The sound of wooden training swords clashing filled the air. The soon to be 16 years old Markus Flair was having his final sparring match against his Father before he recieved his skill.
Even with Markus' Father being a master of the blade, he himself had little talent only being above average after regularly training with his Father for years. He was hoping to inherit his Fathers skill
[Weapon Finesse] which would help him improve with the sword immediately .
At birth everyone recieves a 'profile' without exception. The profile is an ability that allows its owner to materialise a screen only they can see that displays a summary of themselves. It contains information ranging from their name and age to useful data like skills, currency, appearance and to usless stuff like interests and dislikes. The most important words on the profile was [Skills]. It displayed and gave a brief summary on any obtained skills.
The day you turn 16 you will recieve a skill. For the majority of people in the world it would be the only skill they ever recieve. Most people's skill would decide their future profession. Skills could be gained while doing anything and would provide an effortless expertise in that field. They could be anything from cooking or cleaning to being able to shoot a beam of light from your sword or make you a master of combat and much more. The only catch was aside from your 16th birthday it was incredibly rare to aquire a skill.
Most people inherit the skill of a parent on their birthday but some could get a new one of their own. Markus' father Ethan Flair was the most famous and decorated adventurer to ever live, having the feat of exploring the farthest into the world they lived in. The world outside of walled off cities was dangerous, filled with monsters, animals, crazy landscapes, demons and other abominations. But it was also filled with treasures found in dungeons, towers and ruins that nobody knows how they came to form considering humanity has barely explored their own planet and have no records of ancient history.
What little they had explored was thanks to Ethan Flair the adventurer who aquired 4 skills through his lifetime and found 'The White Wall' which was the farthest anyone ventured outide the cities. He was given the title 'Pathfinder' for his accomplishments.
Soon the spar came to an end and Markus was hands on knees breathing heavily covered in bruises.
Dehydrated after his training Markus pleaded with a raspy voice.
"Couldn't you take it a little easier on me Father? Im young and have plenty of time to improve."
Ethan racked his wooden sword in the holder on the wall of their training hall and turned to face the fatigued boy.
"You wish to become an adventurer do you not? If that was real battle all those bruises on your body would be fatal wounds. The beasts out there are much less forgiving than I am."
Markus rolled his eyes annoyed by the usual cold reply of the man he had to call Father, but did make sure to not let him see it as he is strict when it comes to attitude. But it was true, he was deadset on becoming an adventurer so he quietly took advice and criticism.
A second later a flask of water was lobbed at the unsuspecting, still hunched over Markus and following a dull 'thunk' sound the flask hit Markus' head and then the floor. While agitated he silently picked up the water, downed it and left the training hall trying not to let it ruin his excitement for the skill he was going to recieve tomorrow.
He returned to his house and was met with a warm smile from his kind mother Catherine and a bath she had already prepared for him aware of his tough training.
The hot water stung his bruises but he gratefully enjoyed the bath and felt much better after getting out.
Afterwards it was around 4pm. He trained from 10am until 3pm with little breaks and from 4:30 until 9:30 he attended classes in his home with private tutors every day. His family was very wealthy from all the artifacts Ethan discovered and sold while exploring. Ethan decided there was no need to send Markus to a public school and gave him no say in the matter. This lead to Markus having no friends and poor social skills.
He was thought core subjects like math and English and then learned about enhancing. Enhancing was the key factor that would decide the outcomes in most battles, not skills. It is a manifestation of ones soul and with enough practice and experience it was possible to enevlope limbs with it making them stronger, faster and more resistant. It was a tough and long process to learn but it is a necessary ability if you planned to leave the cities. Most people after learning would only be able to cover a limb or two at a time but the strongest and most experienced of warriors like Ethan could cover the whole body leaving them unmatched in battle by most.
After the hours of learning and training Markus crawled into bed and fell into a slumber immediately forgetting his excitement for tomorrow.
After waking up he instantly pulled up his profile looking for a certain word and there it was.
[Skills]- Finesse,
The description of said skill was: All actions are skillfully and delicately executed with precision, wasting no movements.
'It really is a brief description' Markus thought while staring at the glowing white screen visible to only him. But then a thought surfaced in his mind. Ethan's skill was named 'Weapon Finesse' so if he inherited it why was his just 'Finesse'. The only explanation was that the skill evolved when he recieved it. This wasn't unheard of as the skill was being honed by each holder and then passing it to the next. Ethan got 'weapon finesse' from his Father too. Markus shrugged dismissing the screen hoping the skill was still useful for wielding a weapon and went to prepare for his daily training.
'Finesse' was a passive skill and so, it was always activated. Markus noticed during his "swing until your arms give up" training issued to him by his Father, that his form and posture were much better than usual. His swings had force and were somewhat elegant.
Sometime later with arms feeling like they were going to fall off and a new record amount of swings before giving up, Markus lay on the floor,
"Ah the pain. Im gonna take a longer break than usual and think of a strategy for sparring"
'Fathers sword style is pretty basic, he only ever uses thrusts, swings and parries. If i can get him to enhance once during this one i'll take it as a win', Markus said with a sigh, pinning his hopes on [Finesse] suiting and improving his fighting style.
Markus' style was flashy and involved using momentum to his advantage. The style included some spins, parries, swings and leg sweeps, so he was hoping finesse would help with parries and reducing wasted movements.
'After recovering until I could feel my arms again, I headed for the training hall and was met with a glare that was sharper than any sword.'
'I entered without eye contact and kept composed, determined to make him enhance, even one finger would be an admission of defeat from Father.'
'We stood opposite one another but something was off. His eyes while clearly annoyed, looked as though he was going to take it extra serious today, as if todays match had a purpose besides training.'