Sharp

When I finished with Healer Remore the classes for the day were out. I decided to go to the eatery for an early dinner. I picked up a few looks as my fur was still patchy, and my missing fang was obvious. I went down the servery and piled the plate high with vegetables, and then when I got back to the table, I added the snake meat. There was probably enough for one more meal.

Kai moved from my shoulder to the table, and I fed him some vegetables. One would always be absorbed inside me, so I didn’t lose them all.

“Theo,” I heard the yell, and Val was heading toward me with Akemi in tow. She got close and saw my missing fur and fang, “What happened to you?”

“Healer Remore didn’t say?”

“No, she only asked about your room.”

“I was attacked walking home last night.”

“What!” both girls sat around my table, looking concerned. Val continued, “How bad were you hurt?”

“Superficial except for the fang, two Kai’s died, and Ardisia needs time to heal.”

“Oh, I am so sorry. Did they catch them?” Val asked.

“Yes.”

“Um,” Akemi spoke for the first time, “Who is Ardisia?”

“Sorry, that is my other familiar. You haven't met her yet.”

“You have two familiars?” Val said. “I am jealous. I don’t have any.”

“Me neither,” Akemi said, “although I do have a last skill to awaken, so I am saving up for a stone that could give me one.”

“Theo,” Val said, turning serious, “We are sorry for not treating you better.”

“You did nothing wrong,” I said. “I am not in a good place. You saved Josh from serious injury by dragging him out of my room.”

“I would have seriously injured him if it had been my room,” Val said. “Anyway, we want to get to know you better. Is there something we can do together with you?”

“Actually, there is. Healer Remore has said I need to get some things for my room, and I don’t know where to start.”

Both girls' eyes lit up, “We could go to the evening market tonight!” Val said.

“I don’t have a lot of coins to spend,” I warned, “and I need an awakening stone for a movement skill urgently.”

“You can find some real bargains at the market,” Val said, and Akemi nodded in agreement. “I also have a number of movement skills. What are you looking for?”

“I need something that gives me a burst of speed to move in a fight. I might have been able to save my familiar if I had it or avoided the fight altogether.”

“I know the awakening stone you need,” Val said. “It gave me one of my favourite skills. The stone is called Flick, and it gives me the ability to speed up in bursts, not just in movement but also in other actions, like my sword attacks. It is in my Dance Essence, which gives me a lot of movement and flexibility options.”

“Dance?” I asked.

“I have the Sword, Adept and Dance essences, giving me the Master confluence.”

“I am a bit jealous,” Akemi said. “I wanted the Dance essence, but I have all common essences, Magic, Water and Adept, leading to Hydromancer.”

“I am a bit different,” I said. I decided opening up a bit was a good idea. “I have the Sharpen, Hunt and Plant, leading to the Reaper essence. I have skill openings in all of them, so I am not sure where a movement skill would go, but Flick does sound like what I am looking for. What rarity is it?”

Val’s face dropped a bit, “Uncommon, I think.”

“I might be able to afford an uncommon skill stone. There was a bounty on my attackers.”

“That is good news. The Skill I got has a High Mana per second cost, so you will probably be looking at the same,” Val warned.

I nodded. They got some food and brought me up to speed on our shared classes. I missed the first Fitness, Intro to Magic and Aura control. The last slot of the day is the optional classes, and I did not have mine scheduled then, so it was free.

Then we headed to the night market. When they found out I had a storage space, I was soon carrying things for them, especially Val. I think Akemi was not as well off like me.

We shopped the merchants for Awakening stones as well, and one had Flick. They were all surprised when I bought it without further consultation.

“It is the sort of thing I need, I said, and it fits with the advice Professor Petrov gave me.” I shrugged, “I need to be catching up with everybody.”

By the time we got back to the Academy, I was well and truly peopled out. They wanted to help me sort my room then and there, but I needed space. I promised they could help tomorrow. I retreated to my Garden. The evening was surprisingly OK.

“Where were you yesterday, Narelli?” a loud, booming voice greeted me as I entered the gym. A huge Leonid was approaching me. I was small for a Leonid; he was overly large with huge muscles. He looked at me as if I were a piece of meat.

“I was resting, sir, on the orders of my healer.”

“And that, people,” he addressed everyone, “is the only excuse I will accept. And I will check. Which Healer Narelli?”

“Healer Remore, sir.”

He nodded. “You can call me Instructor Mosi. Follow Kristos. She will show you what to do. Everybody else was here yesterday and has Iron Rank Spirit Attributes, so there is no excuse for them to be standing around looking like they don’t know what they should be doing!”

There was a flurry of activity as the class started stretching exercises.

“Narelli,” the instructor said marginally quieter. “Stretches first, follow Kristos, then you run the obstacle course.” I looked over the field at the absolutely huge obstacles, walls, ropes, and tunnels, and that was all I could see. “You will be timed. You should complete it once today, and if you do, you can start again. In two months, everybody should be running it twice in the allocated time, and then we turn on the active obstacles.” He said that last part with a grin.

He left us to it.

Val said, “Just follow what I do. Not everyone finished the course yesterday.”

“I didn’t,” Akemi said.

“You can use movement skills,” Val said, “in fact, it would be impossible to complete some areas without them. However, Instructor Mosi does not accept Mana fatigue as a valid reason for stopping. You can also help others, but your time is individual, and there is a ranking.”

“I will follow you.” Then I changed my mind, “I am probably best off following Akemi instead. Val has multiple movement skills.”

Val grinned. “The first few times, it is learning the course. I wouldn’t worry about the time.”

It was brutal, and it pushed me hard. I barely finished the course once. We start the day with this, and it is scheduled every day. I did work out how to use my new skill to jump. I just had to time the boost as I powered my legs.

It was a Sharpen Skill, which surprised me.

Quick Sharp {Flick Stone} Level 1

Iron Rank: Boost movement speed for high mana / sec cost.

Timing the boost is critical. I will have to practice with my skills. This is compatible with all my active skills, Pierce, Rend, and Hunters Step. I need more active attack skills. I can see this skill being useful in many ways. When I threw the sharpened shield, I could have used it in the throw and in various alternate ways like that.

I think throwing is going to be a key part of what I do. It will be my ranged skill without being an official skill, although a ranged skill could boost it like the melee Pierce Skill. A power throw-type skill, along with Quick Sharp, could be powerful.

Traps are first. I checked out the Web Stone, and it was quite cheap. It is probably next.

After Fitness was Intro to Monsters, we were given excerpts from the Adventure Society records of specific monsters and strongly encouraged to buy the full book they produced. We would get the student discount. Val already had the book and would leave it on the table in our common area for us to use.

After Lunch, we had our first group tactics course. This semester, we were encouraged to work with multiple people and not form fixed groups. When we started in the Mirage Chambers mid-semester, Professor Prefiti would assign groups and mix everyone up, so we had experience working with multiple skills and personalities.

“Personality is as important as Skill,” was a repeated saying.

We could start forming more regular groups in the second semester, although she would still move people around if she thought we had something to learn. There would always be something to learn.

For me, the final class of the day was Melee Basics. We were split into groups of weapons classes. Swords were by far the most common. Nobody but me used an axe. There were three of us using spears. I left the spears and went with the shield users as I conjured a shield, so It was always going to be a basic. We could swap after a month of training, but more was recommended.

What we were taught was a technique for using the shield. This first technique was for basic use, and we could specialise more later. I was interested in the Shield as a Weapon technique, but the basics were first. There were a lot of defence specialists in the group, and not all shields were physical.

Then, the ladies helped me set up my room. It didn’t take long and still looked sparse compared to the common room, but it was fine. I made the bed and will try sleeping in it tonight. The mattress was more comfortable than the ground.

The ladies also wanted to meet Ardisia, so I manifested her. They were not sure how to treat her. She was not an animal with soft fur. She was all sharp thorns and vines. They tried.

We got to talking about me making traps.

“You are overcomplicating it,” Val said. “Just get the Trap Awakening Stone, and you will have a reliable, working trap. It could go with any of your essences and is pretty common. In fact, get two of them.”

I stopped, and it was as if my mind had woken up. She was right. “Thank you. That makes a lot of sense. I will certainly get one, maybe more.”

Before I did that, I needed to sell the sword, ring and snake goods I looted from the attackers. I didn’t want the others there, or they might start asking questions, and I was not ready to reveal a skill like Reaping Magic. It will bring to much attention.

That evening, I went out to a tailor and showed her the snakeskin. There was more skin there than was on the snake. I assume it was because I kept putting magic into it. It was only Iron Rank Skin, and she asked me if I wanted something made with it? I declined and was paid in coins.

Nobody really wanted the snake tooth, and I sold it for a pittance. The sword and ring were dodgy and probably stolen, so I only got a pittance for them as well. I almost kept the sword, but I didn’t want another type of weapon at this stage.

I went out and bought the Trap stone. This would be the last purchase for quite a while, as I only had my weekly allowance from now on. This completed my Hunt Essence. It was a tether-type trap.

Hunters Tether {Trap Stone} Level 1

Iron Rank: Create a rod that sends out tethers, restricting movement and stopping stealth. The tether rod binds enemies, dragging them to the centre, and explodes if destroyed.

The tethers did not do any damage as others I had heard about, but it did stop stealth. I could deal the damage. This trap filled a gap in my skills that I hadn’t realised. It restricted the movement of multiple enemies at once. This would work for flyers diving at me as well. I was very pleased.

I now had only three skills to go, and I was broke again.