Rain moved the short sword stick around to test the thing's weight. It was weirdly not that heavy, yet it still had enough weight to it that when she would swing it, it would hurt. The whole thing was a little long but not terribly, so even though it was big, it wasn't overly so. The length felt a little uncomfortable for Rain to use. Even still, Rain was a little excited, she wouldn't have ever learned anything like this in reality. Being in Atlas allows her to do some unique things. She was grateful to her dad for getting her this. Yet, Kalic's voice tore Rain from her thoughts.
"You seem to already be familiarizing yourself with the weapon so that's good. How does it feel?"
"It feels light, but it still has enough weight to it. The length also feels uncomfortable, not too long, nor does it feel too short. I can't say it's great, but it doesn't feel bad."
"Mmm, that's good. Now follow my movements, I'll teach you some movements to use. Once you start to get the grasp of how to use it, then we can start dueling." Kalic then proceeded to show Rain some basic movements to use in order to gain familiarity with the weapon, as well as some basic exercises for movements. The concept was foreign to Rain, and she struggled a little bit, but the more she did it with Kalic, the more she began to understand it, and soon enough she was able to get it down. When she finally went through one set of the movements something happened she wasn't prepared for.
*Ding*
------------------------------------
Due to your practice of short sword movements, you have unlocked a skill
-Short Blade Mastery-
= Not to be confused with -Dagger Mastery- =
Would you like to spend a Potential Point to unlock?
-Yes/No
------------------------------------
Without a second, Rain immediately decided to buy the skill. However, once she did so, she felt a huge amount of information enter her head. It lasted only for a second, but Rain was stunned still from the sudden burst of information. She couldn't vividly recall any of the information that just entered her head, but she felt a much greater comfort with the sword. She decided to open her character menu to see if anything had changed.
------------------------------------
--Character Menu--
Name: Rain [ Soundless Rain ] {Hidden}
Race: Human
Evolutionary Path: {Esper} White Mist; Rank: F
Level: 2
Experience: 24%
Health: 100%
Power: F
- Only as strong as regular people
Classes:
- None
Abilities/Skills
- Short Blade Mastery; Rank: F
-Increases skill with shortswords (And other like weapons)
Potential Points: 0
-Can be used to unlock Classes and Abilities
--------------------------------------------
"So I guess I lost my Potential Point, but instead I also got the -Short Blade Mastery- skill. Its description is rather vague, but the fact that I feel much more comfortable with the weapon I guess provides some insight to what it does. I also didn't even realize I had 24% experience. Then again, I did complete Miguel's fetch quest, and I got that double amount from assisting in the death of the 'Ravenging Hog'. Finally, I did regain the health that I lost from the hog. I wonder if eating helped with that. I wonder though, how much better will my skill be with the shortsword," Rain thought to herself.
Rain went through the exercises again, yet this time, they flowed much smoother. They weren't perfect, but Rain felt like she had done this for days, rather than the hour she had done it for.
"You picked that up rather quickly," Kalic said in surprise.
"I guess I just got a knack for the blade," Rain said while scratching the back of her neck. She wasn't exactly sure how she should explain to Kalic how she got so good. She was purposely avoiding calling herself an 'Emmortales', so it's not like she has the stigma to lean on.
"Maybe you had practice before you lost your memories, and you're just getting back into the groove," Kalic pondered out loud. Rain's eyebrows were raised at that thought. 'That's not a bad excuse to keep in my back pocket,' she thought to herself.
"Am I good enough to duel now," Rain asked.
"I guess so," Kalic said while shrugging his shoulders. He went over to the rack filled with wooden weapons and went and grabbed a larger blade, but to Kalic the thing still looked rather small. He walked back over to the courtyard and stood in front of Rain.
"I'll go easy on you, just because I have much more experience than you, and the fact that I just have the natural advantage over you," he said, as he stretched out his shoulders.
"That is alright, I am here to learn after all," Rain said with a smile. She had no idea what to expect in this situation, but that didn't deter her. Rain intrinsically got into a fighting stance with her shortsword. She didn't even know how she knew to get into that stance, but it just felt right.
"Looks like I was right about you having already learned the shortsword," Kalic remarked as he too got into a fighting stance. "You take the initiative first," Kalic said, as his face turned serious. The previous joy and carefree attitude of a teacher was gone. The two of them were relatively close already, Rain only had to take a step or two to get to him. Rain let out a breath, and she rushed towards Kalic. Once he was in her range, Rain threw out a jab at his chest. Kalic quickly deflected her jab to the side. He soon after slashed at her from the side, and Rain stepped closer to it, using her blade to deflect the blade above her, as she used her short stature to get under the blade. In return she slashed at Kalic, however, his blade was quick in return and blocked the strike. In an even quicker manner, his blade snaked up to her neck and pressed against it lightly.
"Got you," Kalic said, his serious manner disappearing, and a smile returning. He pulled his blade back away from Rain's neck.
"Well that was short-lived," Rain said with her cheeks puffed out in disappointment. The whole thing basically lasted no longer than a couple of seconds.
"It was short, but it's because I'm just too good for you. However, your skills are still good. Particularly on using your natural short height to get below my blade, I was quite surprised you were able to do that. You're pretty green to have thought of that already." Kalic paused to take a breath before continuing, but Rain interrupted him.
"I did good," she asked, her eyes slightly sparkling. Kalic looked down at her slightly surprised, and a little confused. However, a thought must've occurred to him because he nodded slightly.
"Yes, you did good. However," Kalic heavily emphasized," you still have plenty of room to grow. There were still mistakes but for someone who had only recently picked up the blade, you are doing rather well. Let's continue, I want to see just how much you know." The two of them continued to spar, attracting the attentional onlooker. They watched in some confusion, with the occasional question "Do you know who that white hair girl is? Why is she sparing with the lieutenant?" However, Rain never paid attention to them, merely enjoying the time she got to spend sparring with Kalic. They spared for a little over an hour, and at the end of the last spar, Rain received another notification.
*Ding*
------------------------------------
Due to practicing for an extended period of time with someone with a similar skill at a higher rank, you have upgraded -Shortsword Mastery-
+15% Experience for upgrading a skill to E rank
------------------------------------
Rain also felt another bout of information abruptly entering her head, it was a slightly less amount, but it still stunned her for a moment. However, once it ended, she quickly went to look at her character menu again.
------------------------------------
--Character Menu--
Name: Rain [ Soundless Rain ] {Hidden}
Race: Human
Evolutionary Path: {Esper} White Mist; Rank: F
Level: 2
Experience: 39%
Health: 100%
Power: F
- Only as strong as regular people
Classes:
- None
Abilities/Skills
- Shortsword Mastery; Rank: E
-Increases skill with shortswords (Or other similar weapons)
Potential Points: 0
-Can be used to unlock Classes and Abilities
------------------------------------
"That was my first E-ranked skill," Rain couldn't help but cheer to herself. It didn't take her very long to upgrade it, but she could only assume it was because Kalic was the one training her. After all the message did say that it was because 'someone with a similar skill at a much higher rank' was teaching. Rain did hope she could keep that progress up, but it felt like it wouldn't.
"Kalic, I want to duel one more time," Rain suddenly interjected.
"Oh? Alright, fine, but this is the last one. I do still have things to do today." Kalic then proceeded to get into the same stance he had been getting into for all of the spars. However, Rain got into a different one than she had been doing before. Kalic raised his eyebrows at Rain's sudden change in positioning but he didn't question it. This time she felt more prepared, and she even felt there was a chance of her beating Kalic, even if it was slim.
She rushed towards Kalic, but this time she threw out a slash that came from under his guard. Kalic quickly deflected the blade off to the side and was getting ready to strike down on Rain. However, to his surprise, Rain pushed even closer to Kalic, entering into his guard area. Rain turned her back towards Kalic, and used that momentum to quickly jab the blade into Kalic with a rear hand grip. Rain had confidence that she would've been able to get him this time, with the sudden and decisive move, however, Kalic didn't play game. He stepped away from the side Rain's blade was on, and quickly backstepped once more to gain room. As he was stepping back he swung his blade towards Rain, but she once again ducked under it and used her blade to deflect the blade up. The two of them were now at a standstill as they had been pushed back to similar positions that they started in.
Rain was disappointed that she didn't get Kalic, and she knew that she wasn't going to get the same chance again. However, she was still happy that she had finally made Kalic move away from her. For a great majority of their duels, if not all of them, Kalic didn't even have to move in order to defeat her, and if he did, it was just to allow his attacks to have a greater effect. But this time, he had to move to save himself. She had made good progress. Rain took a deep breath before she rushed in again. Kalic just had too far of a reach, if she didn't rush in, she would be put into a defensive and passive position.
This time she threw a jab, and Kalic easily deflected it to the side before throwing a slash from the same side. Rain went to deflect, but the moment her blade made contact she knew something was wrong. There just wasn't enough force behind the blade. Immediately Kalic put his force down on top of Rain and she couldn't help but let out a grunt as she dropped to one knee. Quickly Kalic's blade snaked its way to her neck again. She had lost, again. Kalic stepped back, removing the blade from her neck. She expected him to point out the errors she made and to continue proving. Yet when she looked at him she could only see shock on his face.
"How did you do it," he asked, his voice quivering slightly.
"How did I do what," Rain responded innocently. She truly didn't know what had truly shocked him.
"You almost… you nearly got me, and only a few people in this entire city are able to best me, or have bested me. Even if it was only due to surprise, it was still nearly enough." Kalic then began to look Rain up and down. His gaze was serious and it looked like he was searching for something. Rain could only shifted uncomfortable under his intense gaze. It was never fun for someone to be stared at so intensly, espically since she was wearing such a tight shirt. Yet it was what Kalic said next that shocked Rain even more.
"I want you to join the Aeitha guard."