Chapter 79 - Training (Patreon)

Zeke tried to raise his shield in time to intercept the blow, but he was too slow. A split-second later, a weighted training sword crashed into his armored shoulder. His armor didn’t clang like metal; instead, it sounded more like plastic. However, it held up to the attack well. There were no dents. No scratches. It was entirely unmarred, despite the punishment it had received over the past few days.

“Too slow,” said Master Silas, standing nearby with his hands in his voluminous sleeves. “You do not utilize your full stats.”

Zeke grit his teeth, but he didn’t refute the man’s claim. Before he’d come under Silas’s tutelage, he had considered himself a capable warrior. After all, he’d massacred whole populations of monsters; didn’t that mean he was powerful and skilled? His one spar with Silas had put the lie to that notion, and his subsequent matches against the men and women training to be Radiant Guards had further disabused him of that assumption.

It wasn’t surprising. He’d never had any formal training. Instead, he’d relied on his overwhelming stats, [Leech Strike]skill, and a certain willingness to take a beating. None of those things made him a skilled warrior. Talented, perhaps, but he’d learned long ago that talent could easily be trumped by hard work. He couldn’t count the number of gifted athletes he’d seen fall by the wayside because they were lazy or unmotivated. Thankfully, he’d never been afflicted with either of those diseases, and even if he had been, his father had been there to push him forward. If the man’s methods hadn’t been so abusive, Zeke might have been thankful.

Zeke sighed. “I know,” he said. “I’ll get it right.”

Indeed, fighting with a shield was so unlike what he’d been doing over the course of the previous few years. Before, he’d spared little thought for defense, save for dodging here and there. But now? Now, he had to pay attention to the slightest of twitches so he could get his shield up in time. It was quite a shift in mindset, and he was admittedly struggling with it. But even without Silas’s insistence, he knew it would be a better way to fight – especially when it came to battles with other people, which he suspected would become more common the longer he stayed attached to civilization.

“You need a break,” the older man said. The nameless guard-in-training backed away at a nod from Silas. “Come with me.”

“I can keep going,” Zeke insisted.

“Perhaps,” Silas allowed. “But sometimes, we need a little distance for certain lessons to sink in. Right now, the only cure for your bad habits and lack of technique is time and practice. It will not come in a day.”

“I know, but –”

“Enough,” Silas cut him off. “I admire your tenacity. If my other trainees had even half your staying power, the guard would be unmatched in all the Radiant Isles.”

Zeke almost blushed at the compliment, but he remained silent.

“You don’t have the foundation for this, yet,” he said. “Most of the time, our trainees spend years learning the basics before they’re expected to hold their own in a spar. You want to do it after three days. That you’ve even come close to holding your own is a testament to your talent. But there are limits, and you have a mission to complete.”

Zeke stowed his mace and shield in his spatial storage before running his hand through his sweaty hair. He’d been at it for hours, cycling through four different training partners. In a real fight, he could’ve easily outlasted any of them. But in a spar? He was sorely outmatched by even the greenest of trainees. It was frustrating, even if he knew it was necessary if he ever wanted to harness his own abilities.

It had been three days since Silas had offered them a mission, and they’d used that time well. While he trained with the would-be Radiant Guards, Abby was in the city gathering supplies and intelligence for their trip north to ascertain the fate of Talia Nightingale, the daughter of Lady Constance, who was supposed to be the most powerful woman in the Radiant Isles. When he’d asked why they had been offered such a mission, Silas had only said that they were uniquely suited to infiltrate the Micayne Estate.

In a way, it made sense. Zeke and Abby had cleared the Nightweb Ravine out. The Micayne Estate shouldn’t be much different, save for the flavor of the monsters. Abby had disagreed, but only on the basis that undead were different than any other creature. But due to Zeke’s durability and Abby’s [Cure Disease] skill, they would stand a better chance than most.

Abby hadn’t been convinced, though, and when she pressed, Silas had revealed that there was some sort of conflict between Lady Constance and Abraham Micayne. If she sent Radiant Guards, there was every chance that it would start a war. And no one wanted a war with an undead horde. Such a conflict could easily get out of hand and spread across the entirety of the Radiant Isles.

For his part, even though he knew there was likely far more to it than what he’d been told, Zeke didn’t need much convincing. He’d already planned on going north at some point, if for no other reason than that he wanted to figure out why the Crystal Spiders were kidnapping people and taking them in that direction. But he also found the idea of having an endless horde of undead from which he could farm experience attractive.

Finally, Silas had pointed out that a couple of people and a bear could sneak around the bulk of the undead horde and arrive at their destination a lot more easily than a group of armed and armored Radiant Guards, who were not known for their stealth or subtlety. That, as much as the offered reward, which was substantial, had tipped the balance for Abby, and she’d immediately started making her plans for the trip. Silas had provided them with as much intelligence as he had at his disposal, but he’d left the supplies up to them.

In the meantime, he’d decided to address Zeke’s weaknesses by training him until they left on the mission. Zeke had jumped at the chance, and though he still wasn’t anywhere close to skilled, he’d latched onto the training like it was a lifeline. It wasn’t really a surprise, considering how integral training and practice had been in his old life.

Silas led him from the training ground and to his office. Once they were inside, he said, “You are already stronger than me. Did you know that? Your stats are ridiculous. But you have no idea how to use them. Nor do you utilize your martial path.”

Zeke sighed. “I know,” he said. He’d felt as much already. In battle, he wasn’t nearly as agile as his stats suggested he should be; the only stat he managed to truly harness was his strength, and that was only when he found his back against a wall and the adrenaline began to pump through his veins. “I’m trying.”

The man harumphed. “I know, boy,” he said. “You’ve already improved, and in only three days. If I had a year with you…well, you could rival Abdul Rumas himself!”

Over the past few days, Zeke had heard a lot of about Abdul Rumas, who was supposed to be something of a legend. A paladin whose skills made him a powerful defensive warrior, he was what many of the Radiant Guard aspired to become. And he’d been part of the party that had gone missing in the Micayne Estate, which probably should have been a hint at just how dangerous the mission Zeke and Abby had accepted really was.

“We’re going to have leave within a day or so,” Zeke said, adjusting in his chair across from Silas. Most of the time, he barely even noticed his armor. It was only when he tried to relax that he was reminded of it. “Is there anything I need to know?”

“An entire library could be filled with what you need to know,” Silas stated. Ignorance was Zeke’s biggest weakness, and like his battle technique, it was a problem that only time could solve. To that end, Silas had given him a few books detailing the history of humanity on the Radiant Isles, a time frame that extended back more than two thousand years. “But regarding your mission? You’ve got the maps. You have the notes from our explorers. The way is clear; you only need to traverse it without angering too many monsters along the way.”

The plan was a good deal simpler than Zeke might have expected. There were two ways into the Micayne Estate. First, one could traverse the Farindale Forest, which spanned hundreds of miles and was mired in endless gloom. It was also infested with lower-leveled undead and would likely alert the residents of the Micayne Estate that they were coming. The alternative was more dangerous and would require them to skirt past territory claimed by frost giants, gnolls, and worse before turning east. This was the route Zeke, Abby, and Pudge would take.

Zeke suspected that when Silas suggested it, he had expected some sort of pushback. Or at least complaints. However, it sounded great to Zeke, who was eager to continue leveling. Monsters, he could fight. That was simple. It was only when he had to deal with people that things seemed to get bogged down. Abby was of a similar mind, and Pudge…well, Pudge was just along for the ride. So long as he stayed by Zeke’s side, he was happy enough.

“You’re going to want to avoid the frost giants,” Silas said, leaning back in his chair. “They’re extremely durable, and with their size and strength, they could squash you like a bug.” Silas studied his face for a moment, then sighed. “Why do you look excited about that?”

Zeke shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “I guess I’m still not used to this world. The idea of fighting a giant would have been ridiculous to me not that long ago. And now? I can’t help but wonder just how I’d match up.”

“Not well,” said the older man. “They’re stronger than you, and they have quite a bit more mass. That means that when they hit you, there will be a lot more momentum behind it. In a way, the strength stat is kind of relative. For instance, imagine a situation where there are two people with identical strength. One is a dwarf, while the other is a three-hundred-pound man. Which do you think would hit harder?”

“Uh…the same?” Zeke said, completely missing the lesson.

“No,” Silas said. “But yes, in some ways.  The dwarf is smaller, so his strength would be more concentrated. Like a bullet. But the bigger man, he’d pack more force just because of the extra momentum of moving that much mass. Does that make sense to you?”

Again, Zeke shrugged. “I guess,” he said. Indeed, he knew that the reason bullets were so deadly – or at least, they had been in the old world; now, he had no idea if guns even existed – was because of how concentrated the force was. The same could be said for his basic understanding of momentum. But what he didn’t know was how that would help him.

“My point is that you don’t want to get hit by a giant,” Silas said. “Or stepped on. In fact, you want to avoid them at all costs. It’s the same with the gnolls.”

“What do they do?”

“Kill everything they find,” Silas said. “They’re pack hunters, like wolves. But they’re not your typical beasts. They’re smart, they use weapons, and they’re very territorial. The path we’ve laid out for you will let you skirt their territory, but there’s still a chance you’ll run into them. If you do, kill the entire hunting party. Otherwise, you’ll have the whole damned tribe on you in the space of a day.”

“And that’s a bad thing,” Zeke said, wondering how he’d stack up against an entire tribe of gnolls. They’d been described to him as upright, humanoid canines, but that didn’t really tell him what to expect. “Right?”

Silas groaned. “Yes,” he said, shaking his head. “That is a very bad thing.”

“Noted.”

“Why do I get the feeling you’re not going to listen to any of my warnings?” Silas asked.

Zeke shrugged. “I’m not going to go out of my way to fight anything. Not unless there’s a good reason for it. But if they attack us, I’m not going to run away.”

“Because you’re a damned fool,” Silas said. “You remind me of me and my friends, back in the day. We were stupid too. Confident. Powerful. But ultimately, we were idiots. And we paid the price.”

“What happened?”

“Not a story I’m willing to tell right now,” Silas said. “In any case, Lady Constance wants to speak to you before you leave. So, go get cleaned up, and when Abby and that bear get back, I’ll take you to her.”

Zeke nodded. He’d expected that he’d eventually have to meet the woman. It was her daughter they were looking for, after all. Sure, the mission’s parameters were to find the entire party, but he wasn’t so foolish as to believe a mother wouldn’t be more concerned about her daughter.

“Alright,” he said, standing. “Then, we can get back to training, right?”

“You know you have to sleep, don’t you?”

“Not as much as you’d think,” Zeke said. He only needed a couple of hours a night to keep going. “And besides, I’ll have to sleep once we get on the road. For now, training is more important. I feel like I’m on the verge of breaking through.”

“Fine,” Silas said. “Now, go. You smell.”