"Yeah, get in it!" Refix joyfully shouted. "The sand is your friend. Embrace the sand. Become one with the sand."
Reivyn, Kefira, Teilon, and the others were on the beach in full combat gear. Refix stood over them as they rolled back and forth in the dry sand. Reivyn gritted his teeth as he felt the grains migrate all across the inside of his gear, lodging themselves against his skin and his armor. Refix walked back and forth "encouraging" them to get more and more sand inside their clothes. Occasionally he would kick up some sand into someone's face. Reivyn spat out sand from his mouth on more than one occasion.
"Why is it just us rolling in the dirt?" Teilon complained. "You're just basking in our misery at this point."
"Alright, hold up!" Refix held a hand out. "Eyes!"
Everyone instinctively snapped their vision onto Refix standing over them. Refix waited until he had everyone's attention on himself. He shook his body vigorously, and Reivyn and the others watched as sand and other dust particles created a cloud around him as they were shook out from within his own gear.
"I came down here over an hour before all of you and already did everything you're doing," Refix revealed. "And I've been walking, jumping, and leaping about this whole time with this sand and grit inside my armor. I'm not going to ask you to do anything I'm not willing to do myself."
Reivyn nodded his head to himself, but Teilon just groaned.
"That doesn't make it better," he whined. "Now I just feel bad about complaining, but I don't want to stop complaining."
"Hey, you know what they say: 'A complaining soldier is a happy soldier,'" Reivyn said.
"How does that make sense?" Kefira eyed him from her spot in the sand.
"It means he's not dying," Reivyn said, "If he has time to complain, then things aren't going horribly wrong."
"Oh."
"Alright, let's get back to it!" Refix gleefully called. "Just a few more minutes and then we can get started."
"You mean we haven't started, yet?" Teilon asked.
"This is just preparation."
Reivyn questioned his life choices for the hundredth time as he began rolling in the sand once again. This exercise was decidedly different than his time spent on the beach with Kefira the day before. They had gone from wearing fashionable swimwear, bathing in the sun, and frolicking in the waves amidst joy and laughter to wearing hot, sweaty armor, literally bathing in the sand, and rolling around amidst agony and groans.
"Alright ladies, are you ready to get going for real?" Refix crowed. "Get up and run to those boulders in the sand. You'll find some ropes conveniently tied around them. Grab a rope corresponding to your weight class and get dragging!"
Reivyn jumped up with the others to sprint across the beach. He knew that if they lolly gagged on their way to the boulders his father would just come up with something else in the near future to get back at them for not putting forth enough effort. His father could be quite imaginative, and Reivyn didn't want to find out what he could be hiding in his back pocket considering the start of their morning.
They stayed on the loose, dry sand. Reivyn had the corresponding Sure Step Skill to help with moving on the loose sand. He was fairly certain Kefira and Serilla also had the Skill from what the things they'd said when he first met them in the desolate sands of Drallo, but he didn't know if Teilon and the others did or not. If they didn't, they would probably unlock it pretty soon.
The boulder that his father had rolled into place that Reivyn recognized was put there for him made him groan as he grabbed the rope. It was just large enough that it wouldn't be a struggle to get started, but it wasn't round and would drag instead of roll as he pulled it across the sand. The friction and weight was sure to become a headache quick.
Reivyn's premonition turned out to be true. After getting the boulder moving, it didn't get any easier. Whenever he had done similar training in the past with a weight that could roll, he could just apply constant pressure below the threshold needed to start to keep it moving. That was not the case with the boulder on the beach. He had to strain and apply just as much, sometimes more, pressure just to keep the boulder from coming to a complete stop.
"Let's go, boy!" Refix's voice rang out. Reivyn looked over to see Refix pushing Teilon's boulder from behind to help him get started. Teilon had a look of relief on his face as he got going, but it quickly morphed into one of horror. Refix didn't help him get rolling out of kindness. Once Teilon got going, he leaped up and sat on the boulder where he could keep up the "encouragement." Even though Refix didn't weigh all that much, especially relative to the weight of the stone, the sudden drop in assistance plus the unexpected added wight almost yanked Teilon to a halt. He groaned as Refix pointed ahead.
"Charge!"
Reivyn tuned out the rest of what was going on around him. He needed to focus every part of his being on moving one step in front of another with the weight of the boulder a constant drag. His father had a good eye and had selected the perfect stone to challenge Reivyn.
The sand inside his armor moved about and scratched against his skin. It was a thousand tiny distractions, and Reivyn had to lean on his Mental Fortitude Skill to help push through it. The world faded away and it was just Reivyn, the sand, and the boulder.
There was no increase in Stats. His Stats were far too high to gain any benefit from physical exercise. On the outside, it would seem like such struggle was completely pointless, and there was a reason very few people did it. Almost all people focused entirely on exercising their Skills exclusively. It was no surprise that the soldiers of Vairo hadn't been prepared to fight through exhaustion.
There were many benefits to hard physical struggle, though, if one was only willing to look deeper than the surface. Skill gains came the easiest during life or death situations, and they came the slowest during generic training by oneself. Reivyn had learned long ago that training while exhausted not only increased his efficiency with low Stamina, but it was the fastest way toward Skill growth outside of life or death situations. It was even better than practical application such as solving a problem in the field. The best thing about it, though, was that it wasn't mutually exclusive to practical application. There was a reason Reivyn and his mercenaries drove themselves to exhaustion before every training exercise, though they didn't do it so much when there was the chance of actual combat which lead to much less physical exercise for the mercenary company during their stay in Vairo.
The sand inside the armor didn't make anything actually more physically difficult, but it did cause a new level of distress for everyone. Once Refix determined that enough Stamina had been spent and everyone was sucking air, he finally moved on to the next round.
"Next, sparring," Refix announced. "Everyone here is already conveniently paired up. Teilon and Kimberly, Xudrid and Vyria, Kefira and Serilla, and I'll go with Reivyn. The point of the exercise isn't to push our Skills further. Well, not specifically, anyway. We're focused on fighting on uneven, unpredictable ground. We'll start with just flat sand today. Then we'll move on to 'lumpy' sand, then the sand banks, and finally, we'll have the Casters create a scenario where the ground is shifting beneath us. We'll be spending multiple days on each area.
"Let's get to it."
Reivyn and Refix paired up and used some training weapons that were sitting in their storage pouches. Reivyn still hadn't found a permanent replacement for his Mana Sword, but he had heard good things from Kahl the other night, so he was keen to go looking in the market for something that might catch his eye. Not everything sold was crafted, either. A lot of the higher end goods were drops from the Dungeon, and he was sure to get something that was superior to a Mana Sword forged in a Tier 1 Region if he could find anything even close to what he was looking for.
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Reivyn and Refix didn't immediately go all out. They tested the waters, so to say, with their initial exchange. According to Refix's instruction, they both maintained enhanced focus on their footwork as they struck, parried, and dodged each other. They slowly ramped up their attacks over time, and the world once again fell away. Reivyn was still able to "see" everything around them with his Divine Sense, but he was getting better and better at relegating it to the peripheral of his consciousness as time went on. He needed as much focus as as he could against his father, as his father had stopped matching his Stats to Reivyn's after Reivyn had bested him in pure Skill.
It also wasn't exactly fair to say that Reivyn was more Skilled than his father, either. He had leaned on his True Strike Transcendent ability to bypass his father's defenses. He learned that using the ability didn't actually further his understanding of it or increase his Skill Level, though. Instead, not using it as a crutch increased his awareness of avenues he could approach to strike true in combat. Using the ability directly negated any kind of challenge, and so it wasn't beneficial.
Not all Transcendent abilities were like that, though. In fact, most probably weren't. It was just Reivyn's luck that the first ability he unlocked was one that he had to deliberately ignore in order to advance.
All of the pairings were used to sparring with each other, but they all kept Refix's admonition in mind and they paid special attention to their footwork. Even though Kefira wasn't much of a physical combatant and had not spent nearly as much time on her Swords Skill as the others had on their respective physical Skills, she had made great leaps over the time she had spent training with Reivyn. Serilla was competent enough to effectively match her strength and Skill to Kefira's while still getting something out of it as well. If it had been just regular sparring on a flat, stable surface, it wouldn't have done anything for her, but she was able to really focus on her steps, so the point of the training was most effectively accomplished for her.
The two Cultivators could walk through the air, so it was highly unlikely they would ever find themselves handicapped by unstable footing, but that was no reason they couldn't learn. They might be able to glean unexpected benefits from it in the future for all they knew, but they were at least willing to try. Teilon and Kimberly both had Classes that were built around movement, so it was doubly important for them to learn how to maneuver under any kind of condition.
Reivyn and Refix switched freely between weapons in their sparring match. They didn't always choose the same weapon, either. Sometimes one would be wielding an axe against a spear. Sometimes it would be a whip against a dagger. There was a multitude of combinations of weaponry used against each other, and they were equally Skilled with each.
After close to an hour of intense sparring, both of them were finally seeing the bottom of their Stamina. Reivyn could feel that he had gained multiple Levels with his Sure Step Skill, and he was eager to view his Notification Page when they were done. They finally came to an end of their sparring session, and once the world returned around Reivyn's conscious perception, he noticed a group of local defenders standing a little ways off watching them. He could see wide-eyed looks from many of them.
Kahl was standing in the front, and as soon as he noticed that Reivyn and Refix were done, he motioned with his head and stepped forward with his men.
"That was quite the spectacle," Kahl said. "I'm sure my men and I could get some useful instruction from the two of you if you're willing."
"Sure," Refix easily agreed. "How about a trade?"
"A trade?" Kahl was intrigued.
"Yeah. We mentioned that we're commanders of a mercenary company, so practicing our personal combat abilities is just one aspect. We need to practice Command, too."
"What did you have in mind?"
"Amphibious assaults," Refix said. Reivyn nodded his head along with his father. "We get some boats, load them up with people, have some 'defenders' on the beach, and then we practice assaulting the beach. I'll command the defenders while Reivyn assaults the beach, and we'll switch from time to time."
"What about me?" Teilon asked, walking up.
"You're in charge of scouts, so you'll have to practice infiltration instead of assault, though you should get some practice participating in the assaults, too."
"That sounds like a plan," Kahl said. "Though, I do have to warn you. When we're out on the water in the boats, absolutely do not get in the water. Not for any reason. If you somehow accidentally get knocked off into the water, you do everything in your power to get back on the boat as soon as possible."
"Really?" Refix asked, quirking any eyebrow. "I would think that getting in the water on this island was done all the time. I mean, I see people in the water right now." He nodded his head to the shore where people could be seen playing in the shallow water. Kahl followed with his gaze.
"Oh, sure. In the shallows it's fine. As soon as you get about eighty to a hundred yards off shore, though, the seafloor drastically drops off. That's where I'm talking about."
"Ok, but, why?"
"Here be monsters."
---
Reivyn stood with his head down allowing the water to flow over his body from top to bottom. There was a system built for everyone to shower and wash the sand off of their bodies just off of the beach, and they were taking advantage of it to the fullest. Reivyn had waited until everyone else had already finished, standing outside of his Divine Sense range out of respect for the ladies' privacy. He was pretty sure Kefira wouldn't have minded, but she absolutely would have minded, as well as the other girls in question, at him being able to see the others completely exposed.
He could technically use his Divine Sense to penetrate levels of clothing and armor at any time, but the way his Skill worked, it wasn't automatic. Having them showering without anything covering their skin directly, though, would have been automatically in his sight. The others had taken their time, but after getting under the water himself, he didn't fault them for their choice.
Reivyn used the same shower to scour his armor free of any residual sand that might be hitching a ride, and he used his Divine Sense to inspect every inch to make sure everything was removed. He would extend his ability to everyone else when he was done to make sure they were as sand-free as possible. There was no reason he couldn't extend the courtesy that would only take a few minutes of his time.
While he was letting the water wash away the residue of their training session, Reivyn glanced through his Notification Window.
Skills Leveled Up!
Tier 1:
Athleticism (63 ->64)
Balance (54 ->55)
Heavy Armor (30 ->31)
Running (53 ->54)
Tier 2:
Pain Resistance (60 ->61)
Tier 3:
Sure Step (21 ->24)
He noticed that Mental Fortitude hadn't Leveled up, but he could feel that he had made significant progress. It had been bogged down ever since he had reached Level 49. Most of his Skills hadn't taken too long to cross the thresholds every 25 Levels, but Mental Fortitude hadn't budged since achieving its current Level. Having the sand constantly intruding on his thoughts while causing immense discomfort had finally given his mentality the boost it needed to move toward the next Level.
Reivyn didn't have to worry about running out of hot water. If the water started to lose its heat, he would just channel some Fire Mana into it to bring it back up in temperature, but the fact that it was losing steam meant it was about time for him to wrap things up. He could see with his Divine Sense that the others were waiting for him, and it would be rude for him to take longer than they had.
He turned the water off and simply used his Mana to whisk the water off of his body and dry his hair. They had all brought some regular clothes with them aside from their armor, so he donned his before stepping back out into the open. The others were engaged in conversation ranging from the training they had just done to what they planned on doing for the rest of the day. Just because their "vacation" was over didn't mean they had to spend the entire day training. There also wasn't the paperwork or logistics associated with running the mercenary company to take up their time, either.
Reivyn quickly scanned everyone's armor, removing errant grains of sand whenever he found any, and everyone nodded their heads in thanks.
"Alright, that's it for today," Refix addressed everyone. "We'll be doing more of the same tomorrow, same time. I'll be getting together with Kahl to go over joint exercises with him and his men, so expect a shakeup in the next couple of days. I think it'll be fun, though."
"You think running while carrying a rock over your head is fun," Teilon retorted.
"Because it is," Refix replied with a deadpan expression. "It's not my problem that you can't recognize the intricacies and profound truths contained within repetitive movements under pressure. Anyway, that's all I have for you at this time, so feel free to spend the rest of the day however you want."
"Yes! Come on, Kimberly, now that we've perused all the shops, it's time to go check out some of the sights."
Teilon and Kimberly walked off with smiles on their faces, talking about what they were going to do for the rest of the day. Reivyn looked at Kefira, Serilla standing stoically behind her. He shrugged his shoulders.
"Other than looking for a new sword, I'm game to go sightseeing, too," he said.
The island wasn't just the coastal town and Dungeon. When they had gone to the Adventurer's Guild, they had seen from the road that the island had multiple communities and there was even a short mountain in the distance. They had talked about what the storm in the distance would look like from atop the mountain, and it was definitely something on their itinerary.
"Alright, let's go," Kefira nodded.