Chapter 23 – Training Camp III
All three found a farther away place to gather. Gabriel guided Bryn and Jonas to a spot at the foot of the mountain where many rocks started to mix with the trees.
As they arrived, both Jonas and Gabriel stood waiting for what the level one in front of them had to share.
"Mr. Gabriel and Mr. Jonas, I'm a young faun, a young adventurer, and still a novice in the world of leveling… But let me ask you one thing, have you ever combined or created skills?"
From smiley to frowning their forehead, their expression changed faster than ever before. Unlocking skills that were public knowledge such as PIB, sword mastery beginner, and many others was one thing. Unlocking new skills, those harder to discover, were already on another level. Many noble families utilized that to guarantee that their heirs would be able to become stronger Royal Knights. There were even sects that passed down such knowledge to their best students, but those could almost be counted by hand.
Combining skills or creating skills was ultra-relevant information. When combined, the new skill would be an upgrade to the previous skills and from that moment on one would only have to train on one subject. That alone could save huge amounts of time and effort, the upgrades were an amazing benefit.
Creating skills was harder, but the benefits were even more amazing. When you create a skill, that would be yours and yours alone. Not many people would be able to unlock it unless you shared a path with them.
"The reason behind us moving away from the group is that I would like to teach you a personal skill."
Jonas's heart skipped a beat. He quickly glanced at Gabriel, whose smile was from ear to ear.
"Bryn, are you telling me that you've unlocked a new skill?" Asked the blond man. Now Jonas could tell that in front of him was not the leader of the tribe, much less his commanding officer. In front of him was the addicted friend he had made so many years ago.
"Yes and no. I unlocked a new skill, yes, but it is one that I created."
"Impossible, you are at level one and have learned about skills less than one year ago. How could you have created a skill?" Asked Jonas.
"You are correct in assuming I don't know what triggered the new skill to be created. But I can confirm that I have created one. You know that climbing offers you dexterity every 3 levels if your race is from the mountains, correct? Also, Acrobatics would give you agility every 3 levels. After you use your appraisal on me, do you believe I would have the time to level up both to get so many skill points in a few months?"
Jonas's face almost fell to the ground. Because Bryn's level and status were so weak, he had not made calculations when he appraised him the first time. All he did was pay attention to the number of blessings and titles the level one had.
Gabriel was not as impressed as Jonas. When Jonas looked at his friend, he could tell that Gabriel already knew that the kid was telling the truth.
"Gabriel, why are you so calm? Don't tell me you knew it?"
"Knowing is a strong word, but a level one with so many statuses is not normal, and he had a title I only saw on people with incredible power. First of Many from what I'm told is a title to those who cross frontiers who never walked by their race before. There have been many fauns, so I do not believe creating a skill is what triggered it, but you should respect people's potential nonetheless…"
"Thank you, Mr. Gabirel. Still, let's not lose track of the main point. I wish to try and teach you both my personal skill. If it is teachable, I would like your help in my training."
Bryn could barely finish his sentence when Gabriel interrupted him by raising his hand and saying.
"Deal."
"Perfect! I believe that one very important component when creating or combining a skill is knowledge and belief. Knowledge is obvious, if you know that skills can combine, you can do everything in your power to do so. But belief comes into play when you are not sure things exist after that point. My skill comes from the fact that I believed that climbing and Acrobatics could be useful in combination. I also knew how combining the two could become an evolution of both."
"So, you created a new skill based on the combination of those 2 skills… Is that why you asked everyone on the caravan to train those 2?" Asked Jonas.
"Partially yes, but the main reason is that I don't have as much knowledge about other skills… Also, everyone should be happy about the extra agility acrobatics can provide…"
"And what was created when combining the two?" Asked Gabriel as his eyes widened, and he held his trousers tighter.
"The new skill is called Parkour. It is the art of crossing a path in the fastest possible time. It offers additional learning bonus to all others mobility skills, as well as +1 dexterity and agility, every two skill levels."
"Woww, that is much better than the current acrobatics and climbing skills… Especially because you don't need the racial bonus to get the extra dexterity. If you taught that skill early on, the individual could rise much faster on all other relevant skills related to evasion…" Gabriel thought out loud.
"Not only that, but you could also give nonwarriors a way to increase their chances of survival…" complemented Jonas.
"You are both right. My idea was simple… Combining both skills increases my chances of running away from a situation. With that came your belief and a part of the knowledge. Now come the basic techniques…"
Bryn, Gabriel, and Jonas lost track of time as the faun explained all the basic movements to them. Bryn was amazed by the speed at which both men learned and perfected every movement he explained and demonstrated.
The difference in statuses and skills makes them learn everything else much faster than any person I taught so far… Still, these two are monsters! I must show a movement only once for them to understand it and adapt to a version they feel more comfortable with…
It took Gabriel 2 hours of practice and exchanges with Bryn to wake up the new skill. Jonas was a little slower, but after he realized it was possible, only 45 minutes passed for him to wake it up as well.
While the two were talking to each other about the new skill, possibilities, and how to train it. Bryn had become quiet for almost an hour. His face was an absolute loss. His eyes were pointed at both Gabriel and Jonas, but his mind was not there anymore.
When Gabriel received the notification suggesting the combination of both skills, Bryn received many notifications of his own. Deciding to analyze them one by one, he started by reading and appraising them one by one.
Ok, the first two are title evolutions… I had no idea that was possible, but thinking about it makes sense. If I achieved extra in a certain field, adding more and more titles about the same topic would be too much.
– Title Evolution –
Your mastery is recognized and respected by others. By teaching that which only you know, you take another step into the mentorship world.
Grasshopper now evolved into Sensei.
– Title Evolution –
It is said that those who break the known race frontier more than once are the ones who define their potential.
First of Many now evolved into Pioneer.
– Title Description –
Sensei
Title is reserved for those who can teach all others.
People say the best way to improve your skill is by teaching it to others.
Bonus for learning ability while teaching +10% for yourself and +15% for your students.
– Title Description –
Pioneer
Title reserved for those not bound by their race's previous limits.
As a reward for going further than your race had gone, you have extra chances to develop individual skills.
Amazing! With these, I'll be able to increase my and everyone's capabilities by a lot and much faster. Now the second ones make me worry a bit, I can never let anyone know that they exist.
– Blessing Improvement –
The ones who believe in themselves and challenge the imposed limits of their race are loved by their maker.
You have Flidais thanks for your efforts.
Flidais's Blessing improved.
– Blessing Improvement –
Openness, creativity, and sharing are some of the principles that increase collective intelligence.
You have Lugh's thanks for your efforts.
Lugh's Blessing improved.
– Blessing Description –
Lugh's Blessing
By having a tremendous experience in life, accepting it, and having the will to keep learning.
Base intelligence +35%; Skill Experience +20%
– Blessing Description –
Flidais's Blessing
All living animals have their ways, as a faun you do too.
Base dexterity +20%; Skill Experience +25%
If Kwame knew about it, he would go crazy about the fact that my blessings just improved. My biggest fear is for INT and DEX to become too high, that will only bring more and more attention to my status. I'll have to increase them little by little until I can hide, and protect my secrets…
"Bryn…", "Bryyyn…", "Bryn, are you alright? Did you rear? Both of us were able to learn your Parkour skill!" Gabriel called for the faun a few times before the kid focused on him once again.
"So you guys did learn it! That explains a lot…"
"What do you mean?" asked Gabriel while Jonas was performing the moves to see if he could increase his proficiency with the newly acquired skill.
"Since there is no way for me to hide it, you would realize sooner or later. Two of my titles evolved as soon as you guys learned my skill…"
Gabriel's smile only grew at hearing those words. He instantly used appraisal on Bryn while sitting and holding his chin with one hand.
"You are right Bryn, you now have Sensei and Pioneer, these two were not there before… Would you mind sharing with me what they do?"
Gabriel was so excited that he forgot that secrets were a must for warriors. Knowing the details behind every title your opponent had could give you insight into how they fight. But at that moment, Bryn was as emotional as the man in front of him. As he started to speak openly, his mind reminded him of the importance of having a few mysteries.
"Sensei is an evolution of Grasshopper, making my students learn a little bit faster… Pioneer I don't understand it completely, it says that it'll be easier to challenge the known limits…"
No reason for me to deliver all my goods… Even though I trust Gabriel, I've only met him for 2 days, I cannot be sweet-talked so easily.
"Interesting!! Alright, Jonas, come here."
"Yes, Gabriel, what is it?" Screamed Jonas from afar, his practice parkour had taken him a few meters from the two.
As Jonas started to approach the two, Gabriel started to speak.
"Bryn, from our morning I can already tell you have potential in a few areas, meaning you really can teach others in the subjects you are currently after… But you lack an immense amount of experience and expertise in others. Your martial arts training is purely theoretical, your comprehension of stronger allies or foes is also horrible… Could you tell me your current training schedule?"
"Well, in the morning, I'm the one who guides everyone's training. You participated in all my routines. I recognize that I lack many things, but I've been able to increase my skills with acceptable speed so far. During the afternoon, I had a different teacher every day. Mr. Daniel would teach me sword mastery as well as hunting once a week. I also have a bit of magic training with Mr. Kwame, sparing with Amelia, and Blacksmithing with Thrain. But the last few have been going slowly because we are constantly on the move…"
"I have a proposition for you then…"