Edge woke up bright and early the next morning, eager to continue his training.

After he ate breakfast and left the Pioneer, he stopped to make a purchase from one of the merchants standing beside the road. A woman who sold tubes of cream that reduced a person’s odor, a simple alchemical concoction favored by monster and beast hunters alike.

He worked it into his skin and under his arms, hoping that it would improve his odds of winning a few rounds of hide and seek. Alright, Riller. It’s time for a rematch.

Edge made it to Trapper’s a few minutes before sunrise, reflecting on everything that he’d learned the day before. Riller was already outside, carving away at a pile of wooden strips. It seemed that the man made his own arrows, which was bound to come in handy in the field.

He said hello without looking up from his work, having sensed Edge well before he walked through the gate. When Riller was finished with the shaft he was carving, he put his supplies away and grabbed his pack. The men began walking out of town, heading the same way as before.

Edge intended to beat the stealthy hunter at least once before the day was done, and he was ready to throw everything that he had into the effort. But first, he wanted to see if he could learn more about the man’s unusual technique.

This time, instead of simply following, Edge did his best to emulate Riller’s movements as they walked through town in the hazy light of dawn. He paid close attention to the way that the hunter scanned the street ahead. The logic to where he place his feet and the underlying rhythm of his steps.

Building on the insights he had gained yesterday, Edge didn’t just place his attention inside his own body. He tried extending his awareness into his environment at the same time, moving with the world instead of merely through it.

It must have made a difference. Most of the people on the street didn’t notice the pair until they were right in front of them, resulting in a series of startled expressions and several soft curses. The guard at the gate didn’t have any problem seeing them coming though, a powerfully built deputy that Edge didn’t recognize. He tipped his hat and waved them through after exchanging a few soft-spoken words with Riller.

After a few minutes on the road, it was clear that they were heading back to the same spot to pick up where they’d left off.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

When they made it to the stones, Riller moved them deeper into the grove before they got to it, adding the element of the trunks to the boulders lining the ground. The shadows were thick below the canopy, especially at this time of day. Edge would have to rely less on his eyes and more on his other senses this time around.

As an added twist, Riller closed his eyes and let Edge start off by finding the best place he could to hide. Then they began their game. The complex terrain made it easier to duck out of sight but harder to see what was coming. He tried his best to sense the other man’s presence, although it felt like tracking a ghost.

While he never caught Riller hiding, Edge managed to evade the hunter for several minutes on two separate occasions. Enough of an improvement to feel satisfied with the result. When Riller found him after the second session, he stopped to offer a rare word of advice.

“I think that you’ve figured out the heart of it. How to watch the environment through the eyes of a predator as well as its prey. Keep observing the natural world and the creatures moving through it, and you should grow more proficient at both spotting and hiding.”

He paused for a moment before finding the right words. “Reducing your noise and the tracks you leave behind is something that can only be learned through experience. But now that you’re aware of the need, you should continue to improve on your own. It was clever of you to mask your scent. It’s a clear sign that you’re expanding your thinking beyond what’s in front of your face.”

Riller must have been tracking me by scent after all. He’s probably using each of his senses to some extent, even touch. Edge knew that many beasts could sense vibrations through the ground and other mediums, even without a specialized skill.

They called it a day after breaking for lunch, a few hours earlier than yesterday. They bid each other farewell after making it back to town, leaving Edge a fair portion of the day to use as he chose. He didn’t get another point of perception from the training session. But he had a hunch that if he kept practicing what Riller had taught him throughout the rest of the week, he would be able to gain another point soon.

Before deciding what he wanted to do next, Edge spent a few minutes reflecting on what he’d learned. Apparently, conditioning perception came from straining his senses to their limits. Focusing intently while clearing his mind. A practice that was sure to prove useful when hunting as well.

He would continue to work on paying attention to what was actually there, instead of what he expected to see and hear. Learn to place himself into the mindsets of both predator and prey.

While he was thinking it through, he went back to his room and engaged in a few hours of strength training. Then he spent another few hours jogging around the public green. He didn’t gain any more conditioning points, although he sensed that he was getting close. In part because he didn’t push himself quite as hard as the day before.

The reason why was simple. He wanted to conserve a portion of his mana for training a different attribute instead. He’d had another insight while his body was busy. It was time for Edge to start boosting his durability too.