As Aiden stood in the grass, wooden training spear in hand, his 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 across from him, wearing his normal attire.
Aiden, however, looked like a walking marshmallow.
He was wearing padded leather training gear, bulky and puffy enough that moving felt like fighting a couch. It was hard to move in, but it provided padding against Jax's strikes.
Aiden had already felt one of those strikes without intent behind it.
He would be lying if he said he was not scared.
Around them stood Liora, Selene, Thalia, and Kaelen. A set of stakes had been placed in the ground, with Thalia's strings stretched between them to form a cage-like fighting area.
A few people had gathered to watch the spectacle, though most simply walked past while Selene and Kaelen tried to offer words of encouragement.
"You get the first strike," Jax said, grinning nonchalantly.
Aiden ran forward as fast as the training armor allowed.
Which was not very fast.
He charged straight toward Jax, then jumped to the side and thrust out. His staff struck Jax's side as the familiar white glow of Ki appeared.
Jax turned his head and looked at the spot where Aiden had tried to hit 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," Jax said. "You were too focused on moving around to get a hit in, so you did not think about how to put force behind the strike."
Jax suddenly burst into movement.
Aiden saw Jax's paw coming for his chest.
He slammed the end of the spear into the dirt and braced, blocking with the shaft.
Jax swung his paw down instead.
It struck the ground and partially buried itself in the dirt.
Aiden stared at the paw in bewilderment.
"Oh fuck," Will yelled. "BRACE!"
Aiden was too slow.
Jax had planted his paw to swing his legs around.
It was not even a full strike. He had only planted his paw and kicked out.
Aiden flew ten feet back and skidded across the ground.
Pain flared through his side as the System helpfully appeared in front of him.
Party Leader Jax has landed a strike against you.
Your item Training Padded Leather (E) reduces the incoming damage.
You have taken 7 damage.
Aiden was barely halfway up when Will yelled again.
"Shit, he's not letting you get up!"
Aiden whipped his head around and scrambled to his feet.
He had barely turned, his staff held in a half-formed, rushed stance, when Jax was already behind him.
A blow struck his lower back.
Aiden cried out and flew forward, landing face-first as he skidded across the grass.
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 through Aiden's mind.
Aiden stood and swung his staff in a wide arc.
Jax could have rushed through the flimsy, desperate attack.
Instead, he jumped back.
"You could at least let me get up!" Aiden coughed, stumbling to his feet, breathing heavily.
"You think Ymer is going to let you get up slowly without trying to finish you off?" Jax asked. "If you are going to train to fight, even only partially in melee, then you are going to learn how to do it well."
Part of Aiden agreed with the logic.
The other part was rather infuriated.
He checked his HP and stayed on guard while Will handled the quick thinking for him.
"Okay, we are not winning this fight. What we need to do is figure out how he is being more effective than we are. All of his attacks have come from strange angles. He is doing something we are not."
Aiden gave up on offense.
His legs tensed, ready to spring, while he held the training spear in a guarded position.
Jax did not question it.
He rushed in.
Aiden began to turn as Jax moved right.
But as Aiden followed, Jax vanished from his line of sight.
"FEINT!"
Will yelled.
Aiden tried to turn back in time.
The blow to his side told him he was not fast enough.
He was lifted into the air and looked back to see Jax balanced on his back paws. He had spun his body around to strike with his front forepaw.
Aiden needed to figure out what Jax was doing.
Something was happening that he could not see.
As he landed and rolled from the force, both he and Will noticed the same thing.
"He plants a foot before he strikes," they both realized at the same time.
Well, Will said that.
Aiden said something closer to,
"He plan—nciwqb—ow, ow, ow."
Around him, the strings retracted.
Despite the bruises growing across his back and side, Aiden reached up, pulled off his helmet, and took a moment to breathe outside the sweaty confines of the cursed training gear.
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 into 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 applied healing salves to Aiden's bruises.
"Why, ow, again can't Kaelen just heal me?"
"W-well," Selene said with a small smile as she wrapped his sides, "having a bruise lets you get used to pain easier. That way, if you get bruised in a fight, you can keep going and it will not slow you down as much."
Aiden held his arms up while she worked.
He glanced at his System.
Normally, it was divided into seven tabs.
Stats.
Titles.
Skills.
Passives.
Weapon.
Armor.
Items.
Now there was an eighth tab labeled Training.
Aiden tapped it.
The page showed what looked like a blank box with two smaller tabs inside it.
One was labeled Accel Thought (E).
The other was labeled Basic Spearmanship (E).
There were no stats next to either one, but they both had a strange value listed beneath them.
Difficulty of Understanding.
Basic Spearmanship had a lower number at 94.
Accel Thought sat at 96.
"Hey Selene," Aiden asked as he lowered his shirt after she finished applying the bandages, "do you have this Training tab thing?"
"Y-yes," Selene said. "It shows what it will take to understand a skill."
Aiden blinked at her.
Selene took a moment to think before explaining.
"S-skills you train come from understanding them fully. Skillbooks are basically written-down understanding that lets you learn a skill instantly. When training, some people can understand a skill quickly even if the difficulty is high. Others need to practice and lower the difficulty before they can fully grasp it."
Aiden looked back at the Training tab.
Then he dismissed the System screen and started helping everyone pack.
Once they were ready, Aiden sat in the front with Liora.
In her hands were four quests she had grabbed from the board. They seemed to vary quite a bit, and as she read them over, she spread them across part of the dashboard.
Aiden waited for everyone to climb in and for Selene to give a thumbs-up before starting the vehicle.
They began driving down the path.
Aiden glanced at the fuel gauge.
They had enough for around one hundred fifty miles, but after that, they would be out. They would need to find a carbuncle farm soon.
"Ugh, I can't decide," Liora said. "Hallowcreek, you're not a pervert like the mutt. Which of these do you think we should do when we get to Rosepebble?"
She held up the four quest pages for him to look over while they 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 do not 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 workers and stung fieldhands
Aiden looked them over.
Each had pros and cons.
However, while he focused mainly on the road, Will helpfully ran through his train of thought.
"First one is a no-go. No idea how to treat spore inhalation or even what it does. Fieldstone is a no because it is too little money for too easy a task. I do not even want to imagine what a Slickclaw looks like, which leaves the bone retrieval."
Aiden pointed to the bone recovery quest.
Liora looked it over, nodded, and put the others away before passing the quest page back to the rest of the group.
That, apparently, was their next quest.