A klaxon ruptured his sleep into a thousand shards.

  “Ugh!” Nar cried, holding onto his head.

  At some point, a bottle of something had found its way to his hand, and things had gotten rowdier.

  He remembered Kur dancing on top of a table with Mul. Gad watching over a passed-out Cen, asleep on a couch. Tuk had gotten a bunch of people to form a circle and learn some kind of song, and Jul had started shouting and slurring all of her words, as well as introducing herself to any apprentice they came across. Rel had been forced, very unhappily, to return to the Source for an early night, and then…

  Viy? Going away with… Someone? Holding hands…

  He shook his head, and the klaxon sounded again, eliciting a cry of pain from him once more.

  “Alright, alright!” Mul shouted. “We’re awake damn it!”

  “Crystal have mercy…” Tuk sobbed into his pillow.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Kur said, falling down from his bed.

  “Good morning apprentices, this is your captain speaking!” the voice said, cheery and loud as a pileslide. “Our goal was to let you all blow off some steam and enjoy a well-deserved and recuperating rest today. However, we’ve actually had a slight change in our plans, and our schedule has moved up by a few days. Unfortunately, that means that break day is canceled. Check your schedules. You’re back to work.”

  “What?” Nar asked.

  “Please, no…” Tuk moaned.

  “Lateness will not be tolerated,” the captain added. “Let this be a lesson for you. A delver must always be ready. You never know when shit’s going to hit the fan. So next time, go easy on the bottle, yes?”

  “Crystal…” Kur muttered.

  Nar squinted down to see his party leader trying to get back up onto his bed.

  “And if you need some kind of motivation to get you through the day, I’ll tell you this…” she said. “In thirteen days, you will all have your first assignment. It will be live, real and dangerous combat. There is no practice run, and apprentices have died in these assessments in the past. So, haul your asses off bed and make sure that doesn’t happen to you! Captain out!”

  For a moment nobody spoke.

  “Did she say apprentices… Died?” Tuk asked, his voice sounding a lot clearer than before.

  “She did,” Kur said, he too sounding more like himself. “Check your schedules and get ready. Tired or not, we signed up for this, and we can’t back out of it.”

  “Great,” Mul said, coming down his bunk bed. “Just great…”

  “What can we even learn in less than two weeks?” Tuk asked Kur.

  Their party leader sighed. “I don’t know, Tuk… I don’t know. But don’t forget what we Climbed through. Or that Ceremony. We’ve fought before. We know what we’re doing and we’ll do our best, regardless of what they teach us in the meantime.”

  Nar nodded at Kur’s words. “It will be alright, Tuk.”

  The trugger exhaled shakily.

  “Yeah, I-I guess…” he said. “Back to the Ranged Hall then. I can barely toss one ring…”

  “You’ll get better,” Mul said. “Now get up and stop moping around! I’ll never forgive you if you hit me from behind!”

  That got a little chuckle out of them.

  “Whatever…” Tuk said, getting up and heading for the bathroom.

  Nar checked his schedule.

  Oh! Blades Hall (Drills)? He read, sitting up straighter. Is that finally my sword fighting?

  “Hey! Come on!” Kur said, tapping him on the leg on his way to the bathroom. “We’re already late for breakfast.”

  “Just checking my schedule!” Nar grunted after him.

  He groaned as he lowered himself gently to the floor.

  Crystal… This is not going to be a fun day, he thought, as the floor shifted slightly under him and his heartbeat sped at that slight exertion. Still, some sword fighting would be nice. Though, it can still be something else…

  He had been baited and switched already for two weeks, so it was with a cautious anticipation that he forced himself to get ready.

  *********

  For the first time since joining the Scimitar, he under ate for breakfast.

  He had done the mistake of stuffing himself too full for one of his Blades classes and hadn’t repeated that mistake. However, today, he felt that he should be very cautious with whatever went into his stomach, and given the plain, white porridge that was served for breakfast, Nar figured that was the kitchen staff’s way of telling them all to go easy as well.

  He arrived at the Blades Hall with enough time to spare, as he usually did, but this time, he met a small queue that had formed at the entrance of the hall. As he got closer, he realized that there was a screen on the wall, to the right of the entrance.

  He paused in front of it, mimicking the other students, and found that it was filled with names.

  “Look for your ID and check which station you are assigned to,” an instructor said, from just within the hall.

  Nar quickly read through the list and eventually found his ID, near the bottom. The only Nar amongst the Blades apprentices.

  NAR293457741235645XAV. That’s me. I’m on… Squad 8?

  He entered the hall and immediately noticed the giant, red and gently spinning numbers floating in the air.

  “Stick to the paths in green!” someone shouted from somewhere.

  Nar jerked his foot back. He had been about to cross into one of the bright red squares that now dotted the hall.

  Instead, he followed around it, walking alongside the path of green lines, which seemed to be dividing eight portions of the hall into self-enclosed areas.

  Looking around, most of the areas looked similar to him.

  Circles, triangles, squares and lines of all kinds and shapes were drawn within the big red squares, the hall's floor markings having apparently been rearranged overnight. To top it off, some squares also had colorful cones that were arrayed in a variety of shapes and heights, completing the setup.

  Nar caught sight of Teb, standing a little away from a group that was mostly comprised of quams. He offered him a little wave, but Teb was either too focused on or too nervous of the other apprentices to notice.

  Jul’s not the only one that needs to make friends, Nar thought.

  However, he soon arrived at his own square and forgot about everything else. Before him, was a growing group of mostly tall and buff looking apprentices of both genders.

  Morsvar, altei, human… He noticed, as he exchanged nods with a few of them. No truggers, lengos, alfin or quams. And they’re all massive.

  His stomach shifted uncomfortably as he took his place amongst them. Gad, Kur and even Tuk were all taller than him, but today was probably the first time he found himself describing his stature as short, or lanky.

  He looked down, to avoid the curious glances that were being cast his way.

  I’m not that short, am I? He wondered. For a human?

  The shower also had a measuring function, both of height and weight, as well as his body composition… Standing at 6-foot tall, and with about 167 pounds in weight, his was a body that was mostly composed of skin, bones and some new and developing muscle. While he would have towered over others within the Blades Hall, within square number 8, he was without a doubt the shortest and smallest amongst their towering number.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Nar licked his lips and tried to ease his shoulders.

  If this is just part of the challenge, then so be it, he thought.

  If the master wanted him to learn amongst these stronger and most likely heavier armed apprentices, then that’s exactly what he would do. Though the thought of sparring with them gave him an undeniable level of apprehension.

  “Good morning, apprentices,” an instructor spoke, entering the red square with two more following behind him.

  He gestured for the now twelve of them to form a semicircle around him, with the other two instructors hanging back behind him.

  In the distance, Nar heard the distinctive boom of the tall doors of the hall closing.

  The instructor crossed his muscular arms in front of his also impressive chest, and considered the apprentices as they formed up around him.

  A morsvar, Nar thought. Taller than Gad. Taller than even Tun.

  The man before him was built like the Church aethership he’d seen the day before.

  He towered above them all by at least a full head. His scales were dark as the deep darkness of the B-Nex, with spots of twilight blue across his face and exposed arms, and they gleamed as though they had been polished. The spikes atop his head were the longest Nar had ever seen, and they gleamed down his neck with warning.

  “I’m Senior Instructor Koh,” he said, his completely black eyes unblinking. “Behind me is Instructor Mes and Instructor Tob. Most of you already know us as your 1-on-1 instructors. Together, we are responsible for teaching you all in squad 8, in the art of the two-handed blade and the variations of it found within the squad.”

  Nar glanced at instructor Mes, a tall woman that seemed build out of glistening metal, with a sharp line of dark gray hair sticking up on her scalp, and instructor Tob, a man of an unknown race, his skin a pasty blue, his nose and ears sunken in on themselves, and with a chest so wide Nar wouldn’t be able to wrap his arms around him. The two of them exuded a calm promise of calamity, and Nar gulped nervously. He was about to find out what the instructors of the Blades Hall were truly worth.

  His [Instinct] yelled at him, and Nar dodged back as an enormous blade suddenly rushed for his head. The attack came at him so suddenly, so invisibly, that he found himself landing on his ass, not only to end up so, as instructor Koh quickly dispersed the group of apprentices before him.

  “There are two things we will do, before properly starting,” the man said, stopping his attacks just as suddenly as they had started, and leaning the monstrous lump of metal in his hands against the floor.

  Crystal Almighty! That’s a sword? That thing’s even bigger than him! Nar thought, shocked, as he hurried back up to his feet. And it’s as wide as me!

  “The first thing you will know is that I have been trained in the ways of the two-handed sword for nearly twenty years now. Instructor Mes is in her thirteenth year, and instructor Tob on his tenth,” he said, impassively staring at each of them. “But rather than knowing that, it is always best to understand. Draw your weapons, and attack me. Whoever lands a hit on me will receive an appropriate weapon from my personal collection.”

  Nar gaped at the man.

  What? He thought.

  The nearest apprentice exchanged a just as confused look with Nar.

  “Come on, now. We don’t have all day,” instructor Koh said.

  Suddenly, one of the other apprentices, a morsvar as well, drew his big sword out, and charged the instructor.

  “Points for not screaming at me,” the instructor said, easily sidestepping the blow. “Never waste your breath. And never tell your enemy you’re about to attack them either.”

  Screams and shouts rang out across the hall then, and Nar looked up to see similar scenes playing out across the other squares.

  “This is the first thing the master did with me, when I first started learning under him all those years ago,” the instructor said, finally allowing himself some emotion in the shape of a small smirk. “Now come. Fight me!”

  And that, at last, did it. Nar pulled out his longsword alongside the other apprentices, and rushed the man.

  At first, he was careful. Despite the man’s obvious skill, he didn’t want to injure him.

  But as the instructor and his massive sword blurred and shifted before his eyes in speeds defying his belief and understanding, the more he found himself ramping up his efforts to at least brush the man’s uniform.

  Eventually, he found himself going all out against him, drawing on the full complement of his attributes and battle abilities, only leaving out his skills.

  Suddenly, the man grabbed his sword.

  Nar jarred at the sudden stop, and almost lost his grip on the weapon.

  “That is excellent stamina, apprentice Nar, but let’s stop here” he said, his voice just as composed as before. “I believe my point is made.”

  Blinking in confusion, Nar looked around him, and found the other students staring up at him in sweating, gasping disbelief.

  “Y-yes, instructor!” Nar said, withdrawing his sword.

  He looked down at the floor, awkwardly avoiding the other apprentices' stares.

  “First, I have proven my capabilities to you, and that I am worthy of your time, attention and obedience as your instructor,” the morsvar said. “Secondly, I hope I’ve disproved the number one misconception that comes attached with wielders of great weapons. Namely, that we are slow, dumb and unskilled. Yes, we may be slower than other combat paths and their smaller, more nimble weapons, and yes, someone dual or even quadruple wielding weapons will require a higher degree of skill to be proficient. But we are by no means slow or unskilled ourselves. We don’t charge into battle, screaming at our enemy and waving our swords around like clubs. Using such massive weapons requires thought and extreme skill, just as any martial art. Is that clear?”

  “Yes, instructor!” the apprentices said, slowly getting to their feet.

  “Good! And on that, we can properly get started. And you can also put away your weapons.”

  I knew it, Nar thought, wistfully storing his weapon in his inventory ring again. So much for that.

  Instructor Koh barked out a laugh.

  “I had the same look when I first started learning with my own teacher,” he said, grinning. “However, you need to understand that sword fighting is much more than simply the sword itself. You all have some passable skills already, to varying degrees, picked up from your Climb. And we’ll be building on top of those, correcting as necessary. However, where you all utterly, and devastatingly fail, is in your movements. Spread out!”

  Movements? Nar thought, as he made some space between himself and the other apprentices. What’s wrong with my movements?

  Instructor Mes and Tob, who had been quiet so far, stepped past Koh and walked amongst the apprentices, looking them up and down with nerve inducing intense stares.

  “By movements, I don’t mean your [Speed]. Or even your [Agility]. Not directly,” instructor Koh said. “By movements I mean your footwork! Yes, I know. You never thought about your feet before, have you?”

  Er, no? Nar thought, glancing down at his own feet.

  “A sword wielder with poor footwork is a dead sword wielder,” he said. “And this is, of course, true of any melee class. Over the course of the next two weeks, before your first assessment, you will learn how to stand, how to move and how to position yourselves in combat. Do not underestimate the value of these things. Do not try to cut corners and rush through it. If you do not build a solid foundation on these skills, you will stunt your growth! In months and years from now, while your peers continue to progress past you, you will find that you cannot follow them on cracked and shaky foundations!”

  Instructor Tob passed by Nar, and stared hard into his eyes before moving past him.

  “And when that happens, you will be left with three choices,” instructor Koh continued, and raised a massive fist, with one finger extended. “One, you give up. Two, you accept your level and resign yourself to never getting any better. Or three, you rip out everything you thought you knew, and start building again from scratch. Neither of these sound appealing, do they?”

  “No, instructor!” Nar shouted alongside the others.

  “No, they aren’t. So, keep your swords in your rings, and until I tell you to get them out, forget about them. We won’t be neglecting your sword practice, have no fear of that, but we won’t start looking at the sword properly until you have your feet somewhat sorted,” instructor Koh said. “As for the assessment coming up soon, don’t be too scared. It will be dangerous, yes, but you’re all Ex-Climbers! Your skills, as basic as they are with the blade, will be enough to ensure your survival… As long as you get your footwork down into some semblance of basic correctness that is! So, stand with your feet at shoulder width! Now, left leg back!”

  Nar threw his left leg backwards.

  “Further back!” the instructor shouted. “Good! Look at instructors Mes and Tob for an example! Now angle your back foot toes at an approximation of 45 degrees. Don’t worry too much with the exactitude, you’ll find what’s right for you… Toes from your front foot also slightly to the side, but not too much. No, to the left! How are you going to stand like that, apprentice Hir?”

  Nar did as he was told, his eyes glued on instructor Mes’ feet, who stood in front of him.

  What in the pile are we doing? He asked himself.

  “Good, now slightly bend your knees, and sink into your stance. Spread your weight 50/50 into each leg,” the instructor said, now strolling in between them. “This is the basic stance of your fighting style. Other ones might use the same stance, or variations of this, but this one is yours. We might build upon this, depending on the particularities of your paths, but for now, this is how you stand. This is how you face your enemy!”

  The master passed by him and gently shook him, nearly throwing Nar off balance.

  “Relax,” he said, and not just to Nar. “Tensing only results in poor form, loss of speed and choppy motions. Bend your knees… No, that’s too much. See instructor Mes. And keep your back straight, don’t hunch.”

  Instructor Mes shifted her position so that she now stood perpendicular to them, offering them a lateral angle of the same stance that instructor Tob was showing them from the back.

  “Now, move your back leg forward, turning the toes of your now back leg to about 45 degrees as you go,” Koh said. “And you are back at the same stance as before, except you have moved forward. Now, move your front leg backwards, and shift the toes of your now front leg to 45 degrees… And you’ve retreated. At its basic, footwork is simply this. A way to get you to reach your enemy with your blade, and a way to retreat from harm’s way, in order to then counterattack. And remember that we are always seeking to regain the advantage in any situation by returning to the offensive as soon as possible. There’s no way to win a fight by remaining on the defensive.”

  Instructors Mes and Tob stepped out of stance and all three of them waded into the group of twelve apprentices.

  “Let’s go again,” Mes said, being the closest instructor to Nar. “Back leg forward… No, do not straighten your legs. Always they are bent when moving. Now back again. If you feel your head bobbing up and down, you are doing it wrong. Your head must always remain level. Forward again!”

  Nar followed the instructor's commands and corrections, moving forwards and backwards as he was told, the twelve apprentices splinting into three groups, one for each instructor.

  It was… Hard. At its core, the movements sounded like they should be simple enough to achieve, but whenever he actually lifted his legs to do so, there was a disconnect between his body and his brain.

  “Back’s straight! Always straight!” instructor Mes said. “I don’t want to see any leaning forward or backwards. And no hunching! Now! Let’s go again, but this time, I want you to engage your core muscles. That’s the ones you have around your spine, your hips and your abdominal viscera. Look at me. You lift your back leg and as you move it forward, engage your hips with that motion. Now you! Feel how much easier that is! Feel how much faster and gentler that flows! Yes… Yes! That’s it! Again!”

  Nar swallowed hard and pushed his hips to head his commands, as the instructor had so easily demonstrated. However, instead of struggling with the weight of his own body, he now moved too fast and spun beyond what he had intended.

  “It’s hard, isn’t it?” instructor Mes asked, with a twinkle in her eyes and a spreading grin. “It looks simple, but you’ve never moved like this in your entire life. So don’t lose your spirit. It was hard for me too when I started. With practice, it will become second nature to you! The basic stance, and now, the passing step. These two, and more to come, will give you all the means you need to make your way through the battlefield and your enemies. Now! Let’s get some drills into you! No one will move to the next step until you have mastered these basics!”

  Hi everyone!

  I hope you all had a great weekend!

  Kindle Unlimited and Audible at some point later this year (dates still to be confirmed, but I will let you all know once I know more)!

  And below is the long part ??

  So, the long version is, I signed on with a LitRPG publisher some time ago, and that publisher has in turn just recently managed to get us a deal for the audio production of the books! Getting the audio deal has been huge, and it has basically green lit the whole process of editing and production, so, suddenly, deadlines everywhere!

  The first 3 Arcs of Path of the Last Champion will be coming out as 2 books each. My original vision was to have each arc be a book by itself, but apparently, the industry has made some big moves away from large volumes for new authors, so each arc will instead be split into 2 books.

  On the flip side, because the books are now going to be split, I actually have a bit more leeway to increase the word count on each individual book. That means Arc 1 has actually grown by an extra 80k words, for example. This increase means that all of your amazing feedback has gone into the books, the worldbuilding has been expanded, many parts of the story that I felt lacking have also been expanded and deepened, and I've applied everything that I've learned on this journey to hopefully make the story better (not just in terms of plot, characters, but hopefully, writing style and readability as well). So, it should still be a familiar story, of course, but many improvements have gone into it!

  At the moment, I'm working through Arc 2, and I’ve handed over books 1-3, with book 4 scheduled for delivery at the end of March, to hopefully start the editing on all of them in April. It’s been a lot of delirium induced late nights to get here, but I really think the books have grown to be a lot better, and with 5 phases of editing, hopefully, the final versions will be really, really well polished!

  These deadlines have however meant that I had to pause on writing Arc 3. Now, Arc 3 is about 2 thirds of the way there to my original plan, but given that I now have some more leeway with individual word count, I want to also further enhance and expand on Arc 3 to deliver on my vision of greatly leaping ahead with Nar’s path, as well as with everything else that happens in Arc 3. And there is a LOT in Arc 3, and I'm all too happy to be able to deliver more on it, and better!

  This does mean however, that I need to add in a little break in between Arc 2 and 3 so that I can deliver on my deadlines, and then have time to review the first part of Arc 3 to start releasing it for you all.

  So, there will be a two-week break (here and on Patreon) from the 7th of April, and chapter releases will resume on the 21st! I apologize for this, as I really was not expecting things to suddenly ramp up as fast as they did!

  While I had managed a publishing contract, the audio side of things was proving difficult, but thanks to all of your support, both here and in the Patreon, it has shown to audio companies that there were people who liked the story, and convinced them to give it a shot. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all so, so much!

  Not only has your feedback, comments, messages and reviews helped me grow as a writer, helped point out the flaws in the story and all the parts that needed improvements, it has also opened the doors to actually publishing the story. So, you all have my eternal gratitude!

  As for the story itself, we're reaching the mid-way of Arc 2 here on RR. The story has slowed down a little to give the party a little breather, and things have been heavy on worldbuilding, but we should start ramping up again after the break. I will also sort of shift from Arcs to books, to reflect my writing going forward, so this will be the end of Book 3. I also liked my new ending for this part a lot more, so I’ll be posting that one up instead (I just hope this doesn’t break things anywhere for the rest of Arc 2!! ??).

  So, yeah! A pretty busy period ahead, but it's my intention that through it all, the story will keep on growing and getting better and better, and that you all continue to enjoy reading it! I have also not forgotten about my promise of writing up something about the characters' races/appearances, and something will be posted as soon as I’ve got some breathing room! I promise!

  And if you could drop me a follow and/or a rating, that would be really, really greatly appreciated, as it does wonders for the story’s visibility on RR, and please recommend it to anyone you think might enjoy the story! And if you’re curious to read ahead, there are up to 50 chapters on the Patreon.

  And that’s all! I hope everyone has a great week! And remember, our story is just beginning, and we still have quit the journey ahead of us…

  Thank for reading, and all the best of everything,

  Everhart