As for the shield,
on one hand, Raine considers survival above all.
If he can make good use of a shield, not only can it block sword and arrow attacks—even magic attacks—it can at least lessen the damage.
On the other hand, of course, it's because Tutor Humbert in front of him is skilled with shields.
In a way, this was an opportunity to get in touch with warrior class combat skills, though Raine had never seen shield-related combat skills before.
"Spear Stabbing and Shield Block, the tuition is two silver coins and three silver coins respectively, for one month. Tutor Humbert will instruct every morning, and afternoons are for free practice."
"Also, after one month, whatever you've learned, Tutor Humbert's teaching ends."
"Mr. Rein, can you accept this?" Liya quickly reported the price.
"Of course." Hearing the tuition, Raine was slightly taken aback.
After all, the tuition was far from cheap.
But if he could really learn something useful, it'd be well worth it. After all, nothing is more precious than life during adventures.
After paying, Raine was quickly taken over.
"Tutor Humbert, this is the new Raine, here to learn Spear Stabbing and Shield Block."
"Mm, have you practiced before?" Humbert looked Raine up and down, asking casually.
"No."
"Try stabbing the scarecrow with all your strength."
"Alright, Tutor Humbert."
"Whoosh!"
Raine took up the spear and, almost with his full strength, stabbed fiercely toward the scarecrow.
With a 'thump', straw flew everywhere!
Facing his future tutor, Raine had no intention of holding back.
"Not bad, you really haven't practiced before?" Humbert looked at Raine, slightly doubtful.
Just now, the spear thrust from the young man was quite good in terms of power and speed, only the aim was slightly off and the force a bit immature.
"Uh... If it counts, I've used a pitchfork before," Raine scratched his head.
"Pitchfork? Alright, I see you have decent physical talent, but your aim and force need work."
"Also, if you want to pair with a shield, you should start practicing single-handed spear stabbing now."
"It'll feel awkward at first, and not very powerful, but it's a step you must take." Humbert thought for a moment and added.
"Okay, Tutor Humbert."
"By the way, have you learned Shield Block?" Humbert glanced at the small round shield Raine just bought.
"No."
"Alright, then let's start with the shield. Follow me."
With that, Humbert walked toward the center of the training field with his hands behind his back.
"Counting you, there are five new shield learners these two days. Tutor Humbert will demonstrate in public." Liya, walking behind, whispered.
"Mm." Raine's heart lifted.
Witnessing a dwarf warrior's demonstration was definitely a good thing.
Humbert, short and stocky, picked up a heavy steel shield from the side of the practice field, gave it a little swing, then began his explanation:
"Those of you who want to learn Shield Block, watch closely!"
"Holding a shield isn't like carrying a door board—this is the correct stance!"
Humbert abruptly lowered his knees, his left arm bent with the shield across his chest, the lower edge of the steel shield almost fully covering his knees.
The already stout figure was almost armored as a big iron lump.
"Drop your center, feet apart, tighten your waist like a spring, and don't block with your shield straight up or sideways. Adjust the angle according to different attacks—this takes lots of practice."
"Come, you—swing at me!" Humbert pointed at a young man practicing with a great sword.
"Yes, Tutor Humbert."
It seemed this young man had seen Humbert's demo more than once; Raine could see he wasn't holding back.
The young man dashed forward three steps, then leapt with all his strength, chopping down heavily toward Humbert's left arm holding the steel shield—a powerful jump slash!
"Clang!!!"
Sparks flew everywhere!
But Raine was shocked—Humbert's left arm holding the shield stood like a reef on the shore, unmoving, not even the slightest tremor.
Raine also noticed that, compared to before the opponent swung, Humbert had made a subtle adjustment to his shield angle.
"Again, the demonstration wasn't clear enough." Realizing the strength gap, Humbert spoke again.
"Yes, Tutor!"
Seconds later, as the young man's face flushed, he leapt again and smashed down with his two-handed sword, Raine noticed Humbert deliberately adjusted the shield angle and lowered it in response.
"Clang!!!"
"Did you see clearly?"
"All of you practicing Shield Block, remember—blocking is 'deflecting force', not 'taking it head-on'!" Humbert said in a deep voice.
Blocking is 'deflecting force,' not 'taking it head-on'?
Raine turned that over in his mind.
Recalling Humbert's downward shield move, it was clearly to direct the force of the two-handed greatsword downward.
From that one sentence, Raine realized that this dwarf Humbert really knew his stuff.
Still, why was such a skilled dwarf warrior staying in a small place like Mill Town?
After thinking briefly, Raine shook his head and decided not to dwell on it.
He was here to learn and improve—he'd leave that question for later.
"Otherwise, you'll face an ogre one day, and just one hit with a wooden hammer will break your shield-bearing arm." Humbert added.
"Remember! Always watch the angle of the enemy's weapon swing, and adjust at any time."
...
After carefully watching Humbert's demonstration, many young people on the field began practicing immediately.
Raine, of course, was no exception.
For half a month straight,
Raine lived a near-routine life.
In the morning, he detoured from the Oak Inn to a patch of dense woods outside the town, used the Freezing Ray magic he'd gained from the Mutated Goblin twice, then headed to the Mill Town Adventurer Association Branch to practice Shield Block and Spear Stabbing.
He only returned to the Oak Inn to rest when night was about to fall.
During that period, Raine tried hunting field mice and rabbits, even ran into a wandering wild wolf, but didn't acquire any bloodline talents.
So, Raine wondered if maybe only humanoid creatures like goblins worked?
Or maybe it had to be a demon?
After all, according to the Adventurer's Association, goblins are classified as the lowest level of demons.
...
Early morning.
Clearing in the forest on the southwest edge of Mill Town.
Raine fired a blue beam as thick as a thumb, accurately hitting a tree trunk about twenty meters ahead.
After working on precision for some time, Raine was now able to aim the Freezing Ray very well.
However, when he removed the Cold-Enhanced Goblin icon from his bloodline bar, he found himself unable to cast 'Freezing Ray' anymore.
Although Raine had a faint impression in his mind of how to use Freezing Ray, it was far too vague to actually cast the spell.
"After training I've improved, but once I remove the icon, it's still unusable."
But after these attempts, Raine found his daily practice could strengthen that impression.
Just the speed of improvement was too slow.
It might take years for him to finally master this simple zero level Freezing Ray.
"Huh, wait."
Suddenly, an idea flashed through Raine's mind.
He focused his attention on the Frost Affinity bloodline talent:
[Frost Affinity (passive) Level 1: Whenever you use any Ice Spell, power increases by 10%; whenever you learn any Ice Spell, learning speed increases by 20%.]
"Maybe there's a faster way to learn magic—by stacking Frost Affinity."