“Yes.”

Mark almost whispered his answer to the message that appeared when he went into the capsule. With a blink, he was transported, his mind not body was moved in a perfectly white room with nothing in it.

'So this is the character creation screen for this game' wondered Mark with much interest.

Just because he doesn't show his emotions, it doesn't mean that he didn't have any to begin with. In his 15 years of experiences, 15 years of utter hopelessness, Mark learnt that it was better if he didn't express anything even when he was beaten up.

— The scan on your iris and vein has determined that you are an unregistered user. Do you want to create a new account?

“Yes.”

Mark didn't care about the AI at all. However what he did care about was the 5 people he would have to get along for a great number of years from now on. The task that was given to them was great enough that it would at take that amount of time.

— Select the name of your avatar.

“Raven”

Mark really didn't give much thought into the name.

'Either way it will stick on me later.'

Raven were quite similar to crows except that Ravens were bigger. Mark would often confuse the two since they looked quite similar to him and in one case, he thought that Raves would puck his dead body clean when he was injured enough to be admitted into hospital and have the police and welfare services investigate the cause. That day, a group of other Orphans who ganged up on him again decided it would be fun to beat Mark on the brink of death. They were later sent away, deemed too dangerous for other children and never heard of again, but the damage was done and Mark closed his true feelings and emotions away from others.

— Select your gender from male, female or neutral.

“Male.”

'Is there any point in choosing neutral at all? Well each to their own'

Unknown to Mark, Neutral was much more useful than he thought. While not gaining the gender buffs from allies, it also didn't allow them to get the gender debuffs from enemies and other skills that affect a certain gender. The latter appeared more often than the former.

— Royal Road has forty-nine races. You may select your race from the primary twenty-nine.

Mark remembered someone on the street talking on how he was an Orc and lead his party into victory with his mighty strength. Mark was more interested on the fact that others did not try to even threaten him directly as an Orc. Because of this, that particular race was attractive to him. But the words of Hina echoed in his mind.

'It is best that we all have races that are appropriate with the role we have and not attract too much attention'

As a result of this Mark also reluctantly said, “Human.”

— You may alter your appearance

'Should I change my appearance?' he though to himself. There have been many cases where some lady came out and gave Mark a gift out of the blue when he went on a walk. They never seem to give Mark any more gifts but sometimes he could see them staring at him from afar on occasion. Mark had what people would call a pretty face and this was the main reason why he was picked on. The girls would love him while the boys wanted to rip his guts out. Even today there has been many cases of girls confessing their love to him and boys getting jealous about this. However Mark still stayed the same and ever expressed himself and acted almost like a robot programmed to reply a certain way.

To hide his face, Mark grew his hair long and it covered most of his eyes. But the key details of his overall face still stayed and the mystery of what was hidden beneath his bangs stimulated that imagination.

'Its too much of a hassle to change it only to make me uncomfortable later on'

“Done.” In the end he still had his blond hair and blue eyes and naturally pretty face.

— Your account has been activated. Your stats and class shall be determined while you are playing Royal Road. Please Select a city and kingdom you want to start.

“Witchhelm”

There was no need to choose any other city. If he did then he would be isolated from the others for at least 4 weeks. It would be better to just delete and restart his character than to fall in another city.

— Welcome to Royal Road.

Light merged him with his avatar and his journey began.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Raven opened his eyes to find himself in the city of Witchhelm. Some people were staring at him but he ignored them making his way to where he believed the fountain was that the rest of the group as to meet up.

'This place has more people than I thought'

As Raven moved around the place searching for the fountain he spotted it and there were a few people already there but they weren't any of the other 5.

'Did I come early?'

Raven made his way to the fountain and stood there waiting for the others to arrive. After a few seconds Grace and Hina arrived at the same time and waved at him saying, “So you two got here early” indicating that someone was next to him. Raven almost screamed in shock when he found that Ian was standing next to him like it wasn't unusual. Ian had black hair and eyes now which made him blend into the shadows even more.

Both Grace and Hina seem to have chosen an Elf race each though there were differences. Hina for starters had golden eyes while Grace had more round ears compared to Hina.

'When did he get there?' Raven thought while considering that Ian would be a very good assassin. Soon enough Peter came along a few seconds after Grace and Hina saying, “Is everyone here yet?” casually looking around to find Maria who was late. Peter had a slightly more blue hair now that Raven looked more closely.

With an angry cry it was Hina who answered, “Maria isn't She's late!” with an irritated voice. Peter made a wry smile at her words while Grace was getting frightened by Hina's bad mood moving closer to Ian almost by instinct.

'Those two and the other two will get along in the future.' Raven thought with a smile in his heart.

“So are we going to introduce ourselves while we wait for Maria?” Sain asked the rest of the group.

'We might as well. There's no point in delaying for one person'

“We might as well” sighed Hina echoing Raven's thoughts, “Anyway I'm called Miriel now so call me that. I'm a Night Elf.”

“Raven, Human” said Raven after Hina.

Grace somehow managed to speak out loud in front of us, “I'm called....Serena...a Half-Elf...”

Then it was Ian's turn and all he said was, “Shadow, also Human”

Sain smiled knowing all of their new names now and introduced himself.

“I'm Sain also a Human. Anyway we should friend each other while we can. Um...how do I do this?” Sain said with confused on what to do.

Miriel sighed and said quickly, “Send Friend Request to Sain, Serena, Raven and Shadow.”

Miriel sent you a Friend Request. Accept?

Some sort of box appeared in front of Raven's eyes. He wasn't ready for it to appear so quickly and out of nowhere that he almost flicked it away by mistake. Then he looked at it more closely and the others to see that they also had the same thing pop out at them as well. Raven clicked the 'Yes' answer and another box appeared.

You have accepted the Friend Request

About to send a friend request to the others, Sain cut in before he even finished half his thoughts, “Send Friend Request to Serena, Raven and Shadow.” said Sain in a quick manner.

Sain sent you a Friend Request. Accept?

Clicking the 'Yes' answer again the previous box appeared again.

You have accepted the Friend Request

Now he only needed to add Shadow and Serena. But both of them also cut Raven off before he could speak.

“Send Friend Request to Serena and Raven.” said Shadow. Serena got surprised the third time in a row now and was literally clinging on Shadow for support.

Shadow sent you a Friend Request. Accept?

Raven moved his finger quickly to the 'Yes' Button again but another one appeared again with the words of Serena.

You have accepted the Friend Request

“Send....Friend request to Raven!”

Serena sent you a Friend Request. Accept?

Raven for the fourth time in a row Raven was cut off making a friend request and could only receive.

You have accepted the Friend Request

'This is getting annoying now...'

Now that everyone present had friended each other, all they had to wait for was Maria who was taking her time. He would try to chat with the others but Miriel was tapping her foot on the ground ever since 20 seconds ago and we did not dare to talk right now. After a further minute Miriel had the look of an abusive step-mother about to hit her step-daughter.

'Perhaps its better for Maria not to appear now in face of Miriel.' Raven thought thinking of what Miriel could do to her without the rest of them interfering.

Then just when Raven thought that things couldn't get worse....for Maria that is, she appeared in front of everyone waving with a smile.

“I'm here~” she cheerfully said. She expecting everyone to greet her with a kind smile but reality wasn't so kind. Miriel went up to her and whacked her head with her fist.

“Ow! Wait, what's this message I'm seeing?” she cried in exclamation.

'Its most likely the game saying that you were hurt.' Everyone thought to themselves.

“Your late!” shouted Miriel in rage. Maria could do nothing but weep in the force known as Miriel that the others including Raven quickly noted to not piss off.

“Anyway sent a friend request to everyone of us. No, tell us your name and we'll friend you. It'll be much quicker that way.” Miriel said with dominance over Maria.

“My name is Lyndis, a normal Elf.” said Lyndis the Elf in a quiet voice acting submissive.

Finally given the chance of giving a friend request I smiled in my heart and said, “Send Friend request to Lyndis.” The others also did so as well and finally all 6 of us were here.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

“First of all you guys know how to open your inventory right? Just say open Inventory and a window saying what you have will appear which should be 10 pieces of Rye bread and a Canteen of Water. You can refill the Canteen using a Fountain like this but you have to buy Rye Bread for 3 Copper each. Try it out.” said Miriel instructing the group on how to play the game.

“Open Inventory Window.” said the 5 together

Inventory

- 10 Pieces of Rye Bread

- I Canteen of Water

- No Money

Another window appeared in front of Raven's eyes like the one in video games. 'I wonder if there is some sort of item limit besides with weight.'

Everyone looked and pointed at the window that was only visible to themselves. Sain then moved his hand and took out what was the Rye Bread for everyone to see.

'This looks....very hard to chew', everyone thought seeing the Rye Bread in Sain's hand.

“Anyway next is the Status Window which you will see all of your stats and such. Same thing as the inventory, just say Open Status Window.”

“Open Status Window” said the 5 of us again.

Status Window[quart=Name,Alignment]Raven,Neutral[/quart][quart=Level,Profession]1,None[/quart]RaceHumanTitleNoneHealth100Mana100[quart=Fame,Infamy]0,0[/quart][quart=Strength,Agility]10,10[/quart][quart=Intelligence,Wisdom]10,10[/quart][quart=Vitality,Stamina]10,10[/quart][quart=Leadership,Luck]0,0[/quart][quart=Offense,Defense]10,10[/quart]Magic Resistance0%Elemental Resistance[quart=Light,Dark]0%,0%[/quart][quart=Fire,Ice]0%,0%[/quart][quart=Earth,Lightning]0%,0%[/quart][quart=Wind,Nature]0%,0%[/quart]

In front of Raven's eyes was another window which gave more details on what his game life would be like. As a human he had balance stats compared to other races.

“Okay now that you know your status window, we have to talk about distributing stats. Know that it is better to be a master of one than a master of many. However don't let it stop you since its your character and we don't need to be something like the strongest. Now let's go our separate ways and find a class in these 4 weeks we have. Don't aim for the hidden classes since they may take too much time to get and don't just resolve yourself on being one of those common classes people get. I'll see you guys here in 4 weeks time.” said Miriel before running off to find whatever class she could get.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Raven started walking to what he thought to be a barrack where people fought with weapons and such. He wanted to start his training now since he didn't have anything else to do and he did not consider to get a job to get money for food. He went into what looked to be a new group of trainees and slipped into them waiting to be directed to be trained.

A tall bold man came up to this group that now included Raven and said in a loud voice, “Right now. You lot are the new recruits that I've heard about a minute ago that you even exist! First of all start running!” the man ordered the group.

Everyone including Raven started running together around the open area and kept running laps at the same pace.

“TOO SLOW. FASTER!” shouted the man.

The group then picked up its pace and some of the group members started to complain.

'Is that person trying to tire people out faster to improve their abilities quicker?' thought Raven as he ran near the centre of the group. After 10 minutes a number of people started to drop out one by one. The pace was too high for them and they stopped out of breath.

“WHAT IS THIS? ONLY 10 MINUTES AND YOUR TIRED?!” shouted the old man. He threw his fists at the people who dropped out and injured them enough that a priest was called to heal them. This motivated the rest of the group especially Raven who was tired of that kind of treatment when he was a child.

“FASTER!”

Once more the group started to pick up the pace which again resulted in some people dropping out and getting beaten up. A few minutes later the old man shouted again making the entire group groan again.

“FASTER!”

“I swear, that man will kill us all if he could.” muttered one of the trainees near Raven.

“STOP!”

Everyone stopped running as an angry old man stomped towards them. A couple of the trainees afraid almost ran away, but everyone just stood there silent as the old man went to find his victim...the person who insulted him. And the person who he grabbed was....Raven?

The old man pulled Raven up into the air where he insulted and threatened him. Raven looked at the man who was the cause of this thinking, 'If he doesn't do anything then I'll make his life hell.'

However he didn't have time for such thoughts as the old man noticed something wrong in Raven.

“You're not a trainee are you. A Freeman, an outsider. Who said you can come here?” the old man sneered at Raven and the other trainees soon followed suit. Raven was considering that he would die here and try again somewhere else considering the old man looked like he had the intention of killing him. But fate smiled on him....for now.

“What the hell are you doing?!” shouted a voice with a commanding tone. The moment the old man heard it he immediately dropped Raven on the ground and saluted the person. The person was another old man but in full armour and a long white beard. He carried an aura of vitality with him despite his age. The old man and other trainees quickly moved aside when this man walked towards Raven. Unlike the old man, this person looked at Raven with interest.

“That old fool threatened you and you didn't even blink a eye. Tell me, what do you want to be?” asked the man waiting for Raven's response.

“Tank.” replied Raven. That was all he had to say since the person smiled. He rubbed his beard and said, “So you want to be like me? Good! Let's start your training then...but first you have to be my apprentice. Do you accept this? By the way my name is Park, an old retired knight.”

Become Park's apprentice

Park has fancy you and allowed you to become his apprentice.

- You will live with him until your apprenticeship finish

- You will be fed food

- You will be given training directly from him

- Will gain the title 'Shield Bearer Apprentice'

'If I'm trained by this man, will I get a good class?' With that thought Raven nodded to this apprenticeship offer.

You have become the apprentice of Shield Bearer Park

You have gained the title 'Shield Bearer Apprentice'

- Vitality will increase by 1

- Strength will increase by 1

- 5% Less Damage taken when Blocking

Park smiled seeing that he has a new test subject....victim....apprentice. All of those things in one. He considered himself lucky to get someone willing to become his apprentice after what happened to the previous ones. But Park thought what if this one just came here and did not know all the rumours about himself, his comrades and 'them'.

“Did you just come to this world today freeman?” asked Park. Raven nodded his head again and Park smiled once more. He thought, 'This is going to be fun. They say most freeman are spineless but occasionally you find those who can and will endure more than any native.' But Park almost forgot one thing. “What is your name apprentice?” Raven replied in a single word again, “Raven.”

Park laughed out loud and said, “Not much of a talker. Well people don't usually talk when something is trying to smash their skulls in.”

Park when to where the training weapons were and took a large wooden shield and a stick. He threw it at Raven which he caught and said, “First of all, start running laps with the others with this one.” Raven held the wooden gear and found that it was heavier than it looked. Much heavier, it weighed at least 20 kg in total. However Raven did not want to disobey the orders of his new Master that will take care of him from now on. Still struggling to even carry wooden items Raven got back into the trainee group and old man which apparently was an instructor ordered them to start running again. This time Raven was hard press to keep up with the others.

After a hour of running Raven noticed a certain stat increased.

Strength increased by 1

When the stat increased by 1, the very heavy load....became still heavy but Raven could've sworn that it had become slightly easier to hold onto while running....by a very small margin. By the end of 3 laps Raven was stumbling around as the other trainees pitied him and thanked the Gods that they were not chosen to become the apprentice of one of the harshest trainers in the continent.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

“Okay now Raven, since you've experienced the entrance of what is going to come I might as well explain to you what is expected for a shield bearer. For starters we don't usually attack and let our allies finish the enemies off. However that doesn't mean that we cannot attack or use weapons. But first I need you to learn how to use a shield.”

Park took out a shield the same size as the one Raven was holding. The shield was of the larger sizes Raven had seen and it was used mostly to block large powerful attacks. The shield was strapped onto his left hand like Raven. He bent his knees and lifted the shield over his face.

“The most basic technique on using a shield, a large shield is to bend your knees to reduce the amount stress on your legs. For a larger shield this is more important since larger shields will be heavy, it will make it more likely that you will collapse from the weight from the attacks you take.”

'So its the same theory on bending your knees to prevent damage from falling on your legs' Raven observed how Park seemed to be leaning over in order to take a hit from in front of him.

“Of course doing this will make you more vulnerable on the sides as you are focusing your centre of gravity to the front. The only way to counter this defect is to quickly shift your centre of gravity from the centre to the side as quickly as possible. Another way of course is to dodge. I'll have to send a message to an old friend to borrow her powers so I can start the true training. For now we will prepare you for that training.”

“...”

Park took out several bracelets that were large and dark in colour.

“These will help you train your wrists and ankles. They are 5 kg in weight each. Also you may need these.” Park took away the wooden gear raven got and replaced them with a metal shield and a Spear without the spikes on the end.

'So...training weights?' Raven looked at them and took them. They weighed about the same as the wooden gear for some reason. He looked at Park to explain why.

“Oh, I gave you those since they weigh the same as the wooden stuff. In terms of value the things you have right now are less valuable and I don't know if you'll might break them accidentally. Anyway the first thing you need right now is to increase the abilities of your body enough to endure the hell...I mean future training.”

'I wonder if being this man's apprentice was a good idea.'

“...”

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Several days later, or 3 days later, Raven had increased his stats a bit. His strength increased by 2, Agility by 3, Vitality by 4 and stamina by 2. Because of all this running Raven has been doing for the past three days, his physical stats has increased dramatically due to the weights and other things he had to carry that weighed up to 40 kg. However Raven was dissatisfied on his own progress.

'I spent three days running with weights and only this much stats increased?' he thought. However increasing his stats that much in only 3 days was already enough to make people envy him. But Raven has a slight problem...he looked at where Park was constructing some sort of death machine.

The Death machine in detail was a long line of those training things where you hit them and they spin to hit you back in old martial arts movies. Except Raven felt that this was more dangerous than what the original was. Until the normal ones where it only moved when you hit it, these ones moved on their own and sometimes suddenly spun out of nowhere, plus they had human shape and each had 6 arms which move around like they were alive like dolls in a sense. Raven almost had 3 black lines appear down his face when he thought of going through that.

However it did appear when Park took an unlucky trainee to test try the machine. The unfortunate trainee looked frightened and looked to Raven and the others.

“Please, please help meeeeeeeeee!” he cried. However no one moved to help him since they might be the next one if they did.

The trainee was pushed into the start where the the training logs with wooden ends at the sides spun and whacked the trainee on various places. The trainee tried not to move forward but when he stopped for a moment the dolls started hitting him forward....hard. When the trainee tried to lie down, the dolls kicked him up in the air and whacked him until he stood up. This happened many times and when the trainee finally got through one go which was only 20 metres long, he fainted and had various bruises on all parts of his body.

'Lucky I'm not his apprentice' thought the trainees looking at Raven with pity. Someone patted Raven's back as the trainees left Raven to his fate.

'Is it still possible to switch masters or at least do something less....hellish?' thought Raven as Park called him over to also test drive his new invention.

“Okay now! I called my friend over and it seems she finally found an apprentice as well so she, the apprentice will help you by healing you for her own training. Anyway go through this once, I cranked up the power so its more useful for training.”

Raven was distressed in his heart, 'I have a good feeling that I will die going through that. But I have to....is this the end?' he thought as he dropped his training tools. But Park stopped him saying quickly, “Hey hey hey, who said you can take them off. Also You'll use the shield to block as many attacks as possible else you might die.” Raven nodded and started the first of many runs where he gets tortured....training from the best.

Raven looked at the machine more closely. On both sides there were 20 of those dolls with six arms each. The length of their 'weapons' where only a metre long but there were six of them on each which meant they were dangerous enough. Raven lifted his shield and walked through the beginning where the dolls were already attacking him.

WHACK WHACK WHACK

Raven continued to keep on moving but slowly taking the hits on the shield. But when he passed the first two dolls, they attacked from from behind.

WHACK

You have taken 10 damage

'Shit! This is bad, I have to go quickly or I'm dead!' screamed Raven inside. Then Raven started to pick up his pace and almost ran through the course while the dolls were hitting him harder and harder than before.

WHACK

You have taken 10 damage

Raven only took 3 steps and there was still another 18 metres left but Raven still moved forward as the attacks from the front pushed his back and the attacks from the back pushed him forward.

WHACK

You have taken 10 damage

In total, Raven only had 140 health which meant that he could only take 10 more hits and then he'll be at critical health.

WHACK

You have taken 10 damage

There was only 15 metres left. Raven was a quarter finished and he intended not to let his first death be due to his master's device. Raven pushed forward with the shield in front taking a beating from the countless strikes against him.

You have taken 10 damage

WHACK

You have taken 10 damage

WHACK

You have taken 10 damage

WHACK

You have taken 10 damage

WHACK

You have taken 10 damage

WHACK

You have taken 10 damage

Raven was almost to the end now. It was just a few more steps until he made it through this hell. He only had 40 Health left but he was almost finished, 'Soon it will be over' he thought hopeful. But fate was not so kind to him. A certain message appeared in front of him suddenly which surprised him.

Skill: Shield Mastery has been generated

WHACK

Something hard hit him in the back making his vision blur as he stopped.

Critical Hit!

You have taken 30 damage

Health is below 10%, you will bleed to death unless healed

'You got to be joking! Why now?!' thought Raven in distress over then ever. His death of almost certain. However fate did not abandon him yet even though it put him though such a tough situation.

“Minor Health Regeneration!” shouted a female voice. Light surrounded Raven's body and a message appeared that baffled him.

You will regenerate 1000 Health over 100 seconds.

This message pretty much told him that every second he would regenerate 10 Health. Such a thing was impossible for new players, 'Is this the power of a master healer?' thought Raven as he remembered that his master brought his friend over to view his training. Raven in the next 10 seconds managed to get out of the Death machine and to safety. He checked the messages that appeared in front of him.

You have generated stat: Endurance

You have generated stat: Fighting Spirit

Raven remembered how many people have these stats but they are often low in the early game. However after it was known that these stats were very useful when high, more and more people started to train these stats but the majority of people still don't as the number of new players still increased. Raven checked these stats to find them to start on 10 each and he could only increase Endurance but not Fighting Spirit.

“Park are you trying to kill your apprentice?! His health dropped down to critical levels just then!” shouted the same female voice to Park.

Park looked startled that someone called out to him and with his best smile he greeted the woman , “Mel! It has been a while....How nice for you to drop in” Raven could see the corners of his mouth twitching. Behind the person named Mel who just saved his life was someone very familiar. It was Serena but with new proper clothes unlike himself who was still in rags.

Serena was dressed in Green like her master in some sort of dress with a staff in her hand. 'She seems.....different for some reason. I wonder what happened' thought Raven as Serena didn't seem nervous at all that a number of people were staring at her master and her. Speaking of her master, she was smiling at Park as well. However it seemed sinister for some reason and Raven felt frightened of her.

“If I remembered, a certain person was bowing down to me begging for me to help teach his new apprentice.” said Mel. Park had his eyes wide open when he heard that with the rest of the Barracks.

'I wish I saw that happened' everyone thought.

“No no no, I didn't beg at all!” retorted Park in order to restore his 'good' image.

'So he didn't do it?' everyone thought again.

Mel gave a short threatening, “Huh?” to Park which he immediately corrected himself, “Yes I did beg now please down hurt me” in a pleading voice to Mel. This situation was....weird, very weird to everyone watching. The veteran knight was bowing down to the young healer person who didn't look like a priest at all.

'I never thought I would see that man like that in my life.' Raven grinned in his heart knowing that at least someone was helping him out after he almost died from that death machine.

At this sight the person named Mel smirked and started insulting Park starting with, “To think an old man like you is able to bow down to the 'young' me.” At these words, Park wasn't insulted but confused asking to question that must never to asked, “How old are you now? Weren't you 10 years my senior?” he said without realising that everyone including Raven and Serena already backed away to avoid the danger that was in front of them.

'Run!'

And they were right to do so since everyone could see the shadow of a raging dragon from the killing intent that was coming out of Mel's body.

Mel started chanting a high levelled spell, “The leaves of nature fall and reduce to ash-”

Park tried to stop her from casting the spell, “Stop! Are you trying to kill us all?!”

However his words did not reach her ears as she finished the chanting and activated the spell, “Crimson light reflect onto nature's gaze. Type 5 Nature Magic: Nature's Hell!”

Then in the air there were a large number of leaves coming out of nowhere. They turned into green dust and floated around the place. At first everyone thought this to be a harmless spell....until the wind blew it into a building and it disappeared without a trace.

'Holy....better run now while we have the chance!' everyone thought at the same time, running already from the green dust that would kill them if they were covered in it. But everyone did not get the chance to run as the Wind God seemed to hate everyone there for some reason and blew the green dust to them.

“No no NO”

“I don't want to die yet!”

“Why is this happening to us?!”

The trainee shouted their inner thoughts right before they were about to die. But instead of being covered by the green dust and dying, a shield of some sort appeared in front of them, saving their lives.

“Honestly why is it every time you two fight, the bystanders are almost always in danger of dying?” asked another 'young' lady in purple robes. She too held a staff and created another layer of the same shield that protected them all.

““Jenny?!”” said the one who was using a large scale destructive death sentence spell and the one who was cowering away said at the same time.

'Whose Jenny?' thought both Raven and Serena at the same time.

The person named Jenny simply smiled and said to Mel who was actually the person shivering now, “Stop your spell or else.” The next second the spell disappeared immediately and everyone sighed in relief. However everything was not done just yet. Park was about to draw his sword out while Mel was about to cast another spell.

But Jenny already got in between them and with a glare asked, “Do you two want to experience my personal Dragon's Bane move designed to take down dragons without harming them?” the two trouble makers were pale white now.

'I wonder what kind of spell can take down a dragon like that?' thought Raven a bit curious.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Raven, Serena, Park and Mel were together right now talking about the training that both Raven and Serena was to do together since it would help improve the skills and abilities of both of them at the same time.

“Basically while Raven goes in there again”, Park pointed at his prized machine, “Serena will heal him when he gets close to dying.”

'You got to be joking.....your telling me to go to the point of near death several times?' thought Raven in anger since the first time he almost died if not for Mel. Mel patted Raven's shoulder and reassure him, “If things don't go well, I'll help Serena help you and punish Park without killing everyone else as well, I promise!” While the words near the beginning of her sentence was reassuring, the part near the end worried him and everyone else who heard it greatly.

“Serena will wait over there until your health goes under a certain point and will heal you. Me and Park....needs to meet with Jenny for a talk.” some fear came out from her mouth when she mentioned Jenny and with that the two of them left scared out of their minds.

“...”

Serena looked at Raven who was silent for the entire time though she thought she saw a hint of emotion when everyone was about to die.

“So how was your experiences so far?” asked Serena innocently not knowing what Raven had to endure. In that moment Raven re experienced the three days of torment plus the death machine again. Raven gripped his head to try to stop the memories from flooding in. Serena was immediately worried but could 'see' no change in his health at all. Moreover the pain originated from when Raven blocked out the pain from those days and the days before when he was a child. It was only natural that his mind couldn't decide whether to let Raven to remember or not because of the pain.

“What's wrong? Try not to think!” ordered Serena and Raven did just that. He stopped thinking and was just there staring blankly and the pain was gone. After a few seconds he came back into the world.

“Anyway I have a couple of skills I can do but I'm here to train my healing abilities. My version of Minor Regeneration only heals 100 Health over 100 seconds which means its 1 health per second. Also I can recast the spell once every 20 seconds so you should be fine if I stack the skill over and over again. Are you....going to go through that again?”

Raven nodded and picked up his shield. He went at the start of the course again and waited for Serena to cast her spell.

“Minor Health Regeneration!” she shouted.

You will regenerate 100 Health over 100 seconds.

With this message Raven charged into the hell training device. Even now the dolls that were hitting him proved too much and his stamina was rapidly decreasing even with the new stats.

WHACK

You have taken 10 damage

Once again it was the first 2 dolls that hit him in the back that caused the first amount of damage to him.

WHACK

You have taken 10 damage

As Raven moved forward again his health decreased but Serena's regeneration skill helped him last longer. By the time Raven reached the 4 metres mark, Serena shouted, “Minor Health Regeneration!” again which means the first healing effects has only 80 more seconds. So at most Raven can only get a 4 health for second healing effect on his body for 20 seconds.

Strength has increased by 1

Raven ignored the message since last time he got hit a couple more times than needed because of that and he just pressed forward. After another minute, Raven got through the run after Serena used Minor Regeneration two more times on him.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

It was the next day when Park called him out of bed with several other people who wouldn't dare disobey Park even if it means their lives.

“First of all, show me your stats. I need to know if your ready for this kind of training.” Raven showed Park his stats which Park was a bit impressed comparing Raven to the others that he had taught before.

Status Window[quart=Name,Alignment]Raven,Neutral[/quart][quart=Level,Profession]1,None[/quart]RaceHumanTitleShield-Bearer ApprenticeHealth340Mana100[quart=Fame,Infamy]0,0[/quart][quart=Strength,Agility]16,11[/quart][quart=Intelligence,Wisdom]10,10[/quart][quart=Vitality,Stamina]17,15[/quart][quart=Fighting Spirit,Endurance]12,13[/quart][quart=Leadership,Luck]0,0[/quart][quart=Offense,Defense]10,12[/quart]Magic Resistance0%Elemental Resistance[quart=Light,Dark]0%,0%[/quart][quart=Fire,Ice]0%,0%[/quart][quart=Earth,Lightning]0%,0%[/quart][quart=Wind,Nature]0%,0%[/quart]Bonus- 5% Less Damage taken when Blocking

During the rest of the previous day Raven had increased his Strength by 1, Agility by 1, Vitality by 2, Stamina by 3, Fighting Spirit by 2 and his Endurance by 3.

Park scratched his beard again while grinning thinking, 'It seems like my machine did its work. Buts its probably not going to be enough now. He needs better torture....training to improve!'

On the other hand everyone else including Raven was depressed right now. Namely they were all going to be used to test out some elaborate training method. The 3 trainees there were dragged out here were condemning Raven in their hearts for both being the apprentice of Park and being a pretty boy that has attracted the attention of women recently.

“Anyway this Training is one to make sure Raven can apply the fruits of his labour into live combat. Namely get hit over and over again by you three”, Park pointed at the trainees who had this pleasure, “Also might as well get warmed up, we can't start until we have a healer since there may be some 'accidents'” Park coughed at the fact that half the trainees wanted to kill Raven since the recent influx of women visiting that barracks was to see Raven in action.

The 3 trainees looked at Raven with anticipation on 'hurting' him. But Raven did not complain once even with the torture....training Park gave him. As a result his stats were a bit higher than all the other trainees.

Because of the wait, Raven and the trainees decided to train a bit on the scarecrows. Raven took out the Spear like thing and started hitting the scarecrow in front of him while holding the heavy metal shield. After several minutes a message appeared indicating that he gained a new skill.

Skill: Spear Mastery has been generated

With this new skill Raven's strikes were a bit faster and stronger than before. Eventually Serena appeared which meant the true training was just beginning.

“Right! Now we can finally begin!” shouted Park putting the trainees into action surrounding Raven on three sides. Park threw something to Raven. It was a wooden shield the same size as the one he had but much lighter. “Raven! There's no point in holding that dull heavy thing. Feel the force of the blows and counter it!” With those words Raven threw away the shield and Spear he had and put on the wooden shield which was all that protected him and the blows from the other trainees.

Raven held his shield just below his eye level allowing him to see the person on front of him. He was continuously turning around to see which one of the three would attack first.

'I have to keep on looking at each of them else they'll attack from behind'

Raven did this for a full minute not letting his guard down and the one of the right of him attacked first. Raven moved his shield to block it but another person attacked just after the first attack which Raven was barely able to block. But the third attack he did not.

WHACK

You have taken 10 Damage

Raven was pushed a bit forward with that hit and the rest of the trainees continued to attack without end.

“Minor Health Regeneration!”

You will regenerate 100 Health over 100 seconds.

Serena started her healing of raven early for some reason. Raven looked at her briefly before being attacked again and again and again. Raven looked at the trainees to find them happy to beat him, happy to bent out their frustration on him. Happy to blame everything on him.

'Ah...this feeling. I remember this. Why do I have to deal with this?'

The faces of the trainees were being replaced by a memory. A memory that Raven did not want to remember. Something that others did not know....

Raven's body under the hits was becoming more and more weary. His health was dropping rapidly without him blocking.

“What's wrong freeman?! Why don't you just die!” shouted one of the trainees taunting him hitting the shield so many times that parts of it broke off. He and the other two started to taunt Raven more and more.

'Because I can come back, they will kill me? Death is unpleasant.'

“Take this!”

One of the trainees punched Raven in the stomach. Raven went to his knees grabbing his stomach in pain. The trainees started kicking him and insulting him even more.

'If that is the case then....'

“Kill.....I'LL KILL YOU ALL!”

The words that came out of Raven's mouth was enough to force his body to move. Raven stood up kicking one of the trainees onto the ground. Lifting the half broken shield up he smashed it into the stomach of the trainee.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Blood came out like a fountain and covered the place in blood. Raven just killed a person. However he felt fine....no more than that he felt happy at last.

'Is this feeling called happiness? Joy?' he thought as he looked into the eyes of the next prey.

“No....NO STOP!” the man shouted but it didn't reach Raven at all. Raven took his shield which was covered in blood and started hitting the guy until he died. Then he did the same to the last one.

Clap, clap, clap.

Raven regained himself and immediately dropped the shield knowing what he did. He looked at Park who was restraining Serena and Serena who looked like she was about to faint.

'What did I just....'

“Good job on venting your feelings. Don't worry those guys are spoil rich brats that were kicked out of their house and handed to me to punish. You did not crime in killing them.” said Park trying to reassure Raven but it did not help.

'I killed....I killed....I killed....'

Raven was guilt trapped now. It was not the fact that he killed him that made him so afraid, it was that he was remembering the past and acting based on his emotions back then. He imagined himself back then killing 'them' with joy.

'This is just a game....this is just a game...it is not reality'

Raven tried to get rid of these emotions quickly but Park prevented it. Park took the remains of the bodies and piled it in front of him letting him see his work. Eyes wide open with shock and fear, Raven tried running away but his legs did not budge.

“Raven you have to face the possibility that you will kill other humans even if you try to think this is a game. Trust me, I know many young people go insane from the act and try to consider killing a game. Every last one of them broke in the end....even me.” Park sighed and called out to Serena.

“Sorry Serena for showing you this. Mel requested me to as a sort of training. There are many things a healer will see and cannot prevent. Make sure your comrades don't go too far and that is all you need to do.”

With that the training for the day ended with Raven covered in blood.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

The next day there were various rumours about the sudden deaths of the three trainees with Raven under the training of Park.

“Their bodies were stacked on each other in front of Raven.”

“They say it was Raven who did that.”

“Are you an idiot, he's traumatised. Such a person can't do something so cruel.”

“However the only other people that was there was Park and Raven doesn't speak all. But it feels like he is further away from speaking now for some reason.”

As the rumours spread the suspicion on Raven surprisingly disappeared for the most parts and the blame was placed solely on Park. Why this happened? For starters Park had a certain reputation for killing new trainees out of nowhere without any good excuse if he decided to give one and the second was that Raven was in no condition to continue his training. Serena was also there but no one else knew she was at the scene of the crime. All except for the instructors that had been hand picked by Park himself.

Raven at this time got up from bed and silenced the rest of the people in the room by being there. He went out and sat in the shade alone. Raven watched as the training continued. They were all still...alive.

“I see that you're not that motivated to train right now...after what you seen yesterday.”

Raven looked over to see that the old instructor that commanded everyone to run on his first day was here. He held a sympathetic look to Raven. There was no anger nor scorn directed to Raven at all, only the feeling that they were similar to each other.

“The thing that Park....did to you yesterday was something similar to a rite of passage. Unless you overcome it, you'll be stuck with him until one of you decide to stop the apprenticeship. Park himself experienced something similar and it opened his eyes to all kinds of things.”

“...”

Raven just looked on listening to the story the instructor told.

“I presume he had told you that the ones you killed were spoiled nobles right?”

Raven nodded.

“Well he's right. This place is not normal in the most sense. This is a place where those who wish to get stronger and those who are exiled from their families for their crimes stay. Often we will set a trial for them in the form of training. If they go out of line then then will die under the name of training for the rest of them. The three you killed were originally exiled from their families due to murder, thievery and rape. Park gave them a second chance like everyone else but they failed when told to train with you. They got too cocky since Park turned a blind eye temporary and as a result their fates were sealed. If you didn't kill them Park would in front of you.”

“...”

Raven looked in the sky thinking, 'The problem isn't them. Its me enjoying such things...'

“That look tells me that you enjoyed killing them and its a problem.” said the instructor. Raven stared in shock at the instructor. The instructor smiled knowing that Raven could express such things. During the 4 days he had been here, Raven rarely expressed any kind of emotion towards people or even by himself.

“Anyway I believe Park is looking for you. Meet him in his office.”

Raven was confused, 'Park had an office?'.

“The office is to the right when you enter the main building. Its the third one to the left.”

Raven entered the main building where all the important people go in first before attending their business. This was also the place where the instructors slept and worked as well. Raven went to the receptionist and she said, “Park is in the room to the right, third door to the left. Make sure you knock and listen before entering. I don't want to clean up again.” with a smile before attending to something else leaving Raven to walk to the room.

Knock Knock Knock

“What what?! Let me clean up! Don't enter!” shouted Park

'What's going on in there?'

BANG!

“Damnit! Just have you push it away from sight!”

“...”

BANG BANG BANG

“God damn it it hurts!”

'I wonder if he's okay...'

And so Raven entered the room where his master was reading some things trying to be all serious. Raven looked around carefully to find where the mess was but only saw a couple of things were missing from some places such as books on the shelves, and cups and other such items gone from their place holders. Also Park was acting very nervous as well which never happened unless it involved....personal stuff. Raven could've sworn that Park who was sitting in front of him was hiding a pile of broken stuff behind his desk.

“...”

Park's eyebrow raised in the sight that Raven did not speak a word yet. He cough several times before Raven got the message.

“You....asked for....me?” said Raven in a detached way due to his unfamiliarity with speaking at all.

Park got up from his desk making sure to not tip over whatever he got back there.

“Raven have you recovered yet from the shock? What the hell am I saying?! Of course you recovered, I can tell from your eyes! Anyway for now we should put off that particular type of training until the other trainees are discipline enough. That will take at most 3 days. Anyway due to some....complaints, I'll personally train you for now.”

Raven's heart sank even more than when he killed those people a day ago. 'This can't get worse.' he continuously thought to himself.

“The training is sparing with me.”

'It just got worse....'

Raven considered if he was cursed by the Gods or something in his past life.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

“Hey Raven, do you know the guy that fainted after running for 6 hours straight?” asked one of the trainees that have been trained to help with Raven's training. Raven haven't remembered their names at all but they all seemed to have remembered his and they didn't care if he didn't know them well enough.

'If I know him, then I may as well be dragged into his training. But if I treat him badly then we will die a horrible death' they all thought that and as a result they all treated him nicely enough that Raven had no ill intent against them.

Raven nodded his head and said, “Friend”, which did not shock the trainees. The most shocking thing they experienced throughout the week was since Raven came was that he was talking to other people though barely. When he said, “Sorry for the trouble” in front of them, they all pinched themselves to find that they were no sleeping at all and Raven was in fact talking.

“Hmm.....I think Serena went with her Master to heal him or something.” said another trainee trying to relax sine he moved his body too much.

Overall the four of them were exhausted in various ways. Naturally they were tired because of the harsh training that they started the previous day and continuing today but also the fact that Park had them do some random things that involved getting tired mentally and emotionally.

Raven looked at the building that Sain was sleeping in.

'I hope he's okay.'

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Two Weeks since Raven started the game, Park cancelled all the training he had for the next week and brought him a corner of the training grounds where not many would stare.

“Raven, now is the time for you to start training skills. But first I need you to accept this class that I will give you. Will you accept?”

You have been offered the class 'Shield Footman' Do you accept?

The Shield Footman is a particular type of footman. Specialising in using a large shield as defence and offence, they are a moving tank that will crush their enemies without mercy. While often confused with other common classes, Shield Footmen have a much higher defence and offence than most other combat classes at the beginning.

Raven looked at the class description to find it a bit boring at most. But this was the class Park would give him and if he denied then....something will happen without warning.

“I accept” said Raven.

Class has been changed to 'Shield Footman'

- All Stats increase by 5

- Strength, Agility and Vitality increase by 5

- Wisdom increased by 5

You have gained the Skill 'Shield Bash'

You have gained the Skill 'Double Strike'

You have gained the Skill 'Footwork'

Raven opened his status window to see what changed in his stats and bonuses.

Status Window[quart=Name,Alignment]Raven,Neutral[/quart][quart=Level,Profession]1,Shield Footman[/quart]RaceHumanTitleShield-Bearer ApprenticeHealth700Mana120[quart=Fame,Infamy]0,0[/quart][quart=Strength,Agility]17 +10,17 +10[/quart][quart=Intelligence,Wisdom]10 +5,15 +5[/quart][quart=Vitality,Stamina]20 +10,19 +5[/quart][quart=Fighting Spirit,Endurance]22 +5,15 +5[/quart][quart=Leadership,Luck]0 +5,0 +5[/quart][quart=Offense,Defense]10,14[/quart]Magic Resistance0%Elemental Resistance[quart=Light,Dark]0%,0%[/quart][quart=Fire,Ice]0%,0%[/quart][quart=Earth,Lightning]0%,0%[/quart][quart=Wind,Nature]0%,0%[/quart]Bonus- 5% Less Damage taken when Blocking

- Shield Related Skills will level up twice as fast.

- All Stats increase by 5

- Strength, Agility and Vitality increase by 5

Overall in the past week due to the training he had been though Raven had an increase of 5 Strength, 6 Agility, 3 Vitality, 4 Stamina, 10 Fighting Spirit and 2 Endurance. According to many this was a very good thing in various ways. Raven knew that you can increase stats without levelling up but he did not expect that such hard work was required to increase even one stat. Raven partly remembered one training device Park made which caused him to be on the verge of death and yet only increased his endurance by 1.

Raven decided to check the skills he just obtained as well.

Skill Window

- Spear Mastery Beginner Level 1

- Shield Mastery Beginner Level 3

- Shield Bash Beginner level 1 (0/100)

- Double Strike Beginner level 1 (0/100)

- Footwork Beginner level 1 (0/100)

He then navigated to the three new skills windows.

Shield Bash Beginner level 1 (0/100)

Bashes the target to stun them for a second.

Mana Cost: 10

Cool Down: 5 Seconds

Double Strike Beginner level 1 (0/100)

Swings the weapon twice to at the target at 60% power

Mana Cost: 10

Cool Down: 10 Seconds

Footwork Beginner level 1 (0/100)

With great balance, move a short amount of distance in a burst of speed

Mana Cost: 20

Cool Down: 20 Seconds

“Okay now that you've seen the skills you have, time to test them out. But before that, I should give you some proper armour and weapons.”

Park took out several old pieces of armour and gave them to Raven to wear. One by one Raven put them on noticing that all of them were identified already. In total, there was the no helmet, one large chest piece that only protected some vital organs and left parts unprotected, some arm guards, leggings that did the same thing and some shoes.

Old Large Chest Piece Durability: 45/45 Defence: 13

An Old piece of armour that has reduced durability and defence

Requirements: None

Old Arm Guards Durability: 36/36 Defence: 4

An Old piece of armour that has reduced durability and defence

Requirements: None

Old Leggings Durability: 37/37 Defence: 4

An Old piece of armour that has reduced durability and defence

Requirements: None

Old Leather Shoes Durability: 25/25 Defence: 1

An Old piece of armour that has reduced durability and defence

Requirements: None

Raven looked at his Defence to find it increased by 22 which would dramatically decrease the amount of damage he would take. However the armour was pretty old and was rusted in several areas which looked like they were about to break when hit or in some cases touched.

“That reminds me, I need to give you the repair skill as well so your armour won't break.”

You have gained the Skill 'Repair'

With that, Raven had learnt 4 new skills. Park continued with his explanation on what to do now.

“First of all, there are 3 main ranks of skills. Beginner, Intermediate and Advance. This is not the skill level but their rank itself. The skills you gained are in the Beginner level. When you mastered the skill then a new skill will appear in the next rank until you reach advance. Then there are secret ranked skills which are hidden with a condition to fulfil or from your master quest which is given by a person who is of that rank near the end and finally the grandmaster rank which is given by the Gods. Namely the higher the rank the more difficult it is to increase your skill level with them. There may be some random conditions that may not make sense but are required to increase your skill's levels. Anyway first try to use the 'Footwork' skill you got. There is only one condition to use the move, that is use the proper movements to indicate the skill. Watch closely.”

Park walked forward and crossed his legs in high speed and moved to the left. Then he did the same and moved backwards, then forward and finally to the right leaving him back in his original position.

“The trick to this skill is to make sure you can move in all directions. Though my skills are much higher than yours the basics are still the same. It is essentially a burst of speed to charge or escape. The other skills which are 'Shield Bash' and 'Double Strike' are similar. You just bash the shield into the enemy or attack twice. You'll figure it out somehow. Anyway here's the Spear, don't worry its new.”

Iron Spear Durability: 50/50 Damage: 12-15

An Spear made of Iron

Requirements: None

Options: Strength +5

Raven equipped the weapon and Park left him to practice all alone again to hone his skills. Raven was still dumb stroked when Park just left him alone to practice even though this was what he was doing most of the time. However just training the body and using skills are two different things. 'I heard that some accidents may happen when the level of skills are low.' he thought worried but Raven still had the various healers that seem to want to help him train instead of going hunting or working for some reason.

First of all Raven decided to practise the 'Footwork' skill. With everything on he moved forward and then using his legs tried to burst away in another direction, 'Footwork!', the effects were....unpleasant.

Skill activation failed

Raven tripped over his foot and rolled hitting the ground face first. Raven spat the dirt out of his mouth and tried again. And again. And again, but the same message still appeared.

Skill activation failed

Raven could not figure out why this kept on happening, 'Maybe I'm not activating the skill properly. I did try to copy Park....well I might as well train the other skills first then.'

Raven took out his shield to swung it forward like he was about to bash someone with it, 'Shield Bash!', as a result his shield turned a faint yellow colour and his body moved really fast as he bashed the air in front of him. Raven stood there shocked when the skill finished, 'Was that the skill....?'

Next Raven tried using the 'Double Strike' Skill and swung twice thinking, 'Double Strike!', his attacks were dyed in a slight red colour and once again the system moved his body in order to reach the most effective attack Raven can do currently.

'Okay then....I can use both the Shield Bash and Double Strike skills but not the footwork skill for some reason....I better make sure I can use it before the day ends'

And so Raven started to train himself to use the skill.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Skill activation failed

Raven once again fell to the ground due to the failure of the skill activating. 'You got to be fucking kidding me! How many times has it been now?!', Raven was getting very pissed off since he couldn't even use the skill after 3 days now. Yes, it has been 3 days since Park gave him the skill and he is frankly failing at it. However on another note, he can use the other two skills perfectly.

“Sigh...”

Raven got up again and tried to use the skill again.

“Footwork!”

He started running in a direction but his feet twist together...

Skill activation failed

And he falls to the ground again....

Unknown to Raven a certain man was watching him in the shadows waiting for him to call out for some help....

[p=center]xXx[/p]

“Raven don't you need any help?” asked Park that just appeared out of nowhere. It has been a full day since Park had been spying on Raven on his progress. By now Raven still haven't figured out how to use the skill properly. Raven at first shook his head but then remembered the last 4 days of which he failed to even use the skill once. Therefore he nodded his head to the question.

At this Park smile knowing that he was needed by his apprentice even though he had let him do whatever for the last 2 weeks already and only giving him a slight push at times.

“I believe the problem is when you try to move, your legs twist and as a result you trip over and fail activating the skill.” said Park.

Raven was shocked, Park didn't even see him practise at all (He did) and he immediately knew what his problem was in using the skill. Raven's impression of Park improved because of that.

“Try using the skill again but this time widen the space between your legs and kinda crouch.”

Raven did just that. His legs were wide open which was kinda uncomfortable to him as a guy since he's vulnerable, and he kinda crouched.

“Footwork.” he said and let the skill activate hoping that it wouldn't fail on him this time. Raven decided to move to the right and his body instantly moved there on its own and he didn't fail to activate the skill.

“I see what the problem was now. I showed you the advance version where you can move instantly in any direction while walking. However your body doesn't have that kind of skill yet.” he admitted to Raven.

Raven in turn glared at him, 'Then why the hell did you show me the wrong method? I wasted 4 days thanks to you!'

And so....the rest of the month ended with Raven training his skills.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Some time later...

Raven was using his shield bash skill on other trainees as they helped him train. Park had ranked up the difficulty with the training by adding several more people with the training.

“Shield Bash!”

Raven whacked the person in front on him and blocked several other attacks from the left and right of him while taking a bit of a hot from behind.

Shield Bash Beginner level 1 (100/100) has been converted to Shield Bash Beginner level 2 (0/300)

Bashes the target to stun them for 3 second.

Mana Cost: 10

Cool Down: 5 Seconds

And so some time pasted even more....

[p=center]xXx[/p]

“Well then, its about time you graduated from me.” said Park with the other behind him. In the last 2 weeks, Raven gained a total of 3 Strength, 2 Agility, 3 Vitality and 2 Stamina which....is not a lot compared to what he gained before.

You have Graduated from being the Apprentice of Park the Shield Bearer

Fame +10

You have levelled up

You have levelled up

You have lost the title 'Shield Bearer Apprentice'.

All Bonuses from the title will be removed

You have gained the title 'Shield Bearer'

- All Stats increase by 1

- 10% less damage by blocking

Raven put his 10 points into Strength, Agility and Vitality in a 2:1:2 ratio.

Status Window[quart=Name,Alignment]Raven,Neutral[/quart][quart=Level,Profession]3,Shield Footman[/quart]RaceHumanTitleShield-Bearer ApprenticeHealth880Mana140[quart=Fame,Infamy]10,0[/quart][quart=Strength,Agility]24 +11,21 +11[/quart][quart=Intelligence,Wisdom]10 +6,15 +6[/quart][quart=Vitality,Stamina]27 +11,21 +6[/quart][quart=Fighting Spirit,Endurance]22 +6,15 +6[/quart][quart=Leadership,Luck]0 +6,0 +6[/quart][quart=Offense,Defense]22,36[/quart]Magic Resistance0%Elemental Resistance[quart=Light,Dark]0%,0%[/quart][quart=Fire,Ice]0%,0%[/quart][quart=Earth,Lightning]0%,0%[/quart][quart=Wind,Nature]0%,0%[/quart]Bonus- 10% Less Damage taken when Blocking

- Shield Related Skills will level up twice as fast.

- All Stats increase by 6

- Strength, Agility and Vitality increase by 5

Raven then looked at his skills window which he had been focusing on quite a bit.

Skill Window

- Spear Mastery Beginner Level 2

- Shield Mastery Beginner Level 4

- Shield Bash Beginner level 2 (31/300)

- Double Strike Beginner level 1 (53/100)

- Footwork Beginner level 1 (49/100)

- Repair Beginner level 1 (23/1000)

Overall Raven didn't do so much that all of his skills were mastered. In fact only one of his active skills managed to go to the Beginner level 2 while the others were in Beginner level 1. The worse case was the Repair skill which after repairing his armour so many, it barely went up at all and it didn't help that it took so much more to even get it to Beginner level 2.

Raven frowned inside when he saw how little progress he made with his skills but managed to wave to the others at the barracks before leaving to his soon to be life-time companions with smiling colours in his heart.

Unknown to him, Park had planted something into him as an experiment.

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