isn’t just to train their skill levels. As one develops, they can still gain attributes outside of combat, known as gaining points from activities. It happened multiple times back when Zeke and Mikella were stuck with Clara in their tower. However, as time passed, they became rarer and rarer to show up.
It was due to them leveling up at a steady pace, causing their bodies to grow tougher and durable. But if one pushes themselves hard enough, they can surpass that limitation and gain an attribute or two. While it was difficult, there was a reason why constant training was suggested.
And what better way to push themselves harder than to be put in a harsh training course? Naturally, Zeke’s Barrier Craft wasn’t enough to create this course alone. It required a heavy dose of Mana Manipulation, something that surprised Zeke to find out that the two skills paired each other very well. Not that it made his Barrier Craft as easy to use as a weapon, but enough to have a solid feel to create this course.
Then there were his runes, which Cloud helped immensely. There was only so much influence Zeke could put into his own barrier, but Cloud’s own Runecraft skill and his high level and stats made it possible to make this training course a reality. Zeke was certain he could re-create this by himself sometime in the future, but right now his body just wasn’t strong enough.
He was worried that Cloud would refuse to help since it was for Zacharia’s training, but he was glad to see that Cloud cared more about the soldiers’ development than his trifles with the general. That, and he was taken over by his own fascination with working on the training course just as Zeke was. Making these complex rune arrays to make the training course work on its own was an exciting prospect for the two mages.
That, and seeing the horrifying looks on the soldiers’ faces as they traversed through the training course. If that wasn’t torturous enough, Zacharia added his own bit to the training. He pulled out what looked like a lead ball from his storage pack, an enchanted metal alloy condensed into a sphere.
He threw it, causing the ball to disperse and transform into several small black disks that flew around the field, becoming obvious targets on the turquoise-colored field.
They were magical items made specifically for training. Not only would they be for target practice, they also shoot pressurized air mana at the soldiers, breaking their concentration. Due to that, some were taking off the course’ tempo and unfortunately got hit by the Hell Barrier’s dummies.
Truly, it was hell.
Though Zeke was more fascinated with the magic item. It was created by several different crafters including blacksmiths, enchanters, and even runists, which got Zeke’s attention.
He wondered whether enchanters and runists were the same, and according to Cloud, in some ways, they are. Runists have a deeper understanding of the mana thanks to their studying of runes, but Enchanters can infuse mana into an item, giving them different effects that can be used liberally rather than a rune-constructed item.
Back to the magic item, known as just Targets by Zacharia, it was to recreate a battlefield where anything could happen. One had to keep their eyes peeled for any threats from any angle, and take out their enemies in the meantime.
Zacharia even told the soldiers to try and take out the targets when they can. The disks flying about like flies would just make going through a training course tougher. That’s when Zacharia did the most malicious thing Zeke had ever witnessed.
He promised that if any soldiers caught more targets than any other soldier, he would reward them with a Skill Book.
That immediately got everyone to go after the targets even if the training course was already straining their bodies to the limit.
A skill book was something precious for anyone in this world, even if that included a terrifying experience of learning a skill like being in the electric chair. Depending on their build, it was an added bonus to an essential skill that could make a huge difference. There was no downside at all to gaining a new Acquired Skill, so that got everyone to keep going.
That got the healers, including Zeke, to stand by and take care of the soldiers dumb enough to keep going until their bodies were torn apart. In some cases, they literally tore apart, their bone and tissue easily visible. At least the healers were also getting some skill leveling on this.
And this was where Zeke realized just how evil Zacharia was: Nobody was able to get a single target, not even after a whole month had passed. Not even Mikella, who had a better understanding of the training course than the other soldiers and having a higher Dexterity stat than most.
Still, Zeke could only think of one thing as he stared at her. She ran around, her eyes brimming with fire and brimstone as she forced herself to strain her body to the limits.
I wish I could join them…
…..
Her heart beat rapidly as her muscles yearned for rest. The burn in her tendons raced across her joints, somehow worse than the electricity literally scorching her veins.
Yet she had a fierce smile on her lips as she flew across the Hell Barrier, an appropriately named training course they’ve been subjected to for the past month.
She honestly couldn’t believe that such a thing could be done by Zeke alone. Not in the terms of the course itself, but the design and layout. It had Zacharia’s sadistic tendencies all over it.
For example, he knew that Zeke’s barriers all have a transparent turquoise-tinged color, so it was hard to spot the incoming platforms and ledges without mistaking it for something else. Myra thought she was jumping straight onto the floor, only to be tripped up by the short length of the slab she was actually landing on and get hit by an autonomous dummy that came her way.
She also noticed Jackie trying his hardest to jump across the flying platforms, but he messed up on which platform he was jumping onto and fell to the floor. He was then inflicted by an incoming dummy that moved on its own (because of course that was a thing), and promptly beat the shit out of him. Poor guy.
Yet, nobody batted an eye. She noticed that the other soldiers in Zacharia’s retinue were just as perplexed by the entire training course, and just as beaten. One soldier tried his hardest to beat a dummy to get to one of the Targets flying overhead, but he misjudged the timing and had his stomach hit hard. Another tried to jump across the platform the same as Jackie did, but when she was just about to grasp the disk flying in the air, she was pushed back by the pressurized blast from it, and then landing hard on the edge of a nearby platform, her entire back hit hard and expunging a gasp of air.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Mikella, however, was focused on just trying to learn her surroundings. While the skill book was nice to earn, she knew her chances of getting the disks were far-fetched at best.
On the very first day she knew just how impossible those targets were to get. And she wasn’t surprised at all that a month passed without anyone getting it. She wasn’t sure whether Zacharia lied about them getting a skill book, because the targets flew around so fast that it would take some serious dedication to catch them, and that was impossible with this training course.
So this led the soldiers, including Mikella, to study the layout of the course and try to get to the targets faster, studying the timings of when the platforms and the dummies would move, and act accordingly. After all, studying the layout of the battlefield was important. For the first week, that actually worked as some of the soldiers nearly got the target.
That’s when everything changed. On the next day, the soldiers cried out in despair to learn that Zacharia asked Zeke and Cloud to reconstruct the course from the ground up, making everything completely different.
The dummies were bigger and meaner, the platforms now had tiny pillars jutting out to make it difficult to land on, and now there were disconnected walls that spun at random intervals, replacing the logs entirely.
And of course, the timings and layout were all completely changed. And for every day after that, the timing of each automated part of the Hell Barrier would change just enough to confuse the soldiers.
So Mikella gave up entirely on getting the skill book. Her main goal is to catch just one target. While that was going on, the constant screams of the soldiers getting bashed were deafening to her ears, which would often replicate a battlefield as well. Distractions can easily kill you just as well.
But there was also something else that’s apparent on a battlefield–stupidity. There were soldiers actually fighting each other to get to the targets. Apparently, why fight fairly when you can take out the competition?
In the end, none of it mattered. Once one of them defeated the other, that one got so tired and exhausted that one hit from a moving dummy knocked him out instantly, getting the two losers to end up on the healer’s circle, where the defeated and the broken end up after the Hell Barrier.
In the end, Mikella ignored everything else. She divulged herself into her path as she launched straight into the course. There were several layers to the course, though it kept randomizing each day, but there was a pattern–something that Zacharia clearly wanted to imprint.
One side focused more on evasion than parrying, and another focused vice-versa. Another layer after that focused both on the minor side, and one layer that was just completely unfair. One had no choice but to take hits there, the increasing speed of the dummies swinging their arms too impossible to evade. Surely a work made by Cloud, and something that Zacharia forced most of the training disks to fly around. There were some here and there, but that specific layer known as the 4th layer of hell amongst the soldiers had the most Targets flying about.
At least one has the chance to gain a shit ton of Vitality and Endurance points there. Thing is, nobody is a masochist.
So for now, Mikella focused on the third layer of hell, the one where it focuses both on evasion and parrying. This layer had less Targets flying about than the fourth layer, but more than the first two layers. Plus, this is where she specializes as this specific one requires heavy Dexterity to manage.
She swung in, her legs jumping about and turning her body into a feather as she dodged each construct aiming to smite her down. Her back arched and bent, her arms and legs tucked in for further increase in speed. Once she landed down further to the north, the dummy in front of her was spinning too fast for her to dodge.
Her Acrobatics worked its magic as she pulled out her wooden sword. Weapons were allowed, but skills weren’t–at least the attacking ones. Her Acrobatics, however, was passive, and not taking advantage of it was ludicrous.
She swung her sword left, right, even using the bottom of the hilt and the flat of her blade to block. Unlike a real opponent, the dummy didn’t give two shits what method she used.
But that was the purpose. The intent was not to hurt the dummy, but to defend against it. As she did so, she saw more increases that gave her a thrill like nothing else.
> You have gained +1 STR from your actions.
Attribute increases. For the past month, she had plenty of these messages popping up, making her slowly stronger day by day. As her body worked almost automatically, she recalled the notifications that were still so brilliant in her mind ever since she started.
> You have gained +6 STR from your actions.
>
> You have gained +13 DEX from your actions.
>
> You have gained +2 INT from your actions.
>
> You have gained +3 SPI from your actions.
>
> You have gained +3 VIT from your actions.
>
> You have gained +10 END from your actions.
Of course she was surprised that she somehow ended up getting Intelligence and Spirit from the Hell Barrier, but after a while, she recognized why it was so.
Intelligence was gained by trying to quickly and adequately memorize the layout of the course. Of course one had to use their mind to comprehend the information quickly enough, thus finally using her pitiful Intelligence to work. Spirit was from something else. She had to use her attunement as part of her training as well, not because of the course, but for her own sake. But Spirit actually does something else other than raising and restoring mana faster.
It also raised your mental awareness, in a way. One could say it was like willpower, and in others, it was like wisdom. Spirit is the culmination of who you are as a person, so just like how Vitality can cover everything from physical wellness to internal health, Spirit covers the mental side of things. So of course, having to deal with the hellish course on a constant basis, nearly destroying yourself in the process, also raised Spirit to help cover for it.
Now that she thought about it, it made sense why Zeke had these crazy ideas. With his Spirit being so high, he had the mental awareness to pull off this stuff, as well as handling the fallout of anything that comes his way–at least magic wise.
Then, there were the skill improvements.
> Axe Mastery Level Up! It is now Level 5.
>
> You have gained +1 STR from your skill.
> You have gained +1 END from your skill.
…..
> Spear Mastery Level Up! It is now Level 5.
>
> You have gained +1 STR from your skill.
> You have gained +1 DEX from your skill.
…..
> Hammer Mastery Level Up! It is now Level 4.
>
> You have gained +1 STR (x3) from your skill.
> You have gained +1 END (x3) from your skill.
…..
> Bow Mastery Level up! It is now Level 2.
>
> You have gained +1 DEX from your skill.
> You have gained +1 END from your skill.
Throughout the month, she had a chance to use her multiple weapon skills, much to everyone’s surprise from Zacharia’s retinue, to raise their levels. She still had every intention to fuse them all together, but so far it was becoming difficult.
Especially the bow. While she knew she could use it well, using this on the training course was pointless as she wasn’t allowed to use ranged attacks on the Targets. So she tried to use it as a sort of combat staff of sorts against the dummy. Thankfully it worked, but she had a feeling that this is not the sort of path she wanted to take with the bow, so she put it aside after she got that level up. The attribute gains were nice though.
Even when the Hell Barrier was forcing her to go beyond her usual limits on an hourly basis, she couldn’t help but grin each time a notification popped up. As she tackled the dummy down, she noticed one of the disks approaching and instantly chased after it.
It sent out a pressurized blast of air at her, forcing her to duck. That unfortunately got her close to another dummy she didn’t intend to fight, as that dummy focused more on parrying than evading.
But she forced herself to fight it rather than evading, even if the chance was there. In a real fight, she can’t pick and choose an enemy whenever she wanted, so she forced herself to tackle as many challenges as possible.
After all, what has she got to lose? She’ll gain more attributes that way.
But just as she was about to decide on using her attunement to head after the Target, another disk that came flying about hit her at the back, getting her face smashed in by the dummy’s arm.
Her face felt the pang of pain that traveled across her skull, as if a mallet hit her straight across her head. She fell over, the dizzying hit forcing her to stumble.
And unfortunately, that’s when three other soldiers landed on top of her, all of them having the same idea of using the layer. Then two more followed.
Then another one fell over on top of her–just for shits and giggles.
She struggled to push them all off, the weight of their armor and size crushing more her motivation to keep going than her actual body, only to see her targeted disk fly away without a care in the world.
“Goddamnit,” Mikella cursed, and then she cursed at the people as she pulled one leg forward after another, bypassing their corpses as they clearly died from exhaustion. Not true death, but they just wished that they died from the sounds of their groans and moans.
“Fuck… me!” Myra cursed loudly, appearing to Mikella’s side with a clear bruise on her cheek and eye, her nose bleeding. “I hate this so much right now…”
“Oh, come on, admit it,” Mikella grinned. “You love every second of this.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Myra only grinned back as she chuckled.
“Still sucks, though. I got a Vitality stat point from the last blow.”
“Hey, grats!” Mikella cheered before her senses picked up a charged pressured wave coming for her. “Incoming disk!”
“That bitch is mine!”
“Oh no you don’t!”
All in all, the two were having some fun as they raced each other to get their first disk, only to fail once again, but that still never stopped them from trying again and again.