There was a movie that I watched when I was younger and didn’t know any better. While the overall movie didn’t really stick with me, there was one line that did. “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.” The things Mindi was throwing at me had me wishing she was just tossing a wrench.
It wasn’t that her spells were all that complex. Hell, they looked like they were simple. It was in how she used them. Timed to reach a point near me at the same time, a fireball and waterball can create a hell of a steam explosion. Then there was the earthball that was soaked by a waterball before being fireballed. That steam explosion hurt. So many tiny shards flew all over the place.
But that isn’t to say she didn’t have a few more complicated spells that she threw in my direction. Let's see, she made it rain. Not normal rain though. No, that would have been too easy to deal with in her mind. She made it rain fire, ice, stones, and combinations therein. Add to that the sudden dropping or jumping of the mana levels in the circle and I had a hard time keeping even my Mana Sense going, let alone casting any other spell.
That isn’t to say that I didn’t work to expand my control over my mana. Every chance I got I pushed and shoved my mana out. The mix of pain and desire not to die turned out to be motivation enough to expand it a number of feet out. Just enough to cover the circle and warn me about the spell she was casting.
Not that that did me much good. Her cast time was stupid fast, leaving me with little time to react and counter it with a spell. Eventually, I gave up on spells entirely and focused on using a wall of pure mana to block a spell. It worked and didn’t. I spent nearly my entire mana pool on a flimsy and transparent wall that was no bigger than an inch on a side.
Eventually, Barti called the training over. “I think that is enough beating him up for now.”
“Good, because I am getting hungry,” Mindi said as she started for the door. Acting as if she hadn’t just been practically trying to kill me. Tindi followed her out of the room without a second's hesitation. Barti on the other hand stayed where he was, his eyes tracking me.
We stood like that for a few minutes before he finally spoke up. “How are you doing? I don’t mean with just the training. I mean with everything in general?”
His question confused me. It didn’t make sense. What else could there be going on right now in the game? I mean, there was always the fact that I wasn’t making much in the way of money. But that was only temporary, probably. Finally, I just shook my head as I answered, “I am doing just fine. Well other than the bruises to my body as well as my ego. Who knew those girls could so easily kick my ass.”
One of his eyebrows lifted. “I am fairly sure most people in town and everyone outside it could kick your ass. Though that will change as you grow in skill.”
“Don’t you mean level?” I asked as I started for the door.
“Level doesn’t mean as much as you would think.” He answered. I looked over at him in bewilderment at that only to see that he was deep in thought. Finally, as we joined the girls at a table in the back, he spoke up. “Early levels give you points, well every level gives you points but that is it. It is only when you unlock your class that you start to gain stats with every level up.”
“If that is the case, then why have you not pushed me to pick a class? Hell, do I even have class options?” Both of the girls shook their heads fast enough that their ears flapped a bit in the wind. Usually, they were hidden in their hair, so I never really thought about them and how the two human-looking girls were beastman. ”What? Why not?”
“Because of your stat balance. Right now you have no real leeway in stat points. If you were to get a class now you would be constantly gaining stats but not for every category. Additionally, classes are offered based on your skills and proclivities. As such, your class offerings right now will likely be crap. Each only offering two or three stat points per level for one or two stat catagories.”
“But I could pick a class now if I wanted?” I was sure that I had a gleam of greed in my eyes at that moment but I didn’t care.
“Sure,” He nodded, his next words coming out fast enough to stop me from looking said options over. “But let us wait until tomorrow to go over them. That way we can go over the last two parts of your training.”
“Wait,” a sense of dread caused my stomach to sink and a shiver of fear to cover my arms in goosebumps.
“Still got weapon training as well as your first foray into mixed training,” Barti stated as he waved down a serving girl. “You didn’t think that we would skip over weapons did you?”
“No, but…”
“And it wasn’t like you were going to have to learn to fight with all three while on a battlefield fighting for your life. So you will learn to do so against one of us from now on. You will find that each of us will present quite a few challenges. Challenges that you will have to overcome if you want to survive out in the wider world.”
“What can I get you?” A young girl asked as she practically hopped over to our table. She couldn’t have been more than ten or eleven years old. Her ears were long and pure white just like the rest of her hair. I had to quickly look away as they reminded me too much of the swarms of bunnies that had wanted to tear me apart.
Either no one else noticed or they all chose to ignore my reaction because they each ordered. “Can I get the special of the day?” Mindi asked.
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Without a second between the two, Tindi spoke up next, “I would like whatever fish dish is available today.”
“There is actually three fish dishes available.” The server said. “Fish and chips, grilled salmon and vegetables, or a fisherman stew.”
“Salmon,” Tindi rushed to answer, all the while sounding like she was struggling to keep some sort of liquid in her mouth. “Definitely the salmon.” Looking up, I found her swallowing and trying to wipe some thick strands of saliva off her chin.
“Guessing the caravan arrived?” Barti asked.
“Yeah, they got here early. Don’t know why though. My mother never tells me anything.” The serving girl sounded resigned at that. I didn’t know why but I suddenly felt the need to pull her to me and tell her that it would be fine. Thankfully, the moment I looked up to do that, my eyes caught on her ears, sending my eyes back to look over my new leather pants.
“Probably just trying to make sure they got here, made their deliveries, and got set up for the spring festival.” His voice was soft. Softer than I had heard it since I had met the guy.
“You’re right.” Her voice was instantly filled with excitement. Emotions going from resigned sadness to excited glee in a way that only a child could. “That is next week. I am so excited. This year my mother is letting me wander around with just my friends.”
“Good for you. Just remember not to go into any of the alleys or take anything from strangers.”
“I know that, I’m not a baby.” I could hear the rolling of her eyes from the tone of her voice. “What can I get you Mr. Elf?”
“Herb-crusted chicken please.” He hesitated for a second before saying, “And can my friend here get today’s special?”
“Sure. Those will all be out in a few minutes.” I hadn’t realized just how many of my muscles were tense until I heard her hopping away. My body sagged into the chair. It was as if I was a puppet and my strings had been cut.
“The fight with the bunnies really got to you,” Barti said. There was no inflection in his voice to give away his emotions or thoughts but when my eyes met his, I found an emotion I did not expect. Relief. I could understand if he was sad, angry, or even laughing at me. But relieved that I found the bunny beastman kid scary? I had no clue how to deal with that. So I didn’t, instead just nodding my head a bit before sipping the glass of water I hadn't noticed the server drop off.
“Well,” Barti said with a sigh, “you are going to have to deal with similar situations as you go against other creatures and meet more beastman that look like those monsters.”
“You mean like wolves and bears?” In my mind, I pictured direwolves and bears standing next to beastman with similar features.
He nodded. “Just because something looks like a creature that tried to kill you does not mean that they want to. It would be like if a human attacked you then you went on to meet other humans. While you might see those other humans as dangerous and out to kill you, society, family, friends, and others will help you to trust again. To not immediately go on the defense, or offense, at the mere sight of someone.”
He was talking about PTSD. I had heard about and read about it in books and news articles. Hell, who hadn’t. With the war going on and soldiers coming home, the stories were quite common and sometimes had sad endings for everyone involved. I just never expected to feel what it felt like.
Now that I was thinking about my reaction in that light. I tried to look at it in a more clinical light based on the little I knew. I was fairly sure I only had a minor case. Something that would go away on its own with time. But if one fight with those creatures did this, what was it doing to everyone else? What had some of the higher-level players seen?
While the other three chatted amongst themselves, I let my mind wander. I only came back to the present when Barti stood up. “Time to get back to training.” Looking down, I realized my food was gone, though I had no memories of eating it. It seemed that my body had still been on autopilot as my mind worked to come up with horrific stories and examples of what others might be going through.
Nodding at the girls, I followed him back to the training room. The two of them stayed behind. Likely to talk about me or something while I wasn’t around to hear them. As soon as the door closed behind me, Barti spoke up. “While you would typically train with a wooden sword, I want you to use your weapon when training with us.” I wanted to protest about potentially hurting any of them but he shook his head. A hint of a smile showed at the corner of his mouth and glimmered in his eyes as he chuckled. “You will never hit us and even if you managed to we can heal relatively fast. If none of that is enough, I have healing spells and potions just in case.”
Which made sense and I nearly groaned at my stupidity. These three were not newbie adventurers. Hell, from what little I could tell, they were probably one of the most veteran groups in this city. Of course they would have ways to heal themselves. Nodding in acknowledgment of their capabilities, I pulled Shizukana Arashi. The metal still had blood on it, most of it still wet.
He tsked at me. “While time doesn’t work the same in one’s inventory as it does out here, you should still take care of your weapon at the first opportunity.”
I blushed as I quickly pulled my cleaning cloth out. Giving the weapon a good wipe-down before getting back into position. Throughout the process, he stood there, watching me. As soon as I moved into position, I saw the mana around him flex. I don’t mean that the currents blew around like a mist in the wind. I mean, the currents shifted and even reversed flow. Each moving in his direction as he did something.
Out of an abundance of caution, I pushed my mana out to try and feel what he was doing as my feet moved me away as fast as I could without looking. What my Mana Sense told me made no sense. It was as if, in the palm of his right hand, the mana was solidifying into something yet nothing was physically there.
With a sudden pop of displaced air and mana, a solid piece of something dark red, nearly black, appeared. It replaced the solidifying mana. The moment my misted mana returned to the area after being forced back, it refused to get close to whatever the object was.
Barti moved it in a few practice swings as he spoke. “This is a training sword made of Shadowwood. Elves use it to force magic users to train their weapon skills because it has a habit of repelling mana.”
“Then how did you create it using mana.” Because that had to be what he just did. That amount of mana was stupid and had no other reason to be there.
“Oh, I didn’t create it.” He looked a bit thoughtful as he continued. “In fact, I don’t think anyone can create this material with mana. Magic can't even help the tree grow. What you saw was me forcing it out of my inventory.” That was… what the… He had to be joking. The amount of mana he just used was more than I could even comprehend, and he used it to pull a piece of wood out of his inventory.
“Now,” he started, “there are only two rules when it comes to combat and they are both fairly simple.”
I interrupted him, “But hand-to-hand and magic combat each have quite a number of rules, each different.”
He shrugged. “Those are rules that are nice to have and keep in mind, but they really mean nothing when fighting for your life. Rule number one. There are no rules.”
“But you just said…”
Barti talked over me as he started to slowly walk toward me. “Rule two. If there are any questions about the rules, refer to rule number one.” The moment he finished, he charged at me. His wooden sword off to the side, held parallel to the ground as he closed the distance.