Rebirth: Rise of the Slave Master
Chapter Thirty-Five: One Step Closer
----------------------------------------
“What? You cancel on me again!?” Bai was obviously none too pleased to hear that Rick was reneging on his promise to serve in the neighborhood watch.
Nothing strange had happened to them just yet, and there had been no sign of the supposed stalker. The pair would walk the streets in the middle of the night while keeping an eye out for anything suspicious and exchanging their typical banter. It wasn’t too terribly unpleasant, but Rick couldn’t bring himself to take the waste of time seriously. He was doing it as a favor to… a friend?
Bai was probably something like a friend by this point, despite Rick’s original intention to make use of him in the future.
It was a shame to leave the young man disappointed, but that was just the way things had to be. Rick couldn’t predict how long the siege of Aleside would last, and he couldn’t afford the interruption if it really came down to it. His chances of survival were low, so he had to do everything he could to improve his odds.
Bai eventually sighed with a dejected tone from the other end of the line, and said, “I understand, Rick. Game for you is same as job. Work comes first.”
Rick could feel a surge of gratitude well up in his chest, and he said, “Thanks Bai, I’ll treat you to a coffee next time, alright?”
He could make out a light chuckle, “Damn right you will!” Bai informed him sharply.
Rick chatted with the nerd for a little bit longer before finally hanging up the phone. Since he knew he was going to be in the game for a while, he went ahead and fed himself and made sure to use the restroom. He even got in an hour or two of actual sleep, trying to reach his best condition. After the number of life and death battles he had been shoved into lately, Rick surmised that he was close to 40% of his top form, which was a subjective measurement if nothing else.
“If I’m going to win… I’ll need to reach [Basic Polearm Mastery], or there’s no chance,” he decided.
With his plan established and his resolve firmed, Rick entered Dream World Online to prepare for his most dangerous task yet.
“So that was it…” Guard Captain Alaine was currently sharing a drink with Theo in the Aleside barracks, where the adventurer had decided to stay for the time being.
Theo had informed him that Meatshield and Gobthnora were actually his apprentices, and were training to be adventurers in the future. From the way he talked about them, it was as if he was discussing his own flesh and blood, and for some added realism, Theo had requested that Alaine take care of the two if he fell during the battle. Gobthnora and even Meatshield, both seemed a bit agitated by the praise their master had heaped upon them in public, but stuck to their acts and said nothing.
“They may be young, but their skills will shock you. I trust them to take care of themselves, but…” Theo said.
“Say no more,” Alaine was a rather upstanding guy, and easily agreed to protect the girls.
“Many thanks,” the Slave Master nodded graciously, and then added, “There is one more thing I want to ask of you, Alaine.”
The guard captain raised a bushy eyebrow, “Oh? Do tell.”
“I feel close to a breakthrough in my spear technique these days and feel like a proper spar is all I need, but to impose at this hour seems...” Theo breached the issue as formally as he could.
In short, he wanted to fight against Alaine to accelerate the proficiency acquisition of his [Lesser Polearm Mastery] skill. The trained soldier was probably the only one in the city who could give Theo a good fight, and he wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally killing the higher level opponent.
“Haha, well aren’t you relaxed?” the man said with a laugh.
Despite his words, Theo could make out a certain excitement in Alaine’s sunken eyes. There were few combat NPCs that didn’t want to test their skills against the legendary adventurers, and such a spar was an excellent opportunity to do so. Although he put on airs for a bit and pretended to deny the request, Theo knew that it was already a done thing. It only took a few minutes of casual conversation to get the guard captain to accept.
The news quickly spread throughout the entire barracks, of a fight between their respected captain and the mysterious new adventurer who was making a name for himself. With the sudden bleak news of the upcoming assault, they probably wanted to indulge in any kind of distraction that was available. As such, the area outside the training field was completely packed with guards and militiamen, who were eagerly awaiting the start of the combat. Some were eating and drinking, while others were chatting boisterously and even making bets.
“Go get him captain!”
“Better not go down too fast, new blood!”
“Show us what an adventurer is all about!”
Under his breath, Alaine spoke to Theo as they each picked out a suitable training weapon from the racks, “I should have tried this out a long time ago… it’s good for morale to see your commanders fight.”
These dull blades were going to be a lot less threatening than actual weapons, even if both of the men could just as easily kill one another with wooden sticks. Theo naturally picked up a wooden spear, and Alaine went with a sword. It was a classic choice, and it was obvious from the way he wielded the weapon, he was quite good. Though his level might be lower than the Shapeshifter, his combat skills were a step above. This wasn’t going to be an easy fight, but as long as he used an appropriate instrument, Theo could still level up his weapon proficiency.
“I’ll try not to beat you up too bad,” Theo said with a confident grin.
“Likewise!” Alaine replied, taking up a place on the other side of the pitch from his sparring partner.
It was customary for opponents to begin a spar with probing attacks, to get a feel for the threat they were facing. Fortunately for Theo, it didn’t matter how skilled his opponent was, he would be able to adapt without effort. Although he had chosen a defensive style of combat in his match against Bai, this time he wanted to show off just how domineering a master polearm wielder could be!
[Lunge]
MISS!
Theo opened by expertly chaining his skills together in between normal attacks, as if possessed by a furious tornado. One strike after the other roared as they cut through the air, kicking up wind and dirt. Alaine’s wooden sword cracked against the haft of the spear, carefully parrying the incoming blows. Despite the captain’s best efforts, Theo’s weapon wove about, borrowing the momentum of each swing to turn aside the difference in strength. For every attack he managed to block or dodge, another would be a clean hit.
MISS!
MISS!
MISS!
Only Theo could see the words floating up over Alaine’s head every time his weapon broke through his opponent's guard. Of course the level thirty-something Aleside Guard Captain was no match for the War God in a game of skill, but all of the blows that connected felt too light. It was as if Theo wasn’t trying to hurt him in the slightest. This was a spar where the goal wasn’t to kill, but the guard captain didn’t know how he felt about being treated so daintily. He had to admit that the adventure was an absolute monster though.
If this was a fight to the death, he felt like he would already be riddled with holes by now.
[Plow]
Alaine swung his blade with a disarming amount of force, causing Theo to be caught up in a knockback effect. Since the one-handed sword was shorter and faster than the spear, it wasn’t really viable to counter the force with his [Fend] skill. Instead, he borrowed the momentum to retreat out of the way of the captain’s follow-up strike.
The audience clamoured to get a better look as the fight, which had been dictated entirely by Theo up to this point, suddenly shifted. Of course Theo wanted to strike out with his weapon as many times as he could, since that was the only way to properly accumulate experience points. Now that he was forced onto the defensive, he would have to mix his attacks with dodges in order to fight properly. Since he still couldn’t manage to do any real damage to his opponent, he once again fell into a position where he was unable to retaliate.
Whoosh! The wooden blade cleaved the space above his head as he ducked under another swipe.
Skill [Dodge] has reached Lv. 10 (Max)! Skill [Counter] has been unlocked!
“Oh, so it was that time,” Theo had almost forgotten about maxing his [Dodge] skill.
Now, every time he dodged one of Alaine’s sword swings, he would receive a small boost to damage for a second or so if he managed to attack in that window. The difference was negligible when he couldn’t actually land a proper hit, so he moved the skill acquisition to the back of his mind.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
The fight continued until the spear was finally able to land a solid [Fend] on its target, causing the opponent to be knocked backwards just long enough for Theo to regain his momentum. It took four tries before the skill actually managed to connect, which could be considered pretty lucky. Theo tried to follow it up with a [Lunge] for the combo damage, but the attack once again resulted in a miss. Theo could only imagine what was going through his sparring partner’s mind after being struck with so many glancing blows. It was probably why the man was trying so hard to crack his foe over the head.
“That adventurer is really something, he can even go toe to toe with the Captain,” said one of the guards.
“It looks more like he’s just playing around with him, to me, I can barely even make out what that guy is doing…” another added.
“Eh? Aren’t you a spearman too?” a comment sounded.
It was clear to everyone that the mysterious stranger was a step above even their guard captain, but this was without all but the most basic skills Theo had available. He felt like a bird who had lost its wings! The first step to getting back his original power was to get access to the [Parry] skill. Although he could hit an opponent’s weapon to disrupt their attacks, this was generally considered a subpar option to dodging before one gained [Parry], which came standard with all Basic-tier weapon skills. After that, you could deflect an incoming attack to activate the [Riposte] effect.
A [Riposte] was just like a regular attack, but it had no accuracy modifier! This was because a [Parry] was already gated by the attributes of the attacker and defender. If your opponent was many times stronger than you, it would be impossible to parry their attacks in the first place. It was a skill which could still be used to close the gap with those up to level 60, and by then he probably wouldn’t have to worry too much about accuracy unless his opponent was someone like Witch Beatrice.
If Theo was going to stand any chance against the Shapeshifter when it inevitably appeared, he was going to require this skill!
Eventually, Alaine called an end to the spar because he couldn’t carry on any longer. The surrounding guards clapped at the demonstration, but were noticeably disappointed by the lack of a decisive victor. How could there be? Alaine wasn’t fighting to kill, so his attacks weren’t going to be so aggressive Theo couldn’t dodge them, and at the same time, the adventurer wasn’t able to really harm his opponent.
“By the Gods, where did you learn to fight like that?” Alaine was forced to ask as he doused his sweating head in a flagon of water from a nearby trough.
Theo decided to just stick to the backstory he had made up for himself on the spot, “I learned this technique from a Beastman hunter named Galen,” he explained.
Hearing this, Alaine gave a sound of awe, “So that explains the savagery, truly impressive. The Beastmen are natural warriors!”
Theo put aside the casual racism and laughed it off. There weren’t many humans who understood the intricacies of the Beastman culture, and he didn’t feel like trying to explain it to them. Just saying that he learned how to fight from one of them was enough to shock most people. Even trained soldiers of the great kingdoms were cowed by the might of a true Warrior of the Clan. Any one of them would be enough to crush the Shapeshifter and Kruger even if they fought together, but alas, the system didn’t have the habit of letting higher leveled NPCs over meddle in the affairs of the lower level ones.
After a short rest, the rounds of sparring began again. When Alaine couldn’t carry on any longer, many of the regular guards offered to stand in and try to give Theo a run for his money, though they were quickly trounced and sent running back. Thankfully, without too much injury, since Theo needed their help later. Even when they came at the adventurer in a group, they weren’t a match for him, but he thanked each and every one of them for the bountiful harvest of experience.
At some point, Meatshield volunteered to go up against her Master, though in truth she just walked out onto the pitch with her shield and axe. It seemed she didn’t really understand the concept of using training weapons, but then Theo had raised her in a terrifying kill or be killed environment for as long as he’d known her. It was actually cute to see her so readily entering the fray, and a few of the guards rallied together to give the pretty young woman their support. It wasn’t until they saw the girl’s utterly barbaric, win at all costs style of combat, that they were forced to shut their mouths.
“Scary… she’s even scarier than the adventurer,” one of the men said.
Upon seeing the unapologetic thrashing that Theo administered to the vicious young woman, someone else said, “I wonder if all adventurers have to go through training like that.”
“Now that’s really scary…”
A few of them glanced over to the unmoving and unspeaking pile of cloth that was Gobthnora, and subtly wondered what allowed this little thing to travel with such a pair of monsters. The only conclusion they could come to was that she was equally terrifying, though they probably wouldn’t be happy to know their guesses were spot on. Gobthnora didn’t pay much attention to anything that couldn’t benefit herself or her master, so she spent most of the time silently cheering him on.
“Crush all of the puny humies! Crush them into bone dust!” she would chant quietly, punctuating her little charm with a high-pitched giggle.
“Alright! I’m ready to go again!” Alaine said with an almost excited air.
Theo, who had just finished beating down the stubborn princess for the third time, was looking off into space with a satisfied expression. Nobody else could see it, but he had just been surrounded in a pillar of golden light. Not only had all of his hard work paid off, it had even resulted in him reaching Level 15 before the big battle. He owed a sincere debt of gratitude to these guards, who he had built something of a rapport with over the last couple hours. The very least he could do was try to make sure as many of them survived the conflict as was possible.
“No need,” Theo gripped his spear, enjoying the rush of energy that flooded his body after getting a new level, “I think I’ve got what I needed.”
Alaine seemed excited for his new comrade, “Excellent! With your spear on our side, I think those damn bandits have really bit off a tougher cut of meat than they expected!”
He laughed jovially, and even went as far as to clap Theo on the back. Theo returned the goodwill, but was distracted by the need to assign his new attribute points. After doing so, he appeared to space out as he checked his character information.
Character Information Name: Theo HP: 580/580 Race: Human MP: 560/560 Class: Slave Master Attack: 122~166 Alignment: Neutral Defense: 12 (7%) Attributes and Runes Strength: 75 (+0) Head Rune: Empty Agility: 8 (+3) Heart Rune: Desert Heart Rune Intelligence: 5 (+0) Core Rune: Serpent Prince's Core Rune Constitution: 38 (+5) Arm Rune: Serpent Queen's Wrath Rune Willpower: 34 (+0) Leg Rune: Empty Charisma: 51 (+3) Rune Locked Empty Luck: 5 (+0) Rune Locked Empty Classes Class Name Level Exp. to Next Lv. Slave Master 15 1%/100% Skill List Skill Name Level Exp. to Next Lv. Tag Appraise Humanoid Lv. 6 55%/100% Basic Polearm Mastery Lv. 1 1%/100% * Beginner Conditioning Lv. 5 23%/100% Beginner Meditation Lv. 7 83%/100% Counter Lv. 1 0%/100% Dodge Lv. 10 MAX Fend Lv. 3 12%/100% Inflict Pain Lv. 3 71%/100% * Lesser Persuasion Lv. 5 4%/100% * Lesser Rune Mastery Lv. 5 2%/100% * Lunge Lv. 4 2%/100% Parry Lv. 1 0%/100% Perception Lv. 8 7%/100% Slave Master's Brand Lv. 2 69%/100% Stealth Lv. 1 3%/100%
This was all he could do. The rest of the battle would come down to how well he could execute his plans. Theo couldn’t say he was afraid, but excited rather. Feeling the thrill that accompanied dancing along the razor’s edge was the whole reason he got so attached to this game in the first place. Without the rush, where was the fun? Sure, grinding was enjoyable and relaxing in its own right, but that was only because he knew to what end it was serving.
Now that he had made all of his preparations, it was time to ready the troops. They didn’t know when the Black Mountain Clan was going to show itself, so they had to be ready for battle at all times.
“I wonder… if Bai would like this sort of thing,” Theo’s mind wandered for a moment.