Archie and Luke not only took care of the deal that Linus participated in but they also negotiated for and purchased thin, flexible leather armor for both Archie and Linus as originally planned. Alia offered to help carry everything back to the inn which they gladly accepted. By the time they got back the sharp minded Linus they had seen deftly negotiating not half an hour ago was well on his way to incoherent.

For better or worse he wasn’t the only one. As the evening descended the common room had filled up with townsfolk finished with their work day and looking to let off some steam. Linus had resumed his seat at their previous table and was now surrounded by a group. As Archie got closer he could hear his boss regaling the gathered group on the superiority of wine over beer. While it seemed like a tough sell to this particular group Linus was nothing if not persistent and persuasive. The jug of wine he had purchased and was freely sharing also gave weight to his argument. Archie mentally prepared himself for a night of playing babysitter as he made his way over to Frannie.

“Hi Frannie, can I get dinner for myself, Luke and Alia here? Please put her portion on our tab.”

“Coming right up. I’ll use the third portion you already paid for.”

“Linus didn’t eat when he got back? Don’t bother to answer that, of course he didn’t. Please give me a fourth portion for him as well.”

Archie grabbed one of the few free tables off in the corner while Luke and Alia brought the purchased goods up to Luke’s room. By the time they got back down three stews were waiting at Archie’s table and an additional one had been delivered to Linus.

“I thought the plan was to do some training this evening,” Luke said over his meal.

“Linus’ plans tend to skew once alcohol is available and he usually manages to find some wherever we go. This one time we were visiting his brother at a monastery and he finagled his way into the sacramental wine supply. It was the angriest I’ve ever seen monks.” Both of Archie’s dinner mates laughed. They swapped a couple of their more outrageous drunk stories before Luke pivoted the conversation to a more productive topic.

“Well Alia do you have any recommendations for weapons trainers in town? Specifically for the ones we purchased from you today.”

“Your best bet is the Adventurer’s Guild in town. It’s not particularly large but I’m sure you could find an [Assassin] to train the punch dagger and I know there are plenty of [Swordsman] for the shortsword. The whip sword not a clue, today was the first time I actually had someone consider it. As for the throwing daggers, I can actually help with those, I’m quite proficient.”

“Can you help now?” Asked Archie, nodding in the direction of Linus and his drunken crowd that had moved over to the dart boards set up on the far wall.

“Are you serious?”

“Best to sneak in some training while he’s drunk. Save us time tomorrow and he won’t mind. In fact he’ll probably be an ideal student right now. Though we should check with Frannie before throwing knives at her dart board and he might make you drink with him.” Alia was chuckling at Archie’s suggestion.

“Well if Frannie is fine with it and you think it's a good idea I’m in, as long as you buy my beer. I’m not drinking that vinegar in a jug.” And that’s how Alia found herself drunkenly playing throwing knives on a team with Linus against Jeremy, the town drunk, and his wife Janette.

“This round let’s play it blindfolded!” Shouted Jeremy.

“Awesome, I’m in.” Agreed Linus while Janette was already rolling napkins to use as blindfolds.

“Is this really a great idea? Probably not the safest.” Slurred Alia, both the fewest drinks in but most drunk of the group. Also sadly likely the most sensible as well.

“Why not only have the blindfold on while throwing and the non-throwing partner steering the thrower in the direction of the board.” Suggested the completely sober and surreptitiously hovering Archie, aided by his [Unobtrusive Presence] and [Mental Resistance] skills. Luke had long ago succumbed to Linus’ peer pressure and [Persuasion] then retired when he realized how drunk he had gotten. The blindfold suggestion was the latest in a long line of variations that the group had pitched.

Playing with a drink in hand and having to throw with your off hand were some of the earliest and most reasonable rounds they had played. Throwing from between your legs was a round that ended early since none of them could even consistently hit the board let alone score. Flaming blades and throwing from all the way across the room were both shot down by Frannie and Archie empathetically, and Frannie refused to let them buy a bottle of her hard liquor.

They even occasionally played a round with the actual darts to keep it interesting. At some point Frannie handed over her keys to Archie with a request to lock up. It wasn’t until mere hours before sunrise that the game disbanded. Jeremy and Janette drunkenly stumbled home and Archie and a belligerent Linus escorted Alia home before returning to the inn and making their way to the suite.

Linus woke to the taste of rancid grapes in his mouth and a pounding headache. A glass of water sat on the bedside table and several notifications. After chugging the water to rinse out his mouth and a quick cast of [Minor Heal] to address the hangover he pulled up the notifications.

New Skill Available: [Throwing Knives] Accept | Decline New Skill Available: [Ambidextrous] Accept | Decline

Both interesting options but he only had two slots available currently and was going to stick to the plan of pursuing [Blades]. He pulled up the descriptions but had already decided to hold off on accepting either, it was always good to have a free slot.

Throwing Knives (Passive) Improved proficiency when throwing small blades per level. Ambidextrous (Passive) One hand is as good as the other.

Just as he thought, both solid skills that might have interesting interactions later in their development but nothing that changed his mind. Leaving both skills in limbo he got out of bed as Archie entered his room.

“Ah glad to see you up sir. Luke is at the door looking to speak with you and get us started on our training for the day.”

“Very well. Come here before you let him in.” Linus hit both himself and his manservant with an [Invigorate] to get them ready for the day. A bedraggled Luke entered a moment later.

“Morning Linus and Archie, ready to get this day over with? I took Alia’s advice and went to the Adventurer’s guild. We are in luck there’s a [Blademaster] in between missions that is willing to do training for the right price. He’s securing us a practice room at the guild as we speak.”

“Sounds marvelous. Just need to grab breakfast before we head out.” Said Linus cheerfully, sweeping out of the room and downstairs. They grabbed a table while Archie went to order their breakfast. Linus carried the conversation, mainly worrying that the outpost’s wine supply wouldn’t be any better than the town’s and wondering how long it would take him to get his own vintages churned out once they arrived, until Luke interrupted him.

“I know I don’t drink normally but how are you so much better off than me? I can’t even think about drinking right now, let alone plan my own booze production.”

“Oh sorry about that, here one second.” Linus reached over and once more used [Minor Heal] and [Invigorate]. His tablemate instantly visibly improved and he was greeted with another notification.

Invigorate has increased (9/10)

“It seems wasteful to use healing magic on a hangover but damn is it effective and convenient. Maybe I’ll pick it up next time I have a class slot open if I can learn one of the skills.”

“Excellent idea,” agreed Linus. Then Archie arrived at the table and they all focused on scarfing down the porridge, starving from their late night. Several minutes later they were up and halfway out the door before Archie pointed out they should probably grab the weapons they were planning to train with. They took a quick detour back upstairs to grab both the weapons and new armor then were finally on their way.

The Adventurer’s Guild was across town, near the main gate. It was a large stone building that dominated one side of a lively square. In the lobby area Luke led them off to one side where a tall, wiry man stood. He was wearing form fitting, high end black leather armor with more blades than you could count attached.

“Hi Jude, thanks for meeting us and taking the time today. This is Linus and his manservant Archie. We are hoping to get Linus the [Blades] skill. I’m not sure if we ever decided on what skill, if any, you were hoping to acquire.”

“Not necessarily a skill, just looking for training on these throwing knives.”

“Very well, follow me and we can get started.” Jude led them across the lobby and through a door that brought them into a large walled in courtyard. Several sandy practice rings were arranged throughout with gray stone walkways separating them. A large tree in the middle provided shade and was ringed with benches. They made their way to one of the further rings on the edge of the courtyard.

“I’d recommend we start without armor on. I’m assuming neither of you have a skill for it?”

“Nope,” replied Linus. While Archie responded with a more cryptic.

“Not exactly.”

“Okay, so no armor until you’ve got your corresponding skills. It will impede your movement and make it harder to do actions correctly. I’m going to start with Linus and teach him some forms with his shortsword and have him practice those while I work with Archie on his throwing knives.”

Jude demonstrated the proper stance, correcting Linus’ leg positioning repeatedly before moving onto sword movements. Those took much longer, focusing on his wrist, blade angle and several different attack types. Once Linus had a basic understanding Jude laid out a cycle of moves to loop through while he went over to Archie.

With Archie he set up a target on the outer edge of their ring, on the side that ran up against the wall. He had Archie standing fairly close, focusing on his wrist motion and keeping his eyes on his intended target. Back with Linus he watched a few loops of moves, correcting any deviations from proper form before showing him some maneuvers with the punch dagger.

“I think you’ve got enough understanding for us to move onto sparring. It’s the best way to learn and get the skill. Don’t worry I’ll be able to manage the fight so none of us get injured.”

“What about this?” Linus walked over to their equipment sitting by Luke and pulled out the whip sword.

“I recommend you leave that weapon in its sheath until you have the [Blades] and [Mana Manipulation] skills, preferably until they are both up to level 5. Otherwise you are just asking to injure yourself, possibly significantly. You might get a rare or unique skill for it or evolution option for [Blades] or a class variation. But let’s walk before you try to run.”

“Fine. Also I’m okay with some minor injuries, I’ve got a healing skill I can grind.”

“Very well, let’s get started.”

The following bout was a controlled thrashing. Every swing and stab that Linus made was blocked, redirected or sidestepped. Jude shouted out corrections and advice, not even breathing hard while Linus gasped and wheezed through the moves. Small, shallow cuts appeared on Linus as they continued, just enough to draw blood and cause pain. As the match continued he started using the occasional [Minor Heal] and [Invigorate] to patch himself up and keep him going. Jude would let up just when he thought he was at his limits, giving him just long enough to recover before pushing it again. They stopped routinely for short water breaks before resuming the relentless sparring. Round after round Jude instructed and pushed Linus, punishing any mistakes he made with yet another small cut. As the training continued Linus started to receive notifications that he minimized, glad to see all this misery was paying off.

Eventually Linus reached his limit and called it quits as he stumbled to the edge of their ring before plopping on the ground. He went through one final round of [Minor Heal] and [Invigorate] though it bottomed out his energy to do so. Then he pulled up the notifications from the fight.

New Skill Available: [Shortswords] Accept | Decline New Skill Available: [Daggers] Accept | Decline New Skill Available: [Blades] Accept | Decline Minor Heal has increased (10/10). New Classes Available.

“I got the [Blades] skill!” Linus shared with the group. He declined the [Daggers] and [Shortswords] skills before accepting [Blades]. He could barely wait to check the new classes available from his [Minor Heal] level up later when he had more privacy.