Chapter 1 - Morning Training

In a whirl of wood and steel, Miles danced with his spear. With each powerful thrust he smote a foul monster dead. A bringer of death to his enemies, a bastion of strength to his allies. He turned, a creature snarling in anger! He raised his spear, ready to strike, and - Smack!

“Miles!” His father shouted, “You’re just flailing about! Calm yourself, and focus on how you’re moving. Make each thrust deliberate. Each step, thought out. Otherwise it’ll take you years to get Spearmanship!”

Like that, Miles was brought back to reality, back to their inner yard with his father. Miles rubbed his side, chastened, and picked up his training spear where he had dropped it. “Sorry, Dad. I got carried away.” It’s just too cool! He thought.

“I could tell. Now, come.” His Dad planted his feet in a firm stance next to Miles and held his spear in front, prepared to strike. Miles followed suit, taking his own stance. “Keep your feet planted like this until you make your thrust. Then, in one motion, step forward with your leading foot and thrust!” His father, in one clean motion, thrusted forward. The spear tip held there, unwavering, before his father pulled back. “Now, you.”

Doing his best to copy his father, Miles made his own thrust. “Good! Just like that. Make sure not to overextend yourself. That’ll leave you open to retaliation.” Miles grinned. That one was a good one. I was nearly there!

They’ve been training each morning for a whole week now, ever since his 8th birthday, going over the basics of footwork, stances, and thrusts of Spearmanship. Today though, Miles was feeling close to unlocking the skill. It was the reason he had been so excited earlier. The thrust that Miles just made had made that feeling even stronger.

“Dad!” He stepped back into his stance. “I think I’m close, I can feel it!”

His father grinned, “Good! We’ve gone over the basics. Now it's about putting it all together into something cohesive. Let’s spar. We still have an hour left. Let's see if we surprise Mom with a new skill of yours!” 

They faced each other. His father nodded to him. “You attack.” With that, Miles lunged forward and attacked. The thrust was easily deflected, his father slapping the wooden point to the side. Smack! Taking advantage of the opening, Miles was struck on the side. “Aaah!” he shouted in pain, but this time he kept a hold on his spear. He stepped back, readying for his next strike. “Always be ready for a counterstrike.” His father said, not advancing further to let Miles continue.

Miles tried striking once more. Though he was deflected again, this time he was ready for the counter. Using the shaft, he deflected his father’s strike and tried his own counter. That was deflected again, and Miles dodged to the side to avoid another counter thrust. “Don’t aim for the same spot! The spear allows for a lot of flexibility. Work the spear up and down, never let your enemy guess where you’ll strike next! Like this.” His father went on the offensive, and made a series of thrusts. Miles backed up, trying to block what he could, but he was quickly overwhelmed. He was struck in the shoulder, gut, and thigh. 

“Ooph!” Miles fell backwards and landed on his back. His training spear clutched stubbornly in his hand. His father knelt next to him. “Are you ok, son?” Miles nodded with a groan. Maybe I’ll unlock Pain Resistance as well.  “Good, let’s continue.” His father helped him up to his feet. They took their beginning places again, facing each other. 

It was another thirty minutes of sparring like that, during a small water break, when a soft series of dings echoed in his mind. Miles pulled up his Notifications, excitedly looking at what he gained.

Status Skills Quests Library Friends Notices Settings

Congratulations!

You’ve gained the skill: Spearmanship!

+50 EXP

You’ve trained under your father, learning the basics of the First Empirical Spear Style. You’ve proven you can actually make use of what you’ve learned. This skill will help you use it better.

Passive effect: Makes you more efficient at the Spear, reducing Stamina costs, and adds 0.10% of STR to damage. Adds an additional 0.10% per level.

You gained 1 level. +3 Free Stats

Congratulations!

You’ve gained the skill: Footwork!

+50 EXP

Prerequisite reached: Spearmanship

You’ve trained under your father, and you’ve learned how to move your feet, with the grace of the First Empirical Spear Style. You’ve proven you won’t trip over yourself, in battle or otherwise.

Passive effect: Helps you move quicker and more steadily, and reduces Stamina costs.

You gained 1 level. +3 Free Stats

Congratulations!

You’ve gained the skill: Thrust!

+50 EXP

Prerequisite reached: Spearmanship

You’ve learned how to properly thrust your spear. This skill will help you do it a bit better. Active Effect: Uses Stamina to empower a thrust attack. Adds 1% of STR to damage, Adds an additional 0.5% per level. Uses 10 Stamina.

You gained 1 level. +3 Free Stats

Miles couldn’t believe his eyes! He not only gained the Spearmanship skill that he was wanting, but getting that skill had unlocked two other skills! And three whole levels from the experience gained from the skills! Grinning from ear to ear, he shouted “Dad! Dad, I got three whole levels! And three skills!” He was jumping up and down excitedly, getting his Dad’s attention.

“That’s my boy!” His father said proudly. “Which skills did you get?”

“Spearmanship, Footwork, and Thrust!” At that his father cried out in joy and picked him up, gently tossing him up, and hugging him. His father set him back down, ruffling Miles’s hair.

“I can’t believe it! An attack skill, at your age!” Father exclaimed proudly. Miles beamed back at him, never being so proud in his life. “I’ll explain what that means exactly later. I’m proud of you. Place your stat points, then let's continue. Let’s get those skills up as much as we can today!”

Miles pulled up his Status Page. With the three levels that he gained, he had 9 skill points to place. He put 6 into Alacrity, to move faster, and was going to put another 3 into Strength, when he remembered his mom telling him to keep that 2:1 ratio between Alacrity and Acuity, so he placed the last 3 into Acuity, to avoid the backlash. Whatever that was.

Status Skills Quests Library Friends Notices Settings

General Info:

Name: Miles Reamore

Class: [Child of Ateia / Linus Reamore (Sta)] 

Race: Human

Level: 0th 50

Age: 8

Experience: 18 / 50

Health: 218 / 225

 H. Regen: 2.7 / day

Stamina: 332 / 405

S. Regen: 3.85 / day

Mana: 75 / 75

M. Regen: 1.4 / day

Stats:

Strength: 41

Intelligence: 10

Constitution: 40

Will: 5

Alacrity: 36

Acuity: 18

Pending Stat Points: 0

Favored Skills:

Running 0th 48

Tumbling 0th 30

Jumping 0th 23

Standard Language 0th 17

Empirical Language 0th 13

Mathematics 0th 22

Skills:

Cleaning 0th 15

History of The First Empire 0th 4

Spearmanship 0th 1

Footwork 0th 1

Thrust 0th 1

Miles grinned, finally having something to replace his language and Mathematics skills in his Favored Skill Slots. He moved those back down to the skill list, and moved his new skills up into his Class Slots. With that they should level a bit more in training, and work better.

“Alright! I put them into my Favored Skill Slots, now I’m ready to go.”

His father smiled at him, likely knowing which skills he replaced. “Good thinking, Miles. Just remember to switch them back out when you go to your classes.” ugh, fine. They returned to the center of the yard.

“Now. Your new skills are Spearmanship, Footwork, and Thrust. The first two are called passive skills. Just like your Running skill. They’ll always be boosting your fighting, and enhancing your instincts. This doesn’t mean you can ignore your training though! It can’t enhance anything you don’t have. You must learn the why and how each movement affects your fighting style.” Miles nodded along. “Thrust is different. It’s an active skill. It will only work when you choose to spend Stamina on it. It’s your first active skill, right?”

Miles rechecked his skills, “Yeah, the rest are passives.”

His father nodded. “With active skills like these there’s a danger to them. If you use too much Stamina, you’ll become nauseous and weak. If you use any more than that, you’ll fall unconscious and be bed ridden for days. How much Stamina do you have left and how much Stamina does your skill cost you?”

“I have 332 Stamina left, and Thrust uses 10.”

“And how many times do you think you can use Thrust?”

He had to think about that for a second. 332 divided by 10 is…. “33 times?”

His father shook his head. “Wrong. That would drop your Stamina to 0 and you’ll fall unconscious! You can get away with 31. That will leave you with 20 Stamina left. Use it again, and you’ll feel weak and nauseous. But, with practice and as the skill levels, you’ll be able to use it more often. Let's practice on the dummy.” They walked over to a wooden dummy at the side of the yard. “Do a regular strike first, then one with your skill. When you use the skill, focus on how you feel, on what changes within your body.”

Miles did so. First, striking the dummy with a straight thrust. The blunted wooden tip only left a small dent on the dummy. He repositioned himself and activated Thrust. Immediately he felt power in his arms and he struck. It felt a lot smoother and natural, as he stepped into the thrust. Surprisingly there was a loud crack, and Miles watched in amazement as the spearhead was embedded halfway into the dummy. The power left as soon as it came, and his arms shook slightly.

“Good! Now, tell me. What were you able to feel?”

“Well, when I used the skill, I felt really strong in my arms. Then, when I struck, it felt a lot more natural. Then, when I hit the dummy, all that power left and now my arms feel a bit weaker. Kinda shaky.”

“That power you felt was the Stamina that the skill uses. It was gathered to prepare for your strike, and was used up in the thrust. Whenever you use that skill, I want you to focus on that power. Where it comes from, and how it moves through your body. With time and practice, you’ll be able to have greater control on how much is used up. You’ll be able to empower the skill even further, or weaken it depending on what you need. But that will come with time. For now though, I think another spar is in order. Only use Thrust 1 more time. We don’t want to drain all your Stamina all in one day.”

Use Thrust during a spar? Against Dad? He gulped as he glanced back at the dummy, now with a large split in the chest. His Father noticed, and laughed. “Don’t worry, son. You won’t hurt me. It’s important that you learn to weave your Thrust skill naturally into your fighting. You don’t want to take too long to activate it, nor give your enemies clues that you’re using a skill. You can only do that by using it in practice.”

Miles nodded, but he still wasn’t too sure. But if his Dad said so, then it should be fine. They moved back to their places, and got back to sparring. Miles could tell the difference that Spearmanship and Footwork were making. Everything felt a lot more natural and he reacted faster to his father’s attacks. They sparred for a while, until he found a moment to use Thrust and activated the skill. Again, power filled his arms. It came too fast to tell where it came from like his father said. Instead he focused on how it felt. He felt it residing in his arms, a thrumming strength that made him feel that he could lift anything. It was - Smack! His father had smacked him in the side again. In the same spot! The power of the skill had left him, the skill wasted.

“You can’t lose focus in a fight, Miles. You left yourself wide open.” His father laughed.

“Dad! You made me waste the skill! It used up the Stamina and didn’t do anything.”

“If you lose all concentration on the skill, or don’t follow through with it, it’ll do that. All the  Stamina spent on it will dissipate and you lose it. Take that to heart. When fighting, every point of Stamina counts. It might as well be a death sentence to waste resources like that. Overtime, we’ll practice not losing your skill if you get hit. For now though, I think you’ve used up enough Stamina for today. We want to leave enough Stamina for the rest of this week’s training. We still have 15 minutes. In the remaining time, you’ll practice meditating.” Miles groaned, meditation is the worst! “Every warrior worth his salts has Meditation! It’s a valuable skill that’ll help you recover after battles. Now come, sit with me.”

They sat together, cross legged and back straight. “Close your eyes, and relax.” His father’s voice took on a more soothing tone. “Deep breathe in, slow breathe out. Clear your mind.” They sat together in silence, his father meditating, Miles fidgeting. He wasn’t anywhere close to gaining the skill. There had been some dings in his head before he sat down, but he knew now wasn’t the time to check. It was a long 15 minutes.

~~~

Afterwards, they put the training spears away and wiped themselves down in the washroom, not having enough time to draw a full bath. Instead, they used some water in a bucket heated with their runed heating stone and soap.

He changed into a clean red tunic that ended just above his knees and a small black belt that he used to hang a small pouch. Strapping on his sandals he was ready for the day. He checked what he gained from the latter half of sparring.

Status Skills Quests Library Friends Notices Settings

Spearmanship gained 5 levels. +5 EXP

Footwork gained 4 levels. +4 EXP

Thrust gained 2 levels. +2 EXP

This day just gets better and better. He ran out of his room and into the kitchen where his Mom had made breakfast. “Mom! I gained three skills! Three!” He shouted joyfully, laughing as he hugged her. It wasn’t everyday that he could see his Mom in the morning and he was glad he got to share the news with her so soon. She laughed with him and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

“That’s wonderful! My little boy’s becoming so strong!”

“Yeah! One of them is called Thrust, and it makes you super strong!” He flexed, “Someday, I’ll be as strong as Dad!”

She beamed at him, and gave him a kiss on his forehead. “I look forward to it, sweety. We’ll have to celebrate tonight! Now, eat your breakfast before it gets cold. You have class soon. You don’t want to be late!”

His father came in as he sat at the table. His mother greeted him with a kiss. “Good Morning! I heard Miles got 3 skills today.”

“He unlocked Spearmanship today, and with it came two other skills. Footwork and Thrust.” His father said proudly, the entire family was happy with the news. “In just over a week of training! He’s got some true talent, I tell you. I was expecting closer to a month just to get Spearmanship. He takes to it naturally. Now if only he didn’t lose focus so easily.”

They ate breakfast together, discussing plans for a special dinner that night. Then they all left the house. They skirted the bustling streets of the city center, but even so the streets were full. There were a lot of large apartments lining the streets, with the ground floors being stores. The cobbled streets themselves were full of carts, wagons, and crowds. The crowds were going about their business, heading to work or running errands. Most were humans, being in the empire, but there were a lot of dwarves, elves, and various types of beast-folk. All of it together made for a loud racket.

On their way, his parents would point at someone and Miles would try and figure out what class they were. It was supposed to be a type of training to get another skill called Analyze. Miles enjoyed it, thinking of it as a type of game. One interesting character was a gnome. They were rare, here in the Empire. Judging by his attire, Miles thought the gnome would likely be some sort of priest. Maybe a healer? He was still a ways off from actually getting the skill, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t be too much longer. Another skill his father wanted him to train while out on the streets was Vigilance, which would help him spot danger. Though it wasn’t pushed very much, his father only reminded him occasionally to watch out for shady people.

Eventually though, they came to an intersection and they had to split off. His mother went to the mage’s tower, where she worked as a mage there to study magic. He and his father went to the Waesdove’s villa. His father served as the captain of their personal guard, and it was also where Miles is being taught.