What the hell was Steve doing in this out of the way and sparsely populated kingdom. Of all the people Arthe least wanted to meet, his brother was at the top of the list.

"Hi Steve, how've you been?" Arthe asked nervously.

"Well runt i see you've made a nice new body for yourself, tired of being weak are you? and I've been good thanks for asking. Just managed to eliminate 30 lizard-men as well as a couple of lvl 80 Imugi. Not bad for a lvl 60 Knight even if i do say so myself. How about you what've you been doing this last week?" Steve responded after giving Arthe a bit of a derogatory look over.

"Well I've just finished the basic training and signed up for the grand melee. plus I've been boosting my reputation with the former captain of the Royal Guards."

"You what! You've managed to get friendly with Iron-arm Mathis! I haven't even talked to him once. He's supposed to be the greatest Knight captain Baldur kingdom has ever had, how the bloody hell did YOU manage to meet him?" Bellowed Steve, No Torval. Arthe must remember not to use real life names here or he could get into serious trouble.

"Well it was mainly just accidental to be honest." Arthe responded, secretly pleased that his brother wasn't able to do something but he had.

"Sounds about right, not like you can do anything right on purpose anyway." came the disgruntled response

"That's enough Sir Torval!! Arthe here is soon to be a fellow knight and as such you will show him the proper courtesy owed to any member of the Knighthood!" Cassis, who had silently watched the exchange until now, reprimanded Torval.

"Yes Commander Cassis, it shall be as you say. I'm ready to begin the Graduation bout whenever trainee Arthe is ready Sir!" Torval said as he stood sharply to attention, deathly afraid of losing Honor points and/or reputation.

"excellent, you may begin whenever you both are ready, but remember no killing strokes are to be made and the match is only to be held until first blood is drawn."

Arthe and Torval both began to limber up in preparation for the coming fight, Arthe began analyzing Torval's armor looking for weaknesses whilst Torval just studied Arthe's face as if to memorize it for posterity.

"hmm the armor looks weakest under the armpit and at the wrists. Is that damage there on his greaves? looks like he hasn't had the opportunity to repair his gear after the expedition." Arthe had no illusions about how strong his brother was, he knew he couldn't win in a drawn out fight.

His only hope was to try to block his brother's blows whilst concentrating his own strikes on the damaged areas of armor or the exposed bits at the wrists and knees.

After 2 minutes of warming up the two opponents nodded to each other and closed in.

Clash! A massive overhead stroke from Torval rammed against Arthe's shield nearly driving him to his knees. Blimey his strength's no joke too many of these and my shield will be less use than a chocolate teapot.

Bang! using his legs Arthe pushed his shield up into Torval's face whilst simultaneously swinging his sword wide against the weakened area on Torval's thigh.

Thud, after the strike Torval kicked out at Arthe, catching him on the hip and sending him skidding backwards, off balance Arthe only had one chance to stop Torval's next devastating overhead blow.

"Shield Bash!" Using his superior height Arthe pushed to towards Torval Shield first then Activating his skill he used all his strength to hit Torval full in the face with his shield knocking him off balance with no hope of blocking the following strike.

Shield Bash Skill increased by 20%

Arthe swung his longsword down with all his might at Torval's wrists which were placed at exactly the right spot for a downward chop after Torval had failed his Overhead sweep.

Clash, Thunk!

With a resounding noise the gauntlet on Torval's wrist deflected the blow but in the process was flung off of his hand to the floor exposing bare skin.

"Damn you runt! you've always been a sneaky little git. always going for the weaknesses never willing to stand face to face with someone and fight like a man!" Torval panted with a belligerent expression on his face.

"oh yeah because a lvl 60 beating seriously on a lvl 3 is definitely fighting like a man." Arthe retorted breathlessly. Finally a way to win has presented itself he thought, forgetting entirely that he didn't have to win just show he could utilize his training effectively.

"argh smart mouthed little rat, come on then. I'll crush you!"

Clash! Bang! Clang!

A series of heavy blows came battering at Arthe from all directions. Barely managing to deflect them all with his shield he began to hunch himself up behind it in preparation for another Shield Bash.

You've learned the skill Spirit of the Stalwart Defender

Spirit of the Stalwart Defender

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By utilizing your shield to maximum effectiveness you have gained the ability to temporarily increase all combat related stats (STR, AGI, END, STAM)

by 5%. Lasts for 1 Hour.

Costs 150 Mana

Higher levels increase % and duration

"Excellent I'll use this new skill now and combine it with Shield bash for a punishing hit which will hopefully let me win this." Arthe thought to himself.

"Spirit of the Stalwart Defender!"

After activating his skill, Arthe ran at Torval and ducked inside the range of his claymore, "Shield Bash!" The shield once again rammed upward into Torval's face but this time it caught on the under side of his chin and lifted him clean off the floor.

Shield Bash skill increased by 17%

He landed with a massive clatter and scrambled to get up but before he could Arthe stepped in close and nicked the top of his bare hand to win the bout.

"Hold! First blood drawn." Cassis shouted. "Victory goes to Arthedain."

"Yes, finally I've managed to beat my brother. And not just with brains but at something physical!!" Arthe was ecstatic but then reality set in, "crap, he's going to kill me when i log out. crap crap crap. what can i do to survive the coming apocalypse."

Suddenly a loud laughter echoed around the parade ground.

"Brilliant job little brother, you really got me there. Teach me to look down on you won't it. excellent use of that shield bash skill as well. Never seen it used quite like that before, most people use it to force the opponent backwards. You however decided to force me upwards and destroy my center of balance. Good Job!" Torval was chuckling to himself as he said this. " I knew you had the ability to be more than what you are, what took you so bloody long to figure it out for yourself. I expected you to snap long before this, i mean I've been riding your ass for years to get a response."

"You what! you mean I've put up with your crap because i figured you'd beat me to death if i said anything and all along you wanted me to speak up!"Arthe was almost speechless with shock, which quickly turned to indignation. "Well why the bloody hell didn't you say something sooner? you flipping idiot! Jeez if I'd have known I'd have put the verbal smack-down on your ass years ago! Lord we're both a pair of muppets, me for putting up with you and you for doing it in the first place!"

"I was trying to make you find your own confidence so you didn't hide yourself away all the time", Torval said quietly, "didn't think it'd take a smart kid like you this long to figure it out. Also didn't think you'd find it in a game of all places".

"ahem, sorry to break up this touching scene of brotherly love but i would like to get the knighting ceremony done before the end of the day." Cassis interrupted with a bit of a lopsided grin on his face.

"ah of course sir", Torval and Arthe replied. Now that Arthe was paying he noticed that he had a couple of message windows to check as well.

New Stat: Fighting Spirit

Fighting Spirit

You can call on superhuman strength temporarily, or bring weaker monsters to their knees with a force in your eyes alone. You are prohibited from distributing stat bonus points to this stat, and it rises spontaneously, depending on the avatar’s action, especially if you fight monsters for a long time, or often confront monsters stronger than your current level.

Level Up: Sword Mastery [4]

Increases Attack Power with a sword (+40% ATK)

Increases Attack Speed with a sword (+12% ATK SPD)

Level Up: Shield Mastery [4]

Increases block capabilities (-40% Dmg Taken from monsters at the same level or lower)

Increases Defense whilst Blocking (+13% DEF)

Woah just by fighting one higher ranked player I've managed to level 2 of my skill mastery's and also earned a new Stat. Hmm if i remember correctly fighting spirit will prevent me from suffering status reductions due to fear, well it will once it's been increased a few times.

"Trainee Arthe kneel in front of me." Cassis ordered and Arthe hurried to obey. "By the authority invested in me by his Majesty, King Odin of the Kingdom of Baldur, I hereby Anoint you Sir Arthedain. Knight of the realm. May your shield always be there to defend the weak and may your sword-arm stand ever ready to bring justice to the guilty. Rise Sir Arthedain."

Cassis finished his speech and shook Arthe's hand as he welcomed him into the knighthood.

"Ding"

Basic Knight Training Complete

New Stat generated: Honor.

Stat Increase:

+50 Honor

+10 VIT

+10 STR

+10 Stam

New Title Available: Knight Of Baldur

You have proven yourself a Just and Honorable man and as such have been recognized as a Knight

+100 Fame

"Well done brother. I look forward to seeing how you progress in the future." Torval said, smiling broadly at Arthe.