The Final Frontier
By: Arahito
Chapter 3
One month had passed since the first time Shendar had logged in to Royal Road. He was in the training hall hitting a scarecrow. He was currently the only player training and the instructor who was standing at the training halls entrance was watching and inspecting his movements. His relationship had improved with Baren over the last four weeks and he was taught a few techniques to use when fighting with two swords.
Strength has increased by 1!
The messages were not coming as frequent as they did four weeks ago now. During his training in the last weeks not only Shendars base stats had improved but he had also gained two new stats: 'Fighting Spirit' and 'Endurance'. He couldn't distribute stat points to these stats but they seemed to be leveling up quite well by themselves when he kept fighting for a long time. Also his 'Sword Mastery' skill had changed after a few days of training and was now called 'Dual Sword Mastery'. Its properties had changed slightly.
Dual Sword Mastery [Beginner Level 4 78%]
+40% Damage when using two weapons
+12% Attack Speed when using two weapons
+28% additional Damage by off-hand weapon
Dual Sword Mastery had made quite the progress. "Stat window"
Status WindowCharacter NameShendarAlignmentNeutralLevel1ProfessionNoneTitleNoneFame0Health450Mana180Strength31Agility29Vitality22Wisdom11Intelligence10Endurance4Fighting Spirit9Luck10Attack3Defense0Magic ResistanceNone
His stats also were on a satisfactory level. When Shendar closed the windows he noticed someone entering the training hall. It was Celeste. She must have just returned from the university and logged in. Although she had been a little sceptical a week ago(irl), she now was a Royal Road enthusiast. They had spent their first four weeks ingame with training, working at the restaurant and exploring the city together and enjoying themselves.
"Hey, training again?" she greeted Shendar.
"My training is not over yet, so yes, training again." He answered with a smile.
"Come on forget about that stupid training, we raised our stats more than enough. We can leave the city now. Let's go to the fields and hunt some monsters."
"You know that we will benefit a lot more if we finish our training. We really shouldn't stop here." Shendar tried to persuade her.
"I've been training for four weeks now, I want to have some fun!" Celeste replied with an angry look. They had had this conversation the last five days. While Celeste wanted to leave the city and explore the world right away, Shendar insisted to finish the training hall first. Up to now they avoided any serious argument by just changing the topic, but this time it was different, because they had to make a decision.
**********
Celeste was on her way to the city's hospital.
After her fight with Shendar she had left the training hall and had rushed to the small pond at the outskirts of Brach. When she was roaming the city with Shendar two weeks ago they had found the little pond, that was vaulted by a huge blossoming cherry tree. Strangely they had never encountered anyone else at the pond, although it was the perfect place for couples. When they had found the pond it was during sunset.
They were walking through the streets of Brachs outer districts hoping to find a nice restaurant. At one corner Celeste had noticed a small signpost that read 'To the cherry tree'. Because it sounded like the name of a restaurant to her, she dragged Shendar into the narrow and winding alley. After following the alley for a few minutes it made a 90 degree turn and behind it they found a small glade. The glade was surrounded by high walls and a ring of conifers within the wall. In the middle of the glade were the pond and the cherry tree. It was as if they were in a magical forest. With the sky lighted in orange and red by the setting sun and cherry blossoms flying through the air it was very romantic and instantly became their favorite place to be when they were not in the training hall excercising or improving their cooking skill in the restaurant.
After their fight Celeste had sat down under the cherry tree and had cried quietly. She had been unhappy with everything and didn't understand why their argument had escalated into such a serious fight. She already regretted everything she had said.
After some time Shendar had appeared with a bouquet of roses and sat down next to her. He apologized and explained to her that he doesn't want to leave the city without being fully prepared because he didn't want to see her hurt or even worse die. Hearing that Celeste forgave him and agreed to prepare themselves properly before leaving the city. Then Shendar had taken the roses he had brought and had planted them around the cherry tree. As a sign of their love the roses should grow all over the place, he had said and then told her about the new skill he had gained. When he had bought the flowers the flower seller had taught him the 'Herbology' skill and had recommended him to also learn the 'First Aid' skill if he planned to go on adventures.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
They had agreed that Shendar would continue with his training while Celeste would go to the hospital and learn the 'First Aid' skill.
So now Celeste was on her way. The hospital was a small ordinary building. The hospital was painted white with a big black cross above the main entrance. Next to the hospital was a church of Freya, because mainly priests of the church of Freya were working in the hospital. The church also used the hospital to train their apprentice in the art of healing.
Celeste entered the hospital and went to the front desk. A human woman in nun's habit welcomed her friendly "Hello, my dear, what can I do for you? Are you visiting an injured friend?"
"Actually I am here to provide my help to heal the injured."
"Oh, that is really kind of you. Do you have any expertise?"
"Unfortunately I don't, but I am willing to learn."
"Ok, fine, brother Regus will teach you" the nun replied and pointed at a priest who had just entered the hospital and was taken by surprise. Celeste walked up to him without hesitation and introduced herself "Hello master Regus. My name is Celeste and I wish to learn how to mend the wounded. “ “Ehh, okay, my child, come with me” brother Regus answered still a little irritated. They went pass the front desk and entered a small hallway that led to a doublewinged door, as it was characteristic for hospitals. Brother Regus opened the door and signaled Celeste to follow him in.
The room behind the door was a huge hall that was filled with plank beds. The first thought that came to Celeste’s mind was how this place could fit into the seemingly small hospital. As she stood there in awe, brother Regus spoke to her “This room is magically enhanced. Powerful mages and priests casted a spell that kind of inflates a room within a building, while the building’s size does not change.”
“Amazing..” Celeste muttered.
“Indeed it is” brother Regus continued “Come, I’ll show you how you can treat the injured without magic.”
Brother Regus had taught her the ‘First Aid’ Skill and shown her how to properly bandage someone. The last 5 hours Celeste had spent practicing and improving her skills. During that time her newly acquired skill had risen by 1 level and was now [Beginner Level 2 38%]. Celeste finished the treatment of a guard that had been injured during a big fight the night before when he tried to mediate and calm a group of thugs down.
The doublewinged door, through which Celeste had entered, opened and a good looking man entered. He was around 6’2’’ and very muscular, yet not bulky. He had golden hair that was a little shorter than Celestes and a three-day beard of the same color as his hair. His armor seemed to be hardened leather armor and he also wore a white cape. As this man entered Celestes jaw dropped and all she could think of was that this man looked like a nordic god.
The man walked up to one of the priests that were currently working in the hospital and talked to him. After a brief exchange the man bowed to the priest and started walking in Celestes direction. A few plank beds next to her he stopped and looked at his patient. Then he closed his eyes and started mumbling incomprehensible words. Slowly the injured started to glow with a faint white light. After a few moments the lights intensity had increased and soon the injured was as bright as a small sun with small lightning strokes in the light. Then suddenly the light vanished and.. the injured had been completely healed. Celeste who hadn’t stopped watching the man since he had entered the hospital hall was stunned.
She had seen high level priests healing the injured with a single spell, but it had never been that fancy. That man was clearly not a priest of the church of Freya. While she was thinking that the man looked up and caught her staring at him. “May I help you?” he asked with a crooked smile.
“Ehm.. I..” Celeste took a deep breath and then smiled “Hi, I am Celeste” she said and walked up to him.
“I am Noah” the answer came.
“So, what was that what you just did?”
“It was just a spell I am practicing. Since I am stuck in the city for another few days I thought I could start increasing my spells proficiency here and now. The head start will come in handy when I leave the city.”
“You know, I also came here to improve my skills.”
“So, you are a priest?”
“No, actually I am leveling my ‘First Aid’ skill. “
“Hm” Noah said “That skill will not be enough. Although you can heal people after a fight, it is completely useless during a fight when heals are needed the most.”
“What about you?” Celeste cut him off “Would you like to join my party?” she asked him with big eyes while she was innocently playing with her hair. Noah’s face turned into a deep red and he looked away “I..I’m sorry, I can’t. I have other plans..”
“Ohh, too bad. Well, your loss.” Celeste said with a laugh “It was nice to meet you. I have to go now.” she continued and turned away. “Bye!” “Bye” Noah answered weakly. He was still a little confused.
Previous Chapter|Next Chapter