We spent a while checking out swords. Raon explained to me that the |Blade Master| class allowed him to seamlessly wield two weapons in general. So there could be a sword and spear combo, or a scythe and hammer combo. It made me wonder why it was called |Blade Master| instead of |Dual Wielder|.
"What are you feeling? You want two swords or some kind of weird matchup?" [Solace]
"Hm… I don't know. I'm unfamiliar with all of them. I never really touched a weapon in my life." [Raon]
"Really? Don't nobles go through some form of formal swordsmanship class?" [Solace]
"Not mine. It was mostly learning about territory management." [Raon]
Guess not all noble houses are the same.
"I remember you knowing a bit about weapons. What would you suggest?" [Raon]
"It's a matter of feeling to be honest. Since you're a beginner, a spear would be good." [Solace]
"I'm not dual wielding spears." [Raon]
"Okay, how about… The second easiest one: swords." [Solace]
"Too basic." [Raon]
Too basic? That's a thing here too?
"Sword and shield?" [Solace]
One look and I knew that was not it.
"Sword and dagger." [Solace]
"That… isn't actually that bad." [Raon]
He picked up a longsword and a dagger and struck a pose.
"Do I look cool?" [Raon]
"Pretty cool. I feel like the longsword is too big though." [Solace]
"Then what about this?" [Raon]
He put down the longsword and exchanged it for a shortsword.
"Looks balanced. Why don't you give it a few test swings?" [Solace]
Raon glanced at the shop owner who gave him a nod of approval. I forgot to mention we got to know the shop owner was familiar with us. We ran a few errands for him before and gave him the nickname of Boss.
"Here goes…" [Raon]
He took a few practice swings, which seemed to flow seamlessly. It was at a pretty good speed too.
"I like it." [Raon]
It was from there that we looked for his weapons in earnest. We took weight, balance, length, and a few other factors into consideration. After a grueling selection process, Raon settled on a sleek shortsword built on speed and a dagger with a curved edge made for parrying.
"I'll take these Boss!" [Raon]
"Hmph." [Boss]
Boss wasn't a very expressive person. He accepted the payment and let us go on our way.
"Nice. Are you ready, Alt?" [Raon]
"Yep." [Solace]
We traveled to an open area we found during a monster culling quest. Few monsters come here, but it was a nice spot we had lunch at.
"You might want to take out your gauntlets." [Raon]
"I'll pass on that. I have something else I want to try out." [Solace]
I casted |Thunderbolt Lance|. I can't say it was strange to use a spear, but I can't say I was comfortable. I thought it would be a good opportunity to get used to a weapon that is required for my strongest skill.
"A spear? When the hell did you get that skill?" [Raon]
"Shortly after you guys ran from the demon on the bridge." [Solace]
Raon seemed satisfied with that answer. He then aimed his short sword and dagger at me. By the way, he had a weird form of holding the dagger in reverse-grip.
("Let's take a look. |Analyze|.") [Solace]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Name: Raon Parthenos
Race: Human
Class: Blade Master
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Level: 80
Health: 9000/9000
Mana: 4950/4950
Strength: 1224
Agility: 1533
Intelligence: 1120
Willpower: 2010
Status: Stable
Skills: |Molten Fist Lv. 7| |Obsidian Arms Lv. 8| |Shattering Blow Lv. 9| |Lion's Roar Lv. 9| |Physical Boost Lv. 6| |Volcanic Arena Lv. 7| |Lava Conjuration Lv. 9| |Executioner's Drop Lv. 7| |Fear Resistance Lv. 6| |Sleep Resistance Lv. 3| |Stamina Recovery Lv. 8|
Unique Skill: |Enrage Lv. 7|
Class Skills: |Cross Slash Lv.1| |Break Counter Lv.1| |Critical Stab Lv.1|
Titles: |Blessed By Two| |Track Star|
True Titles: N/A
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
I almost burst out laughing.
("|Track Star|?!") [Solace]
I did not see that last time. He also gained |Fear Resistance|, |Sleep Resistance|, and |Stamina Recovery|. Not to mention that his |Agility| and |Willpower| skyrocketed. Raon wasn't kidding when he said that he had to run a lot for his trial.
"...Is something funny?" [Raon]
I think he saw me trying to hold my laughter.
"Nah, it's nothing." [Solace]
Other than his stats going up, there was now a section for |Class Skills|. It was likely he would try to use them here.
"You can start." [Solace]
"Cocky, aren't you?" [Raon]
He still took me up on my offer. Raon activated |Physical Boost| and threw his dagger at me.
"Really? How could you treat something you just bought like this?" [Solace]
It was a bit slow to me, so I raised my hand to catch it.
"|Cross Slash|!" [Raon]
"Huh?" [Solace]
Within an instant, Raon teleported to his dagger. He did, as the skill was called, a cross section slash on my torso.
"Ow?" [Solace]
The blades tore through my clothing, but didn't even manage to scratch my skin.
"Have you… been working out?" [Raon]
Raon seemed to be as surprised as I was.
"A bit." [Solace]
I swung the back end of my spear, intending to hit him with blunt force. I didn't really want to harm him, you see.
"|Break Counter|!" [Raon]
Raon caught my spear with his dagger, which was within the curved part of the blade. It was also then that I saw my spear snap as he thrusted his shortsword at my face.
"I can see why there's a "break" in |Break Counter|!" [Solace]
I tilted my head to avoid the short sword. However, he grabbed my shoulder before aiming his dagger at me.
"|Critical Stab|!" [Raon]
His sudden proficiency with his weapons was astounding. Raon must have been lying about never touching a weapon before.
"|Revolving Shell Arts|." [Solace]
I really wanted to use a spear for this fight. However, Raon breaking it forced my hand. Normally, I'd do a "return to sender". Since I'm nice, I just made the attack veer off course harmlessly.
"Boop." [Solace]
I poked his nose.
"I win~." [Solace]
Raon seemed perplexed.
"...Seriously, are you really only level 50?" [Raon]
"I'm no liar." [Solace]
That concluded our spar.
"You guys look like you're having fun." [???]
A familiar voice rang out. Turns out it was just Wilharrow.
"Wilharrow? What are you doing here?" [Raon]
"I was curious about how the duel would go." [Wilharrow]
"So you followed us? You know you could have just come along." [Solace]
Wilharrow's face turned red with embarrassment.
"That… does sound like a smart idea. It sounded better to me in hindsight." [Wilharrow]
"Well now that you're here, how about a spar?" [Solace]
I was curious as to how strong he was now.
"I would love to." [Wilharrow]