“Oof.” As a large, wooden fist pummeled into my stomach, I grunted out, catapulted backwards. While my enhanced armor had managed to prevent the strike from caving in my stomach, it could do nothing for the blow’s momentum, and I hit the hard, dirt floor with force.

Climbing back to my feet as quickly as my throbbing limbs would allow for, I narrowed my eyes at my opponent. It was a humanoid mass of wood, roughly six feet in height, with fingerless hands formed permanently into club-like fists. Thus far, it had managed to put those fists to unfortunately effective use.

I think I’m starting to hate all tree-related golems. Is this my villain origin story? The Great Protagonist Tess suddenly starts going on a rampage, burning down forests after getting punched in the head one too many times.

Never mind that I could do no such thing. My strongest flame spell, after all, was essentially a tinderbox.

I summoned my spear to my hands and ran at the golem, intent on getting a few solid hits in. While much faster than a standard human, the golem was relatively lacking in the Dexterity department, and I managed to dodge another gut punch while driving my spear forward with all my Strength.

The wood might as well have been petrified. The spear tip scored it with a shallow scratch, and that was all.

Still, I didn’t lose heart. I repeated the strike, once and then twice more, rapidly attacking the golem before it could counter. I took care to use the full range of my spear to my advantage, as the golem sported abnormally long, bark-covered arms which it was all too eager to employ.

I felt a bit like a bumble bee, dexterously flitting out of range before coming back in to deliver a tiny, sharp sting.

The dance continued for a time, my strikes doing nothing to significantly wear the golem down, its fists failing to reach me time and time again.

It was right then, as I was backpedaling away from the golem, that I tripped.

Did I actually just- I tried to scramble upwards, and in the process, saw the obstacle which had caused my tumble: It was a root. It hadn’t been there before, either.

Hell, it has some kind of “summon root” ability doesn’t it? When I do finally find a therapist, I feel like they’re going to be concerned with how much I’m coming to deeply and absolutely hate roots.

As much as I tried to jump to my feet and regain the fight, it was no use. It had been a costly blunder, and moments later, the golem was on me. With the grim efficiency of an automaton, it pulled its gnarled fist back and drove it forth like a piston.

It slammed into my head, and my skull rang like a bell, battle notifications entirely ignored as I could feel my brain bouncing around in ways it wasn’t supposed to. It was a testament to the full body protection of Arcane Armament and my magically heightened Constitution that I wasn’t immediately pasted.

Still, it was only one blow. More dazed than I’d ever been before, I was hardly in any shape to dodge the second. It came a moment later, and then it was all over.

You have been defeated!

As you are in a Minor Training Pit, your health has been reset to 10%.

The golem backed off, and I groaned, even as a surge of healing energy brought me back from death’s door. I cast a few Minor Healings on myself to hasten the recovery process, but even once I was at full health, it was hard to shake off the psychological effects.

Well, have fun with that one, Trauma Suppression. Not the skill I was trying to train up, but training is training, I guess.

Two days had passed since meeting with the mayor, and I’d taken the woman’s recommendation to heart. Even after completing my quest (and paying back the 100 points that Spottik had spent on my arena registration), I still had enough left over to spend on some training.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t particularly sure I liked training.

As it turned out, in addition to running the arena matches, Arena Master Gidget was also in charge of helping people formulate training regimens. At his suggestion, I presently found myself in one of the training pits that dotted the city, surrounded by a host of other fighters who were fighting their own battles a distance off.

Most of them were faring notably better than I was.

Then again, that was kind of the point: With its thick, piercing-resistant armor and limitless stamina, the golem was the perfect enemy for me to train my spearwork against. Indeed, winning wasn’t even the goal. While I likely could have dealt some more serious blows by enhancing my spear with fire mana or using Overcharge Weapon, seriously damaging the golem would only incur me an additional contribution point fee.

Even knowing that, it didn’t mean I had to like it, though. Still, I had paid for this. I might as well get my money’s worth.

I eyed the motionless golem once more, promising myself to be more vigilant about the roots it could spawn.

“I want you to know that when I get home, I’m going to carve some wood just out of spite.”

Having said my fill, we began again.

“Gah!” A piteous and shrill yell escaped my lips as a dart of pure mana buried itself into my shoulder. This was not how training was supposed to work!

I sidestepped another dart before returning fire, sending a mana arrow hurtling forth towards my target. It found its mark, sinking straight through my enemy’s wispy form, causing it to glow green for a second before it disappeared with a pop.

Whoever had designed the city’s archery hall had been a twisted bastard. In large part, the place reminded me of a shooting range, with multiple long lanes set up for people to practice at, many of which were currently filled. Much as I’d expected, they sported targets at their ends, some shaped like the traditional, circular, bullseye variant, while others took the form of beasts or humanoids.

That was all well and good, of course. The issue was that, as you fired, the archery range fired back.

A host of mist constructs — not actual monsters, but apparently just conglomerations of regular mist enchanted to look vaguely humanoid — flitted in and out of existence, rendering the entire range reminiscent of an old arcade-style shooting game. Each was outfitted with an enchanted construct that automatically launched a mana dart at the practicing archer. If hit, they’d glow and dissipate, the corresponding construct going dead for a while.

I was quickly finding that I much preferred the actual arcade version. I’d admittedly never enjoyed them all that much while I’d been back on Earth, but at least I’d never ended up with a hole in my shoulder while playing them.

I paused from my shooting to heal my shoulder before continuing, keeping at it until I was nearly out of mana. They had actual physical bows I could have rented, but I figured if I could summon one at will, I might as well save the points.

Just as I was thinking about heading out, a shout came from across the room, unrepentantly loud and causing several heads to turn. “Tess! Hey!” A scaled, gator-like man in a polka-dot party hat headed my way, a ridiculously large sack thrown over his shoulder.

“Jason. Hi. You’re here for archery practice?” The man didn’t exactly use a bow last I’d seen him, so I could only assume that the bag he held was full of-

He dumped it on the ground at the range beside me, and out spilled countless rocks and pebbles, transforming the path out into a gravel walkway. “You bet! Love this place! Anyway, good to see you. Sad that you’re not delving with us anymore, but that just means we have more time for training, yeah?”

I nodded as he scooped up an armful of his makeshift scree and approached the range. It hummed to life as the enchantments began to activate, and just like that, he began.

Pebbles flew from the man’s hand, some flicked away almost casually while still managing to find their marks. They sank into the targets on the far wall or through the mist constructs, causing them to pop away, often before they could even fire a single dart.

It was an impressive performance, but it didn’t end there. While I’d only purchased the beginner’s package, it was clear that Jason was on another level.

In the air, inky blobs of darkness began to congeal, quickly taking on shape and forming into a small flock of bird-like creatures. They flitted about, thick shadow bolts shooting out of their beak towards the rock thrower.

In most cases, Jason dodged. Occasionally, however, he would throw one of the larger rocks forth, and it would intercept an attack intended for him, exploding into dust and pebbles in the process.

Throughout it all, the gator-man appeared perfectly at ease, smiling as he shouted a wide range of exclamatives with each throw: “Hup! Oop! Yeah! Ope! Ay! There we go! Nice! Solid! Rock solid!”

With the small moving targets put into play, he was slightly harder pressed, and managed to miss a few of his shots, but ultimately, his accuracy was uncanny. As if sensing that he’d fully warmed up, his lane created a new addition to his targets: small motes of blue light which streaked back and forth erratically. They, too, attacked Jason, bolts of electricity streaming off them.

It was here that he met his match, if only barely. While his scales seemed to impart some limited magical resistance, it was clearly not on par with their physical defense, especially with his new stoneskin buff. Not only did he have trouble dodging or tanking the electric attacks, but also, he found it nearly impossible to hit the damned orbs with his rocks. I saw him succeed only a handful of times, and with how fast the creatures moved, I wasn’t sure if he’d hit them more by luck or skill at that point.

After a few brief minutes, his rock pile had been depleted by a third, and the range powered down as he became too singed to continue. Moments later, he perked up as the training hall partially restored him, and I helped him along with a few heals.

“Thanks! Never can get those pesky things. A few more class points and I can pick up Throw a Rock that Tracks Things, but it’s hard going, you know? Anyway, were you about to head out, or are you still going?”

I frowned at the question, looking back at the man’s performance that had made me seem like a child in comparison. I had been about to leave, but now, well…

I sighed. “Guess I’ll keep at it for a while, I suppose.”

“Shi-” You have been stabbed for 10 damage! You are bleeding…

I glared at the battle text, resolving to see if I could turn it off later. Believe it or not, I was already very painfully aware that I was bleeding and that I’d been stabbed in the side.

“Booo, slow.” Cal disengaged, dashing behind one of the nearby trees. She likely could have pressed her advantage, but the fights tended to end too quickly when she did. “You know Infiltrator isn’t technically even a combat class, right?” she called out from behind the tree. “More of an infiltrate-and-steal-stuff kind of a vibe, with some priesty stuff for flavor.”

I took the lull in the fight to mend myself, sighing with relief as my guts reknit themselves. Speaking of which, I decided then and there that if anyone asked, I would not recommend having their guts reknit. It didn’t hurt, per se, but you could feel them regrowing and reattaching inside of you. Needless to say, I wasn’t a fan.

“Yes, I get it, you can kick my ass. Just wait until I max out my armor skill though! I’ll just wait for you to get in close and give you a nice, big hug!” Unfortunately, it seemed that Cal owned a number of different types of armor-piercing daggers, from thin-bladed push daggers, to strange, conical daggers which lacked a sharp edge and could only be used to stab. Though it clearly took a fair bit of effort on her part, she was proving capable of pushing through my heavy leather armor, even with Arcane Armament enhancing it.

Frankly, it kind of sucked.

Being shown up by a six-foot golem or a gator-man who could smash rocks with his fists was one thing. Getting gutted by a 21-year-old princess who couldn’t stop reminding me that she didn’t have a combat class was… humbling, to put it kindly.

On the bright side, I’d discovered (or rather, had been told by Cal) that this world had a dueling system. If you challenged someone to a duel, similarly to the training arenas, you’d be partially healed after the fight, so it was a safe, if somewhat unpleasant way to train.

A few minutes later, that healing property was put to the test.

You have been defeated!

Your opponent: Calilah

Wins: 0, Losses: 12

I sighed as I mentally and physically prepped myself for my thirteenth loss.

“Ahhhhh.” Unlike many of the noises I’d found myself making as of late, this one was one of appreciation instead of pain. I’d just finished one of my more intense training regimens, and I was reaping the rewards of my success.

Countless minutes of intense concentration had passed, pushing my focus to its max as I cast spell after spell after spell, brows furrowed, hands on fire. I’d even ended up earning the Constitution skill Heat Resistance for my efforts, showing just how intense my training was. More so, it was something I’d come up with by myself and that I could do from the comforts of the hotel room.

My concentration was broken as the door flung open, Cal stepping inside. “Heya. How’s the training been go- Wait, is that hot cocoa? And can I have some?”

It was indeed hot cocoa. It was quickly becoming a staple of mine, strictly as a training aid and definitely not for any other reason. After all, my healing spell was getting a workout lately, but what else could I do that would level Conjure Water and Flameploof?

I sat on the edge of the bed in a lotus position, a few mugs, a spoon, and some hot cocoa mix sitting on a window ledge behind me. In the name of training, I agreed to make some for Cal, grabbing one of the mugs, conjuring some water into it, and scooping in some cocoa.

While not entirely efficient, I then held the mug by the handle and used my other hand to spam my flameploof as often as it would let me. It summoned up a short-lived flame, warming the bottom of the mug before winking out. It kind of hurt the hand that was gripping the mug, but then again, the feeling had lessened since getting Heat Resistance.

“You know you can just get a heating plate, right?” She sat on the bed next to me, one of the few times I’d seen her use it. Thus far, I’d yet to see her sleep a single time, and while I was curious as to what she got up to during the night, I wasn’t going to pry.

“I’ll have you know that this is intense and rigorous magical training, in fact.” Clearly some people couldn’t appreciate a decent training regimen.

At this, she simply rolled her eyes. Her hot cocoa came to a light boil, and after stirring in the powder more, I handed it to her. She thanked me and blew on the scalding liquid for a while until at last she took a sip.

“Nice,” she decided. Silently, I agreed.

It was a solid reprieve from all the getting punched and pierced and stabbed. Just a moment of calm, sitting in bed, sipping some cocoa.

In a few short days, we’d be headed back to Emer’Thalis, and I had no doubt that things would become hectic as soon as I arrived. Eventually though, once everything finally settled down, I was looking forward to many more of such moments. As I drained my mug of its chocolatey warmth, I savored every second.

Stat & Level Updates:

Spears: 7 → 8 Archery: 6 → 8 Medium Armor: 3 → 4 Dodge: 2 → 3 Minor Healing: 5 → 6 Conjure Water: 5 → 6 Flameploof: 1 → 3 Fire Magic: 3 → 4 Heat Resistance 0 → 2

Character Sheet:

Name: Tess Age: 26 Race: Human Class: Arcane Arsenal Level: 7 Experience: 4213/7250 Prestige: 759 Health: 190/190 Mana: 200/200 Stamina: 200/200 Stats: Constitution: 19 Strength: 21 Endurance: 20 Dexterity: 19 Intelligence: 25 Wisdom: 20 Perception: 26 Charisma: 17 Luck: 23

Skills:

Weapon & Armor Spears: 8 Archery: 8 Small Blades: 4 Unarmed Combat: 4 Swords: 3 Hammers: 2 Staffs: 2 Axes: 1 Medium Armor: 4 Heavy Armor: 1 Movement Dodge: 3 Magic Life Magic: 5 Water Magic: 5 Fire Magic: 4 Spells: Minor Healing: 6 Conjure Water: 6 Flameploof: 4 Resistances Trauma Suppression: 9 Poison Resistance: 6 Heat Resistance: 2 Detection God's Eye: 6 Detect Trap: 5 Detect Secret: 4 Tracking: 2 Social Drinking: 4 (+5) Conversation: 4 Trade: 3 Flirt: 2 Deception: 1 Gambling: 1 Craft Woodworking: 6 Jewelry Making: 5 Herbalism: 2 Alchemy: 2 General Reading: 1