Chapter 16:

After making sure Betsy’s training was on par, Jay went to continue his own.

If one were to observe Jay and his situation, one would wonder why Jay hasn’t been training to use items.

Yes, one could explain his hesitancy to reveal himself as simply eliminating variables for his epic item, or simple cowardice, if one was feeling uncharitable.

They could say that Jay focusing on political maneuvering showcased his unwillingness for combat.

But what they couldn’t explain away was that Jay had an unending supply of rare items, and he wasn’t training to use them properly at all. Only taking the time to set up items to make using other items easier. Something that can only be done in advance.

The answer was simple. Despite the fact that taking a few hours every day to familiarize himself with his tools would drastically improve his odds for survival, he doesn’t want to do it.

That unwillingness doesn’t come entirely from a childish wish to perform swordsmanship, either.

The answer is skills.

As far as Jay knows, which is saying something nowadays, there isn’t any general skill that allows for the better use of items. Which means on top of spending hours memorizing trinkets, scrolls, and potions, he would have to learn skills. Skills, with an s.

If he wanted to be able to rely on items in battle, he’d have to learn skills like, (Multitasking), (Quick Thinking), (Nimble Hands), and (Throwing) to name a few.

Each skill is insanely hard to learn, (Stansa Common) and (Etiquette) for instance has had Jay working on them since before he could crawl.

Therefore, it was entirely logical to Jay to forgo the ability to use more than a dozen items at any given time. Spending the time in favor of learning swordsmanship.

To Jay, it simply wasn’t worth the time investment he could be pileing into a single skill. It had nothing to do with his fantasy of swordsmanship that he had had since before he was born. Nope.

…

Jay had improved, he could now talk while getting his ass handed to him.

Perks of training while immortal.

Jay ducked a sword, and scrambled to get up in time to avoid the follow-up, “I’m just saying Ghouly. it’s annoying as all hell!”

Jay flopped along the ground like a fish to avoid the evercoming sword, “Lando was easy! Think about it. There was an entire repressed religion over there. One that was so eager to worship that all I had to do was take a census and scout some priests to get a following of several thousand people!”

Jay desperately parried Ghouly’s ghost sword, “The guards may have been made less corrupt by me paying them to betray their lord!”

A desperate swing slid across Ghouly’s cheek, “There were dozens of trading houses there, with only three or four of them loyal to the city lord! Mercs swarmed the fucking place!”

Jay caught a backhand before it could hit him, only to realize that doing so left him wide-open to a sword in the chest. “Gah! That would have hurt if I was able to feel pain in here!”

Jay got back up and readied his sword. Though some would laugh at him just barely holding his own, it was a far cry from Jay’s beginning in this ghostly place.

The evidence of Jay’s growth was clear.

+++

Swordsmanship

General skill

Level 2 (46.58)

+++

And it would be clear even without the actual fucking number on Jay’s progress.

Some would call an almost 50% skill increase in a matter of months insane, but it was something that most people with talent, time, and a teacher.

Jay had two of those things! Or at least one and a half of them…

Jay watched as a sword shattered from overuse, spilling its essence into the room. “Hah, lasting a little longer every time.”

He went over to pick another from the stack, “Where was I… Oh yeah! Lando was ripe for the taking. It had no allies, the power structure was unstable, and I was given several chances to play hero around that city. Things that less give my reputation a boost, and more shove a firecracker up my name’s ass and blows it up, figuratively speaking.”

Ghouly apparently didn’t understand Jay’s had to parry immediately after getting his new sword. “Damn… !- I mean, Ruso is proving to be nothing like that. Who knew, farmers were less accustomed to change than merchants, right?”

The empowered Ghouly was barely giving Jay a chance to speak, but running his mouth was one, no two, of Jay’s best skills, so he managed, “On top of that- Gah! -it’s not like Lando. Lando is the meeting point for hundreds of trading routes along the Northern Desert. It wasn’t a failure on that Ressia fellows par-”

Jay had to pick himself up after being hilt bashed into the floor.

“-part that the city was rather unstable, rather, it was praiseworthy that he was even able to keep it that stable.”

Jay just barely avoided getting his feet swept out from under him, “Ruso is a city on a lake. A lake that’s a third of the way into my badlands. Its only purpose is to manage the many villages and towns farming the river and lakesides. The only way to trade is via boat, even the odd peddler is out of work!”

Jay kept venting his frustrations at Ghouly while they sparred.

“There’s no one vying to take power away from the city lord! The only things those farmers out in the sticks care about is their harvest and which of their children are leaving to become adventurers!”

“Because there aren't any bandits or large monster presences there, there is absolutely zero mercenary activity there!”

“The city lord is a noble with the support of three different baronies that border mine!”

“I can’t even easily plot plans because the place has so much influence from the Stansa church that the whole place goes to hell within a matter of days in the alt world!”

“It’s even hard to throw money at this problem! True, that’s only because I don’t want to resort to violence and I can’t use my stopwatch to get a discount on trust, but still. Money. No. Fix. What the fuck!?”

Ghouly stared at Jay for a scant few seconds, which Jay interprets as it trying to say something, “Oh don’t even get me started on New Hope! I could bring the merchant goddess that endorses the coins herself and still have problems making that fort stay mine!”

Jay kept talking as Ghouly charged him. There was no one there to be surprised, but even if there were, they wouldn’t be. “That’s what it means to go up against the Stansa national military, and that's why no one does it.”

Jay was used to taking his own foot out of his mouth while he was talking, but this time he had to take Ghouly’s out. “Bleh, what’s so vexing about it, new old friend, is that it should be so simple, I walk up to one of the big shots in the army or kingdom, and demand that they have New Hope follow the law. I could probably even just ask the general stationed there.”

Jay grinned as he desperately faced off against his opponent, “The problem is, new old friend, is that I’m a pussy, and I’ve seen too many people die horrible deaths to make even a single unnecessary risk acceptable. And if you didn’t know it, putting all of my trust into having some noble bastard treating me fair and square is a huge risk.”

Jay’s mood turned as yet another sword broke, “Why can’t I use my cheat item to predict how people react!? It’s not like I can use magic to tell me how people would react in any gi.. ven… situation…”

Jay sighed very dramatically, and caught a glowing sword with his throat for his troubles.

…

While Jay scurried around trying to make himself top dog without allowing anyone else the chance to make him get got, several things were happening around him.

Jay’s sword, the first loop sword he ever got, which he named Alpha, was hungrily absorbing any of the familiar essence that came in contact with it.

Ghouly watched Jay more intently with each and every copy it got.

Betsy struggled to turn the big crank her master gave her. She knew she would get extra treats and pats if she did a good job.