After my successful hunt of the Dawn Boar we feasted on it that night. It seems my hunt would serve us for several meals to come as well. Later my father called me to his study and we discussed the hunt, I had much to learn. He called me out on my idiotic attempt to slide under the boar, and even my cockiness at the end of the boar fight. Stating enemies were most dangerous wounded and I should not have counted my victory to early. Basically he said will I did well I would need more training and combat experience in spars before I could hunt again.
The following morning I was awoken early by the master at arms, whose name I had learned was Krulen, to discuss the future of my training and style. He wanted me to try his style of combat, the duel wield axe and sword. He was former captain in the army that fought in the war 100 years back. He was apparently pretty famous, even among the other races and was likely the 3rd strongest Vampire there was now. He favored the Axe and Sword combo for its devastating versatility and strength, of which he claimed was superior to duel wielding the same type of weapon. After hearing him talk on and on about the style I started feeling a little excited about it and agreed to give it a try.
The Switch out from duel axes to axe and sword was less jarring than I thought it would be. Now I have significantly more options of attack, for example if I wielded the axe in my main hand I could over whelm with a high chop and then slash the opponents abdomen, or pull an opponent off balance into my waiting blade. If I wielded the sword in main hand I could do complex feints and distracting slashing in preparation for a devastating chop. Master Krulen was right, it fit what I had already trained, and expanded upon it.
It only took me 6 months to learn the additional moves to my skillset. I believed at this point I was sufficiently trained that I could wield them to a degree the earth martial artists could only hope too. My speed, senses, reflexes and, memorization skill being far superior to that of a human. I had no idea what the average B or M score of a human on earth would be but I doubted it would be greater than 5 or 6 in either category.
I noticed I seemed to be improving constantly but my scores themselves hadn’t increased at all. Actually this has bothered me for years but I was always far to exhausted to ask about it. Seeing the chance now as the training hadn’t been quite as extreme I asked the master at arms. Training only served to help Vampires use their body better, my stats weren’t improving I was simply making better use of what I already had. In essence I started out with the ability to utilize maybe 30% of my strength but with training and technique I am now closer to 70%.
A master Vampire can actually exceed their stats score, though apparently this is damaging to the body and takes a long time to heal, so its more of a desperate measure than a skill. Father, mother and the master are the only ones who can do this. Reaching this level is extremely difficult. In fact I am now better trained than a significant portion of my race, not that it will matter when they can out stat me by hundreds on average, if not thousands.
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The master and I trained for another month to make sure I got the techniques down before he hit me with a gut check. I now know why I had to learn Rabbit Kick, and I wish I could unlearn it at this moment.
The master wanted me to learn a skill. Not a technique, but an actual system recognized skill, one of the very few that could be learned through intense training. So intense in fact that most did not bother.
The Idea was simple really, but that didn’t mean it was going to be fun by any means. First I glanced at my skill for a reminder.
Skill: Rabbit Kick
Rush forward and kick in a single direction, uncontrolled movement. If Kick connects with target, deal 10% additional damage and inflict lesser-weakened body status at a slight chance.
It did not state a set distance and according to the master that varied just a little based on the Body stat but it was around 30 foot for most people. So the Idea was I would face a solid stonewall, it was like 6 foot thick, at about 28 or so feet away and use the skill. I would then try with all my might to stop before slamming into said wall.
The skill I was trying to learn was Skill Cancel, it was apparently invaluable in combat. It sure sounded like it could be if Rabbit Kick is any indication of skills.
My first attempt went about as expected and I got to meet Mr. Stonewall up close and personal. I broke my leg and fractured my skull. If not for my Vampire healing and the standby healer servant Master Krulin had ready I would have been down for weeks. But now thanks to their help, it was only minutes. I was truly grateful, really I was.
The second through tenth times went exactly the same as the first. My willpower to continue was wavering at this point; I mean I was literally slamming my head into a brick wall. At try 11 I was able to lower the kick in an attempt to stop myself, this just meant a full belly flop on the wall though. At about try 30 I was starting to impact with less injury, needing little healing in-between attempts. Try 50 I as able to stop before smacking the wall hard, more of a bump but still no skill showed up on my sheet.
Around try 100 I was able to stop before hitting the wall entirely. So the master had me move 2 foot forward and continue, another round of wall hugging ensued. Try 150 and I was now able to stop there without issue, still no skill so another 2 foot forward I went. After about try 300 and another move up I finally got the skill.
Skill Earned
Skill: Skill Cancel
The ability to cancel any skill at will.
That was it, that’s all it said. I went through face smashing hell to see an 8-word description. No fanfare, no hurrah, I don’t know what I expect but I somehow felt jipped.
I was absolutely exhausted, so much so that I don’t even remember getting to bed. What I do remember is waking up to panicked sounds in the dark.
Age: 12
Race: Vampire
B 13
M 13
S 20
L 99
Skills
Rabbit Kick
Mana drain
Skill Cancel (New)
True Blood (Passive)
Reincarnator (Passive) (Hidden)