Chapter 6: Beth – Evasion (Rank I)

“So, all in all, you heard ‘Combat’ and immediately went for fucking… punching, then course-corrected to a sword like a ren-faire nutjob… And to top it all off, you had to spend your first real fight running away just because your first request was for some god-damn shoes. Iss’at right?”

Beth sighed as the man named Adam nodded slowly. “That’s… not quite how I would have put it, but I do agree that my choices look a bit off-kilter with what I know now. Had I known about the 5-trial limit, or how specific I could make my Technique Trials, I definitely wouldn’t have just asked for… what was it? ‘Something to help me fight, I suppose.’”

Beth tilted her head in acceptance. “Yeah, it *is* pretty fucked up that there’s a limit on the Trials you can take. But something don’t add up. You got… shoes, then punching, then a sword, then a Refresh to heal from bringing your fists to a sword fight, then your stupidly specific armor set, THEN your fancy Sword Technique… that’s 6. Doesn’t that mean 6 is the max?

Adam smiled. “Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you. It said when the Rank Up Trial became Required that Refreshment Trials aren’t counted. They don’t even show up on the ‘Trials Taken’ statistic. I actually grabbed another Refreshment just before the Rank Up Trial. Plus, and that reminds me, that statistic got reset once I ranked up.”

Beth raised an eyebrow. “That’s important info. I was worried that the stuff that fills our stomachs counts towards our Trial budget. You said you started to get hungry pretty much the moment the Refresh cooldown wore off, so 5 Trials only would mean that things would get realll dicey for me in a few days.”

Adam frowned at this. “Don’t tell me you still aren’t planning on doing any Trials yourself?”

Beth sighed. She really hadn’t decided yet. The Refreshment Trials, sure, she could do those. Sitting still wasn’t exactly a strong suit of hers, not as far as she could tell, but she could deal for 10 minutes a day.

The real problem was… everything else. All this mano-e-mano warrior combat didn’t sound like a great time, or even a passable one. It sounded like a great way to get herself killed. Maybe even get Adam killed too, if she did this whole Group Trial thing he was talking about. It didn’t even sound all that worth it! Sure, the participants got a vague promise of some okay shit, but what good was ‘personalized’ equipment if you died to get it? If the trial killed you, would your ‘reward’ be a fucking headstone?!

Still… Beth looked around. It was just the two of them here, in this otherwise desolate wasteland of a place. Beth was at least glad that Adam didn’t seem like a creep. A bit of a nerd, maybe, but not an asshole. But his logic that Rank Ups were the only way to access some more interesting things than swords and books was… unfortunately, pretty sound.

As for whether he could just rank up on his own, he pointed out that, if one *was* supposed to make it through Rank II on their own, why the Group Trials in the first place? Beth scowled at that, not because she disagreed, but because she wanted to refute Adam and couldn’t.

In the end, Beth begrudgingly agreed to do her first five trials. Even then, she wanted to wait for her Refreshments in between Trials. No throwing herself into battle time and time again like a certain maniac. Adam agreed to those conditions readily, even eagerly. Beth got the vibe that he might be a little addicted to Trials. Though, in this blank slate of a place, maybe the variety of the Trials was the most addicting drug there was.

“So, what kind of Trial are you going to do first? Equipment or Technique?”, Adam asked, a little too eagerly.

Beth thought on that for a little while, and eventually came up with an idea. “I’d rather get a Technique, so I can have some time to practice it… and I think the best technique I could get would be something that lets me *avoid* damage rather than being an armored meathead. So, how do I go about doing a ‘dodge’ Trial?”

The rather unnerving force that Adam called the ‘mind-whispers’ had the answer.

Technique Trial: Evasion (Rank I)

-Trial Details: Avoid 10 of the Training Dummy’s blows

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-Trial Constraints: Dummy will only attack 20 times.

-Failure Penalty: +1hr delay for next Technique Trial.

Continue?

She told what she learned to Adam, and he was interested. “Yes, that sounds like the One-Handed Blade Trial, but longer. More attacks to dodge, but also more chances to fail. Also, it says ‘blows’ and not ‘attacks’, which makes me think it won’t have a weapon.” That last bit was a bit of a reach in Beth’s eyes, but hopefully he was correct.

Beth took in a big breath and said: “Alright.”

After a bit of nothing happening, she realized her mistake. “I mean, Continue!”

An unnerving life-sized mannequin appeared nearby, just as Adam had mentioned. However, the thing was sized and proportioned to resemble a woman instead of a man. Did that mean it matched the person taking the Trial? It wore the same tunic that Beth wore and had no other equipment.

‘Alright. I can do this. Even if I get my ass kicked, it won’t kill me, right?’, Beth thought, attempting to psych herself up and almost succeeding.

Adam spoke up: “Oh, yeah! The dummy’s first attack usually misses if you backstep a bit!”

Beth looked at him, not having expected him to give advice at the last second. That meant that when the dummy stepped forward and swung a mean right hook, she almost got hit. Thankfully, Adam’s words registered just in time, and Beth managed to avoid it. She glared at him, and he gave a sheepish look back.

Dodging the dummy’s punches was surprisingly easy enough. It seemed to only throw one of its punches every few seconds or so. Beth did get hit twice, right on the chest, and it hurt like hell. But, after the 12th attack, the dummy disappeared with a *POP*. In its place was a small book with a cover that said ‘Dodge (Rank I)’ in oddly fancy writing. ‘Who the fuck wrote that, anyway?’, Beth wondered to herself.

Adam looked at the book with interest, but didn’t make any moves towards it. Beth was glad, since he said that only one person could use these things. She didn’t think he was the type to steal someone else’s rewards, but you never really knew with people.

She opened the book and, as if it were a thousand years old, it immediately crumbled to ashes. That was less important, though, than the rush of sensations that filled Beth’s mind. She understood Adam’s Trial-mania a bit more now, this was pretty great. She suddenly felt lighter on her feet, and knew exactly what she should have looked for to avoid getting hit those couple times.

Dodge-ing wasn’t just about controlling your own movements, it was also about looking for the times when your opponent was about to move. The dummy always telegraphed when it was about to punch, and Beth now felt a little stupid for not noticing that.

Beth decided to use her new skill, only to find that… she couldn’t. A vague sense of wrongness pervaded her mind. What the fuck was going on? Adam hadn’t said anything about this!

She looked over at Adam, still watching her in anticipation. “Hey, fuckhead! What’s the deal with this skill? I feel like I *can* use it, but when I try to, I *can’t*!

Adam looked thoughtful. “Well, I’ve never had that happen before… but I have a thought about it. My Swordsmanship Technique relies pretty heavily on having an enemy to attack. The motion-guide effect doesn’t happen much when I try to parry or feint when I’m alone. Maybe you can’t Dodge because… there’s nothing *to* dodge?

Beth thought that, if that was the case, that was a pretty fucking annoying limitation. But, after prodding the skill to work a couple more times, she thought Adam might be right. “Alright, big guy. I can’t believe I’m asking this of you, but… throw a punch at me?”

Adam nodded, thankfully not too enthusiastic. Beth would have been worried if he was. He laid down his weird little sword and came over to her. The punch was breathtakingly easy to backstep from, even easier than the dummy’s. Beth had to laugh.

“Seriously? *That’s* your fucking Punch skill? These techniques are a fucking rip-off, man! I didn’t even need to use my skill!”

Adam shook his head, smiling. “That was just a normal punch, not a skill-guided one. Guess I wanted to make sure it was really okay to hit you. But if you’re sure… here’s a *real* Punch!”

Adam suddenly looked like almost a completely different person. His stance was suddenly intimidating, similar to the dummy’s when it was attacking her but on a whole other level. And when he threw the punch, it was aimed right at her head! Asshole!

Still, Beth remained surprisingly calm. She knew she wanted to avoid that attack (obviously), but she also knew *how* to avoid it. With practiced ease that was not at all shown before, Beth summersaulted backwards and then slid to the right. The Punch missed her entirely.

Adam’s grin was wide. “That was great! The training dummies never dodge my attacks, so this is a new experience! I bet this is the key to getting my skill up to higher levels!”

Beth shook her head in disbelief. He wanted to keep trying to hit her? Still, some part of her understood. The feeling of the skill taking over… it didn’t feel like she was being controlled, it just felt like she suddenly was really fucking good at this. It should have taken years of practice, but it was accomplished just in a few minutes. It was… it felt pretty good.

“Alright there, big guy. Let’s do a Trial of our own, here. You try to hit me 10 times. Wanna bet you can’t hit me at all?”

He grinned. “I’ll take that bet… I bet I can get you at *least* once or twice.”

Who knew getting fucking… Punched at could be so… fun?