The week had passed, and Ethan Wilkons arrived at the estate and began wearing the standard issue black tuxedo. Owen's training began immediatly. He was conflicted, though. He was the mighty Owen Valeguard, master of all! His original combat technique was unrivaled, and nothing qould change that. But, on the other hand, his body was weak, and he couldn't even use his original attribute. He hated that he had to accept someone's "combat training", but he had no other choice.
On his first day of training under Mr. Wilkons, they did two things: Mr. Wilkons gave Owen a journal to document what he learned and reflect on his training to better understand what he was being taught, and they sparred to assess Owen's level.
The Combat King did indeed earn that name. He thoroughly beat Owen to a pulp without disturbing a single dark black hair on his head or sweating a single drop on his light brown skin, matching the power of his blows to what Owen was capable of. It wasn't that he was actually more skilled than Owen, just that the blows Owen could deal to him did vertually nothing due to his durability from being a high rank climber, and that he was so much quicker. His skill was not lost on Mr. Wilkons, though. He praised Owen as being incredibly naturally talented.
Sitting alone in his room, Owen kicked himself at the fact that he could lose to someone who hadn't even finished climbing the tower, let alone someone on the 500th floor. With his pride wounded, he debated not showing up for training the next day.
'NEW QUEST: DEFEAT THE COMBAT KING, ETHAN WILKONS. REQUIREMENTS: DEFEAT ETHAN WILKONS IN A SINGLE ROUND OF REAL COMBAT. REWARD: WILL VARRY DEPENDING ON RATING OF SUCCESS'
Owen stared at the purple screen for a little bit. SCS always knew just how to cheer him up. If he suffered through this ordeal for long enough, he would be rewarded handsomely. This was more than enough to steel his resolve. By the time he entered the tower, he would complete this quest.
Over the next couple months, Owen trained with relentless determination. He clashed swords with his trainer every day for hours at a time. Not wooden swords or anything, but real, metal swords. If either of them got hurt, a healer was on standby for both of them, although only Owen ever needed to use their service. It went on like this for a long while, one sided defeats over and over again. Although, with every battle Owen got a little stronger, and his stats increased.
About a year later, Owen landed his first successful strike on Mr. Wilkons with his sword. It was a small scratch on his cheek, but this was a huge step. It meant that his trainer was no longer invincible, and won't be the victor of their battles for much longer. It would take an extreme amount of effort, but he had hope of victory overflowing in his heart.
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Owen took a deep breath. Today was the day he successfully completed his quest he had been working on for the past 5 years and defeated his teacher. He put on his leather armor that covered his chest and back, his forearms, his thighs and his shins over his white cotton training shirt and pants. He looked in the mirror at himself, and for the first time, took a moment to observe himself. He had received many aspects from both of his parents. His mother's soft green eyes were now his own, and his father's golden brown hair fell down over his ears down to his strong jawline. As usual, he collected all of his hair up into a bun for his training session, leaving none of it to fly into his eyes.
He walked out onto the training grounds, and Mr. Wilkons was already waiting for him. Standing with his sword's tip piercing the ground and his hands resting on the pommel, his dark brown eyes were trained on Owen.
"Today's the day I finally kick your ass, big man!" Owen loudly proclaimed.
"Still haven't learned to respect your teachers, huh? Guess I'll have to beat some discipline into you once again." Mr. Wilkons replied
Owen smiled, in reality he had a lot of respect for him. Great warriors always have his respect. They both raised their swords, and without words, charged each other. Mr. Wilkons slashed sideways at Owen's torso with incredible speed. Owen rolled to the side out of the way, and slashed at his thighs.
Mr. Wilkons jumped high and avoided the strike, and kicked the bridge of Owen's nose with his heel with explosive force, knocking him over onto his back
Owen looked up to see the tip of Mr. Wilkons sword thrusting down towards him, but he rolled away just in time, and jumped up to his feet.
Owen carefully ducked and dodged a fury of strikes and slashes, striking when he saw an opening or two.
Eventually, their situations were switched after Owen struck hard at an opening he found in his teacher's onslaught. Mr. Wilkons was forced into defensive maneuvers just as Owen had been moments ago. Slash, stab, kick, over and over again, not in that order each time. It went on like this for about 5 minutes before he swapped with his teacher again.
They traded offensive and defensive over and over in this lethal dance. Observers would've placed money on Mr. Wilkons if there had been any. In pure physicals, they were very extremely well matched. In terms of combat experience, however, Ethan Wilkons had decades more than Alexander Freidricks. Under normal circumstances, this would've undeniably seccured Mr. Wilkons's victory, but there was a factor only one person would be able to account for. Ethan Wilkons was fighting Alexander Freidricks only in name and body. In complete truth, he was up against an opponent no one in existence had a chance against in a fair 1v1. He was fighting the one who sits at the peak of existence and the master of all, Owen Valeguard.
Owen found a vital vulnerability in his teacher's defense, and didn't hesitate to strike with deadly force. He slashed at Mr. Wilkons's neck, tearing straight through his flesh. Deep crimson blood bubbled and poured down from the violent incision and Mr. Wilkons's eyes became wide with surprise. His sword clattered to the ground, and he began to fall to the ground, only to be caught in Owen's arms. "Healer! Get over here now! He's losing a lot of blood fast!" Owen shouted at the top of his lungs. The healers were frozen still in shock of the event that just unfolded in front of them, taking a few seconds to be shaken free from their paralysis by Owen's command.
Up in his room on the third floor of the house, Owen gazed out at the training grounds. A very spacious clearing in the forrest with high wooden stadium seating surrounding it in case spectators wished to view battles for entertainment. The ground was comprised of sand and gravel, and now a large blood stain near the middle. He didn't feel sorry for what he did, as he knew he would make a full recovery. He was proud of his victory.
'QUEST COMPLETED! COMPLETION RANK: EPIC. CALCULATING REWARDS...'
'Wait a minute... how could I have forgotten about this?!?' Owen exclaimed in his head. It had been 5 years since he had initially taken on his quest to defeat his teacher, and he had forgotten all about his motivation, only pushed forward by his unsatiable desire for victory over his opponent.
'REWARDS CALCULATED! REWARDS: 30 STAT POINTS + 1 ORIGINAL ITEM'
Owen was completely satisfied with his first reward alone, but an original item?! Original items were things Owen had created in his past life and used frequently, whether it was a weapon or an artifact or anything along those lines, it was guaranteed to be powerful.
'Show me the main window!'
Name: Alexander Freidricks(Owen Valeguard)
Innate Attribute(s): [Creation] |Rank: Omnipotent|- (Locked) Your original innate attribute, enables you to create anything you have the mana for. Temporarily locked due to the insufficient condition of your vessel. [Kinesis] |Rank: Weak|- Control over small objects. The larger the object, the less control you have over it. Aquired from Veronia Freidricks. [Super Sword] |Rank: Very Strong|- Talented in swordsmanship from birth. Able to read the movements of combatants with ease. Also able to envelop and embue blades with mana much easier and with higher quality. Aquired from Daniel Freidricks.
Inventory: 1/1000
Stats: Strength:13 Mana Capacity:9 Dexterity:12 Endurance:15 Senses:20 Available Points: 45
Owen stared at the main window. It was his first time opening it since he started his quest to defeat his mentor. He had grown much stronger over the last five years, enough to take on a tower climber who had risen to the 500th floor, even if he wasn't fighting at his full strength. He had stored up every stat point he earned, wanting to save them for difficult floors of the tower, but seeing how much he had, he debated using some just as an extra little boost. 'No', he decided, they would be much more useful when he actually needed them.
'Open the Inventory'
Inventory: 1 item found- Crown of Highest King
Item Description: The Golden Crown that Owen Valeguard wore while climbing the tower. Passive Attribute: Boosts all stats against those you view as weaker or lesser than yourself while wearing. Active Attribute: Once a day, you may attepmt to turn a defeated opponent into your servant. If successful, you may summon your servant whenever you wish.
'Holy shit' Owen thought to himself. This item was something he had created that allowed him to be dominant over all that dared opposed him. It was one of his most prized possessions. As long as he had this, and his overwhelming sense of pride, he would have a permanent advantage over everyone.
'Thank you, SCS. This means so much to me'
'OF COURSE, CREATOR. EVERYTHING I CAN PROVIDE YOU IS YOURS IN THE FIRST PLACE.'
With this new progress, Owen needed only to wait one year before he could start his journey to becoming a tower climber. His killers would know fear once more.