Diablo had worked for exactly four weeks. He had seven hundred copper, or seven slivers if he was old enough to change it to a higher coin. He was not though. You had to be sixteen in order to open a bank account and you needed a bank account to get money changed. Normally the Orphanarium would do so for him if needed. But since he was a late bloomer in the job world, they had yet to remember to tell him that. So under his bed wrapped in an old blanket was seven hundred thumbnail sized copper coins.

It was around this time that Diablo was beginning to feel restless once more. Something called to him. He wanted to go out into the wild and explore. Something tugged at his heart and soul to go back out into the forest and fight another [Goblin]. The boy wasn't sure what frightened him more. The idea of fighting another [Goblin], or the fact he wanted to do it in the first place.

Over the weeks Diablo had been becoming more comfortable around Griff. The old man had proven himself a friend to the child when two copper ranked Adventures had decided to trip him up while carrying six ales. Before Hall, the bartender, could even open his mouth to yell at them, Griff had already taken action.

He had lifted his spear and activated a [Skill] called [Dragon's Fury]. It caused the spear to be covered in flames of a certain element, green for wind in Griff's case, and deal a high amount of magic damage on top of a piercing attack. Piercing attacks ignored armor. It was known as a [Finnisher Move] as it cost a high amount of magic power, [MP], as well as having a five-second stun effect on use.

Not only that, he had also used a [Skill] called [Double Shot]. It was a basic [Skill] that most spear users learned before their fifth level. It caused a second spear, identical in strength and power of the first, to appear next to it, allowing for two hits. Normally two [Skills] could not be used at the same time, but Griff had explained to Diablo that there was a very short window in every [Skill] that allowed to another to be used. If missed, it would cause the backlash of both [Skills] to hit the user, so it was not done often, even by experienced fighters. Yet Griff had done it just to prove a point. That Diablo was off-limits.

Since that day, Griff has seemed less scary to the youth. He was still a hardass to the boy, but more so in the way an uncle would teach a boy the things the father did not know. Filling the gaps in his knowledge and pushing him to succeed.

So, with the feeling of trust in the older man, Diablo walked up to him with his usual morning ale and started talking to him. It went horribly.

"S-so. Umm. A-about t-tho-those s-s-s-s-s-skills y-y-you-"

"Spit it out, boy. I don't 'ave all day ta sit 'ere an' listen ta ya stutter out ya words. Just cuz ya charisma is shit don't mean ya should be afraid o' talk'en. It just means ya'r gonna fail at buying anything fer da rest o' ya life."

"R-right." Diablo looked down at the ground as he spoke, and Griff let him. They both full well knew the older man could have forced the younger one to look him in the eyes and talk, but it would have taken all day to get his point across then.

"I-i was hoping, i-if it wa-was alright. I-i was hoping you c-could, m-maybe, let me b-buy one of your o-old s-s-spears?" The boy finally managed to stutter out.

Griff gave the boy a skeptical look. "Why ya be wan't'an one o' those? Sides, an't much use ta ya if ya can't bloody use it."

Diablo meanwhile took the bait like a starving animal. With his face slowly getting red, he yelled slightly louder then he meant to. "I-i want to get stronger!"

As soon as he realized what he did, the boy looked away even more. His body was as still as a statue.His fight or flight had activated and he wanted nothing more than to run away. But he forced himself to stand still. He forced himself to take what comes his way. Some near-by Adventures were staring, but they soon looked away.

Griff just looked at him. Starring through his eyes and into the boy's soul. After a few moments, the older man slowly opened his mouth and began to speak. "Alright. Four silver for da spear, two for a basic [Skill], then one more ta keep me from telling. Stay out the frount o' the guild an I will bring the spear. Ya got any spear related [Skills] I should know about?"

The young boy nodded at the older man. "[Spear Mastery (Lv.0)]"

Griff nodded, snorting slightly. "Good. Dat means we don't ha've ta waste time hitt'en a practice dummy ta get ya masteries. Now. I'll give ya a rundown on how everything works after the guild closed. Now git. Ya got work ta do."

That day, Diablo worked with an unusual pep in his step. Although a few people noticed, no one said anything. Most assumed the boy had found the joys of a cute girl or something along those lines. Adventurers were not known for thinking much outside of fighting, fucking and drinking.

After an exhausting day of work, Diablo waited outside the closed Adventurers Guild. He had quickly run home and grabbed the makeshift bag of coins. He had gotten a few looks from people on the streets, and more than one street rat trying to trip him up. But the boy had run these streets plenty of times, so he managed to avoid them all.

In the end, there was no reason to rush. Griff had decided to take his time. So Diablo ended up waiting for almost an entire hour for the man to show up. Somehow he seemed drunker than when he left the guild. In his hands was the promised spear. It looked used. It had a few dozen scratches on the wooden shaft and a small nick in the metal. Other then that, it seemed to be in a rather good condition all things considered.

"Catch kiddo." Griff said to the boy as he lightly tossed the spear in the boy's general direction. Diablo managed to catch it easily. Although he did almost drop the money.

[Old Spear]

[Durability 50/50]

Before Diablo could even register it, his arms suddenly felt lighter. Griff had used the distraction of the spear to walk up and pluck the money right out of the boy's hands.

"Lesson number one. Don't take your eyes off the enemy. Now. Let's go around back so the guards don't think we are breaking in and trying to steal stuff." Griff was already walking away before he even finished talking, leaving Diablo to follow.

Around the back of the guild was a rather large training area. It had an archery range, a wrestling ring, a sparing circle and a few practice dummies scattered around.

"Right. I'ma be teach'en ya this only once. Ya be a smart lad, so I shouldn't hav' ta repeat meself." Griff pointed to the practice dummy and told Diablo his instructions.

"Git ready ta stab that dummy. Then project ya [MP] around the spearhead. As ya thrust, give it a point, pushing all the [MP] to that point. It should cause the [MP] already at the point to be forced back, leaving less and less room at the point, making it smaller and sharper. This be a thrusting only [Skill], so don't be trying ta swing with it or you'll end up do'en nuthing."

Diablo only nodded and did as he was told. He focused he [MP] on the spearhead and saw it glow slightly red. He then thrust the spear forwards, forcing the [MP] into a tip. To the boy's amazement, it worked. Not only that, but the [MP] flared out like a pair of wings folded back into a dive, causing a bright light to emit from the spear. As the spear stuck the dummy, it broke through it with ease, all the way until Diablo's front hand hit the dummy, causing him to stop.

[Ding]

[Congratulations! By listening to your instructor, you have learned the skill [Power Thrust]. Due to leaning this through an instructor, the skill starts at level 1. No more stat points will be earned through leveling this skill unless a milestone is hit]

[Power Thrust level 1 created]

[+1 Dexterity]

[Ding]

[Congratulations! By learning skills unique to this mastery, you have leveled the mastery. [Spear Mastery (Lv.1)] You are now truly on the path of the spear. No more stat points will be earned through leveling this mastery unless a milestone is hit.]

[+1 Dexterity]

Griff was laughing at the boy as he struggled to pull out the spear. "Careful now lad, don't wanna wear down the [Durability] on ya weapon so soon. HA!" The older man broke out into more laughter as the boy struggled.

Although this was a rough start, it was the beginning of a long, interesting life.

Diablo

Level 2

Strength: 3

Dexterity: 6 [+2]

Constitution: 1

Intelligence: 11

Wisdom: 9

Charisma: 1

Titles

[Fire Duelst]

Skills

[Flame of the beginning (Max)] [Candle's Flame (Lv.2)] [Sneaking (Lv.0)] [FireBolt (Lv.0)] [Spear Mastery (Lv.1)] [Power Thrust (Lv.1)]