Chapter 6 - The First Rule

Doldahr’s ‘training’ was anything but what Tal expected. And it finished all too quickly.

Doldahr took him to a lightless room, and just in case, wrapped a thick sheet of cloth around his head. From there he walked him around the room to familiarise himself with it. It was a perfect cylinder of what had to be at least 10 meters in radius. Thick spiralling pillars rose from the floor, stretching towards the ceiling - aside from those, there was nothing else of note. The pillars themselves felt as smooth as newborn skin. A sharp contrast to the sharp and rocky ground lying underfoot. Still, it made for quick memorisation of the structure of the room.

“The first rule of combat is to know your enemy. It might sound simple. Know who they are. Know their strengths, their weaknesses. But each is informed by a variety of factors, some less obvious than others. How then, can you jump into a fight with an opponent you have never met and instantly know your course of action? This is what I will be teaching you. No matter how long it takes”.

Doldahr finished his little speech by throwing a wooden stick at Tal, who blinded as he was, only caught a bruise along his shoulder. Tal bent to pick up the dull object, wondering at the course his training was taking. Just what does he expect me to do like this. He began to nurse a sneaking suspicion that this would not at all be an enjoyable experience.

Tal’s budding impatience grew as he stood in the centre of the room. Arms aching from holding the wooden practice sword. Just how is this supposed to help me He thought. “Take two,” Doldahr exclaimed “I didn't realise I would have to start by showing you how to hold the damn thing. It's no snake, you don't need to strangle it by its neck. Loosen your grip, boy”

Tal frowned. How the hell am I supposed to know what to do with it. You’ve hardly been forthcoming with any information. “It’s not like I’ve ever done this type of thing before,” he muttered under his breath. Unfortunately for him, not quiet enough. A heavy thwack accompanied the pain shooting through his behind. Tal whirled to face his attacker.

“And your lucky I didn’t aim for the other side!” Doldahr laughed. Tal did not think it was funny. The joviality suddenly fled from his voice, “Now! Sword up,” he barked.

The first indication Tal had that he was about to get his head knocked in was in the whispering whistle of the air. Luckily, Doldahr hadn't moved and was still in front of him. Tal leapt backward, swinging his sword up just in time to block the strike. And block he did. A reverberation ran up the whole length of the wood, seeking refuge in the vice-grip of the hand holding it.

“Shit!” Tal dropped the sword, shaking his hand, then finding that didn't help, nursing it between his legs. “Didn't I tell you to loosen your grip, boy? Almost as if you should listen to what I’m teaching you isn't it?”

“I get it!” he snapped. If it wasn't for the blindfold he would have already lashed out at the stupid Dwarf, who seemed only too eager to cause him pain. Still, the message got through and Tal brought his weapon up, this time holding the sword in a much looser grip.

“Better,” a voice whispered from beside him “But too loose”. Tal, still in the heat of the moment, didn't pause to consider how his teacher had got so close to him. Instead of working overtime to come up with some angry retort that would put this guy in his place. His teacher though was finally in the mood to help him.

Doldahr placed rough fingers upon his hands, slowly yet firmly guiding them into the proper position. “Like this,” a pause “No, push this finger down harder”.

Tal just did what he was told, instantly finding that holding his weapon like this quickly reduced the strain on his arms. It wasn't comfortable by any means. It was simply just a little kinder on his muscles. In fact, Tal's jarred hands were still sending dull pangs even while holding his sword exactly as he had been shown.

Doldahr took a step back. It was time to see if his trainee had taken what he had said on board. He swung towards Tal’s midsection in a lazy sweep, purposefully turning the flat of the blade at the last second so as not to tire out his new friend so quickly. Despite his grumblings, Tal was showing true willpower. Doldahr, though, knew he was just lucky to have such a great trainer. It was widely accepted, after all, that pain brews the most efficient learning. Yet, some tender part of himself just couldn't go the extra mile that he knew his own late master would have.

Tal found himself narrowly avoiding a set of severely broken ribs as he instinctively brought his training stick down and blocked the strike. This time the sword stayed firmly in his hands, though not without smacking around against his palm in what he was sure would welt up later.

Through still blindfolded eyes though, the System made itself known. He couldn't contain the edges of his mouth from cracking up in a smile as he was finally rewarded with something for his efforts.

Skill Gained!

Sword Mastery

Level: 1

You have taken the first step in learning how to handle a sword. Let's hope you don't cut yourself on your new toy.

Even the description of the skill wasn't enough to off-put his newfound mood. Something that caught his eye, however, was the rank of the skill, or rather the lack thereof. He was just beginning to get a bit more accustomed to most things in this System having a rank. It would appear that all skills, or perhaps only some skills, wouldn't have a rank. Not to be discouraged, Tal beckoned his opponent onward, “Again!”

“Ready for more so soon are you boy. Very well then, let's see what you've got” he smiled menacingly.

Hours later and Tal had his blindfold off, leaned against one of the many pillars in the room he examined the various wounds sporting all over his wiry frame. An extensive collection of bruises and even some cuts, despite the dull edge of the practice sword, wrapped their way around his form. Each breath he took in was accompanied by a wince from his truly battered body.

Doldahr had left some time ago. It was when Tal had collapsed for the third time, crawling towards the nearest pillar, trying to lift himself upward and put something hard behind him. After the embarrassing display, Tal had to fight off the pull of unconsciousness. The darkening of his vision and the departing footsteps of his trainer clearly announced his failure to continue.

Now awake, Tal looked further around the room. His trainer was nowhere to be seen, what he could see however was a blinking blue light in the top right of his vision. He focused on it and three prompts expanded from nothingness. Surprisingly to Tal, for all of his work, none of the screens was showing a level up. That wasn't to say he was unhappy with his progress though.

Sword Mastery

Your level of Sword Mastery has increased from level 1 to level 4.

Bonus experience gained from training under an experienced teacher.

Bonus experience gained due to location

Primary Attributes

Your dexterity has increased from level 14 to level 15.

Your constitution has increased from level 12 to level 13.

The next screen wasn’t anything as exciting as the former prompts. Merely a notification that his status sheet had been updated with the addition of a Skills header.

It was definitely a lot of work for the measly two levels and attribute points - one look at the patchwork of swelling over his body was testament enough to that. Tal would have been very disappointed if he couldn't already feel the changes in his body. Shit, if this is how it feels from just a few points, what is it going to feel like after dozens more, what about hundreds? A shuffling in the corner of the room interrupted his wide-eyed musing.

Tal couldn't tell if he was happy or not to see Doldahr back so early. The sudden appearance of a basket of food in his hands, though, was enough to turn the tide of his emotions. Tal eagerly waited as Doldahr strode over.

He placed the basket next to Tal, who not offering a word, sat down silently next to him. His soul-bound flagon soon materialised in his hand. Tal took that as a cue to dig into the basket which was quite literally, full to the brim of food. His aching muscles voiced their dissent as he began to stuff his face with whatever he could find.

Many bites later, and Tal's ravenous cravings were over. The two passing back a bottle of what Tal hoped was water. The feast did make a difference though, and soon enough Tal found himself once again nodding off in a food coma.

When he awoke, Doldahr was still with him. Unsurprisingly, he was once again drinking. “Finally boy! You sleep like a rock. You didn't think you were getting out of training that easily did you?” Tal blinked his eyes, trying to clear the blurriness. Turning to Doldahr he frowned “You’ve damn near worked me to death, and now you can’t even let me rest in peace for a little?”

“Cheer up sleeping beauty,” He replied. “There is more to combat than swinging a pointy sword around. There’s theory behind anticipating your opponent's next move that must be learned too. Unless you hope to out-muscle every one of your would-be attackers” he paused for a moment eying Tal's frame “Just to be clear. I don't think that's an option for you”.

Tal rolled his eyes in response. He knew he was no meat-head, but a little bit of theory work would go just fine for him right now. “Alright, alright I get it - I still think you could have given me a bit longer to close my eyes after that beating but lead on”

Doldahr shuffled closer. He put his drink down. “There are many different fighting styles. Each with its own set of strengths and weaknesses. That is not to be confused with the Sword Mastery skill, which can be considered a general catchall for your progression in sword fighting. Fighting styles can come later when you are not at risk of stabbing yourself.”

“Ha-Ha” Tal drew out each syllable. “So what are you bothering teaching me if not one of these fighting styles.”

“You don’t need to be following some specific fighting style to skewer someone, boy. You just need to point the sharp end at them and push. What I am trying to tell you is that somebody’s level in Sword Mastery can hardly depict the outcome of a fight. There is way more to it than that, and that's even excluding the other skills or abilities they might use”

“I get it,” Tal replied, “though wouldn't it be better if you focused your time on actually teaching me something instead of telling me how screwed I am the second I get into a real fight. It’s not exactly something I have had time myself to rectify”

“You’re missing the point,” Doldahr shook his head “But I can see I’m not getting through to you, for now, let us go over what you did wrong and where you can improve from that sad little performance earlier”

The next few hours entailed a long series of criticism. To which Tal kindly refrained from launching insults back at the troublesome dwarf. That wasn’t to say he wasn’t listening to his teacher, just that the dwarf wasn't gentle with his pointers by any means. He seemed to be intentionally goading.

His teacher went over a basic list of things he should be listening for. Instructing him to always be listening to each of his senses. “In a duel, you can sometimes get away with focusing deep on your opponent and only your opponent. While you are inside this tower, things are not so favourable. You must keep yourself focused on everything at once”. The vibration underfoot would detail close movement, the whoosh of any object through the air, the rustle of fabric as one moved, the clack of boots on the ground. Even light breathing. This and more, Doldahr told him that he must always be looking for.

How the hell I am supposed to take that all in while engaging somebody in a fight. If Tal hadn’t already seen Doldahr in action he would have thought the dwarf was having him on for a laugh. There is a big difference in progressing in the use of a sword to hearing the breathing of someone who could be meters away, and then figuring their position out based only on that. It shouldn’t be this difficult. The more rational part of him reasoned that if he was going to survive this tower, he should take on board all the little bits and pieces he could. It was all there to help, no matter how tedious and difficult it may seem. It beats dying alone in some cavern that's for sure.

Doldahr stood him up. “I am going to put your blindfold back on. And you are going to listen to everything I told you. I don’t want you to worry about the practice sword right now, I want you to focus on hearing everything your senses are telling you.”

It started with him, back in the middle of the room, everything shrouded by darkness from his blindfold. Doldahr once again led him around the room, instructing him to memorise his surroundings. Not wanting the take the beating he previously had, Tal trusted his teacher and fully committed himself to the process.

Doldahr led him around the pillars. The task was simple. Every time he would come across a pillar he would have to slap it with the flat of his hand. Every time he missed, or else touched any of the pillars with anything but the flat of his hand, he would receive a slap in turn. Where he would receive his slap was up to the discretion of the nasty dwarf.

By the time he was done Tal sported yet another array of red marks across his body. What he could do, however, was walk anywhere he wished around the room, perfectly hitting the pillars that he knew would be there. He couldn’t run, and he had nothing concrete to show for his gains. It felt a bit stupid to him really. What use was all of this in fighting someone. At the end of the day though he had to trust his teacher. He clearly knew much more than him about this strange new world.

“Good” Doldahr had said. “In no time you will be sprinting around this room just fine”. Tal didn’t even want to think about it. His progress compared to before, now felt minuscule. And his new trainer left much to be desired.