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Chapter 18

Hiro arose early the next morning. “I have to go do my training in town but I should get a quick jump on my training and start here first. Hiro began with his calesthenics until fatigue then he moved on to his meditation and sensory training. After finishing all of his basics he went into his martial arts training. “I need to try and make this as much like battle as possible. Oh I can create enemies to help me practice my kata.” Hiro closed his eyes and began to concentrate. He pictured the weak form of 4 goblins surrounding him in the cardinal directions north, south, east, and west. When he opened his eyes there they were standing in front of him as if they were actually real.

Hiro closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he opened his eyes he exhaled and took his stance fighting stance. This time he felt a little different as he had learned a more guarded fighting stance from Snow. Now his right hand was extended almost completely except for a slight bend in his elbow. His chin was tucked behind his left hand. His legs were spread out a little more giving him a more powerful base from which he could kick or move quickly. Finally, his body was turned on more of an angle giving his attackers less area to attack.

The goblins were weak and they were not carrying any weapons. Hiro could remember that there attacks were quick but they possessed very little form. The goblins attacked 1 at a time. Hiro went through his entire kata of blocking and striking over and over. In the beginning he made a lot of mistakes. Sometimes he did not react fast enough when changing from defense to offense. So it took too long between blocking and attacking, allowing the goblins to avoid his attacks. At times he missed the attack completely and was struck in body the imaginary goblins. Other times he was unable to block the attacks and he was struck in vital places. As he practiced on the goblins, he became more and more comfortable with blocking the attacks and he was able to improve on his timing of blocking and parrying strikes. By improving the timing, he actually began to do damage to his attackers when he blocked their attacks. As he attacked his enemies they fell before him one by one.

Martial arts increased to level 3

“I think that was enough solo practice for today, I should head on over to the military training area.” Hiro called for Leo and they walked over to the training area.

When they entered into the army training area the recruits were already sweating profusely.

Snow was screaming at the recruits,“You weaklings must get ready for fighting out in the world. If you fail people will die. If you are not strong enough people will die! If you don’t have enough skill, you will die! Think about that when you think you can’t do anymore.”

Hiro walked up to Snow and asked, “How are they doing?”

“They are doing great!”

“Why the screaming then?”

“I need to get them to understand the gravity of the situation that they are in.”

“Yes, out in real combat there are no second chances. “ Hiro looked over at the recruits who were panting heavily and covered in sweat.

“Rest now soldiers. Recover your strength. When you recover, return for your next round of training” Snow said sternly.

“Yes sir!” They said weakly.

“Can you train me personally while they rest?”

“Yes, they will need at least an hour to recover. I pushed them to there limit to help them grow faster.”

“I would like you to train me in martial arts in case for some reason I lose my weapon in combat. I want to be able to fight effectively even without a weapon.”

Snow nodded his head in agreement. "A true warrior's greatest weapon is his own body. “Show me your ki body enhancing technique.” Hiro did as instructed. Taking in a deep breath and letting it out he calmed his mind and began to concentrate. His ki began to permeate all through his body. Slowly it began to manifest itself creating a red glow around his entire body.

“Impressive! Your progress continues to surprise me. Your aura is completely different than before. It used to look very choppy but now it looks much smoother and serene.”

“I also feel much calmer and my body doesn’t feel like it is under any stress from the immense ki that I am producing”, said Hiro.

Snow told Hiro, “First, you will be working on defense. With no weapon or shield you will have to be able to defend yourself. In order to defend yourself from weapons with only your body, you will have to use your ki to shield your body. I know you have great agility and can dodge most attacks. What I want you to do is learn to take attacks just in case you cannot dodge. Do not avoid the attacks! Make sure you focus. I will start slow with weaker attacks. As you improve I will begin to make the attacks faster and much harder.”

“Ok. Please teach me.” Hiro gulped down a large lump in his throat.

Snow grabbed a wooden staff and said, “Remember do not to avoid the attacks but rather defend using your ki. Each time an attack is about to land strengthen that area so the damage is minimized or negated altogether.”

“Yes sir!” Snow began to attack. He began with an attack that came down. Hiro used a high block and was able to block the attack but he could not move his ki fast enough to negate the damage of the attack. He felt the thud of Snow’s staff against his forearm and he lost some of his health. Snow moved to attack again. This one was aimed at his leg. Hiro lifted his shin and moved his ki towards the point of impact but it was too late. He lost more health. Snow continued to attack and Hiro was able to block the attack using his martial arts skills but he was unable to successfully move his ki to the point of impact. Little by little the damage from the training session began to build up. After an hour Hiro’s arms, shins, and back were all covered in bruises from Snow’s assault.

Hiro conceded and sat down to rest. “Hiro, it will take time to master this skill so I suggest you continue practicing. “ Snow said.

Toughness improved to intermediate level.

Your body has gotten even more durable. Strength, vitality, and agility all increase by 10 points. Your skin is still supple but it will protect you like leather armor. Weak physical attacks with out a blade will do almost no damage.

Martial arts improved to level 4.

“That is definitely a bonus to training.” Hiro said to himself. Hiro knew Snow’s words were true so he rested a while and his body recovered.

After recovering from his lesson, Hiro thanked Snow and went over to the area where Korin and Rain were training. When he arrived he saw Rain outside panting heavily. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m just a little tired from the training. Korin is a very strict teacher.”

Just then Korin walked out and said, “Hello Hiro. Are you ready to begin your training as a mage?”

“Of course!”

“Ok. Cast your fire spell.” Hiro did as he was instructed to. He held out his hand and the flame appeared in his hand. It was only slightly bigger than a tennis ball.

“Make it bigger. Show how big you can make it.” Hiro concentrated and tried to pour more of his man into the fireball but he was unable to increase the size of the ball.

“I can’t make it any bigger” Hiro said as he began panting. He had used up one quarter of his mana with that one spell.”

“That is the extent of your magical skill huh. Your first training will be to read every book in the library of my family’s house.”

“What?! You want me to read the entire library?!”

You need to raise your level of intelligence. The only way I know for you to increase your intelligence is to read and learn about the world. Come back when you finish.” Hiro nodded and walked off towards Korin’s family home feeling dejected.

Hiro went into the home where one of the house staff led him to the library. The library was composed of over 1,500 books. “How am I supposed to read all of these books? It will take forever. Well it’s not like I can do anything about it for right now. Well I guess I should get started.” Hiro grabbed a stack of books and sat down at the large table in the middle of the room. The first book was a bestiary of the monsters. He read through the book page by page until about 2 hours later he had finished it.

You learned memorization. This ability let’s you instantly recall anything you read.

You learned speed reading. This ability let’s you read 25% faster.

Intelligence increased by 1.

“That is fantastic. The more I read the faster I will be able to read.”

Hiro continued to read. He read the next 3 books in a little over 2 hours.

Your intelligence increased by 1 point

Speed reading increased to level 2 which boosted his speed reading to 30%.

Hiro read for about 5 more hours which allowed him to read another 12 books.

He gained another 1 point to his intelligence

He leveled up speed reading to level 3 which boosted his speed reading to 35%

“That is enough for me for today. All of this information swirling around in my head, I need to rest to process it all.

“Hey, bookworm. How are you doing?” said Foria as she stood in the doorway.

“Hey. I’m tired. In order to teach me magic your brother told me to train my mind by reading all of the books in the library.”

“Korin is a tough trainer but if he said he do it, it will probably help you. Come take a break with me.”

Hiro nodded and smiled. Foria took him by the hand and they walked out of the library and down the hallway. Hiro began to smell the scent of something tasty. The scent let him remember that he hadn’t eaten much today.

“Where are we going?”

“We are having dinner together.” Just then they entered a large room with dark colored wooden table. There were only 2 places set at the table that had 12 chairs. There were burning candles placed on the walls around the room. The dimly lit room set a very romantic mood. Hiro walked behind Foria as she led him to the head of the table. He pulled her chair out for her to sit. Then he sat down. A moment later the chef entered with 2 plates. The food smelled delicious.

“You did all this for me?” asked Hiro

“Of course! I’ve missed you. Eat up. We can talk while we eat.”

“I missed you too.” Hiro said as he began eating. “I wanted to see you yesterday but I was told you were in a counsel meeting.”

“Yes we were discussing how the town should be led. My father did not leave instruction for who should become the town’s leader in the event of his death. Some of the counsel wanted to create a leadership by committee. My brother wanted to assume the leadership and others in the counsel wanted to make me the leader.”

“How do you feel about it?”

“I’m not sure right now but I don’t think the counsel is the best option.”

“Why? Wouldn’t more than one person give you a better all picture?”

“Yes in theory but in practice when several people have to agree things move very slowly and I don’t think the town can afford that luxury when things go worng.“

“I understand.” There were a few moments of silence as they finished their meal. Once they finished there was some laughter. Soon Hiro stood up.

“Its getting late and I think I should leave for the night.”

“You don’t have to go”, said Foria as she softly grabbed Hiro’s hand.

Gulp! A huge lump went down Hiro’s throat. “You want me to stay here with you tonight?”

“Yes and no.”

“What do you mean?”

“I do want you to stay just not in the bed with me. At least not yet!” she said with a wink.

“Yet? So….. you do want me to sleep with you?

“No.. umm.. well… ?”, said Foria as her face turned a bright red color.

“I will leave that alone for now. If you don’t want me to sleep with you, then where will I be sleeping?”

“I want you to stay in the bed that I had prepared for you. I would rather you not sleep outside.”

“Oh I understand. I will concede to your request for tonight.” She stood up and led Hiro to his room.

“Rest well tonight.” As she finished her words she hugged Hiro tightly. He wrapped his arms around her and embraced her gently. She looked back at him at he gently moved a strand of her hair from in her face behind her ear. Then they shared a long passionate kiss. Hiro could feel her body trembling.

“I…. I…. I have to go! Good night!”

“But… but…” before he could finish his words she was out the door. “Did I do something wrong? What just happened? Should I chase after her? No, I should just wait for her. She is definitely worth being patient.” Hiro then removed his clothes and lay down on the bed. It was so comfortable? Hiro’s mind drifted off to thoughts of his pet Leo. “How was he doing?” Was he lonely? He’s fine. I’m sure he will manage one night without me?” With that thought Hiro drifted off to sleep.

The next morning Hiro awoke at first light. He quickly put his clothes on and left his room. On his way down the steps he met several of the house staff who greeted him warmly. Foria was nowhere to be found though. “Has anyone seen Foria?”

“She is still in bed”, one of the ladies on the staff replied. Hiro smiled and thanked the ladies.

“If she is looking for me tell her I went to the military training area.”

“Yes sir”, the staff responded.

“I can’t get used to everyone calling me sir. It’s just weird”, Hiro thought to himself. Then he left the house and went towards the training area to find Snow and the rest of the recruits.

“What’s going on Captain?”

“I have decided to take the new recruits out to the plains area nearby and test them in actual combat.”

“That sounds good to me. We only have a few days left to train before we got to the forest to build that logging camp so we definitely need to get some actual combat experience.”

Hiro used his detect presence ability to find some suitable foes. He was unable to detect anything within his range (about 1,500 meters) so they decided to go out and explore.

“Soldiers, pack up your equipment and get the 3 magic bags. While we are out we will also be collecting blood roses to make more healing potions. Be ready in 10 minutes. Dismissed!” said Hiro. The soldiers quickly ran out to get their equipment which included weapons , armor, and shields. The girl with the spear, the boy with the axe, and Kaura grabbed the magic bags. When they finished , everyone met at the town’s entrance where Leo was resting.

Leo raised his head and ran up next to Hiro. Hiro lovingly patted Leo’s strong body. “Everyone this is my partner Leo. You need not be afraid he will be a great friend to all of you all the battlefield.”

Everyone was impressed and a bit intimidated. Snow said, “He is magnificent. He must be the alpha of their group”

Hiro nodded and smiled.

“Is the pack is still in the same place?

“Yes. I mean I don’t think there would be any reason they would leave.”

“Then maybe after our recruits improve their skills and can defeat an adult on their own, maybe you can tame the Liger as

their pet”, said Snow.

Leo roared in disapproval.

“Maybe not” said Hiro “I don’t think Leo approves.”

The recruits were laughed. Snow even cracked a smile. They set out and went south of the town. The road was rocky and nothing was really around but a grassy plain. They continued to walk south after about an hour of walking Hiro’s detect presence ability discovered a group of what appeared to be beasts of some sort bout 1000 meters to the west of their position. “It’s time to earned these weapons you’ve given men!”

“HAAAAOOOOWWWW!”the soldiers shouted.The group turned in that direction and readied their equipment for battle.

In the distance they began to see a wooded area of dense trees and on the outskirts there they saw them about 5 bears covered in black fur. Once they closed in Hiro used his inspect ability.

Black Fire BearType:BeastHealth:900 / 900Mana:0/0Black fire bear: These bears live within the forest. They are known for their ability to breathe fire and their bodies are extremely muscular. The muscle is so strong that many blades cannot penetrate their hides.

Hiro thought to himself, “This challenge may be at bit much for the recruits but only by being challenged would they grow stronger.”

Snow led the recruits. Those with shields were in the lead position with snow followed closely behind by Hiro, the axe wielder, and the spear wielder. The rear was brought up by Kaura and the soldiers who only carried a sword. Snow gave the signal to charge. The recruits responded by yelling a battle cry as the attacked the bears. Hiro had Leo engage a bear on his own as Hiro was confident that Leo could handle it by himself. Leo went after one of the bears. He growled but and the bear backed down. The fighting was intense and the bears’ fur was like chainmail. The blades were not able to pierce the outer fur of the bears.

The bear that was facing Snow and the spear wielder rose up on his hind legs. As it rose up Snow noticed that it had very little fur on its underbody. Immediately, Snow yelled to the spear wielder to come. The spear wielder jumped on Snow’s shield to propel herself at the bear. She thrust the spear into the bear’s chest and it fell to the ground in a heap. The spear wielder pulled the spear from the bear’s chest and yelled in triumph.

Kaura, the axe wielder and 4 other recruits were facing a bear that had begun to breathe fire. Those that were holding shields were able to block the flames from the others without taking much damage. Kaura sneaked around behind the bear as it was breathing the flames and took her daggers and stabbed the bear through its ears to its brain. The bear fell to the ground dead. The last group who was fighting with Hiro was battling the bear. 2 of the recruits blocked the bear’s attacks while the others were slashing it with their swords. Hiro was impressed with their coordinated attack. This bear was definitely the strongest. It was almost the same size as Leo.

Hiro thought to himself, “This would be a good pet for Snow.”

He yelled to Snow, “I think this fits you. It is big and powerful and none of our blades can pierce him. I think this one should be yours.”

“Sounds good”, Snow said as he nodded in agreement. He quickly came up behind Hiro. Hiro activated his skill ki strike.Hiro felt his ki gather in his hand.He then gathered as much ki as he could into his legs. As the bear attacked the recruits he jumped up as high as he could. On his way down the ki in his hand reached its maximum and he struck the bear at the base of its skull. Hiro backed away after landing the blow. Miraculously the bear was still standing after the attack, however, it was definitely in danger. The blow must have dazed the bear. Snow followed up with his shield bash to the face of the bear finally knocking the beast off its feet. The familiar red glow was on the bear.

“It must be in a critical state. It should be able to be tamed now”, thought Hiro. “Snow, touch the bear.”

Snow grabbed the bear’s paw then Hiro activated his tame beast ability.

Snow has gained a pet black fire bear.

Snow looked at the bear and it looked back at Snow. Hiro could see that a large portion of Snow’s ki was being absorbed by the bear.The bond was secured.

Hiro looked up and saw Leo still fighting with the bear. The bear was bleeding heavily and Leo was darting in and out swiping at it with his paws. As the bear slowed down, Leo charged in and hit the bear with his head. This attack Hiro knew all too well as he had experienced it firsthand. The bear flew back and was down. Leo jumped into the air and his paw began to glow. Then he struck the bear with his paw in the back of the head. The bear was dazed. While it was dazed, Leo used his huge jaw to bite down on the bear’s neck. The bear’s head was ripped completely off. Leo roared in triumph and began to eat the bear. Leo ate the bear until nothing was left but bones.

Level up

Leo learned Pyro kinesis. Leo can now breathe fire.

Leo learned passive skill thick skin. With this ability Leo’s fur has become strong enough to withstand low level weapon attacks.

You gained a weapon skill point.

While Leo finished devouring the bear, Hiro went to the others and looked them over. He noticed that they were very large and may be worth something. He looked closely to see if his scavenger ability would show him the parts to take. There was a feint glow on the fur and the claws so Hiro skinned the 3 beasts and then cut their paws off to get their claws.

You gained 3 medium leather hides.

Scavenger increased to level 2.

“By the way what did you name him?” asked Hiro.

Snow replied, “Her name is Ora”

“She? It’s a girl?”

“Yes” that suits me must fine. She will be a powerful ally. Hopefully as I train her, she will be nearly impervious to blades which will make us a formidable front line in our wars to come.”

“Status everyone!”

“Only minor injuries sir!”

“Good! Now look around and see if you can find any red flowers”

“Yes sir!” The recruits moved into groups of 3 and spread out to begin searching for the blood roses. Hiro and Leo moved deeper into the forest as they searched for the blood roses. As they searched they killed over a dozen forest rats.

You gained 12 weapon skill points.

Hiro looked at the corpses of the forest rats and strangely the tails were giving off a faint glow. “Is this my scavenger ability letting me know that they are worth something? Well might as well. Every little bit of loot helps.”

Hiro took his skinning knife and cut the tails of the rats off.

You gained 12 rat tails

Scavenger increased to level 3.

“I have 13 skill points. Let me check and see if I can get anything else from my weapon skill menu.” Hiro opened the skill menu and saw that in the sword section the skill bubble marked “Swordwave” was no longer greyed out. It said that it required 10 skill points to learn. Hiro clicked it.

You have learned the skill sword wave.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:SwordwaveBeginner100%This attacks uses mana to create a small wave of energy the moves forward in the direction of your sword swing. Upon improving this skill, you will be able to launch a larger more destructive wave that has a larger attack area.

“That seems like something I will definitely use if I see a larger number of foes in front of me.”

Hiro and Leo continued to look for the blood roses but were unable to find any.

“I guess there are no blood roses in this direction so I guess I should just go back and meet up with the rest of the group.” Hiro and Leo walked back to the area where they fought the fire bears. To his surprise the soldiers had found dozens of the blood roses. “I can’t level up my herbalism skill without finding them myself but I can definitely use these to increase my alchemy skill.”

“Now that everyone is together let’s go home.”

“Yes sir!”

The small army got together and began to walk back towards their town.

They returned home triumphantly. Snow’s training had definitely paid off. This rag tag band of teenagers was now a small fighting force. The soldiers and Snow went off to the training grounds to store their weapons while Hiro took the magic bags filled with the blood roses to begin making his healing potions. “I am going to need more flasks in order to create this many potions. I should go by Master Matsuro’s and see if he has some that I can get from him. Hiro walked towards the general store and entered.

As usual Matsuro was waiting patiently behind the counter. “Welcome Hiro”

“Hello, Master Matsuro. I have some rat tails to trade today along with some claws of a fire bear.”

“The rat tails are not worth much but the fire bear claws are actually pretty good. What would you like in trade?”

“I need some small bottles or flasks and maybe a grinding stone that I can use to grind up plants and herbs for mixing up potions.”

“I think that sounds good. How many flasks do you need?”

“How many do you have?”

“I usually carry a lot of them but right now I have 50.”

“How many will you give me in trade?”

“I will give you all 50 because right now you are my only customer.”

“Really!? You’ve got a deal.”

Hiro handed over the claws and the rat tails and Matsuro gave him the flasks. Hiro placed them in his bag one by and the bag absorbed them all.

Hiro took the evening to make healing potions from the flowers they had gathered in the woods. He was able to craft 30 healing potions then…

Alchemy increased to novice level 1.

You gain 10 points to your wisdom and intelligence. In addition, when you have multiple ingredients you will be able to tell which ones will work well together to create a potion.

Hiro picked up one of the blood roses and immediately another blood rose began to glow slightly. “I guess that means I can put together more of the roses when I make my potion. That makes sense. I wonder what will happen.” Hiro grabbed his grinding stone and smashed up 2 blood roses together. He poured the flowers that he had ground up into the flask and added some water. Hiro noticed this potion had taken on a darker color.

You have created a minor healing potion.

This item is capable of recovering about 20% of your health points

“That is definitely going to be beneficial in the even that we have any upcoming battles.”

Hiro made 9 more minor healing potions before he ran out of blood roses. After he finished he placed his grinding stone and all of the healing potions into his bag before leaving to go spend some time with Leo.

Alchemy increased to level 2.

He went into town and ate then returned with a bear carcass that he gave to Leo. Leo roared with delight and at the bear down to the bones. Hiro felt his strength increase but no new skills were learned. After letting Leo finish his meal, Hiro curled up with Leo and began to think about his fledgling army. “I am the commander of this army and to truly be there leader I will have to grow stronger. To get stronger I will need to gain more skill, strength, and experience.” He felt that Leo could grow stronger by sparing with Ora and buy eating anything that they found while he was out exploring. Hiro also thought to truly be the leader he would have to be the strongest.

“To become the strongest I must defeat the other powerful warriors in the army in full on combat. How can I do it though? Snow’s experience and strength are overwhelming. Foria speed made it almost impossible to hit her and Korin’s magic mas nothing to be toyed with either.” He decided that the first order of business was to increase his strength so he would have to step up his training methods. “What can I do to dramatically increase my strength? I train with calesthenics every day to get stronger but my strength onl increases by 4 points or so at best. How can I train to get greater results or get small increase in my strength all day?” Hiro lay there and looked up at the stars. He stared at the stars for a moment while he mulled over his situation. “ I’ve got it.”, he said to himself. “I’ll practice with that hammer I got from the troll. It is incredibly heavy. When I manage to wield it, I will have definitely gained the strength I need to face Snow.” He smiled and felt confident in his plan so he fell asleep.