Dawn of the Last Dragon Rider - Chapter 050 - Leveling Up (Patreon)

Enjoying another glass of cold milk, Kaen started considering what he should do for the day.  It was half over, and while walking to the guild hall wasn’t a long walk, he wanted to do something that would take his mind off of the mystery girl for a moment.

As he sat there, watching the servers prepare for tonight, a thought entered his head when his gaze swept the area the dancing had been at last night.

Skill Check

*****

Tracking 9

Cooking 8

Mining  13

Archery  25

1 Handed Sword 3

Brawling 7

Sneak  8

Story Telling 12

Charm Resist 8

Haggle  9

Dancing 13

*****

He was excited about his archery skill but realized that it would slow down the higher it became.  Even with his lifestone helping him with shots, it had not gone up like had had originally thought it would.  Kaen focused on how he had so easily acquired the last four.  Each time it had something to do with his lifestone calling out to him.

If he could make his lifestone more active, he could find a way to learn many more skills and perhaps master them all.

Sitting there contemplating those things made him think about his dad and how his lifestone might have worked.  Had his dad found a way to make his do this?  Was it only something he could do because of Pammon?  A groan escaped Kaen’s throat when he remembered Hess had mentioned it might be a month before someone would have any helpful news about all this.

Standing up from his chair, Kaen smiled and stretched.

“I’ll be back!” Kaen announced to the inn, and besides a few of the servers waving at him, it appeared no one else cared.

Laughing to himself, he moved toward the front door.  Time to try something out.

“Quit dropping your shoulder, and use your hips when you swing!”

Kaen nodded and attacked the master who was in charge of training at this school.  When he had walked in, someone had recognized him and summoned Master Bren.  Bren was more than happy to personally train him in skills with one-handed weapons and shields.

The last two hours had been a flurry of different weapons, all with a shield.  Each was a wooden training one, but getting hit with one still left a mark, even with the padded helm and other armor he wore.

Not once in that two hours had his lifestone activated.  No matter what he tried, he could not get it to react. Focusing on something, trying to be angry, letting himself get hit a few times, or even his usual breathing trick didn’t help.  He was frustrated even though he had managed to gain five skills because they were not what he expected them to be.

“Enough!” Bren shouted as he backed away from Kaen.  “Where is your mind at?  You seem to be all over the place with your focus.”

Lowering the wooden club and shield he was using, Kaen nodded.

“I’m overthinking this,” Kaen admitted.  “I guess I had some wild hair that learning and mastering these skills would be easy.”

Bren shook his head, chuckling as he watched Kaen slowly smile.

“Kaen, how old do you think I am?”

It was Kaen’s turn to laugh.

“If you were a woman, I would say twenty-nine, but since you aren’t, I will say you must be at least fifty.”

Bren leaned back and roared in the private room they were spared in.

“You are close.  I am forty-eight.  Do you know how long it took me to master each of these weapons I am trying to teach you?”

“A lifetime…”

Bren nodded and moved to a bench along the room, setting down the shield and club.

“Join me a minute, and let me share a little wisdom from a guy who knows a thing or two.”

Kaen nodded, went over to the bench, set his gear down next to Bren’s, and grabbed the water skin he had filled earlier.

“I am an old gold adventurer,” Bren informed Kaen.  “I don’t wear the token anymore because it no longer matters what I once was.  What matters now is what I can do for people and help them be smart when they are questing.  I have known too many adventurers who have died because they were unprepared or over their heads.”

Kaen nodded, well aware of both of those circumstances.

“What are the skill levels for each of the ones you gained today?”

Weapon Skill Check

Archery 25

1H Sword 5

1H Mace 3

1H Axe 3

1H Club 3

1H Shield 6

Kaen informed Bren of the ones he had just learned, choosing not to share just how high his archery was.

Bren nodded and smiled.

“Those are great starting points for one afternoon with an old guy like me,” Bren joked.  “Don’t be ashamed of where they sit right now. I am more impressed that a man with your talent with a bow is smart enough to pursue other weapons.  If your bow breaks, then what?  If a sword shatters, then what?  You are thinking like a silver adventurer that you are.”

Sitting there, Kaen smiled a little at that praise.  He had done this for all the wrong reasons, but he realized Bren was right.  He had a lot of ground to make up that he had missed by not questing for years like most silvers.

“Do you know how many skills most people would earn with me after sparing for an hour or two?”

“The way you ask that, I’m guessing not many.”

Brin chuckled and nodded.

“Hess did a great job training you, Kaen.  I knew him, not as a friend but of his skill with hammers and other weapons.  He has a sharp mind also.  Keep learning from him as long as you can.”

Taking a drink from the skin, Kaen relished in the water as it ran down his throat.  He offered it to Bren, who took it and took a drink as well.

“How many more sessions do you think it would take for me to get a ten in each of the skills?”

Bren handed back the water skin and then stretched out on the bench, putting his hands behind his head while he thought for a moment.

“I think your sword will take you another two or three days of four hours a day to hit ten.  You’re already proficient compared to the rest of your skills from practice with Hess.  The shield will likely be the first to hit ten because you use it with every weapon here.  The rest will probably take five or more days to get to ten.”

Doing the math in his head, it would take around two months or more to get all of them to ten if he could spend two days a week practicing with them here.

Chuckling, Bren looked at Kaen and saw him doing the math.

“You focused on the wrong thing, though.  Ask yourself, is it better to train all of them to ten or focus on one and try to get to twenty?”

Eyes going wide, Kaen realized Bren was right.

“A level ten skill isn’t going to do much against silver-ranked quests, is it?” Kaen asked, realizing what Bren was getting at.

“Exactly,” Bren declared as he lept off the bench as a twenty-year-old might.  He started doing a mock air battle.  “When you face a silver-ranked monster, you need to be at least above a twenty.  Their defense skill and armor will require much more if you want to land a shot on them.”

Turning to Kaen, Bren started to pretend to shoot a bow.

“When you fought those orcs, were they easier to kill than a goblin?”

“Goblins were far easier,” Kaen answered with a laugh.

“And the tier three one you faced.  How did it fare against your arrows?”

Kaen recalled what had happened.

“The same arrow that seemed to puncture or pierce the tier ones and tier twos easily barely did anything.  All of the shots I fired only went about four inches into the tier three orc.”

Returning to a standing position, Bren crossed his arms and nodded.

“Exactly.  That orc was a class three silver monster.  I know that one of your observers died, but Kaen, listen to me when I say that the fact the three of you managed to kill it is a testament to Luca, Aubri, and you.  We both know what would have happened had it just been one of you.

His throat felt dry as Kaen recalled how Pammon had asked him multiple times to run away and leave the others.  Even Pammon could tell how outclassed they were against that creature.

“It was all Luca,” Kaen whispered quietly.

Shrugging, Bren shook his head no.

“You all played a role.  You all gave him the room to do what he did.  He chose to fight to the end,” Bren stated as the tone of his voice got intense. “He knew he had to run or fight, and he chose to fight, knowing he would die.  He did what he did because he believed in what you will become!”

Kaen struggled with what Bren was saying.  It made no sense that Luca would die for him.

“Why would he die for me?  I wasn’t even ranked yet!”

Bren moved to where Kaen sat on the bench and squatted down so he could look up at his face.

“Luca may one day have become a gold token.  He was smart and decently powerful.  Many thought he was an ass because he saw things differently,” Bren declared as he smiled.  “He was intelligent enough to know that you three stood no chance.  Most others would have run for the cart.  Some would have told you to split up because they knew the orc would have followed your scent.  He didn’t.  He knew at that moment what you had done.  You single-handily defeated five orcs, which was a feat he could have never done, not even at that moment.”

It was too much for Kaen to absorb.  He had thought Luca didn’t like him most of the trip.  Hearing that Luca sacrificed himself like that so that he could live because Luca believed he would be greater than he could, hit him hard in his chest.

“What if I can’t?” Kaen mumbled.

“If you can’t, what?” Bren repeated.

“What if I can’t be what he thinks I can become?”

Bren stood up and moved to grab his shield and club.

“Then the only person who can determine how great you will become is you.  Will you honor his death and sacrifice by giving everything you have, working to be the greatest adventurer you can be, or will you slack off and do only the minimum amount of work, enjoying moments like you experienced yesterday?”

Looking up at Bren, who was standing with his shield and club in his hands, ready for Kaen to decide, Kaen knew what he needed to do.

Four hours later, Kaen smiled as he dropped his shield and crashed onto the bench.

Bren sat down beside him, breathing heavily and laughing between those deep breaths.

“I take back what I said earlier,” Bren gasped.

“Take back what?” Kaen asked between his labored breaths.

Shaking his head and wiping the sweat that was pouring down his forehead, Bren smiled.

“You can easily get a skill to twenty in a month if you train that hard every time.”

Kaen grinned and nodded.

Deep inside, he knew he had to.  The sacrifice Luca gave so that he could live was not something he could squander.