By the time everything was done, she had gone through four of them potions she had come with. I didn’t know what they were, stamina? Mana? Combination of both? Nor was I interested in knowing, the kind, or the cost of them. I quickly left her workshop, and made my way to the Junior Arena.
She had told me to take things easy for a few hours, but I had a fight coming up the following day and I needed to win it if I had any hope of stopping myself from becoming a cripple. Maybe they could heal me later when I had enough money, but I would need to make that money, and a barely functioning arm wouldn’t help at all in that department.
I flexed that arm, feeling a throbbing race through it. I needed to make sure that I could use my staff to its fullest effect even without having to use Mana with the hand. My left hand would have to do just fine for the fight where Mana was concerned. I regretted not putting the effort into becoming ambidextrous in my previous life, it could have helped in the situation I found myself in.
‘Clare, would me being ambidextrous before carry over into this Realm?’ I asked as I walked in to the arena. I had been afraid that it might be closed to the competitors since the fights held there had come to an end. But that wasn’t the case.
‘No, it would not.’
Well, that was that. I didn’t know whether to be happy that I hadn’t really lost on a possible advantage, or disappointed that I finally got full confirmation that most, if not all, of the things I knew before hadn’t really carried over, I would still need to work on them. With that, I walked into the arena itself.
It was deserted; the arena, the terraces and everything else. It looked so different than it did during all the fights I had had in it. I stood at the center, rotating for more than seven-twenty degrees, just trying take in the contrast it offered. There was no pressure on me, no anxiety, sweating, or any other indicator of the uncomfortableness I had had every time I walked in the arena for a fight.
“HHAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!” I screamed to the skies. For the handicap I had inflicted on myself, the debt I had incurred because of it and the gold I would need to get rid of it; the shear emptiness of the arena just begged to be filled with noise. And I just wanted to scream. What else could I do?
There wasn’t even an echo to my scream. The magics used for the arena doing their work so well. Maybe the arena had been designed that way, to prevent sound from reflecting in it. I would have thought they would want the sound reflected all around, creating an eerie feel to anyone watching whatever was happening in the arena itself. That’s where the echos are, I bet. The terraces, for the spectators.
I moved to the edge of the arena, on the opposite side of the entrance. I removed my long coat, marvin and vest, and placed them on the ground, with three of my staffs on them, I kept one of the new ones. I watched the blood stained right sleeve of my shirt and felt the need to remove the shirt too. There was no one in the arena, I could get away with it. But I stopped myself, just because no one was there didn’t mean someone wouldn’t join while I trained.
I ignored the warm up routine, going straight for the training, it was a true training after all. I started slow, to get the blood flowing, and get the partly healed arm to get used to the exertion it would go through, basic stuff at first; guards, blocks and thrusts. I could feel the right arm strain a little each time I used more force, taking time before it got used to the new demands pressed on it.
Then came strikes, swings and swirls, as I felt my body wake up from the slumber it had felt like it had been. As the speed and intensity of the staff movements picked up, so did my leg work. Strong base, nimble feet. I tried to get as close as I could to my normal pace, with my staff swinging and striking at imaginary opponents. I so wished I could apply those cool moves I usually so on old earth in movies with lots of jumps and flips, but I really didn’t see the point to them, and my arm state made the moves a risky thing. I couldn’t afford doing another of those so close to the fight.
So, I stuck to the ground, swing, strike, block, attack, and so on. Minutes in and I was already sweating and huffing, but the pain and soreness had completely disappeared, from the recent unadvisable tree-punch, to the pain-soreness I had felt when the morning began. I kept at it until I felt my body begin to slow down as my Stamina dipped dangerously low.
I took a break then, walking slowly around the arena as I slowly calmed. I wondered why my Stamina didn’t regenerate as fast as I had seen in novels and games, I didn’t think I could even gain hundred Stamina points for the five minutes I planned for my break. I still waited as I walked, slowly swinging the staff with my right hand, it no longer felt like I would lose the staff, or the hand, when I applied too much force into the swings. When the five minutes were up, I took one of the Stamina potions I had, and began the next part of the training. Using Mana.
I had never paid any heed on which arm I used most when channeling Mana, but I was right handed and it was safe to assume that I somehow favored my right hand more than my left. If I wanted to stand a chance of winning the next fight, I needed to ingrain as much as I could, the use of my left arm and left arm only.
I started as I did the physical training, slow and simple, with [Fire Bolt] and [Fire Ball], trying to remember every time to use my left arm as the conduit. I used small amounts of Mana to activate the Skills. After a few minutes of circling through most of my Skills, I began incorporating them in my normal fighting techniques, like using the staff to swing a [Wind Gust] with dust in it, switching to a single hand strike to allow my left hand to throw a [Fire Ball], and the toughest one, creating a [Staff Shield] with just the one hand.
I realized how I had limited myself by concentrating on that as my only shield type. In my defense, it had looked cool at the time. Trying my hand at the other shield still proved it as weak as when I had last used it. I couldn’t even tell what kind of properties it had, just my vague idea of what a shield was. But from what I had read, more thought was put into creating shields and I had seen in practice what a well thought out shield could do. If I hadn’t had the [Hurtling Projectile] Skill, never would have made it through that shield by Shota.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
As the minutes wore on, I became more certain that I actually didn’t have a preferred hand. Instead, I relied on the active, or free hand to channel the Mana. Learning to use the left hand as a channel proved easy enough, it was the stopping myself from using the right arm that proved difficult. I stumbled and had to stop attacks and blocks when I realized I was about to use the right arm for them. That was hard, and more exhaustive than the pure physical training.
In about half the time I had spent going through the physical part, I was forced to call it quits as my Stamina dropped below half way. I was sweating again, and out of breath, but it felt like I could go on if I wanted. The way the Stamina potions worked really perplexed me to the core, all the potions did, but the Stamina one was a little hard to swallow than the others.
I rested for more than ten minutes next to my clothes and staffs looking at the sky, I realized that the sun had dipped below the arena walls. I guess the day is done. Time to start preparing for the next fight. I closed my eyes in relaxation, feeling the exhaustion lure me into sleep. I quickly sat up then, not wanting to sleep in the arena. As comfortable as the arena ground felt, I much preferred my soft fluffy bed. I quickly gathered my things and made my way to the Inn.
As much as I preferred having my meal before going to my meal for post-day activities and bedtime, I felt that eating with bloody clothes would not sit well with the rest of the Inn’s patrons. Nor me for that matter. I quickly climbed the stairs, into my room, took a shower and washed my clothes before donning on the last set of my farmhand clothes. The charcoal grey shirt and maroon trousers. Then went to the dining area for my meal.
I got my usual meal, the stakes were higher than they had been before, sticking with the routine would serve me well. I was surprised to find the table full with the others. Did they normally have their meals so early in the day. As I went to ask, Tes spoke over me, making me realize that that part of me had carried over.
“We tried calling you over, but it’s like you didn’t even hear us at all,” she said as I sat beside her on the only seat available on the table. Somehow, our table had gained an extra seat than the normal four.
“You did?”
Lina laughed at that, before saying, “I told you he hadn’t heard a thing. He was too focused on getting to his quarters. Trying to hide your new shiny staffs, were you?”
“They are just pieces of wood. There’s nothing shiny about them,” I complained.
“Then, how come you didn’t bring one of them with you?” Oki asked. “You usually carry a staff wherever you go.”
“I don’t really need it right now. I’m only here for a meal and back to bed it is for me.” The truth of the matter was that I had forgotten to pick it up as I left the room.
My meal arrived then, and I dug in with haste. The accident, the training and everything else, including the skipped lunch meal, meant that I was starving. A lot. I was already halfway through before I realized that everyone was staring at me. I didn’t bother asking them why they were staring, going back to my meal in earnest.
“You must have been really hungry,” Lina said as I finally sat with only one chapatti left with some stew on my plate.
“I skipped lunch, and I might have gone overboard in my training after I made the staffs.”
“Preparing for the semifinals?” Paul finally spoke for the first time. He was reading what looked like a book. I couldn’t be sure; I had seen picture books in the library. He could be that kind of a person.
“That too,” I said as I began on my last chapatti.
“What do you mean, ‘that too’? Weren’t you training for the fight?” Oki asked, looking a little offended.
It took a few seconds for me to finish chewing and swallow the food in my mouth before I could answer him. All that time, he stared at me, expectantly.
“I was training in general. Not for the fight itself specifically.”
I felt the need to keep the fact that I had mangled my own arm just a few hours earlier to myself. I didn’t know why, maybe I was ashamed of that fact.
“Given up already?” Oki asked.
“No! Just… I don’t feel like teaching myself new things now would really help me that much. It could actually prove a detriment, at least that’s what I think.”
“Not bad,” Paul said, closing his book and placing it on the table. “But it doesn’t hurt to try and understand how your opponent fights and ways you could use to beat them.”
I just nodded at that, I didn’t even understand what he meant by that. And I felt saying anything would betray that fact. Having something to lose before going into a fight was proving more a detriment than it was hyped up to be. I was afraid asking too much might give away my troubles. I vowed to try my best to avoid being in a situation that had me fighting for more than just the money. Ever again.
We continued conversing about my coming match, and my lackluster preparation for it, before moving on to topics about them. Where they were going after The Grand Competition’s Baronies were over? Lina and Tes were going to take a month-long break before resuming their training, Paul on the other hand, was heading back to his town; he wasn’t sure if he would try his luck again the following year. Oki was undecided, and I had the feeling it was just going to be like the year before; a few months of doing no training before starting to train again. I wanted to motivate him to keep up the training, but I honestly didn’t know what to say.
After I was done with my meal, I didn’t stay for long before bidding them goodnight and going to my room. I prepped myself for bed and threw myself on it, succumbing to sleep soon after. I knew I needed to analyze what had changed about me before the next fight, but I scheduled that for the following day. I needed to rest first, then I could start thinking about how well prepared I was for the fight.
[+][+][+]
‘[Identify]’
‘
[Species: Human]
[Name: Hartie]
[Sex: Male]
[Level: 30]
Status:
[HP: 3159/4367]
[MP: 2190/4367]
[SP: 3211/6437]
Attributes:
[Agility: 37]
[Constitution: 31]
[Endurance: 37]
[Intelligence: 28]
[Strength: 21]
[Vitality: 28]
[Wisdom: 33]
General Skills [4/4]:
[Health Regeneration: 1]
[Identify: 1]
[Language Proficiency: 3]
[Mana Manipulation: 8]
Skills:
[Acrobatics: 7]
[Archery: 3]
[Bludgeons: 3]
[Carpentry: 3]
[Daggers: 7]
[Enhance Plant Growth: 3]
[Enhanced Hand: 6]
[Earth Grab: 8]
[Fast Dash: 8]
[Fire Ball: 10]
[Fire Bolt: 8]
[Herbalism: 3]
[Hurtling Projectile: 11]
[Shield: 2]
[Spears: 3]
[Stealth: 2]
[Staff Making: 6]
[Staff Shield: 7]
[Staff Strike: 9]
[Staffs: 13]
[Unarmed Combat: 8]
[Water Ball: 5]
[Water Punch: 8]
[Weeding: 8]
[Whirlpool: 4]
[Wind Gust: 10]
‘