Okay, chapter 3 took forever to read over, and I ended up adding 1000 more words (huff, huff) Credits to FirstDragon for his PR comments on the first three, been really helpful.

This is a really late chapter, but------Look forward to another chapter later today!

Enjoy!

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As Steel walked down the stairs, he found Hamilton waiting for him at the bottom. The grizzly sergeant raised an his head at Steel's approached and nodded. "Good to see you again whelp, ready for your training?"

Steel nodded, "Sir, can I get my things from the receptionist first?"

Hamilton nodded, "Meet me outside, but don't take too long." He moved toward the door.

Steel walked over to the receptionist of the guard house. She smiled at his approach, "Good day sir Scout, how may I assist you today?"

"I would like to receive my payment for the expedition."

She nodded, "One moment sir." The receptionist turned behind her and walked to the wall, which was covered in small doors. She opened one and pulled out a note. Reading it, she took it and returned to the counter.

"This note is a merchant guild bounty note, it holds all the information on your victories and which bounties you are eligible for." She said brightly, "When you have time, take it to their receptionist and she will give you to bounty. Have a wonderful day." She bowed to him.

Nodding back with a "Thank-you", Steel left the guard house and joined back with Hamilton. As soon as Steel arrived, the sergeant set out at a brisk pace toward the city, forcing Steel to lightly jog to keep up with him.

"Sir, who is this instructor you've been telling me about?" Steel asked.

Hamilton snorted, "Just an old drunkard who happens to be good with shields." He small grin appeared on his face, "To be honest, you'll get as much suffering out of this experience as skills, so in effect I'm helping you and gaining a source of amusement." He grabbed Steel's collar as he tried to make a break for it and pushed him forward, "Come on now, none of that. He is the best shield user in Rostwood, so it's not like the training would be worthless. Scared of a little pain?"

Steel shook his head, "Hard work and training doesn't bother me sir. It's just..." Steel had a vision of being Patrick's guinea pig, "I'm adverse to doing things that come with the intention of pain."

Hamilton gave a low chuckle, "Boy, remember we are not on the best of terms. I'm only helping you out this once because I owe you and it hurts seeing you fight. Your views are too different from mine, never forget that."

Steel sighed. He wished he had gotten a relationship quest for the sergeant, but most likely it would involve slavery, which he didn't like. Well, he did have his own slave, but hypocrisy didn't matter too much to his conscience. Really, even friendship was a form of slavery; Hank had taught him that. When your a good friend, good things happen, but if you make a mistake punishment is dealt out. His skill "Shield of Friendship" was proof of that as well, just the nicer version of "Dominance".

Speaking of which, he hadn't seen Nina in awhile. He decided to message her while he was walking with Hamilton.

As he opened the message system, a notice popped up:

Slaves can only be given orders in person, the messaging system will not force actions to be taken.

Steel shrugged, he just wanted to check up on her, not give her orders.

He sent her a quick message saying "Hello Nina". A return message popped back immediately:

Good morning Sir.

Nina, what are you doing playing this hour? Don't you have school?

No Sir, its the weekend

Oh, well how were the results of your debriefing?

I'll be going there now sir, I'll let you know the results when I'm finished. What are you doing now?

I'm off to training, I advise you to do the same.

Yes sir! Whatever you say sir!

Sighing, Steel closed the chat. She was still too eager to follow orders, he'd ask her how her help was coming the next time he saw her. In the meantime, he almost crashed into Sergeant Hamilton's back as he stopped. Steel looked up to find himself in front of the training hall.

He frowned, "I don't wish to be rude sir, but I've been here before. They laughed at me for choosing a tower shield and shooed me out."

Hamilton shrugged, "I would have too, but that's not important. The shield guy you want is inside, just go in and ask the receptionist for Eric Stonehand. Good luck boy." With that, Hamilton turned and began walking swiftly back toward the guard house. Steel sighed, then walked in.

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The training hall was just as Steel remembered it, though there were a lot less players inside now. The trainers that were present were yelling at the remaining players; having them run, hit, and block as much as they could. Under the force of pressure, they could only groan and comply with the unreasonable demands.

Steel shook his head, and walked over to the receptionist desk.

"Hello, I was told to come here and ask for an Eric Stonehand?" he said questioningly.

The receptionist put a finger to her mouth in thought, "Hm, are you sure young man? Eric specializes in sword and shield use and, judging by your equipment." She stared pointy at his shield, "You seem like someone not well versed with swords."

Steel shook his head, "I can use a sword, I just want to learn how to fight properly." She nodded.

"Okay, walk over into the training room and starting hitting one of the dummies with your shield. I'll let Eric know to come find you."

Nodding his thanks, Steel walked past the yelling instructors and wandered over to a dummy without a partner. The dummy was fairly typical; straw wrapped by mats around a wooden poll. He took his shield off his back and took a stance, eyeing his opponent.

He moved his arm and slammed into the straw effigy repeatedly, alternating shield bashes with shield piercer. He kept up the momentum until his stamina and mana ran low, not desiring to faint in front of the dummy.

"WEAK!" A loud voice echoed behind him, causing Steel to jump in fight. He tumbled to the ground to find a small man looking down at him. Without the full beard, Steel might have mistaken the man for a kid. He had short light brown hair mixed with streaks of silver on his head, as well as a stern gaze and arms crossed over his chest. He shook his head.

"To think I'd live to see the day a fool survived so long without any training. The world has gotten too soft." He frowned.

Steel got up, annoyed, "Forgive me sir, but I have done quite well for myself. I led the expedition myself..."

"Quiet!" The man barked, shutting Steel down, "I don't want to here about your miraculous victories. I saw all I needed to see watching you punch the dummy." He reached up and took the shield away from Steel, "This is confiscated."

Steel blinked in shock. The NPC had literally removed the shield from Steel's inventory.

"Hey, how'd you do that? Wait, no, give that back!" Steel protested, trying to take his shield back. The man merely jumped up and round housed kicked Steel's face, putting him back onto the ground.

"Idiot." He shook his head, staring at the shield, "You based your entire fighting style around a single weapon rather than your own abilities. Don't you know that limits your growth?" He put the shield on his back, "In this world, depending on weapons is fine for those who don't get stronger. However, you are a traveler and a member of the guard, this behavior is shameful."

Steel glowered at the man, than stood and balled his fists, "Who are you to be telling me these things? I've put hard work into my success, you have no right to put me down."

The man shrugged, "Aye, I can't refute that. That being said, if you keep this fighting style up, you will fade into the background where no one will remember you or your deeds. Is that what you want?" He raised an eyebrow at Steel.

Steel pursed his lips and looked down, shaking his head. The man nodded, a smile finally appearing on his face, "Good, the fact that you understand means a chance for growth, and to answer your earlier question, the names Eric Stonehand." He held out his hand in greeting.

Steel reluctantly took it, "Weren't you suppose to be drunkard?"

Eric frowned, crossing his arms again, "Now who told you that?"

"Sergeant Hamilton." Steel said honestly.

The little man smiled evilly and cracked his knuckles, "Oho, looks like a former pupil of mine needs another lesson from his master. I'll make sure to treat him well next time I see him."

(Hamilton sneezes and shivers)

"Anyway, first thing is first. Tell me what your class is and all your skills." Eric commanded.

Steel looked away uncomfortably, "Er, isn't that private sir? And giving the surroundings..." He gestured toward the players who were trying hard to not be noticed as they listened in to the new trainer. Eric frowned and said, "Follow me."

He led Steel into an office off the training room floor. Rather, it looked more like a private training than anything else. They sat down in the chairs.

"Sorry about that, I forgot how private and noisy you travelers tend to be." He said, "Now, continue please."

Steel took a breath, "Well, my class is "Shield Tamer" and I have the skills: Shield Bash, Charge, Shield Cover, Skinning, Rallying Cry, Leader's Roar, Shield of Friendship, Domination, and Armor Repair."

Eric stared at him a moment.

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Meanwhile in the training room, the players were finally allowed to take a break. Breathing hard, they bent over at the knees as they struggled to catch their breath. They were scared two feet off the ground by a loud voice that echoed through the training hall.

"WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN DOING!"

Even some of the trainers had been scared fro a moment. Some of the stealth type players discreetly made their way over to the door and put their ears on it. Information was a lucrative business after all.

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Steel slowly picked himself off the ground, moaning as his ears rang. The damn midget had actually given him a temporary deaf debuff from the strength of his voice.

"Sir, forgive me, but what the heck?" Steel deadpanned, leaning on the seat that had also fallen over.

Eric had his head in his hands, "Boy, no, maggot, do you know how poor you are right now in terms of combat strength?" Steel shook his head.

"Well, allow me to put it this way: the travelers that receive a class from a trainer, be it mage, assassin, warrior, or any other, always gain both basic skills and class specific skills. At the very least." He put his hands down and stared deep into Steel's eyes.

"They have 5 basic combat skills and 3 class specific skills. Let me put it this way, you may have the class skills, but have none of the basic skills that comes from actually learning or training."

Steel shook his head, "That can't be right, shield bash and charge are basic skills aren't they?"

Eric gave him a droll look, "They only count as basic when you have the interlinking skill for them." Seeing Steel's blank look, he sighed, "Fool, you don't get anything from them without basic skills like Shield Mastery, Armor Proficiency, or Combat Prowess. To relate, its like you were trying to build a house with the blueprints; you built the house, but the foundation is wobbling. Soon, it would have collapsed on you and spelled your death."

"Are they really important?"

Eric clapped his hands together loudly, startling Steel again, "You've been spoiled because of your shield's ability, regular shields do only a minimal amount of damage when used in actual fighting, and that's with the basic skills to assist. Tell me, when you fought your fist big fight, did you do any real damage?"

Thinking back, Steel recalled his first devil wolf. 'No.' He realized, 'I wasn't doing anything against him, it was the bunnies that ultimately took him down, I just managed to get a lucky daze in.' The other battles as well, his spells and abilities had assisted his strategy, but it was the shield that had ultimately finished them off. Steel's shoulders fell as the shock settled.

He wasn't strong at all, just extremely lucky.

Eric nodded as he watched the shock and disappointment grow over Steel. "Good, you finally understand the full folly of your actions." He sighed to himself, leaning back, "I can't believe Harkin allowed this boy to scout for him. The shock and happiness from seeing the dead devil wolf must have really overpowered his rationality." He muttered to himself, low enough that Steel didn't hear.

He refocused on Steel, "You class, Shield Tamer, do you really want to keep it?"

Steel cocked his head, "What do you mean sir? Why wouldn't I?"

"Listen to the name maggot. "Shield" and "Tamer", does that strike you as the type of attack oriented person?" He pressed, "Even the skills themselves, none of them actually assist you personally in combat. Rallying Cry may boost your defense, but you have to recast it, and that uses a lot of mana. Also, your Leader's Roar skill as a pretty low chance of actually working, worse against stronger opponents. There's also the incessant need to follow a goddess." He scoffed and shock his head, "Divinity is not always kind you know, a lot of their blessings depend on their mood, which changes as fast as the wind blows. Not the most stable of people to serve you understand."

"Er, is that alright to say out loud?" Steel asked nervously.

Eric shrugged, "I follow the human god, and he doesn't care about words, only actions and adventure. Now, it's different for each of them, so don't walk outside and start cursing them to kingdom come- the church folk are liable to punish you for blasphemy."

"Anyway, back to your class. I can offer you some different classes you know? For your deeds in the expedition, I can even offer you a special scout class, what do you say?"

Class offered: Scout WeaponmasterIn war, scouts and spies are essential in tracking enemy movements and figuring out their plans. While most focus on speed, a Scout Weaponmaster focuses on effectiveness. Capable of using all manor of weapons, they are widely sought out for their ability to disrupt enemy plans by eliminating other scouts and small skirmishing forces by themselves. A difficult class to train in, few ever manage to survive the trails to become one.

Steel read the notification. It was an interesting class to be sure. He didn't have anyone at the moment anyway, so his current class was not very productive like Eric said.

Steel took a deep breath, "I....

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Thx for being a great audience!