Chapter 18 Training 2
4454 Words
Thwack!
Thwack!
Thwack!
Early in the morning, John is chopping woods beside the hut while Durano sips his morning tea.
“Is that all you can do?” Durano criticized John.
“I… I am d… doing my…” The ax fell on the wood, “best!”
“If I were to do that, I would have already chopped more than a thousand blocks by now. You are too slow!” Durano added.
“Give me a different ax, a normal one. I will chop a thousand blocks of wood for you this instant!” John complained.
John appraised the ax earlier and found surprising stats on it.
It is a legendary class weapon that weighs a ton. The wielder can change its size and adjust its weight, though John is probably unable to do that.
There are other surprising features as well, like how it can absorb the skills, essences, and abilities of anything it destroys.
“Stop your complaining and do more swinging,” Durano commanded.
John growled and continued chopping wood. He complained silently, “He said train, but the first thing he tells me is to chop woods!”
He remembered Durano proclaiming to train him to defeat the Dark Elf King and its army of enhanced monsters. So, John expected Durano to train him like a boxer, a martial artist, or something, but, much to his disappointment, Durano made him chop woods early in the morning instead.
John had a hard time lifting and swinging the 1-ton ax. When he brought down the ax to chop, the wood immediately became splinters, which Durano took as an opportunity to scold him every time it happened.
“How are we supposed to use those as firewood?” Durano complained while sipping tea.
He finished chopping 5 blocks of wood into barely usable firewood at noon. “I… I… am so tired!”
“You only chopped 5 blocks of wood, and here you are, tired already?” Durano clicked his tongue and shook his head. He took out a flask and threw it over to John.
John asked, “What is this?”
“Drink it,” Durano ordered. John drank the liquid inside the flask, though he was suspicious of it.
Ting.
[Fatigue stat has been lifted as a result of the Energy Potion.]
John heard the announcement. He thought, “This is an energy potion?”
He instantly felt energized after drinking from the flask.
“I want you to use my bucket over there to fetch water from the river and finish it before sundown,” Durano commanded John before going into one of the two rooms in the hut.
John complained, “I have not eaten yet!”
Durano heard and answered him from the room, “There is no more food, so find some in the forest!”
John didn’t have a choice. He took the bucket beside the clay jugs with him before walking in the river’s direction. Fortunately, the river was close by.
“F… ah! s**t! My arms are too sore!” John complained mentally. Carrying the bucket with his two arms still takes him more effort. He hurriedly inspected the bucket.
Ting.
Durano’s Special Bucket (Unique)
Type: Storage
Durability: 100/100
Description: A unique bucket enchanted with spatial magic.
Special Functions
1. Has 100 cubic meters of volume
2. Storage
Additional Features
1. Self-repair
2. Weight Modification
Weight: 500 kg
John complained more when he saw the bucket’s information. He continued walking towards the river slowly after a while.
After several minutes, John finally reached the river. He dipped the bucket gently into the river. The water quickly flowed into the black hole-like container.
However, the bucket was still unfull no matter how quick the flow of water was.
“It’s filling in very slowly, huh!” He muttered.
He sat down beneath a tree and decided to train. “Let’s see. Back in the Sprite village, the teachers emphasize passive skills as the most important skills. However, I don’t know how to train a non – active skill.” He mumbled.
John opened his skill window and observed the skills that he had, particularly the passive ones.
Ting.
Active skills: Telekinesis (Lv.7), Float (Lv.4), Divine Light (Broken), Sprint (Lv.4), Force Shield (Lv.5), Meditation (Semi-passive/Lv.6), Parkour (Lv.7), Hard Punch (Lv.4), Skull Bash (Lv.3), Appraisal (Lv.8), Sink (Lv.1), Hold Breath (Lv.1), Swim (Lv.1), Energy Control (Lv.3), Area Sense (Lv.4), Shadow Hunt (Lv.1), Dark Control (Lv.1), Mana Manipulation (Lv.1), Doll Make (Lv.1), Shadow Spike (Lv.1), Imagery (Lv.1)
Passive Skills: Universal Language (Max), Fear Resistance (Lv.1), Pain Resistance (Lv.3), Memory Bank I (Semi-active/Lv.3), Illusion Resistance (Lv.1), Craftsman (Lv.2), Book of Spells I (Lv.1), Heightened Sense (Lv.1), Cold Resistance (Lv.1), Danger Sense (Lv.4)
Branch Skill:
Force Shield [Open]: Thorn Shield (Lv.2), Thorn Coffin (Lv.4), Drill Shield: Tornado (Lv.2)
Craftsman [Open]: Cooking (Lv.2), Mining (Lv.2)
Spellbook [Open] [5/5]: Bloodline [Sprite (Locked)], Air Shot (Lv.1), Flame Shot (Lv.1), Water Shot (Lv.1), Rock Throw (Lv.1)
Heightened Sense [Open] [6/6]: Sight (Lv.1), Sniff (Lv.1), Listen (Lv.1), Taste (Lv.1), Sensitivity (Lv.1), Intuition (Lv.1)
He observed his passive skills. Fear, pain, illusion, and cold resistance are passive skills that need a stimulus to advance. The Craftsman’s skill is unusable in battle, so he skipped it, while the Memory Bank I skill is something he has little understanding of.
“I don’t understand most of the skills in my skill tree.” He argued with himself.
He skipped that skill as well. Instead, he placed his focus on his other three passive skills – the Book of Spells, Danger Sense, and Heightened Sense skills.
He first looked at his Book of Spells passive skill. It is a passive skill that has an accompanying active skill, the Spellbook skill, which allows him to use basic magic spells.
“Can I consider myself a magician?” He asked himself.
He decided to train it first. John used Air Shot. A ball of compressed air materialized and floated above his open palm. Without dispelling it, John cast Flame Shot.
He expected a ball of flame to appear beside the ball of air, but the result was different. The ball of air ignited instead and became a ball of flame.
He, then, tried to cast Water Shot. The ball of flame immediately became a water ball floating above his palm. He tried again and cast Rock Throw. The ball of water solidified and became a rock.
“My mana transforms into different elements, but I cannot use two elements at the same time,” he analyzed.
He suddenly thought, “What if I use Mana Manipulation and Energy Control at the same time I cast a spell?”
John immediately tried his theory.
“Air Shot!” He cast the spell.
“Alright, let's control it with mana manipulation and energy control!”
While using the energy control skill, John made the ball of air float around him, and then, with mana manipulation, he prevented it from dispersing.
“Flame Shot!” John cast. A ball of flame appeared above his palm.
He happily exclaimed, “Yes!”
His experiment was a success. The Air Shot spell was not dispelled while the Flame Shot spell was cast.
At the moment, two types of balls are floating around John. One is an airball and the other a flame ball.
He played with his skills for some time when he noticed the bucket was finally full. He walked towards the river and picked the container.
“Hm!”
“Hrm!”
“Hrm! F-f-f**k!” He fell on his butt. John was not able to lift the bucket. “How do I get that back to the house?!”
John used every ounce of his strength, but the bucket wouldn’t move. Although the bucket can fill the jugs in just one trip, its weight makes the trip almost impossible to do.
“No wonder Durano said to finish filling the jugs before sundown!”
Then a sudden thought came to his mind; he hurriedly gathered some rocks and dirt around.
“Imagery!” He outlined a crane. It was just big enough to lift the bucket.
“Doll Make!” Then, he made a stone replica of the crane.
John flowed his mana into the crane with Mana Manipulation and used Energy Control on the mana to move the crane around. At last, John finally lifted the bucket off the river.
Rumble.
Rumble.
Durano was sleeping on a hammock when the rumbling sounds coming from the river’s direction jolted him awake.
He stood up and glanced in the noise’s direction. “What is that?” He blurted as he saw the thing coming towards his house.
He prepared himself for the attack, but then, he noticed his bucket hanging on the arm-like feature of the beast. “My bucket?”
Then, he saw John inside the creature. “Ha? Was he swallowed alive?”
Durano hurriedly ran towards the creature, preparing to smash it to bits, when John called him from within the creature, “Durano! Old man! Wait! Don’t attack!”
“Kid! Are you okay? Just wait for a bit. I will rescue you from that beast!” Durano shouted back.
“Ha? Wait!” John hurriedly dispersed the crane doll. The bucket fell to the ground with a bang.
“What the…!”
“Durano! I told you to wait! It was only my doll creation!” John told him.
“Your doll creation?” Durano said, surprised. “You have a doll-making skill?”
“I do. It’s the only way I can bring back that cursed bucket of yours!” John complained.
“Oh?” Durano picked up the bucket as if it weighed nothing. “Are you seriously complaining about this little bucket?”
“Ha? That thing weighs 500 kilograms! It has a space of a hundred cubic meters and adding the weight of the water, do you expect me to carry it that easily back here?”
“Ha!” Durano sighed. He placed the bucket down on the ground again. “Foolish! The same as earlier, you did not use your energy!” He scolded John.
“What energy are you talking about? I used every energy I had in my body for chopping and for carrying that stupid bucket!” John argued back.
“Seriously!” Durano sat down and beckoned John to sit down in front of him. “Our bodies are full of energy. I am sure you know about that.” John nodded.
“Do you know that the energy in our bodies is distributed in the skills and stats that we have?” He asked.
Unsure, John nodded, “I guess?”
“Alright now. Our stats have half of our energy, while the other half is in our skills and what our bodies need to work daily. While I said that, you must know that those energies are not used up entirely; there is always excess, unused energy.”
John listened quietly.
“The excess energy is freely flowing in your body. If you can use all of it, then what do you think? Will you be able to lift that bucket? Will you be able to chop a block of wood easily with my 1-ton ax?”
John thought he might be able to do those things as long as he could use all the energy he had.
“Can you use the entirety of your energy?” He asked Durano.
Durano replied to him with a smile. “The key to that is the skill called Energy Control.”
“Ha?” John stared at Durano blankly. If that was all, then he is an i***t because he already has that skill.
“Are you surprised? I bet you are!” Durano smiled splendidly. “Energy Control is a common class skill that gives you the ability to control energy freely. You can control every energy in your body if properly used!”
“I can do that, huh!” John mumbled softly.
“It is pretty easy, isn’t it?” Durano said, “I am sure you will easily acquire it even if you don’t have that skill, as long as you use energy!”
“Ah, I already have that skill,” John said flatly.
“Then it's good. Why didn’t you use it before? You foolish kid!”
“Ha… alright, I’ll try it now.”
John activated the skill. However, he did not feel any energy he could control. “It’s not working.” He quipped.
“Try again,” Durano observed while John was trying the skill.
He tried once more, but still, it did not work. “This skill worked before, but how come it’s not working now?”
John reminisced about all the times he activated the skill. Every time he used Energy Control, it was in tandem with another skill, like when he changed his Force Shield or when he controlled the Air Shot skill earlier.
However, he can sense no other forms of energy to control in his current situation.
“Can’t do it?” Durano asked.
John did not answer. Instead, he thought of a way to use the skill. He decided to use Mana Manipulation. He controlled the mana in his body and sensed its flow; he followed it.
“Durano, mana is energy, isn’t it?” He asked.
“Yes, it is.”
John nodded. He stood up and went to pick the bucket. First, he circulated his mana inside his body with Mana Manipulation. Then he started to lift the bucket. Slowly, John was able to lift the bucket an inch before he dropped it.
“You used your mana, but not all your energy. Indeed, mana is energy. However, it is not the only energy present in your body. Use everything.” Durano lectured him. “You must feel all the energy in every fiber of your body.”
“Durano, let me ask you. How do you use Energy Control to control all your energy?”
“Hm? That is easy! I can sense all of them in my body.”
“Sensing the energy,” John mumbled. So, he was somewhat right. Before he can control all the energy he intends to, he must first sense them.
“Come on. Let’s rest.” Durano stood up and took the bucket.
“Ah, alright!” They went back to the house.
John’s stomach grumbled loudly as they were walking. “Ah! I forgot to eat!”
“Ha…” Durano sighed, “There’s food in the kitchen. Go eat.”
=========
In Veran, Svaltar, and his companion met with the Wood Elves’ King.
“What do you ask of me?” The Wood Elf King asked after hearing Svaltar’s story.
“I ask that you spread the word to the other races and help us stop our King!” Svaltar replied solemnly.
“Hm… spread the word you say. Are you not afraid that your entire Dark Elf race might be annihilated if I do that?”
“I am terrified, your highness. That is why I must ask you to only relay that it is only our King and his line that is at fault. The citizens of Darklia are innocent and have nothing to do with the King’s plans. I ask all the races to spare them.” Svaltar responded.
“I might consider it, but the other Kings might choose to destroy your entire race directly. For me, that is the most direct and easiest way to solve future problems like this from recurring.” The Wood Elf King said truthfully.
The King has a point and Svaltar knew that. But he has no other choice; either way, his entire Dark Elf race is in danger of annihilation.
“What should we do, Svaltar?” Arus whispered worriedly to Svaltar.
Svaltar contemplated hard. Then, after several minutes of silence, he spoke, “Your majesty, if I offer my family’s Mythic class skill, Dark Rule, do you think it will suffice?”
Everyone was caught in surprise when Svaltar suddenly offered a mythic skill on the table. Even his companions were startled. No one knew Svaltar had a skill of that class.
“Oh? The Dark Rule skill, I have heard of it. That is the 12th generation Dark Elf King’s mythic skill. To think that you actually came from that lineage.” The Wood Elf King said surprised and amused.
Then he added, “I will tell the other kings of your request and that offer.”
“Thank you, your majesty!” Svaltar bowed deeply to the king and left the hall with his companions.
“Svaltar, will you really give up your family’s mythic skill?” Arus curiously asked.
“If it will save our race, then yes.”
“Ha…” Arus sighed, “I did not know you came from a prestigious lineage. You have royal blood in you.”
“I do not deserve that lineage. Let us go. We need to prepare.”
They left Veran in haste and journeyed to Bottonido. It is a town in the west of Veran and only four days away from Darklia.
==========
Two days later, John was still practicing with Durano. He was slowly getting a hang of using his energy.
“Controlling every bit of energy in my body is too hard for me at this level.” John thought. His Energy Control skill leveled up twice during his training and he can already better manipulate his energy, but it was still far from what Durano can do.
He did manage to learn the Energy Sense skill and that was what helped him better his control. After leveling up twice, John felt that he can no longer raise the skill’s level any time soon. It was as if it is blocked.
“Not bad, kid.” Durano suddenly spoke while observing John. “You should stop trying to level up your Energy Control skill. It might have reached the current limit of your ability; it won’t go up anytime soon.”
Durano stood from his chair and walked towards John. “Let’s spar for a bit.” He told John.
“What? You and me, spar?” John was startled. During the days he was training, not once did Durano offer to physically help him, aside from the occasional tips.
“Yeah.” Durano poised himself. “Now, come at me!”
“Alright,” he answered. John focused his energy on his feet and legs then he activated his sprint skill. He appeared in front of Durano in an instant.
He delivered a straight Hard Punch. Durano easily evaded the incoming fist. “Too slow.” He commented on the side.
John spread his energy from his feet towards his hip. He delivered a series of Hard Punches. However, Durano was still able to easily dodge them. “Still too slow.”
“Tsk!” John activated Area Sense. A clear picture of his surrounding appeared in his mind. Durano’s movement became clearer to John.
He also used Heightened Sense: Sight and threw another barrage of Hard Punches at Durano. John’s punches started to move faster.
“Oh?” Durano was surprised but only a split second. He suddenly raised his right hand and swung it to John’s head.
John’s Danger Sense flared up immediately. He hurriedly activated a 5-layered Force Shield by his left side. He did not forget to infuse the shield with his energy so it became sturdier.
BAM!
John was hit by Durano’s palm on his left cheek. His Force Shield did not even last for a second when Durano’s hand hit it.
“Ting! Warning! HP is too low!”
“Ting! You are confused due to critical hit.”
“Argh! T-t-that hurt!” John struggled to stand.
“Are you fine?” Durano asked.
“I’ll l-live, I think...” John answered weakly.
Durano tossed a bottle to John and instructed him to drink it. John’s wounds immediately healed as soon as he finished the bottle.
“You can already use all the energy in your body but the problem now is how you use it. It's very slow.” Durano pointed.
John knew it. Sensing the energy, controlling it, and releasing it takes considerable time. He still needs to find a way to do all those on an instinctual level.
“Kid, come with me.” Durano urged him and walked into the house.
John followed Durano into the house. He took a book from his cabinet and placed it on the table.
“What is that?”
“A skill book,” Durano answered. “Take it.” He added.
John grabbed the book and as soon as he opened it, an announcement rang in his head.
“Ting! Skill book obtained. Orc’s Aura skill learned.”
“Ting!
Skill Name: Orc’s Aura (Degraded)
Level: 1
Class: Legend
Type: Support
Description: Greatly increases endurance. Shrouds user with an indomitable aura for 1 hour. Fighting Spirit s will be opened.
Cost: 300 MP
Cooldown: 30 minutes”
“Orc’s Aura…” John muttered.
“Yes. It’s a skill I created.” Durano told him. “Listen, kid, in the coming days, my strength will regress. Those Dark Elves will take that opportunity to come here. By that time, you will be on your own. I cannot help you anymore.”
“Huh? Are you injured anywhere? Why would your strength regress?” John asked curiously.
“It’s a long story. Anyway, when they come, you will be on your own. I hope you survive then.” Durano said.
“Yeah, they won’t capture me that easily.” John declared.
==========
The following days, John did not stop training. Durano coached him to the best of his abilities. Thanks to that, John’s skills leveled up once or twice. His energy control also became better. Durano even praised him and that his control is much faster now.
“Ting!
Name: John Arcala
Nickname: Reborn
Level: 24 (Exp. 29.78%)
Race: Human
Class: Pupa
Age: 2 months
Health: 12320
Mana: 17980
AP: 6430
DP: 10100
Strength: 156 (+300)
Dexterity: 22 (+305)
Intelligence: 100 (+523)
Vitality: 111 (+505)
Wisdom: 55 (+313)
Agility: 40 (+312)
Active Skills: Telekinesis (Lv.8), Float (Lv.5), Divine Light (Broken), Sprint (Lv.6), Force Shield I (Lv.3), Meditation (Semi-passive/Level 7), Parkour (Lv.7), Hard Punch (Lv.8), Skull Bash (Lv.5), Appraisal (Lv.8), Sink (Lv.1), Hold Breath (Lv.1), Swim (Lv.1), Energy Control (Lv.5), Area Sense (Lv.6), Shadow Hunt (Lv.2), Dark Control (Lv.2), Mana Manipulation (Lv.3), Doll Make (Lv.2), Shadow Spike (Lv.2), Energy Sense (Lv.2), Orc’s Aura [Degraded] (Lv.1)
Passive Skills: Universal Language (Max), Fear Resistance (Lv.1), Pain Resistance (Lv.6), Memory Bank I (Semi-active/Lv.3), Illusion Resistance (Lv.1), Craftsman (Lv.2), Book of Spells I (Lv.2), Heightened Sense (Lv.2), Cold Resistance (Lv.1)
Title: Anomaly (Awakened), Tatiana’s Son, Contracted [!], Reborn, Coward, Worm, First Kill, Craftsman, Skill Creator, Spell Holder, Great Liar, Clay Doll Maker, Thought Weaver
Title Skill: Danger Sense (Passive/Lv.6), Imagery (Active/Lv.3)
Branch Skill:
Force Shield I [Open]: Thorn Shield (Lv.3), Thorn Coffin (Lv.5), Drill Shield: Tornado (Lv.3)
Craftsman [Open]: Cooking (Lv.3), Mining (Lv.2)
Spellbook [Open] [5/5]: Bloodline [Sprite (Locked)], Air Shot (Lv.3), Flame Shot (Lv.3), Water Shot (Lv.3), Rock Throw (Lv.3)
Heightened Sense [Open] [6/6]: Sight (Lv.3), Sniff (Lv.2), Listen (Lv.3), Taste (Lv.1), Sensitivity (Lv.3), Intuition (Lv.3)
Status points: 10
John noticed that he has 10 unused status points, so he invested it all to his agility stat. He remembered how helpless he was against Thasia.
He understood that a mere 10 points increase in his agility will not make much difference. However, any increase in his abilities is a much welcome event especially in the coming battle with the Dark Elves of Darklia.
“If only I can properly use my prediction skill. It would really be of much help.” John thought.
“Alright! It’s decided. I will focus on that skill in the remaining days until they come!” John declared.
The following day, John went to the river. He decided to catch some fish. Of course, he was doing it to train his Heightened Sense: Intuition skill. He will use predict to catch fish.
“Intuition activate! Predict!”
His point of view warped as soon as he activated the skill. John saw a fish coming close to the river’s surface.
“Ting! Your sight has been sealed due to using the Predict skill. You are Confused.”
The announcement rang in his head. “Damn it!” He cussed. He felt dizzy after using the skill. “Again!”
“Ting! Your sight has been sealed due to using the Predict skill. You are Confused.”
“Again!”
“Ting! Your sight has been sealed due to using the Predict skill. You are Confused.”
Announcement after announcement rang in John’s head after each time the duration of the Predict skill is up. This cycle happened many more times, and he never did once catch a fish.
“Ting! Your sight has been sealed due to using the Predict skill. You are Confused.”
“Ahhh! Again!”
“Ting! Your sight has been sealed due to using the Predict skill. You are Confused.”
“Ting! Confusion Resistance skill acquired.”
“Ting! Your sight has been sealed due to using the Predict skill. You are Confused.”
“Again!”
John did the dizzying task until late afternoon. His Confusion Resistance skill went up to level 6 while his Heightened Sense: Intuition skill leveled up once.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Durano asked as he approached John by the river.
“Huh?” John suddenly felt, no, more like he saw in his mind a hand coming towards his shoulder.
He was afflicted with confusion and blindness because of the Predict skill, but, he can see Durano’s hand coming. “I get it now!” He thought happily.
“What are you doing?”
“I was training my Heightened Sense skill.” He answered.
“Oh? Heightened Sense skill, huh. So, did you get any result from that?”
“Yeah! Just now, thanks to you!” John replied eagerly. He finally found a way to use the Predict skill in battle.
John found out that the Predict skill takes one’s sight and enhances the Danger Sense skill but it does not mean one will become helpless. It was also thanks to his confusion resistance. The splitting headache doesn’t bother him too much now.
“Durano, let’s spar again!”
- Writer
