"I need a shower," Regina sulked when morning came, combing her unruly hair with her fingers.
"There are camp showers," Peter pointed to the facilities.
"With cold water?" she wrinkled her nose. "I'd rather stink."
That’s why she’s nicknamed princess, huh? “Let’s see what Alchemy has to say,” Peter suggested as Melinda called everyone to assemble.
“I talked with the rest of the teachers and decided the best offense is defense,” Melinda yelled before they went out of the tent. “We’ll protect the camp. Teachers can’t participate in fights, but we can offer advice. The ranked students will lead the others, and they will come to the command tent to discuss further tactics. The rest can take a day off and do whatever they want. Dismissed.”
“Pff… I have to stay,” Regina sulked. “And I wanted so much to meet those lions…”
Peter giggled. "Next time. Take care." He hugged her and exited the camp, discreetly joining Ariana, Naomi, and Daniel. He convinced the girls to be trained by Redroar, and the cook had heard the conversation and insisted so much to join that Peter had no choice but to allow it.
"Walking would take too long, so I'll transport you individually. Hope I don't get a hernia or something. Ariana, hop on my back."
She wrinkled her nose. "I was hoping for a princess carry, but whatever."
Uh… she put on some weight… or it’s the luggage.
Ariana carried a larger-than-usual backpack that day. Warping several times, Peter arrived at the village outskirts, directly on the training ground. Redroar and her cubs were waiting.
"She's our instructor," Peter said. "Wait here; I'll be back with the rest."
His movement skill was now better; he could instinctively calculate the best path between two points, feeling where to Warp within his line of sight. Naomi was easy to transport, but for Daniel, Peter took a five-minute break to get back his breath and take a Mana pill. The cook was heavy, and his Mana was almost depleted.
“Impressive. I didn’t know a Wild Mage could do that,” the man said.
“I found an alien manual with a few secret skills. By the way, secret means—”
“Don’t worry, I would never rat on a partner,” the cook made a zipping gesture on his lips.
You jerk! Was this a prank?
“You mean my Constitution.”
Just shut up…
When the two men arrived at their destination, Ariana ran around on the field, chased by Reroar's cubs. Shredder was attempting to stop them by biting their ankles, and Naomi was watching, having a good time and laughing her lungs out.
"Trip them!" Ariana yelled while running, and the pup waved himself between the cubs' legs, making two of them fall. As soon as he saw Peter, Shredder abandoned his task and came to be petted.
"Get back into the fight!" Ariana shouted but failed to be obeyed.
"How did he get here?" Peter asked.
"He was in the rucksack. Melinda allowed me to bring the pup. She's very fond of Shreddi."
"Break!" Redroar roared. The cubs stopped in their tracks, still growling, like five buzzing electric saws under tension, ready to jump into action. “That was a pathetic display if I ever saw one. For today, we have to stick to the basics. "You," the mercenary pointed to Naomi. "Help her, she’s outmatched," now the index showed Ariana. "Do some push-ups," finger at the stocky man. “Kid, with me."
Peter followed Redroar to the village, and they entered the house behind the bounty screen. The Barbarian's husband was dozing. He opened his eyes for a second and waved an anemic hand. They passed through the house, exited to a courtyard, and entered a workshop with a small forge and anvil. There were weapons and armor on display.
"Your order," she pointed at the work table. Six blades were sitting on it, next to each other. As Peter had ordered, they were long cleavers with a nine-inch spike at the top. "It's a good design," Redroar said. "I’ll throw in two more weapons if you let me copy the model.”
“Sure,” Peter sighed. There was no way to reinforce a copyright there anyway.
“I added a personal touch." Picking a wooden shaft nearby, Redroar fixed it inside the handle of a cleaver. A resort similar to those on folding knives clicked, fixing the blade in place, making it into a pole weapon. “That’s for a quick assembly or disassembly.”
"You're a better blacksmith than I thought," Peter nodded with satisfaction. The weapon felt excellent in hand in both its forms. “How much do I owe you?”
"Two ounces of gold. The blades and shafts are also enchanted for sturdiness and sharpness."
"Uh… you're milking me dry…" Peter said. His resources had tripled, now around thirty thousand dollars in gold, but he wanted to spend wisely. "One and a half."
"Two and a half because what you just said is considered offensive here."
"Fine, two it is, but only if you make me an extra item."
"What kind of item?"
"A shoulder bag for gathering ingredients, with several slots."
"I’m no leatherworker, but our doctors have something similar for carrying potions. Enchanted so the content doesn’t break. I'll see if I can find one around."
Returning to the meadow after sending the weapons in storage, Peter found both girls up in a tree, kicking their legs to keep Redroar's cubs away. Shredder was now on the evil side, barking at the two young women.
"Don't ask," Ariana yelled when Peter’s gaze met her eyes.
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"They bribed him with a cookie," Naomi shouted. “Shreddi thinks it’s a game.”
"Break!" came the roar. "Get down from the tree, princesses. And you, the fatso," she yelled at Daniel. "Come here and show me your wrestling skills." Redroar knelt to be at the same height as him. "Grab me by the shoulders and try to trip me." The man put his arms on hers, trying his best to find a hold with his stubby fingers. The next second, Reroar's jaws wrapped around the man's neck.
"Mercy!" Daniel begged.
"You're stupid?" the Barbarian asked, letting the cook go. "It was a test. You have eyes, right? You see me, right? You think going close quarters with me is a good idea?"
"She's so hot," the older man whispered to Peter.
"Shut up, idiot, she might hear."
"Bluebrow, an alien thinks I'm hot!" Redroar yelled extremely loudly.
"He can have you. I'll have a party!" a faint scream replied from the village.
"Mom! Dad!" the cubs protested.
"It’s our twentieth marriage anniversary today, and he forgot, and I broke a beer bottle on his head," Redroar said.
"Hey, kid, isn't today your anniversary?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah… I'm twenty-five now…"
"Happy anniversary!" everybody yelled.
"Now that the celebration is over, let's train," Redoar said. "Give chubby one of your polearms."
“Wow, that looks cool! Can I have one? I’ll pay,” the cook exclaimed, seeing the weapon.
"Sure. She made six," Peter said, giving the cook the blade with the shaft. "You can take out the blade, and it' becomes a cleaver."
"Can I have two? Name your price."
"Sure. It’s… pfff… two ounces divided by three…”
“Here’s an ounce,” the cook forwarded a coin.
"The break is over. You," Redroar pointed at Daniel, "Stay six feet away from him and make a simple forward stabbing motion. Aim for his shoulder or a limb, like you stick the spike, and pull it out. One, two, one, two,” she exemplified. “Do it slowly at first. And you, my friend," she turned toward Peter, "Avoid the hit by using your moving skill to jump back on the smallest distance you can. Inches, if possible."
“But—”
“No buts, or I’ll kick your butt. Do it while I teach the girls the basics of hand-to-hand combat.”
David took the simplest attack stance, the Plow. Peter had seen it countless times in his father's HEMA camps, and millions of WW1 soldiers had also used it unknowingly in their bayonet attacks. It was simple but dangerous.
“Move a step back,” Peter asked.
“Sorry. Sexy lion lady says six feet, six feet it is.”
“At least be careful where you aim…”
“Ready? Here I go.”
Daniel's movement was slow, but Peter’s instincts made him jump back.
“C’mon, man, concentrate,” the older man scolded him. “I want the hot lion lady to see we’re serious.”
How can I Warp backward when I need to see where I am going?
Kind of a stretch if you ask me…
Peter tried his best for the second pass but jumped forward a hundred yards behind the cook. He returned on foot to spare his Mana and to have time to think of a solution. The third time wasn’t the charm either; he Warped forward, but only a few feet away.
“Whoa!” Surprised, the cook tried to swipe the spear at Peter. “Sorry! Instinct.”
“Hey, dude, be careful!” Peter yelled, ducking under the shaft.
The fourth time Peter yelled at Daniel to stop, he wasn’t ready, but the fifth was finally the charm.
“Yes!” Peter cheered.
“Good!” Redroar roared. “Now, play together. The girls have a lot to learn.”
The two men continued the exercise, and after ten repetitions, Peter felt the move becoming instinctive, like a second nature.
Encouraged, Peter started experimenting. He moved laterally, obliquely, then backward anew, but changing orientation and turning his back at Daniel like a new opponent was coming from the rear. "I want to try something," he asked after a few minutes. “Aim for my upper left shoulder. I don’t want to get hurt too much if I fail. Trust and pull with the same speed as before.”
“Want me to count?”
“Would be great.”
“Three… Two… One… Go.”
Daniel thrust the polearm, the spike entering three inches into Peter’s body, but the young man was now only a blur.
“What the fuck!” the cook screamed, stepping back.
“I’m OK,” Peter heaved. Maintaining the immaterial state for the duration of the attack had been costly. All the training had taken a toll on his Mana, but the last move had taken half of that. He took another Mana pill; the minimum time had passed.
By daring to experiment with your skills and pushing them to their limits, you have unlocked the Mythical Rare skill Phase-Warp. With Warp, you traverse distances near and far. At the same time, Phase grants you the power to evade harm and move seamlessly through barriers, turning obstacles into opportunities. You can combine the two aspects of the skill to various degrees.
I dunno, man… I just did it.
“Are you sure you’re OK?” the cook waved his hand in front of Peter’s eyes. “You phased out.”
“Yeah, literally… Sorry. I’m fine… Can I try something on you?”
“Try what?”
“Stick a finger in your shoulder?”
“Ew…”
Shut up. “I’ll give you back your ounce of gold,” Peter promised Daniel.
“Well…” the cook shrugged. “Go for it… but take care of what you’re doing.”
“I will,” Peter nodded. Phasing in place for a second, he pushed his index an inch deep into Daniel’s deltoid muscle, then exited the blurred state. “Ouch, ouch, ouch!” Peter yelled as soon as he was back in the real world. His finger was stuck; he couldn’t pull it out, and Daniel’s muscle was contracted all around it.
“Ouch!” Daniel screamed, too. He was bleeding and tried to pull himself free, only to snatch Peter forward.
“Maaaan…” the cook wailed once free. “It hurts a lot.” The wound was bleeding profusely.
“Hey, I’m hurt too,” Peter showed him his swollen finger, then offered the other a Health Pill. “Take this, it’ll heal you.”
Why?
“Uh…”
You talk too much. Why isn’t Daniel’s wound closing? Peter panicked, seeing how the handkerchief the cook had applied over the wound was soaked in blood.
“Put those on the wound,” Redroar appeared beside them, offering the cook some bandages soaked in a poultice. “Best remedy for bleeding. They came from many star systems to buy it before those bastards came.”
They returned to the camp in the late evening, which provoked Alchemy into scolding them, as she had been worried, and called, but nobody answered. Checking his phone, Peter observed some chores appeared while they were out. He apologized and, fortunately, was spared sermons or punishments. During the training, the two girls had reached level ten, as well as Shredder.
"We won't be able to hide much longer from that Shreddi's a warg. He’s growing fast," Ariana said.
"I'll think of an excuse," Peter said.
"Let's stick with: he looked like a dog when I adopted him. Melinda likes him enough to let him stay."
“We’ll see.”
The group broke apart, with Peter beelining for his tent. Regina wasn't there.
Are there any benefits to raising all stats, or is it better to focus on one?
“Sounds useful.”
Peter sighed, knowing he had not decided where to go with his build. The novelty of magical powers was still just that: a novelty. For now, he summoned his Character Sheet. He had six free points and put five APs in Strength to get it into the Master tier and one into Concentration to reach Apprentice.
Peter Hillden, Age: 25, Class: Impulse, Lvl. 22
Strength: 61 / Dexterity: 70 / Constitution: 32
Intelligence: 27 / Will: 39 / Concentration: 21
Charisma: 40 / Luck: 21 / Magic Power: 25