Lucas dove into his new archery training with gusto. He was already well developed for his age, and his coordination was superb. At the end of the first week of training, he was putting the last arrow into the straw target at 40 meters when he got the notification that he had been waiting for.

Congratulations!

You have learned the skill Archery

Through practice and training you have shown that you have the skills necessary strike a target consistently and skillfully. This skill increases your accuracy and damage with a bow.

Archery Level 1: Progress 0%

(Experience rewards for all levels gained in skill deferred until full System Access is acquired)

The skill started as the common version, but Lucas noticed an immediate increase in his ability to hit the dummy at 40 meters. He went from nine out of ten shots hitting the dummy to never missing out of an entire quiver. He also seemed to be able to group his shots together a little better now. It wasn’t mastery of the bow by any means. Lucas still missed the about seventy percent of the time on a moving target and had a reasonable seventy percent success rate when rotating through multiple targets at different distances.

Lucas wondered what all skills he could learn from his dreams. Since the most recent dream, Lucas hadn’t had any more that were as powerful as the one where Lucasi had killed the priest. Instead, his dreams had been of sailing and he had managed to learn [Navigation] from watching the pirate do it so much. Since learning the skill, he always had a faint sense of which way was north and what time of day it was. Apparently, those two things were the building blocks to traveling great distances. There was also a star formation that sailors used, but the night sky at home was vastly different than the one Lucas saw in his dreams about the pirate.

While his [Archery] was now progressing appropriately, his [Swordsmanship] was going far differently. The first day of sword training, his father had set him in front of his target dummy with his new sabre and had him go through some basic stances.

“With combat weapon skills, most teaching starts with basic sets of moves that’ll teach your body to move the right way when it needs to without thinkin’,” said Stan. “Here in Sterne we call them combat forms, in my home country, we called them Katas. Wherever you are, they have the same basic principles. You’re gonna’ move through the basic forms slowly. You’re not gonna’ hit the dummy. If you move wrong, I’m gonna’ smack you with this stick,” Stan then pulled out a large wooden rod about a meter long and as thick as Stan’s thumb. Lucas just stared at his father, who he knew didn’t have a sense of humor, and wondered if [Swordsmanship] was worth learning.

“I’m not a master swordsman, but I know the basics of fightin’ with one of those pig stickers. Once you can move through all of the basic forms at full speed without making a mistake, I’ll have you start trainin’ with someone who knows a little more about the fancy stuff,” said his dad.

That day Lucas went to bed bruised from his shoulders to the back of his thighs. He stopped counting after the twentieth time his father had interrupted the form with a strike to whichever leg was too far forward or elbow was sticking out. The only saving grace was that, as the day progressed, the strikes from his fathers stick had gotten farther and farther apart. By the time they ended for the day, Lucas was able to move through three or four forms without getting struck.

By the end of the third week, his archery skill had increased to level three and he was finally moving through the forms at close to full speed. He hadn’t gained a skill level in [Swordsmanship] but his father had told him that he was learning the forms faster than anybody he’d seen before, including some famous swordsmen.

I wonder where dad met famous swordsmen, Lucas wondered to himself as he was working his way through the fourth form, his father said it was called heron catches turtle in the capital but his father being the straightforward man that he was just called it ‘stab ‘em in the nuts’. The trick to getting through all of the forms was focusing on his muscles in a way similar to how he learned the skill in the first place. He didn’t actively think about the different movements required but instead attempted to recall the way the pirate captain moved as he fought and allowed the memory of those movements to infuse his body.

To the other side, Mr. Snugglepuss was laying in the sun, watching his master struggle through the silly series of movements for the hundredth time that day. He was starting to grow jealous of the time that Lucas was spending not petting him. His fur was thick and luxurious his master had previously spent a great deal of time running his hands through it. Now, he just shot the straw man that the alpha had put together and got beat by the alpha for hours each day. Mr. Snugglepuss thought it would be much better if his master just stopped angering the alpha by shooting his straw man and would just pet him instead.

As Lucas moved through the final form at full speed without being hit a single time, he got a surprising, and welcome, notification.

Congratulations!

Swordsmanship [Un] has leveled up.

Swordsmanship [Un] Level 1 > Level 2

Swordsmanship [Un] Level 2: Progress 0%

(Experience rewards for all levels gained in skill deferred until full System Access is acquired)

“Well, that happened a lot sooner than I thought it would,” said his dad.

“Does that mean I get to move on to the actual fighting?” asked Lucas.

“I reckon so. That’ll be it for today. Go work through your questions for Randolph, and you’ll start on the next step tomorrow for [Swordsmanship].”

“I’m done with all of the questions for the herb lore book,” said Lucas.

His father stopped and stared at Lucas in surprise. “That’s pretty good progress. Randolph figured it would take you three to six months to finish that one. It’s the hardest to do. Well, you should be able to pick up the skill with a little work. For now, start the mana primer.”

“Yes, sir,” Lucas responded. He headed inside to bathe. Ever since he’d started working so hard, his mom had insisted that he bathe twice a week instead of once. He loved soaking in the big tub, but really hated all the scrubbing his mom made him do. He wasn’t sure why anyone would care if there was a little dirt behind his ears.

The next morning during breakfast, all he could talk about was finally getting to practice real sword fighting. “Do you think he’s a mercenary?” asked Lucas to his obviously amused mother.

“I don’t think your teacher is a mercenary,” she replied.

Lucas took another bite of his porridge, not even lamenting the fact that he didn’t get any honey this time. “Ooh, maybe he’s a master duelist who’s on the run from the kingdom’s [Sheriff] for killing a noble in a duel for his true love’s honor.”

“Firstly, that isn’t something that happens as often as in the stories. There’s only been one duelist come through Emmit’s Village for killing his opponent in a duel for his lover’s honor in the past decade, and to be honest, her honor wasn’t all that intact to begin with if the rumors are to be believed. Secondly, I think you need to spend more time reading Randolph’s books and less time reading my romance novels.”

Lucas finished his porridge without complaint and ran out of the house to start his chores. After chores were done, Lucas went to the barn to begin his [Archery] practice. Since gaining the skill, his practice was limited to an hour each day, but he was still seeing progress. After working his way through the targets and hitting most of them, he put up his bow and arrows and got ready for his sword practice. He began each practice by stretching and going through all of the forms as slow as he could. Sometimes this part was even harder than the full speed form work.

As he was moving through the last form, he saw his mother walk out of the house and head towards the barn. He finished as she walked up and looked up into her emerald eyes. She seemed to be amused by something this morning.

“Did the teacher that dad was talking about show up?” he asked.

“Oh, yes. Your teacher’s here and ready to practice,” replied his mother. Without saying another word, his mother walked past him and into the barn. She reached into the pocket of her leggings and pulled out a key that was identical to his father’s and unlocked the chest. Lucas stopped paying attention to what his mother was doing and turned around to look in the direction of the house, waiting to see what his teacher looked like. After a few moments Mr. Snugglepuss sauntered out of the back door and walked up to Lucas. Lucas ignored his pet and stared raptly at the back door again. When no head scratches were incoming, Mr. Snugglepuss flicked his tail in obvious annoyance and moved to a nearby bale of hay to lay in the sun.

“Mom, where’s the…” Lucas began as he turned around to speak to his mother. His words were cut off as he saw that she was now wearing a thick leather vest and gloves with a face guard and holding a sword that was almost exactly like his.

“teacher.” He finished lamely.

“You’re looking at her. Now, don’t just dilly dally all day, go put on your vest, gloves, and visor and bring me your sword,” she said gently.

Lucas didn’t know how to respond. He knew his mother was skilled at hearth magic but he never expected that she knew even the slightest thing about swordsmanship, let alone had the [Swordsmanship] skill.

“Chop, chop, young man,” she said again. “I have greens soaking in the sink and we only have about an hour to get you acquainted to the equipment and to actually using the sword against an opponent.”

Lucas walked over to the chest, now secured, and picked up the equipment his mother had left on top of it. It took him a few minutes to get the gear on with his mother offering brief comments about how to properly care for the items. He was still a little overwhelmed. His mother hated when he roughhoused with Mr. Snugglepuss. She complained anytime Stan killed a rodent, stating that it could easily be placed in a trap and let go in the forest. She even let spiders and such go in the garden when she found them inside. He couldn’t reconcile his mother with anything resembling a swordswoman.

Once he was dressed, he stepped over to his mother held his sword out for her to inspect. She took two small items from a pouch at her side. It was a small piece of beast core, shaped and shaved down to the size of a gold piece, but in the shape of an octagon. It was a pale blue and had several small glyphs carved into it.

“This is a weapons training runestone,” she said. “They’re standardized in most kingdoms on our continent. They blunt the edge of a weapon and reduce the energy transferred from the weapon to anything that isn’t another weapon with this rune. This means that we can strike with full force without any chance of c truly injuring our opponent. They’re not perfect, which is why we have the visor for the eyes and gloves for the hands,” his mother continued. “There are fancy names for them that you’ll have to know if you ever duel in any of the larger cities, but they’re really just a leather vest, gloves, and visor. Fingers are occasionally considered to be under the effect of the enchantment, that’s why we have the gloves. The vest will actually let you feel the strikes that hit a vital area with a sharp stab of pain. If it’s considered a killing blow, a glyph on the vest lights up. There’s a few other features, but you don’t need to really worry about them right now.”

She slotted the runestone into both of their weapons and handed his sabre back to him. With a flourish, she stepped into the ready stance with knees bent, elbows in, chin slightly down, and shoulders turned to allow for a narrow profile. Lucas was uncertain about fighting against his mother, but seven years of following her commands without hesitation kicked in and he assumed his own stance. The next thing he knew, there was a saber striking his chest near his heart and a bright green glyph was lit up on his vest. He felt a sharp stab of pain as the sabre struck, but there were no lingering effects otherwise.

“Touch the pommel of your sabre to the glyph and it will reset, honey,” said his mother. She sounded just like she did at breakfast every morning or when she was giving him instructions with his lessons. There wasn’t a hint in her voice to indicate that she had just struck what would have been a deadly blow against her only son.

“I know you’re not used to moving at full speed. Your father didn’t want to get you special equipment for your practice with the daggers because that was very basic and designed to teach you what you needed to stay alive in the case of an attack,” she said. “But you have to get out of that mindset. This sabre isn’t a toy. Any time you pull it in combat, you should be prepared to kill your opponent, and that’s how I’m going to train you. Your father’s methods may be somewhat brutal for my tastes, but there is no denying they work. Your forms are excellent and you should progress fairly quickly. From ready I want you to use the fifth form in the Piccola Caduta stance to do what I just did,” she said.

Lucas didn’t respond, but just stood there looking at his mother. He understood most of the individual words that came from her mouth, but had no idea how to do what she said.

Lucas’ mother’s eyes narrowed and she asked, “Your father did teach you the names of all of these forms that he had you do, didn’t he?”

Some time later, after Lucas had been given a very brief lesson in the classic stances, he reset to the ready position. After a brief moment of hesitation, he stepped forward, bent his right knee and attempted to pierce his mother’s vest with his smaller sabre. All of the force from his back leg was translated through the tip of the sabre, but never came within a foot of his mother’s chest. Instead of a strike to the heart, he was pushed out to his left by his mother’s blade. She moved slower this time, since the first full speed strike was to give a very specific lesson. There was a moment of hesitation before he was able to choose the form closest to what he needed and, with some fancy footwork and an awkward [Dodge] he stepped to his left while getting his own sword back to deflect her slash.

For the next few minutes, he struggled to incorporate the previously passive forms into various attacks and defenses. His mother never sped up her attacks, working to keep her own skill level close to his own. After several passes at one another, he was finally struck again.

“That was good, baby,” his mother commented as they reset. “Now, when you dodged at the beginning, that was a good example of synchronizing your skills. While we work, I want you to see if there’s any other place where you can try to use skills in addition to your [Swordsmanship] to gain an advantage.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied.

“Also, did you notice that you used the dodge to go from the broken fifth form to the fourth stance in the second form. The forms are basic movements that try to cover most of the different ways the body can move. We’re going to spar again at low speed, I want you to start the exact same way as you did last time, but this time I want you to clean up your transition after I slash. I’m going to work you through this round and I want you respond the same way you did in the last one. Do you remember all of the forms you used in the last one?” she asked.

Lucas thought hard about all of the movements he had performed in their brief spar and, while he could remember many of the movements, he just couldn’t remember all of them. He shook his head and said, “No, ma’am, I don’t think I do.”

“That’s okay, baby,” said his mother, “I remember them. We’ll work through them slowly and I’ll correct you as you go. From now on, I want you to try to remember every strike and stance that you use each day when we start. When you forget one, I’ll…,” there was a pause while she tilted her head deep in thought, “I guess I’ll have to come up with a suitable punishment, that’s always been your father’s thing.”

As they worked through the previous sequence in super slow motion, Lucas realized that he had been off balance for the majority of that fight. His feet were never positioned where they should have been, and his strikes suffered from it. With comments from his mother, he was able to move into better positions. They did it a third time, slightly faster, and on the fourth round near half speed, he noticed that he wasn’t struggling to move from one position to the next.

“That’s enough for today,” said his mother, “Well start over tomorrow. Did you start your reading on mana?”

“Yes, ma’am,”: he replied.

She nodded her head. “Good, then I want you to go through your forms in low speed one more time and then try to meditate like it mentions in chapter three. If you are able to gain the skill before the week is out, I’ll make honey cakes.”

Lucas replied with an excited “Yes, ma’am.” And quickly moved to do as his mother bade him. His mother chuckled quietly to herself and went inside to finish getting the greens ready for supper.

The next day, his mother allowed him to attack her from a different starting position and they worked through that sequence during their hour. The pattern repeated for the next five days and Lucas began to get better and better at moving between forms ad hoc during combat. He had received the meditation skill the day previously, increasing his recovery rates and ability to process information while doing so. As they worked through the sequence for the day at half-speed, Lucas began to focus not just on his muscles and positioning but also began to try to focus on the way his mana was moving through his body like when he was with Lucasi as he fought the barbarian. Lucas had found that channeling that feeling during combat helped him to make fewer mistakes and he was able to make the required connections easier. He concentrated more and more on how his mana moved through his muscles as he worked his way through the sequence on autopilot.

As he was stepping inside his mother’s guard, he suddenly received a message that he wasn’t expecting. Since he hesitated to view the unexpected system message, he also suddenly received a blow to the neck that he wasn’t in position to block.

Congratulations!

You have learned the skill Combat Focus [Un]

You were successful in your attempt to focus on your internal mana flow instead of your opponent while in combat. You may now meditate while moving. You may use this skill to narrow your focus and improve decision making for short durations.

Combat Focus Level 1: Progress 0%

(Experience rewards for all levels gained in skill deferred until full System Access is acquired)