As Micky marched and Practiced with the army the Baron was razing, he looked back on everything that has happened to him. Mostly because he couldn’t believe this was his life. Of course, his dad had always told him that everyone has an origin story and for at least a candle everybody gets their hero moment, but Micky hadn’t really believed him. His dad had then gone on the recount the ‘great’ hero stories of himself and random people in the village as proof. Micky had not believed those either, one was even about slaying a dragon. And if you believed another, old man Jenkins was the master of at least half a dozen world saving heroes and knew where a legendary sword was in some cave nearby. It was obvious it was all fictitious.
So Micky was training with the army now, he’s in the army now. What is he to do? What is he to say? He’s in the army now. The army’s drill instructor that was screaming instructions to the recruits had looked at him evily just a few moments earlier. Why? It was simple, he was going to cause buffing sickness in the levi’s. The standing army had already been trained to have high stat buffs applied at all times and could nearly instantly adjust to adding or losing a buff. Most even had a skill for it, one that Micky should train for considering.
So here Micky was, running and buffing everybody beyond their limit. Had he had another buffer the two buffs would even each other out, even if identical, thereby raising the limit. This was why armies were regularly buffed to the point of being near godly. They could take a fireball to the face or walk through a firestorm like it was any other type of storm. So They were all running while Micky was waiting for the other sandals to fall. It wouldn’t take long, their stamina would also drop out from under them soon since it was being used up on the buffs, even though that too was being buffed. This would only make it harsher when the buffs fell and they crashed.
This gave Micky a lot of time to reflect. He was a villager, he beat a dungeon, found his pet monster in said dungeon, bonded with them, beat the village hero, ran away from the villages anger, became a noble, kinda mostly, trained in the adventurer’s guild, defeated who knows how many dungeons, always more dungeons, they just don’t end, saved several young girls, saved adventurers, saved a ‘dog’ if you used the term loosely, saved the day, not really but he helped his teams survive innumerable times from the black ants, met his master, trained in a secret realm, became a ‘real’ mage… apprentice, a whole lot a loot, just crap loot though. Micky thought back, he only had two pieces of loot that could be worth anything, his uncommon staff he had retrieved from the dungeon and his rare kilt that was know a part of his common level [Centurion] armor. It had been masterfully done and was actually a part of an item set, though that was in part because it was centurion armor. Unfortunately, it was sitting at ⅙ right now. The rest of his loot, let’s just say if there was a grab bag of loot, he wouldn’t even be wearing the common white rank, but the trash grey rank loot. It was the kind of loot that could only be sold back to the NPCs. Micky could only shake his head at that.
Of course, that wasn’t even really going into all his companions that he met. Yolanda his master was already mentioned, but then there is the bandit princess ‘Princess’, the adventurer’s he has saved from the goblins, fuck goblins, the alchemist Merry, his six girls Firstblood, Jezebel, Abigale, Marry the witch, Tera, Brightfur, a friggen ninja, a spirit princess, all of his adventuring buddies, his instructors, his neighbors, that one time he actually met the baron if he uses the term loosely, all of Yolanda’s drinking buddies, who he still has a duel with though they probably forgot Micky knew that he did.
And then there were all the times that he blacked out… That was not supposed to be such a common occurrence. Other people would only black out when drunk, why was it always him that blacked out because of something stupid? Like friggen mind assassins! Assassins sent by a viscount for something unrelated and he just ‘happens’ to get involved, because he makes a good bonus objective?
Then there was all the boss battles. First was a slime that wasn’t even supposed to be there, then there was the kobold that wasn’t supposed to be there, the ants that weren’t supposed to be there come to think of it, though they were not bosses… he has a lot of trouble with things not being where they are supposed to be doesn’t he? Then there was that miniboss with the ‘guns’ and all of his dungeon runs up to the minotaur and a friggen demon king dungeon master. His war on the goblin stronghold, did he mention training in a secret realm? He thought he did, but his mind just keeps going in circles as he ran. It isn’t like anybody is listening into his thoughts, though he keeps acting and inflecting like they were and he was speaking to an audience… of like 3 and a couple of invisible people…
Micky heard people start to drop though he kept the buffs up on those that were still standing. He could feel a blackness at the edge of his vision himself, however he kept running full tilt. Even though he was a buffer and a centurion technically outranked the drill instructor, on the training field he was law, and he said run, so Micky was not about to stop. He had seen what happened when you tried to stop early and it was not pretty. And those that continued in spite of that were flogged. Though Micky doubted that he would be flogged even if he did stop it was also the spirit of the thing. In addition, because he was a centurion he also inspired the levi’s to keep up their own training. Micky enjoyed the aww, and it would help some of them the more they trained, and help others save more.
Micky heard more of the soldiers drop now, others were just groaning in pain. But Micky soldiered on. His vision was now just a corridor. There wasn’t even black at the edges, just the track ahead of him. He had to use his new ability 3rd person view, just to keep buffs active, yet his brain could barely function. Oddly enough, not the worst training he has been through. The adventurers from the class would say that they could run in their sleep, they aren’t wrong. Micky had run several leagues blacked out and literally could not remember them as part of training during the class, and he was part of the light assignment, not being a physical [Class].
Micky couldn’t hear anyone else running anymore, which wasn’t much since all he could hear was the buzzing of tinnitus. But he kept going and buffing anybody, which meant himself, that he could find in his view. It was automatic now, he didn’t think he just moved. There was only the next step, the next buff. He thought he saw the drill instructor run in front of him but that was already on the last lap. The instructor grabbed at him again but Micky dodged over him. He thought he saw the instructors mouth move, but he could be overthinking it. Thinking was overthinking for Micky right now. He was grabbed by the drill instructor this time and Micky looked at his mouth not comprehending what was coming out.
Slowly Micky read the lips as he refocused on the rest of the world. “...at’s en… stop running. You’ve already done enough soldier. Look around, they stopped doing laps half an hour ago and some have even woken back up!” Micky understood the words but he didn’t quite comprehend them. What was enough? He needed to run and buff people.
… Oh, he was done already “But I’m still awake? Why should I stop running, sir?” Said Micky. His mind was still fuzzy and numb but it was starting to catch back up to him. Apparently, his mind had been running as well, it was just slower than he was.
Ahh, Micky thought as realization dawned on him. Training was over. And then he blacked out.
pagebreak
Micky had become somewhat of a hero amongst the common man in the levi’s after that. The levi’s had seen a weak mage buffer pass them when most had passed out by the half candle mark. Then by the candle mark even the most stout man was down for the count, yet he was still running. Micky had ran not once or twice, but three times as long as the rest of the recruits and then some. Then he dared to ask the instructor why he was supposed stop, and he meant it.
Micky just shrugged off his new fame and looked through his abilities. He had gained several from three class abilities to several general physical abilities.
Table: ID
Name:
‘Micky’ Anderson
Class:
Apprentice Pink Mage
LVL 30 [Consolidating]
EXP:
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
100306/9611096
[Consolidating] 1870506757
Table: State
Body:
Weak
[Consolidating] Lesser
Mind:
Lesser
[Consolidating] Moderate
Soul:
Moderate
[Consolidating] Moderate
Table: Physiology
Physiology:
Human
Pale, Green eye, Red Hair
Face: Angular
Build: Light
State: Exausted
Height 1.66m
Waist .62
BMI 14
Table: Stats
Stats
STR 14 [Consolidating] 21
INT 36 [Consolidating] 85
WIS 48 [Consolidating] 87
DEX 14 [Consolidating] 20
PER 15 [Consolidating] 22
END 14 [Consolidating] 20
WIL 40 [Consolidating] 79
AGL 14 [Consolidating] 20
Table: Skills
Spell and Ability:
Charm
Enrage
Hybrid Bonding +-
Passive: Party Baby
Accelerate
Weakness
Hope
3rd person view
Iron Gut
Basic: Command Lesser Silence
Marching
Loud Voice Hunger Resistance
Pain Resistance
Hidden Throw Knife Trick
Knife Mastery
Staff Mastery
Table: Title
Achievements:
Title: Spell Student
Title: Centurion
Current Active
Table: Domain
Deeds:
Pep’s Dungeon
Rental: Elshwen's House
Table: Proficiency
Proficiency:
Class Weapon: 5.14
Improvised Spell: 10
Spell Cast: 15
Cooking: 9.73
Fishing: 6.17
Exploration: 11
Survival: 20
Chores [House]: 5.48
Hunting: 10
Repair: 3.23
Whittling: 3.56
Dual Channeling: 5.75
Dual Casting: 3.32
Spotting: 10
Camping: 19
Traveling: 12
Botany: 23
Gathering: 14
Drawing: .01
Drinking: 9.10
Honor: 1.06
Conduct: 3.00
Etiquette: 6.60
Farming: 1.07
Smithing: .96
Enchanting: 9.08
Alchemy: 9.95
Tanning: 2.03
Haggling: 7.27
Weaving: 3.01
Carpentry: 8.11
Architecture: 4.00
Maintenance [City]: 4.03
Planning [City]: 5.53
Management [City]: 6.86
Maintenance [Army]: 1.00
Planning [Army]: 8.88
Management [Army]: 7.08
Bookeeping [General]: 10
Appraisel [Antique]: 10
Appraisel [Weapon]: 14
Appraisel [Herb]: 20
Appraisel [Enchant]: 15
Marching: 10
Commanding: 10
Strategy: 11
Tolerance[Pain]: 21
Tolerance [Alcohal]: 25
Tolerance [Fatigue]: 19
Tolerance [Magic]: 22
Tolerance [Physical]: 18
Table: Pools
Vitality:
100%
Energy:
Mana: 125 /257
Stam: 10%
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Hope: Inspire those who would otherwise falter. Each stack of hope counteracts one stack of fear. Each stack of hope causes one stack of Stalwart.
Stalwart: Each stack of Stalwart increases the resistances and CON of the individual preventing them from falling when they otherwise should have.
3rd Person View: Change the vantage point to an overhead viewing angle. This does not stop viewing angles from any other input. Allows casting for vision based, and LOS type skills.
Lesser Silence: Prevent the use of spells or abilities. This skill can be upgraded further to cast all forms of Silence.
Marching: Running and Marching no longer consume as much stamina. Running and marching more than stamina will instead consume extra [Food] reserves.
Hunger Resistance: Increase resilience against Hunger, the effects of Hunger, and the need for sustenance.
Pain Resistance: Increase the resilience against Pain, the effects of Pain, and the physical or magical manifestations of Pain.
Loud Voice: Your voice is louder than others and can be heard better over other sounds. Increase the range and volume of and sounds made with the skill active.
Hidden Throw: Allows for the throwing of items without a tell that an object has been thrown.
Knife Trick: Allows for better control over [Knife]s and [Knife]like objects. The closer to a [Knife] the better the correction. Allows for the use of certain [Natural] skills with knives.
Knife Mastery: you have gained a [Rudimentury] mastery over [Knife]s.
Staff Master: You have gained a [Rudimentury] mastery over [Staff]s.