As I stood in the grass, wooden staff in hand, my thoughts raced. Holy crap, what in the gods made me think this was a good idea!?
"Pride, guilt, and a bit of a hangover."
Will said unhelpfully. Jax stood, wearing his normal attire. I however looked like a walking marshmallow. I was in leather training gear, puffy and bulky, it was hard to move in but provided padding against Jax's strikes, I had already felt one without intent behind it, so I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared. Around us Liora, Selene, Thalia, and Kaelen stood. A set of stakes had been placed in the ground Thalia's strings making a cage-like fighting area. A couple of people had gathered to watch the spectacle, but most walked past as Selene and Kaelen tried to give words of encouragement.
"You get the first strike."
Jax said grinning nonchalantly
I ran forward as fast as the training armor would let me as I ran straight at Jax, I jumped to the side and thrust out, my stick striking against Jax's side as the familiar white glow appeared, Jax turning his head to look at where I had tried to strike his shoulder.
You have used item training spear(E) on Party leader Jax
Party leader Jax has used skill Lifeforce Control(E)
Party leader Jax has spent 1 Ki to take 0 damage
"There's no power behind it; you were too focused on moving around to get a hit in to put any thought behind how to get power behind it."
Jax suddenly burst into movement as I saw Jax's paw coming for my chest. I slammed the end of the spear into the dirt and braced to block the blow with the shaft of the spear. Jax however swung his paw down, getting partially buried in the dirt. As I stared at Jax's paw in bewilderment Will yelled.
"Oh fuck, BRACE!"
I was too slow, Jax had planted his paw to bring his legs around, it wasn't even a full strike as Jax had planted his paw and kicked out, but I flew 10ft back and skidded on the ground. My side flared in pain as the system unhelpfully appeared before me
Party leader Jax has landed a strike against you.
Your item Training Padded Leather(E) reduces the incoming damage
You have taken 7 damage
I was barely halfway up when Will yelled
"Shit, he's not letting you get up!"
Whipping my head around I tried to scramble to my feet. I had barely turned, my staff in a half assessed, rushed stance but Jax was already behind me felt a blow to my lower back as I cried out in pain and flew forward, falling face down as I skidded for a moment.
Party leader Jax has landed a strike against you
Your item Training padded Leather(E) reduces the incoming damage
You have taken 8 damage
Will flashed another warning to me as I stood, swinging my staff around in a wide arc, Jax could have simply rushed through it, but he jumped back from the flimsy desperate attack.
"You Cough could at least let me get up!"
I said stumbling to my feet, my breathing heavy.
"You think Ymer is going to let you get up so slowly without trying to finish you off? If you're going to train to fight even only partially in melee, you're going to learn how to do it well."
A part of me agreed with his logic, but the other part was rather infuriated. I checked my HP as I stayed on Guard and Will did my quick thought process for me.
"Ok, were not winning this fight, what we need to do is figure out how he is being more effective that we are with our attacks. All of his attacks have been from strange angles, he's doing something we didn't."
I gave up on offense, my legs tense and ready to spring as I held my training spear in a ready position. Jax didn't question it, instead rushing in. Jax rushed in, he started right as I began to turn, but as I turned to follow he vanished.
"FEINT!"
Will yelled as I tried to turn back in time, but the feeling of the blow on my side told me I wasn't fast enough. I was lifted airborne as I looked back at Jax, on only his back paws, he had spun to strike with his front forepaw. I had to figure out what he was doing, something was happening I couldn't see. However as I started to land and roll from the force, both Will and I noticed what he had done.
"He plants a foot before he strikes."
We both said at the same time, well Will said it, I said something more along the likes of.
"He plan-nciwqb Ow, ow, ow."
Around me I heard the strings retract as I reached up, despite the growing bruise on my back, and side as I pulled off the helmet and took a moment to breath outside the sweaty confines of the cursed equipment.
Party leader Jax has landed a strike against you
Your item Training padded Leather(E) reduces the incoming damage
You have taken 5 damage
Training combat has ended
Your understanding of melee combat with a spear grows
Your soul stirs
You have been assisted by Party leader Jax
Your soul stirs
You have had an insight to the flow of combat
Your soul stirs
Your training reveals a new tab in your system
Tab: Training has been unlocked
As everyone else packed up the vehicle, Selene was applying Healing salves to my bruises.
"Why, ow, again can't Kaelen just heal me?"
"W-Well having a bruise lets you get used to pain easier, that way even if you get bruised in a fight you can keep going and it won't slow you down."
Selen said with a smile as she wrapped my sides as I held my arms up. Glancing at my system screen It normally was divided into 7 tabs. Stats, Titles, Skills, Passives, Weapon, Armor, and Items. However sure enough there was an 8th tab tabled Training. Tapping over to it It showed what looked to be a blank box with two tabs within it.
One was Labeled Accel Thought(E) while the other was labeled Basic spearmanship(E) There were no stats next to each one, but I saw that each had a strange stat next to them. Both had the words difficulty of understanding. Basic Spearmanship was lower at 94 while Accel Thought was at 96.
"Hey Selene, do you have this training tab thing?"
I asked as I lowered my shirt from where Selene finished applying the bandages.
"Y-Yes, it shows what it will take to understand a skill."
I blinked at her confused as she took a moment to think before saying.
"S-Skills you train come in the form of understanding them fully, what skill books are is written down understanding that lets you learn a skill instantly. When training some people get an understanding quickly even despite the higher difficulty, but others must practice to lower the difficulty of understanding before they can fully grasp it."
I thought for a moment, glancing back at the training tab as Selene stood to help the others pack up. As I stared for a moment I dismissed the system screen and started to help pack up. As we did I sat in the front where Liora was with me, in her hands were a selection of 4 quests she had grabbed from the board. They seemed to range, but as she read them over she spread them onto a part of the dashboard.
I waited for everyone to hop in, and Selene to give the thumbs up before I started the vehicle and we started to drive down the path. Glanced down to my fuel and we had enough for around 150 miles, but after that we would be out, so we would have to find a carbuncle farm soon.
"Uh, I can't decide, Hollowcreek, your not a pervert like the mutt, which of these do you think we should do when we get to Rosepebble?"
She held up the 4 pages for me to look at as we drove at a steady pace down the road.
Fungal Fiber Fetch (E)
A weaver has run out of spider silk thread but believes a breed of web-fungi in the Rootshade Groves may provide a similar substitute. Collect 3 fungal threads and don't inhale the spores.
Reward – 750 Gold + 1 Spore-Spun Wrap
Failure – 450 Gold for spoiled loom goods
Stonebone Recovery (E)
Children claim a bone beast sleeps beneath the Stoneflower Shrine. Investigate and recover 1 fused phalange from the offering pile without disturbing the remains.
Reward – 900 Gold + 1 Spirit-Warded Bone Charm
Failure – 500 Gold for shrine disruption and nightmares
Fieldstone Marker Reset (E)
The fieldstone markers on the east road have been knocked over by migrating beetleboars. Restore 6 boundary stones and check for moss damage.
Reward – 600 Gold + 1 Stabilizing Stone Band
Failure – 400 Gold for road misnavigation and disputes
Slickclaw Containment (E)
A hybrid creature bred by a traveling alchemist has escaped into the fields — part scorpion, part toad. Capture it using provided bait and return it alive.
Reward – 900 Gold + 1 Toxin Sample
Failure – 500 Gold for injured apiary and stung workers
Looking them over, each had its pros and cons. However while I had to mainly focus on the road, Will helpfully ran trough my train of thought.
"First one is a no go, no Idea how to treat spore inhalation or even what that will do, Fieldstone is a no because its too much money for an easy task, and I don't even want to think of what a Slickclaw would look like, which leaves the bone retrieval."
I pointed to the bone retrieval quest as Liora looked it over, nodded and put the others away as she passed the quest page back to the others, so they could take a look at what our next quest was.