The following morning, Duncan apologized to Cassandra before breakfast. “Amelia told me you were introducing me to the students who approached you to let them know not to pick on the high-level commoner. I appreciate the thought, and I’m sorry I left so abruptly. I just don’t like talking with strangers, or small talk in general.”

“It’s fine,” said Cassandra. “Amy told me you think you’re invulnerable.” When did they have time to talk? “Sit with us at meals and talk with us, and it’ll have much the same effect even without introductions, I guess. If nothing else, it’ll make Taggart feel more comfortable. He feels the social pressures more keenly than you, because they matter to him. His family is relatively poor, so he has to be wary of his social betters. We may all just be weak individuals to you, but social power is still power, and it’s crucial to those of us who deal with the upper echelons of society.”

“It’s strange to me that wealth and family standing mean more than personal power, but government in general feels strange to me,” said Duncan. “I’ll continue to join you for meals, and I appreciate you not involving me in conversation with strangers. But what do you get out of it? Why not spend your time with your social peers?”

Cassandra answered, “With Taggart, I get nothing out of it. His family has nothing to offer mine. But he’s my roommate and it doesn’t hurt me to be nice to him. And I was a bit of a bitch to him when we first met. As for you… well, you’re the strongest individual I’ve met at our age. It never hurts to have powerful friends. And you simply don’t care that I’m the heir to a great house. You don’t care about any of us, about what we can do for you, or to you. That’s refreshing. And I kinda like tweaking the noses of the families that think you’re beneath them.”

Duncan chuckled. “I didn’t actually know you were the heir to your family. But you’re right – it doesn’t matter to me.” They reached the mess hall, and Duncan was relieved to eat without having to be introduced to everyone who showed up.

Monster Identification was another class that brought in students from the other academies in Lanport. It was the largest class Duncan had experienced to date – twenty students filled the room. The instructor was a Level 74 Mage from the Lanport Magic Academy who was able to produce illusions of most of the monsters they were to discuss. The class would cover categories of monsters, with a focus on those that could be found in the wilds of the world rather than in dungeons, since dungeons had a huge variety of monsters that existed only there. Still, given his desire to travel the whole world, the class would still be useful.

Duncan’s spear and one-handed axe classes were very similar to his mace and great axe classes from the day before. He found it interesting that there was no overlap in students between the weapons classes. It seemed they all chose one weapon and focused on that. His instructors again warned the other students not to pick fights with him, and while he wasn’t accepted with open arms into the close-knit groups of students, there were no issues.

After dinner, he flew straight to his reserved training yard to begin his training with one-handed swords. Master Guilford had been excellent, and came highly recommended, but Master deBouteville was apparently a legend. He arrived half an hour early and spent the time practicing sword forms.

A woman on a flying sword dropped out of the sky in front of him. The Level 104 Warrior stepped off the sword and it leapt into her hand. “Hello, Duncan. I’m Master deBouteville. Eric Dagleish seems to think you’re something special. He’s called in some favors to bring me here to see if I agree. So, for the next three hours, you will try to convince me you’re worth teaching, yes? We will begin with single sword forms, in your left and right hand, then move to sword and shield, then brace of swords. Then we shall spar without Techniques, and finally with Techniques. Is this amenable to you?” Master deBouteville was tall, slender, and hard. She wore a sleeveless jerkin that showed whipcord muscles in her shoulders and arms. She had dark skin, curly black hair cropped close to her scalp, and startlingly green eyes.

“Yes sir,” Duncan said, simply. And so began a stressful evening. He demonstrated sword forms with his normal dungeon sword in his left and right hand, and sword and shield forms, then switched to his amethyst swords to demonstrate brace of swords forms.

“On to sparring,” said Master deBouteville, giving no indication she’d been impressed or disappointed by his forms. “No active Techniques to start. We’ll do the same weapon sequence. I’ll match your weapons to begin with, then switch non-matching combinations. Wear your armor, strike with full force, but no active Techniques.” In a blink, she changed her armor to an inky black set of plate. “I have engaged a competent healer in the event that we both make an error in judgement.” She gestured up into the sky, and Duncan looked up to see a Level 104 Healer floating above the yard on transparent wings.

Duncan equipped his armor directly from his storage device, feeling better for the presence of the healer. I do not want to kill a legendary teacher when we get to the active Techniques part. He used an Amethyst sword, not wanting to use his normal one because it ignored metal armor and would be more likely to wound the instructor.

They began to spar, and Duncan laughed to himself. There was no way he was going to hurt Master deBouteville. He couldn’t even get close to her. Every attack he threw, she avoided with ease. She only bothered to parry when she wanted to use his blade to take him off balance. He was sure he was a little faster than her – her Body affinity wasn’t as good as his – but she was always a step ahead of him.

“Switch,” she said, and they moved to right-handed swords, which was even worse for Duncan. “Switch.” Sword and shield (a normal shield, he wanted to save the rose quartz shield for the active Techniques bout) was followed by two swords, with the same result. He didn’t land a single touch. This would be frustrating if it wasn’t so awe-inspiring.

“Halt. We move to active Techniques now.” She appeared fresh, giving no indication she’d been in a fight at all. Duncan was similarly fresh, but that was thanks to a magnificent regeneration passive. “When will you need the healer to intervene?” The healer floated lower to hear the conversation.

Duncan addressed the healer directly. “Keep your eyes on Master deBouteville’s health. I have good regeneration.”

Both of them looked at him incredulously. “In three hours, you haven’t landed a single blow on me. Yet you’re worried about my health?” said the master.

“You are magnificent with a blade. But Techniques change everything,” Duncan explained.

“Well, you are certainly a confident young man,” she said. She pulled two wicked-looking glass swords out of her storage device. “I am ready when you are.”

Duncan withdrew a few paces and bowed. He equipped his normal dungeon gear. “I am ready.”

“Begin,” said the healer.

Mind Spike. Blink behind. Blade Echo to the back of the knee. Metal armor ignored. Ooh, she’s not as sturdy as Eric. I hope that healer’s paying attention. DeBouteville’s knee collapsed under his strike, but as she recovered from his stun, she whirled to her right and cut high with her right sword and followed low with the left. Duncan blocked the first sword with his shield, and the sudden loss of momentum caused her a moment of confusion. Duncan stepped left around his opponent and cut hard at her good leg. Something blocked his attack and he Blinked away before she could counter.

deBouteville let loose a stream of swords at him from across the yard. Duncan Blinked behind her again and used another Mind Spike, but it was resisted. Did she pull a resistance item out of storage? He cut at her head from behind, but his sword bounced off an invisible barrier. She thrust a reverse strike at him, unsighted, and he blocked it with his shield. He thrust through a fold in space, striking from inside whatever barrier she was using. His sword ignored her armor, and his blade and its echoes took her in the kidney. At the same time, a sword smashed into his own back.

Duncan Blinked away again and healed himself. He felt a numbness spreading from where he’d been struck, despite the heal, and used Remove Affliction for the first time in a fight. Master deBouteville was looking rather worse for wear – badly wounded, according to his assessment – but she hurled another stream of swords at him. He Blinked sideways five meters, then used a much stronger Mind Spike, Blinked a couple of meters behind the master, and thrust again through a fold in space at the inside of her thigh. Blood fountained, and the healer shouted “Halt!” trying and failing to oppress him.

Duncan stepped back, his sword pointed behind him. White light surrounded deBouteville, and her wounds healed in seconds.

“Well,” said Master deBouteville, “that was… unexpected. I haven’t lost a swordfight in a hundred years. Your swordplay was adequate, very traditional in style, but nothing special. I honestly wondered why Eric asked me to come here. And then, when you were allowed to use your Techniques, you became a completely different opponent. Overwhelming.”

Duncan didn’t say anything, not wanting to interrupt.

The healer spoke up, “How did he hit you with a blade? I thought…” she let her sentence trail off.

“Perhaps he’ll be willing to explain that as we go over the fight together. But first… Duncan, swordplay can be taught. But you have an innate sense for combat that cannot be taught. It makes you… puissant. Accordingly, I will teach you the swordplay you need to become a master. But I will need more than three evenings a week of your time. I don’t have years to spend on this project.”

“I am taking four weapon classes during the afternoons. I’m sure that the Headmaster will allow me to train with you instead. I can offer you six hours a day, every day, including rest days,” said Duncan. “Will that suffice? I’m taking longsword with Master Guilford three evenings a week, but I can spend the other evenings training with you, as well, since those hours were already reserved for this. So, fifty-one hours a week.”

Master deBouteville laughed. “There’s only so much training you can do before you stop absorbing the lessons. I will train you six hours a day, six days week, replacing your afternoon classes. You will need some time to relax. Now, allow me to introduce my wife, Daphne. I am Lena, though you will refer to me as Master deBouteville while we are in a training environment.”

Daphne said, “I suppose I can teach at the healing academy in the afternoons. I suspect they’ll be happy for another experienced instructor.”

“I am very pleased to meet you both,” said Duncan. “What recompense do you require for the extra hours?”

Lena snorted. “What does this place cost?”

“A hundred gold a year, plus ten gold for the instructor for evening lessons.”

Daphne laughed heartily. “You hear that, Lena? You’re worth ten gold a year.”

“I will have a discussion with Eric about my fees. For you, though, what do you say to a hundred gold? Will that be too big a strain on your family coffers?” asked Lena.

“I’m paying my own way by delving dungeons. And a hundred gold is fine. I keep my money at the Adventurers Guild, so I’ll have to stop by there before I can pay you.”

“You’re not a noble, then?” Lena sounded surprised.

“No, sir. The Adventurers Guild recommended me to the Academy.”

“Well, that will make things less awkward. I hate having to deal with politics.” Lena pulled two chairs out of her storage device, and she and Daphne sat down. Why didn’t I think of that? I have so much room. “Now, let’s discuss what happened in the fight. You opened with a stun from range?”

“Yes, a Mind Technique called Mind Spike. It does mental damage and stuns the target.”

“And then you teleported behind me and hit me while I was stunned. How did you do so much damage?”

“My sword ignores metal armor, and I used a Blade Echo Technique.”

“When I recovered from the stun, I engaged you with a spinning attack. Your shield block scrambled the attack somehow…”

Duncan nodded. “My shield absorbs the momentum of any attack that hits it. Then I tried to hit your other leg, and something blocked the attack.”

Lena grinned. “Blade Ward Technique. Blades cannot breach it. Had you not opened with that stun, your first attack wouldn’t have landed, either.”

“Ah,” said Duncan. “I Blinked away when I couldn’t hit you, and then you used a ranged Blade Technique. So, I Blinked behind you again and used another Mind Spike, but you resisted the stun. An item from your storage device?”

“Yes. I thought it was worth a try. It reduces mental damage by half, and evidently helped against the stun.”

Duncan continued, “Then I tried to hit you in the head, but your blade ward blocked my attack again. I should have Blinked away again, but I was behind you and felt I had a little time. I blocked your backwards thrust with my shield and used a Space Technique to bypass your ward. But as I hit you, you somehow hit me in the back as well.”

“Another Blade Technique – I can attack with blades I’m not physically holding. I pulled a third blade out of storage and used it. How, exactly did you bypass my blade ward? That shouldn’t be possible,” said Lena.

Duncan demonstrated his folded space Technique. “It’s a Technique I developed myself. It makes two places in space be a single place. You’ve seen the offensive potential, but I can also use it to block attacks.” He demonstrated a cut against a fold. “Because it’s a spatial anomaly, no amount of force can move it or overcome it.”

Lena was impressed. “That is… astonishing.”

“The sword you hit me with was poisoned or something. I Blinked away and healed the damage, but it felt numb, even after I healed, so I removed the affliction, then had to Blink away to avoid another stream of swords. I used a much bigger Mind Spike to try to overcome your mental resistance and bypassed your ward again to hit you in the leg. That’s when Daphne called a halt. In a real fight I’d have put the first sword thrust into the base of your skull or your neck instead of your back, of course.”

“Of course. That Technique is ridiculous,” Lena said.

“So let me get this straight,” said Daphne. “You use a sword that requires a Metal Affinity, a shield that requires a Gemstone Affinity, and in that fight, you demonstrated Blade Techniques, Mind Techniques, Body Techniques, Space Techniques, and Healing Techniques.”

Oops. Duncan shrugged. “When you put it like that, it doesn’t sound very likely,” he ventured.

“Oh!” she added, “and you resisted my Spiritual Oppression so easily that you barely noticed it.”

“I have unusual affinities. I won’t share my soulgem information, and I would appreciate if you didn’t talk to other people about me. I just want to improve my skills, advance my Techniques, and delve interesting dungeons.”

“You are unusually defensive about your affinities,” noted Lena. “Why is that?”

She sounded genuinely curious as opposed to hostile, so Duncan answered, “Everyone who knows of my affinities has told me not to share. I will be less concerned as I grow stronger, but I arrived in the empire less than a year ago at level twelve, and some of the first people I met tried to kill me for my armor. Noble families are apparently competitive and potentially hostile. I have no desire to get involved in politics or anything like that. So, I guess maybe I’m a little paranoid.”

“That’s really fast progress for a year. But honestly, I don’t see why any of the big families would take an interest in a single youth, no matter how unusual your affinities. Sure, you’re very strong for your age, but there are hundreds of thousands of people stronger than you in the empire alone. If you were the heir to a great family, hiding your affinities would be normal, but for most of us? No one cares. Still, I can understand a desire to not stand out, and we’ll honor your request not to talk about your affinities,” said Lena.

Maybe I am still being too paranoid? It would be nice to worry less about people finding out stuff about me. I mean, no one has really given me a reason to be secretive since I left the valley. “Thank you. Sorry if I come across as strange.”

They wrapped up the session, and Duncan returned to his dorm, excited about his training opportunities. I’ll have to inform my other instructors that I can no longer take their afternoon classes. Maybe I should talk to Jacob about that first.