Niels smiled as he gained his feet and slapped away the dust on his arms and legs.

“Take a good look,” he called out. There was surprise evident in his voice, but no malice. “Let this be a lesson that no matter how much you know, there is always someone who knows more. Stay humble, work hard, learn your lessons well.” He clapped. “Now back to training.”

He eyeballed me with fresh approval. “I saw your raw potential before, but it is now clear that you are indeed an expert in your craft, even if weapons aren’t precisely your strong suit.”

“Hey, you put a rifle in my hands, and I’ll show you some goddamned expertise,” I said, hooking my thumbs into my belt. “I can put a round in the black at five hundred yards with iron sights and not even break a sweat.”

“Is that the weapon you used on Justiciar Kerra?” he asked, sounding genuinely curious.

“That was a shotgun,” I replied, “but they’re in the same ballpark.”

“Ah, so you’re predominately a ranged weapon fighter. That certainly makes sense, although I’ve never seen a ranged weapon with such speed or sheer damage output. It was an impressive display. Still, even ranged fighters such as Vigils of Wrath typically have a melee weapon specialty. As a Vigil or Justice, I would recommend having at least a passing familiarity with all manner of weapons, but we each have our preferences. Believe it or not, but your unarmed style told me much about you as a fighter. As Justiciar Kerra said, the Vigil is the true weapon. Everything else is but an extension of that truth and I am starting to understand what type of weapon you are.”

He headed over to a long line of weapon racks, framing in the training yard.

“Falchion, gladius, dao, bastard sword, longsword, rapier, claymore, saber.” He listed off each of the various swords as he passed them. “Bladed weapons such as these are among the most popular weapons chosen by the unawakened. They scream warrior to all who see them and capture the populist notion of the quintessential hero. Swords are flashy, light, and admittedly nimble, of that there is no doubt. Against even a lightly armored foe, however, their sharpened blades are rendered nearly useless, and their main advantage is in their ability to thrust and pierce.”

He moved onto another rack, tracing his fingers along each weapon. “Then we have the blunt weapons. Morgenstern, bludgeon, greatclub, warhammer, kanabo, flail, crescent moon axe, halberd, spear, war scythe.” He plucked a quarterstaff off the rack and sent it spinning through the air with a series of lightning-fast twirls and flourishes. “Each weapon has its own specific advantages and disadvantages. The spear, halberd, and staff are ideal for keeping an opponent at a distance, opening them up for spells. An axe or a warhammer require great strength, and though they are not as fast or maneuverable as a saber, say, they can deal truly devastating blows when a hit lands.”

He paused and backtracked a few steps, then finally plucked a crescent-bladed war axe, with a long spike jutting out the back end and a second spike protruding from the top.

“At first, you kept your distance, effectively throwing kicks and punches. This is what I would expect from someone built for the broad sword or even the slender rapier. As I closed the distance, however, you didn’t shy away, but rather embrace my assault. Elbows and knees—close in and brutal fighting for someone who isn’t afraid to take a blow in the midst of battle. But you weren’t done. No, no, no.” He shook his head with a grin.

“When I tried to take you to the ground and eliminate your strategic height and reach advantage, you neatly flipped me right onto my rear—which is a damned impressive feat, let me say. More impressive still, you were willing to follow me down. Instead of panicking, you improvised and adapted, quickly shifting away from hard strikes, and instead applied a seemingly effortless armbar. You are a generalist in the truest sense of the word. I have seen better pure strikers than you and I have experienced the power of a specialist ground fighter. But you are willing to do anything to win.”

He spun the axe in his hands and sent it flying through a series of easy loops. “This is you as a weapon. It doesn’t have the raw blunt striking force of a mace or warhammer, but flip it over”—he twisted the axe and struck with the spike—“and it can pierce even heavy plate. It is sharper than most swords, but because the blade is shorter, it lacks slashing power. Yet thanks to its weight, the blade is far more effective against enemies in leather or even scale mail. As for the top spike, it makes for an excellent thrusting weapon and, in the right hands, can be used to fend off creatures like a short javelin.”

“It’s a generalist,” I said slowly.

“Exactly,” he replied. “It is not as effective as any of those other weapons, but it is far more effective in a wide array of situations. Most Mortka have a weakness against specific types of weapons—heavily armored creatures will be invulnerable to slashing or piercing damage, while swords will be especially effective against creatures with a more malleable form, including slimes, plant based Mortka, and insectile creatures. If you master this weapon, it will give you adaptability.”

I accepted it, feeling its weight in my grasp. I’d been instinctually switching between mace and axe since getting her for exactly the reasons he’d mentioned—even though I wouldn’t have been able to articulate why in the way Niels had. The axe felt right. Like it belonged to me.

“I can see the spark,” he said with a soft smile. “Come, let me show you some basic forms and foundational footwork to get you started on your journey…”

For the next several hours, Niels taught me about the axe and he ran me through a handful of different katas, designed to teach my body how to move with the weapon. How to utilize it most effectively. Even though the axe had a blade, it was classified as a blunt weapon. “It would, perhaps, be better to think about them as hefted weapons rather than blunt weapons,” he told me.

Turned out, the axe had far more in common with a warhammer or a halberd than it did with a spear. It was a heavy weapon, with the bulk of the weight balanced at the far end of the handle—the exact opposite of a sword, which would typically have a weighted pommel.

As a result, putting the weapon into motion and stopping a blow mid-swing took a lot of energy. Which is why Niels taught me to never stop the momentum. If I missed with a big slash, it would leave my back and flanks temporarily exposed to a counterattack, so instead I redirected the force of the weapon, switched hands, changed directions, and let the weight work for me instead of against me.

“Once you decide which school of weapons best suits you, it is important that you select a Weapon Mastery from the path of the Warforged Mastery. Unarmed, Blunt Weapons, Bladed Weapons, or Ranged Weapons.”

I’d read over all four skills more than once during my downtime in the Soul Vault but hadn’t ever used any of them. They were passive abilities that provided additional bonuses when employing specific weapon types or fighting unarmed. They weren’t bad, but with so many awesome active skills to pick from, they’d just been low on the priority list. Why would I care about doing ten percent extra damage against armored foes when I could blow shit up with my mind?

“I haven’t unlocked any of those yet,” I said. “Should I?”

“Oh, most certainly. Vigils, no matter their Ward, all pick at least one weapon mastery to specialize in. Each skill provides its own unique benefits. It will make your blade sharper, your mace hit harder, your bolt strike truer. Weapons will feel more natural in your hands. The single greatest advantage, though, is that unlocking one of the mastery’s will allow you to absorb a Weapon Style Legacy Scroll.”

Legacy Scroll?

That wasn’t the first time I’d heard the term. Kerra had mentioned it the other night when taking me on the tour of Citadel. She’d specifically said that Relics and Rarities was my best chance at finding one. And Pascow—the Vigil-Blacksmith who ran the Steel Griffin—had said that he’d used one on Master Mentalist. But I’d never seen anything about them in the Soul Vault and in all the rush since getting to Wildespell, I’d neglected to ask about what they were. That didn’t mean there wasn’t something about them tucked away in a dusty old grimoire somewhere, but I’d hand my hands full fighting monsters and trying not to die horrifically.

“You do know what Legacy Scrolls are, yes?” he asked, seeing the confusion evident on my face.

I grimaced and shook my head.

“I forget how new and strange this must all be to you, honored Inkarnate,” he said sympathetically. He patted me on the shoulder. “I doubt I am the best instructor to explain them since such arcane artifacts lie outside my area of expertise, but I will do my best to help. You are clearly familiar with the Ward System, which allows us to very selectively unlock our magic, yes? But those skills are not static. They can grow more powerful as you use them over time. If you use a skill long enough—nurture it like a small child—you will gain true mastery. Such mastery can make those skills far more powerful and effective than their base counterparts.

“Diligent and steadfast study is not the only way to advance such skills, however. The second path is known as Legacy Revelations. At times, Vigils find themselves in dire straits, where death is almost inevitable. It can happen for any number of reasons, but when it does Vigils often find themselves pushing their abilities to limits. Sometimes, out of pure necessity, they push past the limits, twisting an ability through sheer willpower to do something it was never intended to do. It is a Revelation of Raguel. And once that new pathway is formed, the Vigil can twist their power in that same way over and over again.

“These are known as Legacy Abilities, and no two are exactly the same,” he continued. “But, as you can imagine, unlocking an ability in such a way is fraught with peril. There is a third, safer option—though it is expensive. When Vigils with Legacy Abilities pass away or perish in combat, that knowledge remains behind in a codified Legacy Scroll. It is the culmination of all their knowledge about a specific skill or ability. Reading the symbol enshrined on the scrolls imprints that knowledge directly upon your soul, granting you the same Legacy Ability so long as you have the base skill first.”

“Fuck me,” I said absently. This was like some Matrix, I know Kung Fu shit. “So all I need to do is find one of these weapons scrolls, and then I’ll be an axe master?”

Niels pursued his lips. “Yes and no. You will absorb the fighting knowledge of that particular master, but not their muscle memory. There is a vast difference between knowing something and executing it. You will still need countless hours of practice to perfect the techniques, but it will save you years and years of study and repetition. Of all the Legacy Scrolls available, Fighting Styles are the most common, since every Vigil specializes in at least one. But be careful, because once you pair a Legacy Ability with a base skill, you cannot bind another and, as I am sure you know, not all masters are of the same caliber.”

I grinned, thinking about what a game-changer this was, as I resumed my fighting stance.