Chapter 6: Blades & Battle

“Force has no place where there is need of skill.”

– Herodotus

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The 4 guards cautiously advanced on Mordecai, looking much less confident than when they thought they'd be capturing an old man and a 10-year-old. People like this were like sheep, they'd follow each other and egg each other on, but quake in their boots as soon as someone threatening came along. And I knew a thing or two about sheep, the shepherd on the edge of the village had left for the town of Derban and paid me to watch his sheep for the day. Those bullies were completely confident until I'd set Rufus, the sheepdog, on them. Mordecai was Rufus in this case, except more like a bear than a dog.

As the men advanced, Mordecai stood still. It didn't look like he was preparing for a fight, he just stood there in complete assurance that he'd win. At that moment, I knew I'd try my hardest to get as many skills out of the man as I could before we got to the cathedral. While my magic was blocked at the moment, my skills weren't. Weapons were all skill in this case, so this was a learning moment.

The men must've found their confidence from only the gods knew where, as they charged at my companion. In one effortless motion, he sidestepped them, drawing his cleaver of a sword. The speed and grace with which he moved seemed superhuman, which meant it was his attributes that granted him these physical abilities. That's when all hell broke loose. Mordecai blocked one of the guards' swings with his sword and punched another of them square in the face. He never saw it coming and was knocked clean out before he knew what hit him, literally and figuratively in this case!

Glancing over at the pathetic excuse for a Baron, I saw him let out a gasp of surprise as he too watched one of his men crumple like an autumn leaf. One down, three to go. Mordecai then began ducking under slashes, parrying thrusts and dodging every blow the men tried to make. He was obviously toying with them, but in the way a cat would a mouse before it pounced. And pounce he did.

I strained my eyes to watch as he stepped under one's guard, headbutting him and then proceeded to bash another in the side of the head with his pommel. The last guard took a step back and Mordecai just glared at him with his verdant eyes. The man turned tail and ran past his lord and out of the stables, hopefully never to be seen again. The Baron, sensing that he was next, followed soon after. It really showed his character that he'd just leave three of his men to our mercy.

[Observe] has levelled up - Lv4 (+1)

"Well...that was underwhelming, I hoped it would be a closer match. And so much for a 'noble', that Pordona man doesn't seem very noble to me. Are they all like that?" I asked.

"Unfortunately, the majority are worse, although they're more discreet and conniving than this idiot here. That's what happens when you stay in your country barony for too long and let the power get to your head," Duncan replied. I'd gotten so wrapped up in Mordecai's fight that I'd almost forgotten that the Archbishop existed.

Looking down, my escort hadn't killed a single one of the guards, which I knew was harder than actually killing. They were merely following orders and couldn't have been evil, so it made sense that he'd spare their lives. But it really was a testament to his abilities that our companion hadn't even used the blade of his sword.

'Yes...I'll definitely accept any teachings he can provide me with,' I thought to myself in satisfaction. You couldn't ask for a better teacher. I'd gained a level in [Observe] just from trying to watch and register what he'd done, even when he was going too fast for me.

Stepping over the guards' unconscious bodies, we gathered around Dawn's stall. She looked grateful that we'd gotten rid of the men but also annoyed that it had taken so long. I hoped I was reading into it too much, but she was definitely a diva.

You can understand and speak with more clarity, even the words of insapient creatures.

New Skill Obtained - [Translate]

It would be interesting to see how that skill developed. The ability to talk to animals would be great, even if some of them did seem a bit too full of themselves.

Duncan and I mounted Dawn, while Mordecai retrieved his horse. It appeared to be a chestnut pony, only twice the size of a normal one. This giant could've eaten Dawn for breakfast, though it'd still be less breakfast than what its rider was capable of devouring. Setting off on our respective horses, I was glad we were getting closer to Ateria, where I could finally start magic studies. Until then, I needed some weapons and skills in them.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"So...when do you think you can start teaching me how to fight? You're incredible!" I said to Mordecai, trying to play to any ego he might have. I was unsuccessful.

"We'll start tonight after we've set up a camp. There aren't any more taverns nearby so we'll be roughing it."

Well, that was no fun. I'd be stuck on a horse for half a day doing nothing. Closing my eyes and trying to calm myself, I retreated into my mind and tried to find what I was looking for. What felt like hours had passed and I'd begun to lose hope until I found it. Opening the door, I entered my mindscape and was back in the long corridor, pleased to see that nothing had changed. Walking into the library, again, it was the same too.

"Hey, Aurora! How long has it been in the waking world while I was trying to enter?"

"Approximately 12 minutes and 48 seconds. Are there any different books you'd like to look at while you're here?"

Almost 13 minutes? For me to entirely lose my concept of time, maybe I had successfully meditated. There wasn't a system notification, so it can't have been a skill, but it still needed practice to improve.

"No thanks, I won't be reading today. Could you point me to a training room?"

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After finally customising my new training room, I was left with a dojo style with paper walls, letting cream-coloured light through but without transparency. In the centre stood training dummies, which were facing what I aptly called my 'stabby wall'. On this wall was every weapon you could think of, courtesy of Aurora. I wouldn't try to learn anything new without Mordecai present; I could make mistakes and I had a lot of time to practice. Practice made permanent, after all. There'd be no bad habits for me!

Before I began any practice, however, it was time to assign some points. My attributes would need improvement if I wanted to be quicker than anyone. As I was a child, I considered myself quite quick, but that paled in comparison to what attributes could do. In a book I'd read last time I was in the mindscape, it said that the average stats for a 10-year-old were 10 in everything. I looked at my status:

Name: Daniel Lightbringer

Age: 10

Class: Saint

Health: 100/100 | Mana: ?/? | Stamina: 100/100

Free Points: 15

Skills: [Calm] Lv2, [Pain Tolerance] Lv2, [Observe] Lv4, [Memory] Lv6, [True Sight] Lv2, [Deceive] Lv1, [Translate] Lv1

Spells: ?

Strength: 15

Agility: 8

Dexterity: 13

Intelligence: 25

Charisma: 7

Wisdom: 12

4 of my 6 attributes were above average, which was great, but my Charisma and Agility were lacking. I decided to put 7 points into Agility to match Strength and 5 points into Charisma to match Wisdom. The book also said that balance was everything when it comes to attributes, something I remembered vividly thanks to my level 6 [Memory] skill. It was proving itself to be a big help in the long run, and it was fortunately something that could be easily levelled. I promised myself I'd get it to level 100 by the time I left for the Academy of Wizardry so I could get the trait [Eidetic]. That ability would really help with my studies!

Breaking out of my reverie, I walked up to the wall and picked up the closest weapon - a spear. Giving it a spin, I promptly dropped it.

'Maybe not that one then...'

It took me ages to get a feel for all of the weapons; I wanted one that would be good at attacking and defending while being able to do some damage. I tried the spear, sword, shield, morning star, greatsword, mace and dozens more. However, one called out to me like no other:

The dagger, or more particularly - the baselard. When dual-wielding, I would be able to stop an attack with one and return it with the other. However, it did have a major downside - lack of reach, but I hoped that weakness would be redundant when I could finally use magic from a distance.

Aurora's voice appeared from thin air. "This is all within the expectations of Luminaris. His Saint has almost always been known to fight with daggers or a sword, this is the case for all Saints. For example, the Saint of Marina will likely fight with one trident or two trisulas, weapons common with the seafarers to the South."

"Why didn't you tell me before I spent such a long time testing each individual weapon?"

"That information is restricted before you've found out your weapon for yourself. Luminaris sometimes bids that people learn different weapons than expected. You initiated a dialogue when you'd discovered baselards for yourself."

That sounded like a pretty strange and unnecessary thing for Luminaris to be doing, but I left it for the time being. Too much was unknown about the gods and nothing reliable could be deduced yet. I looked at a system notification I'd just received - practising had given me a new skill:

Your daggers will cut as well as the sharpest of light.

New skill obtained - [Daggers]

It was nice to finally have a skill that'd be useful in combat. With that and my new attributes, I was fully ready to learn how to fight. For now, however, I still had a few more hours of reading to get done before we made camp.