Chapter 7: Adam – Speed Enhancement (Rank I)
Punch (Rank I) Level 6 reached!
Adam gulped as his technique finally connected. He had come close to losing the bet, especially when Beth’s Dodge leveled up midway through. But as he pushed his own Technique further and further, Beth began to lose her leeway towards the end. Until, on the 10th and final punch allowed by the bet… He got her pretty good on the shoulder. What had he been thinking? Betting that he could punch someone was a stupid idea! Win or lose, it wasn’t going to have a good end…
But Beth, after a while of hesitation, just… laughed.
“Congratulations, big guy. You just successfully hit a woman. Wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, honestly. Not as bad as getting hit right in the boob by that bitch of a mannequin, at least. I guess Dodge isn’t the perfect, end-all be-all Technique I thought it was.”
Adam was relieved that she didn’t seem to be taking it too hard. “It’s still a pretty good counter to my techniques, honestly. Both Punch and Swordsmanship rely pretty hard on the opponent not being as quick to evade as you are. If you only need a Level 2 Technique to beat a Level 6, 9 times out of 10… that’s a pretty good one."
Beth nodded. “Yeah, I am pretty great, aren’t I? But hey, you got me. That means *you* get to… do the next Trial!”
Adam was surprised. “Winner does the next Trial? When did we say that was the point of the bet?”
She gave him a fierce grin. “I said it. Just now, but I said it. And come on, don’t tell me you haven’t been thinking about what a Rank II Trial is like this whole time. I can see it on your face, man!”
Beth had been a little mocking of what she called Adam’s ‘Trial Mania’. Adam kind of understood her point… but Trials were the only thing to do out here! And, yes… getting stronger was a little addicting.
“Okay, yes, I do want to take a Rank II Trial. I’ve been thinking about what to do, though… and I think that instead, I’ll do a Rank I Enhancement. They seem really powerful, moreso than any Technique could be. And if I have a limit on how many Trials I can take… especially if it’s 5 again… I want to do one. Ideally, I would do a Rank II Enhancement, but… I have a sneaking suspicion that they would be almost impossible without any Rank I Enhancements first.”
Beth nodded. “Yeah, that all makes sense. The one thing I have a problem with, though, is that we don’t know how many Trials you actually can take. Is it 5 again? 25? Something else? Hey, you! Fucking… Trial… System… thing! How many Trials is the max?”
Her eyes widened. “Huh, it actually answered. It says that I can do 5 Rank I Trials before needing to rank up, and that Self-Refreshment Trials don’t count. What’s yours say?”
Adam blinked, having not realized the whispers would actually answer questions like that. “Uhh… What is my maximum Trial amount?”
5 Rank II Trials and 10 Rank I Trials may be taken before the Rank II => III Trial becomes Required. Self-Refreshment Trials do not count towards this total.
Adam was thrilled. “It says I can only do 5 Rank II Trials… but I can also do 10 Rank I’s! That’s great! Now I can get an entire suit of armor…”
Beth nodded. “Huh, neat. Glad that it’s not just 5 and you’re done. Hopefully the Rank II training dummies don’t fuck up any Rank I armor, then.”
Adam thought about that for a little bit. “Yeah, I guess Rank II Trials might be dangerous. Plus, my Rank Up Trial said that only Rank I Equipment could be used. If the same is true for the next one, then that means I still need to pick my Rank II Trials carefully…”
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After thinking about it for a while, Adam confirmed that his first order of business was doing a Rank I Enhancement Trial. If the Rank I Limit was higher, getting Rank I Enhancements would probably be key to surviving his next Rank Up.
“I want a Rank I enhancement that helps me move more quickly!”
Enhancement Trial: Speed (Rank I)
-Trial Details: Defeat the Training Dummy in a 3-lap race around the area.
-Trial Constraints: Dummy may be hindered, but not incapacitated.
-Failure Penalty: +5hr delay for next Enhancement Trial.
Continue?
Adam read the details, intrigued.
Beth spoke up: “Well? Don’t leave me in suspense, man!”
Adam would have to get used to sharing his Trial details out loud. “It says it’s a race. 3 laps. And no, I’m not allowed to just kill my opponent.”
Beth shook her head. “Not an idea I thought of, my dude. I guess the Trial System knows you by now. Well, I’m glad that not *all* the Trials are about fight-fight-murder-kill. A race is pretty… wholesome, I guess? I would consider doing one myself, if it wasn’t locked behind the Rank Up Trial…”
Adam nodded. “It does seem pretty mundane, compared to what it rewards. Hopefully there aren’t any cruel surprises. Continue!”
The human-sized mannequin appeared; this time once more shaped like a man as opposed to a woman. Within half a second, it launched itself forward. Adam looked at it in shock. Had the race already started?
Beth startled him out of his shock. “Hey, idiot! Go already!”
Adam took off running as quickly as he was able. The dummy had a head start, but thankfully wasn’t moving… terribly fast. Still pretty fast, considering it was wearing a full set of leather armor. At this speed, Adam narrowly missed stepping on several rocky outcroppings or other slight features in the landscape.
The dummy apparently traveled to the area of where the mist started, then began to run parallel to the edge. Adam hadn’t really examined the mist that closely. It was where he had been walking through for ages, yes… but as a result, he didn’t really like to look at it. It… disturbed him, in some way. He was thankful the dummy wasn’t running inside it.
Adam’s legs were burning at this point, and he was breathing heavily. He hadn’t even ran this fast in the Forgotten Forest. But the thought of a speed Enhancement pushed him forward. Just a while longer, then it would be smooth sailing…
He managed to close the lead the dummy had on him over time. He saw a familiar area, making him think that they had already done at least one lap. Things were going to be close. He managed to get alongside the dummy. He considered ‘hindering’ it, but wasn’t sure if he could manage to do that without ‘incapacitating’ it. Could mannequins be knocked unconscious with a punch? He didn’t want to risk failure.
Instead, Adam put his all into surpassing the dummy’s speed. Almost… almost… he did it! He was ahead of the mannequin! Now, he figured, it should be simple enough to win, so long as he didn’t step on any rocks.
It was exactly this sort of thinking that made him not notice when a tremendous force hit him on the back of his head. He blacked out.
………
-dam… Adam… If that thing killed you then I swear I am going to lose it! ADAM!”
Adam was startled upwards. “Who? What? That… what?”
Beth sighed in relief. “Great, you’re okay… I think you’re gonna want to do a Refreshment Trial right away, buddy. You probably have a concussion.”
Adam frowned but did as she said. When had it come off of cooldown? During his requisite time of standing still for 5 minutes, she explained.
“I think the dummy knocked you unconscious. It took me ages to find you… this clearing place might be empty, but it’s also pretty big. I saw the dummy make its way back to where you guys started, and it disappeared with a weird little *THUNK*. I, uh, think that’s the sound that gets made when you lose a Trial. Sorry, buddy. Guess the race wasn’t as ‘wholesome’ as I said…”
Adam sighed. He should have known better; that dummy had been out to get him, especially after its difficulty was raised. He supposed he would just have to get his Speed Enhancement after…
Enhancement Trial Unavailable for 27:38:12… 11… 10…
A whole day?! Crap! “*Sigh*, looks like Enhancment Trials take 24 hours to refresh… and that’s *without* the 5-hour penalty for failure…”
Beth grimaced. “Sorry, buddy. You’ll get him next time, I’m sure. I don’t think he had any weapons, just armor. And his fists, of course.”
Adam nodded. Taken out with a Punch. That was supposed to be *his* move! But, it really only happened because he was unprepared. He really should have done a Practice Trial… then, at least, he wouldn’t have been concussed, and he could have done the Enhancement Trial knowing he needed to fight back.
“Well… I guess it’s time to get back to practicing for our next Trials?”, asked Adam.
Beth rolled her eyes. “If that’s what you want to call you punching in my direction, sure. Just try not to knock me out, ok Concussion Man?”
"We are NOT calling me that!"
"You got it, Concussion Man!"