Home sweet home. Well, it felt sour right now. The musclebrain Erestran agitated me way too much. I hoped that some grocery shopping would distract me, but realized that it’s not afternoon in real life. An open Walmart at wee hours was a thing of the past. I wasn’t that hungry right now anyway.

With the alarm set for a 4-hour sleep, I was thinking about this trainer again and had a hard time not to stay awake.

When I woke up I wasn’t too tired and felt quite good. A turkey sandwich was breakfast, washed down with a bottle of water. After a shower I was ready for my next session.

***

It was dark around me after the login. That was the way it’s supposed to be. Just in case I listened for sounds other than my shallow breathing. I heard nothing.

Still not sure in which direction I would find the exit I slowly advanced. Nothing seemed out of place, but without my eyes any turtle was faster in this moment. Using Light was the only way now.

My weak spell illuminated the surrounding.

“Hiiiieee!” I cried out like a little girl.

Directly below my floating light stood the lunatic, Erestran. The scene was right out of some horror movie.

“I was waiting for you.” He pressed the palms of his hands together. The walls of the hall lit up and made the training area bright as daylight.

“Aha yeah, thanks for waiting. I have to go.” This guy freaked me out.

“We can do this the hard or the harder way.” He was very calm.

“Listen, I did not hire you or paid you to train me. I’ll tell Christa you’ve done a good job but I was lacking, ok?”

“Christa settled the matter already. She was visiting me in the evening and sent her regards.”

“Shit!” Now I really was in deep shit. There was no easy way out.

“Come with me.” I followed with a sigh. There was no way to escape and Christa was involved. I had to grit my teeth and survive for the next days.

We were now in the center of the hall. There wasn’t much to see. Some training dummies made either from wood or iron stood in the center next to us and at the back was some kind of shooting range for archers. The hall was big enough to allow shots from more than 100 meters away.

“My basic course takes about 4 weeks.” He stated as a matter of fact.

“Wha? I thought we’re talking days?” Did Christa sign me up for a personal hell?

“I came up with you training schedule while waiting.”

“So, it’s petty revenge?”

“No, not at all. My disciples are usually late advanced level fighters or higher. Your are a blank sheet and I can form you from the beginning.”

“Good for me.”

“You are right. And even better that you are my only disciple right now.” He wasn’t getting my sarcasm.

Ding

You are now the disciple of Erestran. As sole disciple of a renowned master you gain related experience 50% faster.

If you not follow orders as disciple or bail out your reputation with the town’s NPC’s will drop.

Speaking about no way out…

“And where do we start?”

“Master!”

“Huh?”

“You will call me master as long as I train you.”

“Right. Where do we start, master?” I had problems to not roll my eyes. It was even worse than in my old dojo.

“Christa told me of your working arrangement. We start now. We have three hours left until dawn.”

“We’ll start right now… master?” That was no fun.

“I have to evaluate you first. Three to four hours should be enough.”

He pulled a big jacked out of a bag that laid next to a dummy and threw it to me. I almost fell down when I caught it.

“Wear the jacket and start to run.”

Willing or not, my reputation with Christa and other NPC’s was in peril. So I started jogging with my added 30 plus kilogram. In real life I would probably keel over after 5 minutes. The riding skill seemed to help a bit and maybe my mining work had a positive effect on me, too.

After about 25 minutes it was over and my legs gave up.

“After your warm up I will check your weapon affinity.” I groaned.

If not for the clock in my field of vision I wouldn’t know how long I struggled with dozens of different weapons. Some were dismissed after seconds and others I had to spar with. Erestran used a simple stick to disarm me all the time.

Three weapons were left after that intense selection. I was sprawled out on the ground face down.

“Break is over. Get up.”

“What break?” I rolled on my back to be able to speak. There was muscles pain in areas I didn’t know actually muscles existed. I struggled to get on my feet.

“We have the bow, a battleax and kamas. Your background and prospects considered the battleax should be the first choice, with the bow as option for long-range engagements. That kamas suit you is quite interesting. Sickles are very effective against low-level monsters. After that it gets more challenging. Your decision.”

“It’s up to me, really?” That was a trap, maybe.

“That is the only point you are allowed to influence in my training menu.”

This guy really wasn’t human. Ok, with few lines of code he wasn’t. But I had never seen such a narrow minded NPC in Karma.

“Just the ax is fine with me. If I have to kill or defend myself I will do it up close and personal.” Hopefully the time with Erestran would be reduced. There was still magic to learn, which was perfectly suited for long-range combat.

“Good. With a focus the short time is often more productive.” Damn, no cut in training time.

“I expect you back after you return from your work. Keep the jacket on all the time. You are dismissed.”

“More training today and why the jacket?”

“Why more? We haven’t even started. And stop asking all the useless questions.” He left me standing on the sandy ground.

This kind of obligation wasn’t on top of my list. It was necessary, but it didn’t feel right. At least, it should be done with mining in mind. That was dangerous enough to die a couple of times without some combat skills.

***

When I left the building it was early morning. Two coppers poorer I had the Karma equivalent of filled dumplings on my way to Christa’s camp. Every day more players filled the streets. They were easily to distinguish from the locals. Players often behaved flamboyant and peculiar. Some were even shouting for parties. I felt annoyed by it without real reason.

On my way out of Kalesh I greeted the guards. Immersion was essential for a great gaming experience. People in charge knowing you when there was trouble could help as well in the future.

“Jess, sweetheart. You waiting for me?” I somehow liked the overgrown, fluffy terror bird. Christa was nowhere in sight this morning.

“Coo! Coo!” She sashayed in my direction.

“Jess, stop! No head munching and no headbutts as greeting!” The way she gravitated to me foreboded nothing good.

She stopped, late, but at least not on me. Jess’ head came down and was almost on eye level with me. She was sniffing me once.

“Coo?”

Jess inhaled deeper. Was my mount a pervert? Suddenly I heard some gurgling sounds.

“Coochoo…”

My face and chest were splattered with slime. I felt sick and used the sleeve of my right arm to at least free my mouth and nose, before I would throw up because I ate bird boogers.

“Son of a bitch! Jess, you pig! Bad bird!” Now I wasn’t only sweaty but was covered with snot as well.

“You should keep your claws crossed that I find some water to clean up. Otherwise I’ll use your coat.”

The third day in Karma really sucked and it wasn’t even noon. Lucky enough there was a big water barrel with an empty bucket next to it. I took of my shirt and submerged it in water. The jacket, especially the sleeve, was next. After some hand wash action I dowsed my head with more water. It was far from perfect, but I wasn’t feeling filthy anymore.

“Jess, I hope you are finished with being a disgusting bird. Down!” My chest was still naked, but I wasn’t willing to put the damp shirt and Jacket on. The airstream on a inker bird at full speed should easily equal any dryer.

“Yiep! Yiep!”

Yeah, back on the road like some veteran. Not really, but it felt special for me. After my return from my work in the mountains I was probably labeled the nudist freak from Kalesh. There were quite a few puzzled looks following bare chested me and my snot steed. That I held a shirt flag in both hands high above my head wasn’t helping either.

Shirt and jacket were dry again after a couple minutes. A bit later I received nice system messages, too.

Ding

The skill Riding leveled up!

Ding

You leveled up!

“Top 10, I’m coming! Hahaha.”

So I reached level 2 now. It seemed harder than in other games. But maybe I was just playing wrong.

No, I didn’t.

***

With the arrival at the mining camp I saw the workers from yesterday. This moment I noticed that Christa didn’t give me the bag for the ore, she couldn’t. I facepalmed.

Yesterday’s practice helped a lot and Jess was without saddle in seconds and soon had a bucket with fresh water in front of her.

“No snack for you today, Jess. Face-sneezers have to hunt their own goodies.” She seemed disappointed, but spared me another snot attack.

“Hi all!” The thing with the names haunted me again. Only Sinan came to mind.

“Hey CB!”

“Hi.”

“Hello.”

“Wasn’t expecting you again.” Sinan was not the most optimistic person.

“Surprise. By the way, I didn’t meet Christa this morning. Means, I have no bag for the ore.”

“That’s the least of our worries. As your caretaker for today we’ll just use mine.” That could be a long day in the mine.

It was better than expected. My Light worked all right and even leveled up. Only nature magic wouldn’t improve at the same time. One hour after starting to break the walls in shaft C I needed a break. The jacket made the work much harder.

Three more breaks later and 9 pieces of ore richer my work for today was done. I wasn’t staying longer than necessary. Jess wasn’t straying to far off, so the return trip was set in mere minutes.

The journey itself was boring. It was nice that my butt didn’t hurt anymore, though. My last sandwiches were sacrificed on the altar of hunger. I was running out of everything and had only 8 coppers left.

“Hoo!” With increasing traffic I slowed Jess down. The impressive walls of Kalesh were in sight and I could see the tents from the camp. A huge person was running around a fire. That must be Christa.

“Jess, stop! Down!”

“Hey CB, come on over!” Christa was waving me to her bonfire.

“Hey Christa, what’s up with the fire?”

“Just a test. When it burned down I try to barbeque with the residual heat. Got the perfect 200 kilogram boar to try it out for a slow roast.” She was pleased with herself.

“How was your day CB?”

“The work was ok and in my rubble was slightly more ore than yesterday. Speaking about ore. Is it possible to get front money?”

“I can do that, but only for your commission.” That couldn’t be that much.

“It’s 75 copper, today not included. The silver ore was a good find.” She gave me the coins.

“Great!” What a positive surprise.

“Nice jacket you’re wearing.” Christa grinned at me.

“Hmh…”

“Like your trainer?”

“He is… He has a special personality.” Calling one of Christa’s friends a lunatic musclebrain wouldn’t be too wise.

“Erestran is a combat idiot. But he is one of the best.”

“So, you knew?”

“Sure did. What do you think how long I know this man? There is no success without effort. His methods may be questionable but get things done, fast.”

“Thank you for lending me to his shaping for the next weeks…”

“Your welcome! Give it your all.” There was her snickering again.

I groaned and tried to mentally prepare for my new master. Both, brain and body said no.