Outside City Hall, Thaddeus checked the time. It was 4:45 pm. He still had over two hours until he had to meet with his college friends. In the meantime, he decided to visit nearby general stores and training grounds. With his new homestead deed in hand, he had time left to explore the city until 7 pm. He figured he could wait to visit the stable master since it was near the Ugly Goblin Inn. Instead, it would be more beneficial to get his first combat skill and visit nearby general stores.

With his agenda set, he walked the training center. The training center was near the Pinewood gatehouse, where he first arrived in the city. As he approached, he could see a board-looking group of trainers and players recklessly swinging their swords, archers firing arrows, or mages casting fireballs at wooden dummies.

Thaddeus walked into the training grounds and the instructors looked at one another and grumbled. He could tell they were not happy with their current jobs.

Looking at his large build, a beautiful elven woman smiled, laughed, and said, “Hey Soren, he looks like one of yours?”

“Argh,” sighed a middle-aged man with a long scar that ran down his left eye. He looked Thaddeus up and down and said in an annoyed voice, “your first combat skill cost a silver. Your second cost 5 silver. I don’t make the rules, so don’t blame me for the discrepancy.”

“Here,” Thaddeus said handing the man five gold and one silver. He could tell by his voice he must have dealt with a lot of players’ complaints, and he didn’t want to upset him further.

“Huh,” Soren said, surprised to receive the money without a complaint. He looked at the young man in front of him a second time. He could tell the armor and boots he wore were well-crafted and detailed. Moreover, his armor wasn’t damaged, nor was there any blood on his clothes. The traveler in front of him piqued his interest and he quickly analyzed him.

“You’re a crafter, not a fighter. What are you doing here?” Soren asked surprised by the young traveler’s stats.

“I plan to homestead. I already have a two-handed axe weapons skill, but I don’t have any active combat skills. That’s why I came to buy some before I left.

“Oh Soren, you got an interesting one haven’t cha?” said the elven master archer making her way over.

“That two-handed axe skill of yours shows your weapon proficiency. You probably earned it when you got your lumberjack skill. But you can see your two-handed axe proficiency and lumberjack skill don’t increase simultaneously. That’s because you only used your two-handed axe for felling. I wager your two-handed axe proficiency increased when you killed animals instead of chopping trees,” Soren guessed.

Thaddeus nodded in agreement.

“Well, that’s because you can only gain weapons proficiency in combat. Combat is where you learn how best to use a weapon. How to block, parry, attack, strike, slash, and cleave. Now take out your weapon and let me analyze it,” Soren explained.

Thaddeus removed his axe and shield from this bag of holding and handed it to him. Soren looked at the strange weapon, he’d never seen someone use such an oddity. One side was a dwarven axe and the other was a pickaxe for mining. It was more a utility tool than a weapon, but the axe head and the pickaxe were deadly sharp. And once again, the axe was well-crafted and sturdy. It was a fine weapon that could easily fall a tree, chop an enemy in half, or gouge out their flesh.

“It’s a better tool than a weapon, but it’s a finely crafted weapon that will serve you well. Here are your skills, now go practice slashing that dummy. When you can scratch that dummy your axe mastery proficiency should reach 50%,” Soren said, handing Thaddeus two scrolls and two notifications.

System Message

New Active Skill: Cleave. At higher levels can imbue your weapon with aura

Stat Increase: +1 to STR, +100 EXP

Level 1: Novice Level 1

Effect: Chop away the enemy’s defense, reduces an enemy’s HP

Cool Down: 30 seconds

When he clicked on both skills, two videos opened in his display panel. The videos showed the techniques in slow motion. Unlike the previous skill books, he purchased that embedded themselves in his mind, the combat skills embedded themselves into his muscle memory. Yet, he knew that was insufficient. Only through practice and actual combat would he truly master the skills.

System Message

New Active Skill: Bash. At higher levels can immobilize your enemy

Stat Increase: +1 to STR, +100 EXP

Level 1: Novice Level 1

Effect: Stun your enemy for 5-seconds

Cool Down: 1 minute

The two skills he got seemed to be perfect for a tank. Well given this tall, sturdy frame, he certainly had the body for it. Based on his skills he would definitely need to learn how to fight in close combat in-game. Killing level-five mobs were one thing, killing levels 30 to 50 mobs was another. Thaddeus was excited to increase his axe mastery proficiency and quickly walked over to an available dummy.

When he approached the dummy, a virtual line appeared on the dummy telling him where he should use his skill. As he swung his axe, he saw that his axe master proficiency ticked up by 1%. But after 30 minutes of practicing his Cleave and Bash skills, his proficiency only increased to 5%. It was taking far longer than Thaddeus expected. In the past, MMORPGs were split on how players gained weapons mastery. Some games awarded players weapons mastery through combat and skipped the need for players to visit weapons trainers. They figured weapons mastery was gained through combat and combat instructors were superfluous.

However, more authentic MMORPGs, like Heaven’s Gate, believed players could swing a sword, but that didn’t mean they had a style of swordsmanship. Unless players came into the game as veteran fencers, they needed to find a mentor to teach them a type of swordsmanship. Thus, all the weapon trainers in Pinewood taught players the fundamentals of weapons. And if players were fortunate enough to come across a rare or legendary weapons style, they would at least have the fundamentals to improve upon.

After reading 5% proficiency in axe mastery, Thaddeus walked back to Soren to ask why his proficiency was increasing so slowly.

“Have you given up?” Soren asked after seeing Thaddeus stop practicing. He’d seen so many travelers due to the same. As far as he was concerned all travelers were the same. They’d arrogantly demand skills, complain about the price, and then leave after 10 minutes like they were genius weapons masters whose proficiency reached already 100%.

As he approached Soren, Thaddeus could see the weapons trainer was sizing him up. No doubt Soren analyzed his axe mastery proficiency. The grouchy man looked at Thaddeus annoyingly. But Thaddeus didn’t care he wanted help.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“What do you want now? I don’t have any more skills to sell you?” the grumpy, scarred, trainers asked.

“Can you offer me guidance, my proficiency is increasing slowly, and I’m wondering if I’m doing something wrong.”

“You can’t gain 100% proficiency in a single day!” the trainer said annoyed at the dumb question.

“You misunderstand. I’m not trying to reach 100% proficiency; I just want to reach 25%. I just thought I’d earn 5% proficiency faster and I’m wondering if there’s a problem with my technique?” Thaddeus explained.

“Oh Soren, I like him,” said the elven archer said with a mischievous smile.

“Fine, but don’t complain about my methods. Step into the sparing ring. Show me what you learned so far,” he instructed.

The sparing ring was just a few steps away from the training ground. The sparing ring was square fenced in pen. As soon as Thaddeus walked into the ring, he got a notification.

System Message Pinewood Sparing Yard--No negative effects from attacking or blocking. HP will not drop below 1. HP/MP lost within the sparing ring will be restored on exit.

“Don’t worry, you can’t die in here. Take out your weapon, the best way to train in combat is through battle. You’re the first Traveler who has asked for guidance. Most of you hit that dummy until you think you think you’re a combat master,” Soren complained.

Thaddeus took out his axe and shied, positioned his feet, and readied for Soren’s attack.

“Stop, your feet are all wrong. And you’re holding your shield wrong. You’ve cut too many trees and not enough monsters. And clearly, you’ve never held a shield. Did your people not teach you how to fight before they expelled you? Bear kin fighters are vicious warriors. They hold their shields on their forearm, their shields are steady, immovable, and flexible, like a tall tree in a violent storm. Your feet are the roots of the tree, your legs are the trunk of the tree, and your arms are the branches. Stand next to me and do what I do,” Soren said.

Thaddeus copied Soren’s stance, following his footwork, and how he swung his axe. The more he copied Soren the more notifications popped up in his day. System messages notified him is axe mastery proficiency increased from 5%...6%...7%……11%...15%...20%...25%. When Thaddeus’ proficiency increased to 25%, Soren stopped.

“Once your proficiency gets to 25%, only sparing or combat can increase your proficiency. Practicing on dummies or training is helpful, but only actual combat can increase your proficiency. Now let’s spar!” Soren said attacking Thaddeus at once.

“What the hell?” Thaddeus said when Soren bashed into him and sent him flying. Thaddeus landed against the fence and watched as his HP dropped to 1%.

“Where are your roots boy?” Soren yelled as Thaddeus stood up.

Thaddeus was embarrassed that Soren sent him flying. He played too many MMORPGs to be treated like a noob.

“If you can’t take the attack, try avoiding or interrupting the attack! You’ll end up getting yourself killed when your logging, farming, or building because you’re too weak and inexperienced. Only through strength can you keep your homestead safe,” Soren advised.

Thaddeus felt himself getting angry. Soren was talking to him like he was speaking to a child. However, he didn’t have much time to think as Soren began hitting him repeatedly. No matter how much Thaddeus tried to dodge, use his shield to block, or his axe to counter he was constantly pushed back, beaten, and bruised.

Soren smiled for the first time, in a long time. He finally found a traveler that wasn’t stupid. As far as he was concerned immortality was not a reason to ignore weapon proficiency.

As painful and sadistic as his methods were, Thaddeus learned the bear kin’s fundamental axe style of combat. He learned how to hold his axe properly, and how to use his cleave and bash skills in combat. He also learned the proper method to block and redirect an enemy’s attack, and the bear kin combat stance and footwork.

“As soon as you land an attack on me, we’ll end the lesson,” Soren said.

About 5 minutes later, Thaddeus finally managed to block an attack without being pushed back. Another 10 minutes later, Thaddeus bashed Soren and pushed him back an inch. If Thaddeus had done this outside the ring, he would have easily broken his arm just to push Soren back an inch. Thaddeus realized how laughably weak he really was.

“Good. Let’s call it quits. As soon as you step outside the ring your HP will recover and you’ll be fine. When we fought, I notice your agility stat is too low for combat. You’re too slow and stiff, you need to be agile in combat. When you get a chance raise it by 10 points. That’ll be enough to keep you alive out in the wilderness,” Soren advised him before leaving the sparing ring.

Thaddeus stepped out of the sparing ring, thankful that such an enchantment existed, otherwise, Soren would have killed him at least 10 times by now. In past, he also min-maxed his stats when playing combat games. He followed the same strategy and predominantly focused on increasing his strength and constitution, with intelligence third. But after fighting with Soren, he realized he had neglected his agility. After speaking with Soren, he wondered whether he should balance out his stats more.

Outside the sparing yard, Thaddeus checked his notifications. Thankfully, he silenced the notifications during combat, or his vision might have been limited. The notifications informed him of his incremental proficiency progress. His axe master proficiency was now a whopping 37%. Even though he was a crafter, he felt like he could win a fight against an average player. Moreover, he also had two spells he could use as a trump card if he needed. Thaddeus felt confident he could survive in his homestead.

He checked his watch. It was 6:50 pm. How did he spend two hours inside the training ground and not realize it? If he didn’t leave for the Ugly Goblin now, he would be late. He would just have to talk to the stable master later this evening or the next morning. As he walked to the Ugly Goblin, Thaddeus looked at his stats.

After thinking about what Soren said, Thaddeus dumped 20 points into agility. Almost at once, he could feel his body to start to loosen like his muscles had been stiff but he hadn't known it. He could tell he was walking faster and his arms felt more relaxed and flexible. Soren was right, he had neglected agility.

Name: Thaddeus Brown

SKILL NAME

SKILL LEVEL

Race: Human/Bear kin

Load Bearing (Racial)

Class: Artisan

Nature Affinity (Racial)

Title: Pioneer

Oversized Weapons (Racial)

Level: 10 (1688/1750)

Earth Magic

1

HP: 544/544

Two-Handed Axe

15%

MP: 448/448

Lumberjack

56

STR: 39

Analyze

61

AGI: 34

Surveyor

43

VIT: 16

Field Dress

5

INT: 32

Woodworking

57

WILL: 14

Cooking

1

CON: 34

Leatherworking

51

Charm: 8

Tailoring

40

Free Attribute Points: 30

Forging

51

Free Skill Points: 0

Smelting

55

Fame: 5

Toolsmith

1

Architecture 1

Wagoner 6

One Handed Axe  

37%

Cleave

12

Bash

11