Adventurer's Guild Training Area, in one of the indoor training grounds. A young man wearing black crow armor stood still in front of a weapon rack like a statue, indecisive about what weapon he should pick.
Hundreds of different training weapons specially made for training lined up neatly on the wall made him even more hesitant to choose.
The weapon comes in different sizes and shapes. Most of them are worn out due to frequent use, but some are already covered with moss because of their strange design.
After some consideration, the young man finally picked a standard one-handed wooden sword. Among the others, this weapon is the easiest to use, or at least he thinks so.
Swords are the most common weapon in Terrenia. Even archers usually carry them for extra protection. After swinging the sword a few times, the young man nodded before confidently walking toward the center of the arena.
'I've fought several wolf-like monsters in the Shadowless Forest, even nearly died several times. Facing a young man my age shouldn't be a problem.' He muttered in a low voice when facing a twin sword user who stood ten meters in front of him.
After assuming a battle stance, his opponent suddenly said, "Show me what you got, Jack!"
Kyle dashed before launching a swift diagonal downward slash using his left hand.
Subconsciously Jack raised his sword to block it. But his opponent suddenly withdrew his left hand halfway before launching another attack from the opposite direction.
'Sh*t! It was a feint!'
Jack panicked. He didn't have time to react accordingly and had to take the attack in a strange position. The difference in strength and momentum made his hand knocked backward, forcing him to take a step back.
'So heavy!'
A Standard one-handed sword is a little bigger than a twin sword. But when both of them collided, he could feel a pushing power that exceeded the strongest force he could muster.
The difference in strength, technique, and decisiveness is too much. Before Jack could rebalance himself, another strike was already aimed at his head.
Jack tried his best to block it while moving backward. But after a few moves, he couldn't keep up with Kyle's attack speed and loss. A complete loss.
Jack sat up and no longer held his weapon anymore, while Kyle's wooden sword was already aimed at his neck.
Surprisingly, both of them wear the same surprised expression.
On the one hand, Kyle did not expect that Jack actually didn't lie about his strength. He thinks his new friend was just being humble. On the other hand, Jack was shocked when realizing how easily he was beaten. Facing a human was more difficult than fighting a brainless monster.
He couldn't help but wonder. 'Is this the standard of this world? Damn! I didn't think that fighting real people would be this difficult.
'When I think about it, it's quite natural for them to possess some degree of martial arts to protect themself. This world is filled with danger and monsters after all.'
When he comes to his senses, Kyle is already offering his hand to help him stand up.
"Not bad… I guess…" Said Kyle awkwardly before asking two seconds later, "Still up for another round?"
After a brief pause, Jack answered, "...Of course. But wait, I need to change my weapon first."
On the way, Jack did some thinking. 'Fight using a sword isn't as easy as I thought. Turns out, facing a person head-on is quite frightening. Heeh… This is too much for a salaryman like me who spends most of his time sitting in front of a computer.
'I need to see Francis after this. I must learn how to protect my own self first. Otherways, I will die before I even find another monster to increase my level.'
The need to become stronger pushed him to continue the sparring. He switches to another weapon for every sparring season to find which one of them is more suitable for him.
For the second try, he picked a wooden spear with safety at both ends. This weapon was his second choice because he has used it when in Shadowless Forest, even practice with it for some time.
The length is quite long, so he thinks that this kind of weapon is safer for him. Being too close to the enemy is quite frightening. With a spear, he could attack his enemy from quite a distance.
Besides, Tarud is in the process of making a first-rate spear for him. 'A spear worth 30 gold coins should be extraordinary. Maybe even stronger than a Unique grade weapon. From what I know, a Unique grade weapon is only worth about five gold coins.'
But the reality is not always as sweet as we hoped for. The second round ended faster than the first. 'Sh*t! This doesn't work too. Although I could attack my opponent from afar, it got more out of hand if the enemy could get close to my body.'
When the sparring rounds count reaches 10, Jack is already out of stamina to the point that Kyle needs to help him stand.
Jack was so embarrassed because he couldn't even last for an hour against Kyle. On the other hand, Kyle was trying to comfort him by encouraging him to take the Adventurer Development Program from Francis.
When they return to the workshop, Tarud is holding a giant dark brown hammer with a unique square head. One of its faces is jagged like a meat hammer when the other face is smooth. Both of them have different functions.
Its handle was dark and as tall as Jack. With just one look, he knows that the hammer was special. In terms of appearance and the aura it exudes.
"This is my main weapon. The only magic weapon that I make with my master, "Terraformer."
"You are free to observe it. In fact, I want to know what you think about it."
Tarud put his giant hammer in a unique weapon rack before letting Jack inspect it.
Terraformer
A weapon made by Tarud and his master by combining seven different kinds of metal as its main material. One of them is ???, the strongest metal on Terrenia. Skills: [Earthspike Smash] [Shield Buster] [Earthbending]
'This!'