“Alex…” Whittaker gently tried to rouse Alex, growing more bemused as their attempts failed. “ALEX!” And he got dumped onto the floor unceremoniously.

“Huh.. wha…? Oh, hey Whittaker, ‘sup?” Alex yawned.

“Time to get started. We need to assess your base strengths and see how the connection has integrated. Up you get!”

With a grumble, Alex rose to his feet expecting to feel some ache from his exertions the previous night. None came. He felt as fresh as if he hadn’t worked out at all, which made him grin in anticipation.

“What are you grinning at? You complained about me being creepy yesterday, but that look on your face is horrifying.” Whittaker ribbed.

“Well… I sort of did a little workout last night to break in my ‘new’ body. I don’t hurt at all which I wasn’t expecting. I also managed to get a couple of stat up notifications when I finished.” He explained, grin still firmly plastered on his face.

"You… Okay, that’s not completely unheard of I guess…” Whittaker began with a thoughtful expression. “So, may as well get started on your assessment now. What level did all of your stats start at, and what did you raise?”

“Wow, straight to business huh? Okay then, all my stats started at 1, which i wasn’t expecting. I was actually a fair bit weaker than I was back home which was weird to adjust to. I did find that i was recovering faster than normal though. I raised my power and vitality by 1 point each.” Alex said proudly.

“Everything started at level 1? That is NOT normal. You should automatically have had a level or 2 in areas you had previous experience. How long did you work out for?”

“About an hour i think, why?”

“Getting stat increases early isn’t too hard, but getting 2 areas ranked up that fast? That is abnormal to say the least. Do you have any previous combat experience? Whittaker questioned intently, mind racing at what Alex had said already.

“Combat? Apart from playing games, nope, sorry. Will that be a problem?”

“It shouldn’t be. I have trained more than one initiate from nothing before. Let’s move over here” They gestured towards a clear space lined with a few mats that hadn’t been there the previous evening, “And we can begin seeing what you have to offer.”

Alex followed Whittaker to the now padded area and waved his hands around in a mock stance based on years of watching badly dubbed martial arts films.

“Why are you flapping around like a chickling? You look ridiculous.” Whittaker scoffed, making Alex’s cheeks redden.

“It’s what people back home do when they get ready to fight… I thought it looked cool.” Alex pouted.

“Well here's lesson one then. Don’t do that. When you are to be engaging in any form of combat, do NOT give away your intent. Keep yourself loose but controlled, reducing any advantages your opponent may be seeking to gain. Today I wish to show you the basics of our military hand to hand combat style. If you pick it up easily enough I will adjust to more in depth abilities as needed.”

Alex was taken aback at just how intensely different this Whittaker was from the one cracking jokes with him just minutes before. He could almost sense the power emanating from his friend. “Sure, sounds good! Quick question, why am I not cold any more, and will fighting with you cuase the same as what happened between Nieve and Eira?”

“You aren’t cold any more because you have been enhanced by your connection to the Veil. Extremes will still affect you, but outside of that, it will take you a lot longer to feel the cold. As for what happened between the others, unless I choose to use my affinity as a weapon, you shouldn’t feel it any more than normal. Before, you were extra sensitive due to your trip through the tear. Now, come at me with everything you have. Hold nothing back, I assure you that I will not get injured.” With that, Whittaker dropped back onto the balls of their feet and seemed to grow by a foot and a half.

Alex held back a moment, assessing what had just happened to Whittaker. He edged forward cautiously and aimed a clumsy kick at the side of Whittaker’s knee. All that happened was a slight shift of the foot, wheras Alex fell back with a hiss feeling like he had broken his toes.

“Don’t kick with your foot outstretched like that, you lose all rigidity that way. Try again, but use your heel, or fold your toes back and kick straight on. Keep the impact point in as straight a line from your hip as you can.” Whittaker chastised.

Pain already forgotten, Alex did as he was told and swung in with a viscious heel-kick at the same spot. It was like kicking solid steel, but at least he didn’t hurt himself this time. Spinning away, Alex came in low and aimed a punch at Whittaker’s kidney area. This sort of move had gotten him out of a few close scrapes back at school as few could stop themselves from conceding ground from a solid blow to such a tender area. As the blow landed Alex felt himself lifted from the ground and suddenly the ceiling replaced the floor in his view. Before he had a chance to grasp what was happening he found himself pinned to the matt face down, with Whittakers surprising bulk on top and his arm wedged up his back.

“Not a bad attempt, but you made your intent far too obvious. I had your entire blow choreographed from the second you decided to throw the punch. Don’t come in from so far back already starting the blow. Close first, and at the last second aim the punch. It gives the opponent far less time to react. Also, plan for how you wish to get out of the blow. Have the entire move planned out in your mind before you start. For example, in that punch, how were you planning to get out of range?”

Alex, gasping out his response because of the weight currently bearing down on him “I… hadn’t… planned anything after.”

“Didn’t think you had. What you could have done is follow the blow around to the opposite side with a spin or slide.” Whittaker stood and helped Alex up.”Hit left, go right. Okay, again.”

This continued for a while, Alex attempting blow after blow, kicks, punches, even a sly headbutt which earned him a respectful nod from his teacher. Shortly after sitting himself back up after another brutal takedown, Alex got some more stat increase notifications.

Power +1

Vitality +2

Finesse +2

Mentality +1

“Woooooah…” Alex muttered to himself under his breath. “Hey Whitt, can we go again? I wanna try something.”

“Of course, you’ve been making phenomenal progress so far. I only caught you that time because you misplaced your foot.”

Standing and stretching himself, Alex faced his teacher again. This time he came in hard and fast, feinting towards Whitt’s stomach before crouching and exploding a blow straight into their unprotected face. For the first time that day, Alex had managed to land a solid blow that utilised everything he had been taught so far. Not entirely expecting his plan to work, Alex didn’t pull the punch at all and felt his fist sink into Whittaker’s nose at full speed. Blue-tinged blood shot across his hand, arm and flecked onto his face as Whittaker flew backwards, nose entirely obliterated by the attack. His elation depleting rapidly, Alex rushed over to his friend and recoiled slightly at the sight.

“Holy fuck, Whitt I’m so sorry! What can I do to help?”

“Hahaha that was amazing Alex! How did you manage to get past me that easily?” Whittaker laughed, unfazed by the fact their nose was currently smooshed flat and pouring blood.

“That doesn’t matter right now, we need to get you to a doctor or somethi…” He trailed off as Whittaker grasped their nose and with one swift movement accompanied by a sickening, grinding, crunch straightened it back out. Alex threw up.

“This is nothing major, it will heal itself well enough in a few hours. See, already stopped bleeding.” And surely enough, the blood had already ceased flowing, the injury already looking a few days old in but a minute. “Now, tell me how you managed that spectacular move. I’m a good teacher for sure, but that feint was perfect. You gave nothing away about your true intent until your fist hit my face!” Whittaker beamed like a proud parent whose child had just used the toilet instead of pissing on the floor.

“Well, I got some more stat increases while I sat and recovered after the last bout. I wanted to see if they would make a difference so I kinda suckerpunched you. I’m really sorry Whitt…” Alex faced the floor, ashamed of using such a cheap tactic on his friend.

“Why are you sorry? You did EXACTLY what i’ve been trying to teach you all morning. You gave nothing away, and used an advantage to its full potential. The error was mine. I assumed you were just going to come back in stubbornly to try and prove a point. I didn’t factor in that you would get more stat increases so quickly. Which one improved this time?”

“I got 1 power, 2 vitality, 2 finesse and 1 mentality this time. You make it sound like I should have only gotten 1 increase?”

“That’s because you SHOULD have only gotten 1 at most. I have never seen anyone gaining stats this quickly, especially at level 1 without any class bonuses. You gained more than an entire levels worth of points through a short amount of training, which is unreal. No wonder you were able to surprise me. I may be a ways ahead of you in levels and training, but a solid blow like that will always deal some nice damage.”

“You can see my level? How? And Class? I saw the header in my panel last night, but I have no idea how to unlock it, its all greyed out currently.” Alex fired off the questions so fast Whittaker didn’t have a chance to respond.

“Whoa, slow down and let me answer one at a time. I can see you level because we were in combat and I enabled my Heads up Display to monitor my health and yours whilst we fought. You will get yours once you unlock the ability to take a class, which will also allow you to gain levels. One of the others will go over the extra details later with you, as you will gain a whole host of new options to monitor. Class is something I CAN discuss, as I am able to bestow you the Field Knight class should you wish to unlock it. We specialise in heavier armour and most forms of weaponry, melee and ranged. We also get more health per level than most other classes.”

“Wait, you’re a class trainer? Well that’s awesome. Am I limited to just one class then?” Alex asked eagerly.

“Not at all. Class level and Personal Level separate once you take up a class. Each class can level separately, and bestow its bonuses whenever you choose to level it. You could have a Personal Level of 50, Field Knight Level of 30 and another Class Level at 20. Your Personal Level is equal to the combined total of your Class Levels. There are also specialisations you can earn, but they require specific Class Levels, and someone to teach it to you. As a culture we generally get all of the base Classes available to us to level 10, at which point they begin to slow down, and we then focus on whichever we feel suits us the most. This grants us many of the benefits of each class without needing to invest too heavily.” Whittaker explained, with Alex held in rapt attention, hanging off of every word and burning them into his brain.

“So, how many base classes are there? You must have really been holding back on me whilst we fought. Holy crap, what level ARE you?” Alex paled, realising he had been nothing more than a slight annoyance to the behemoth in front of him.

“Our realm has access to 4 base classes and their respective advancements, but other realms have access to countless others. We have Field Knights, Combat Medics, Soldiers and Frigidtechs. The others will tell you about their respective class choices, but we all have at least 10 levels in each of those. I’m a level 35 Field Knight, 15 Combat Medic and 10 in the others. It really does take a lot of time to level past 10, but the benefits become far greater as you can gain access to more of the classes power.” Whittaker said with a little pride in their voice.

“That is a LOT to remember, but all i can say is thank you for not squashing me like bug… You’re level 70…” Alex responded in awe.

“And a couple of the others are even higher than that, but enough of that, they can explain that better than I. Would you like to become a Field Knight Alex? I only recently gained the ability to bestow this class to another and would be honoured if you would be my first inductee.”

“I would love to, those extra bonuses sound fantastic, and getting my HuD sounds like it will make everything much easier.”

Whittaker placed their finger in the center of Alex’s chest, and a pale white glow began to emanate from the point of contact. The finger was withdrawn, but the light continued to spread until it had encompassed Alex’s entire body. As it began to fade, a notification appeared;

You have gained the Field Knight class. You gain 10 health. For every Field Knight level gained you will gain 10 base health, plus your Vitality stat. You also gain +2 Vitality per level.

HuD unlocked. Extra stats now available to view on the stat panel.

Alex could now see his Hit Points and Stamina on his stat panel, as well as having a small icon representing these numbers to the bottom left of his vision. He could make out similar bars above Whittakers head alongside his level, which did indeed show 70.

“Thank you Whittaker. And thank you for taking the time to teach and explain to me exactly what is happening.” Alex gave a small bow towards his teacher.

“You are more than welcome. You’re pretty much the fastest study I have ever had the pleasure of teaching. But we aren’t done yet. Now you have unlocked Field Knight, you can formally learn your first ability. Join me back on the matts.”

Alex did so, and spent the next 30 minutes watching as Whittaker demonstrated the first Field Knight ability Jump Charge. This move basically allowed the user to channel their energy through the soles of their feet to power forwards at incredible speed, and if harnessed properly channel this force into their blow. The first few times that Alex attempted the move, he fell flat on his face, much to the amusement of Whittaker who was acting as the target dummy. As he continued, however, Alex swiftly realised where his mistake lay. The move needed to be done as one action, one fluid motion from start to finish. The training and words Whittaker had imparted earlier began to take on a new light. Alex plotted his entire move from start to finish before beginning, and suddenly found himself flying toward his teacher at impossible speeds. Clearing the distance in a blink, Alex used the force of the momentum and threw a punch towards Whittaker’s unprotected left side. Whittaker anticipated him taking this opening and redirected the blow harmlessly to the side, throwing their own swift jab into Alex as he flailed past.

“Well done Alex, that was much better than the last attempt. We can work on the other aspects of your fighting later, but now you need to eat. You must be starving by this point, and with all of the growth you’ve experienced you need sustenance. Plus we should really let the others know how far you’ve come already.”

“I hadn’t even thought about it until you just said, but now you mention it, yeah, I’m famished. How about I show them how far I’ve come by Jump Charging up next to Nieve as a little payback for nearly freezing me to death when I first got here?” Alex responded with a smirk as he laid out his little plan.

“That sounds like a great idea, I’ll head in first and act like nothing is amiss.”

And with the plan in place, they both headed toward the dining room at the back of the hall.