17 - Training Tactics

The tomahawk left Joe's grip, flipping through the air and thunking satisfyingly into the golem a dozen feet away.

"Good. Now, this time, throw it on the run," Kendell instructed from behind him.

After they settled on [Grit Razor] and Joe had learned the skill thanks to a gift from the guild, Myllo had left them. Kendell suggested they work on a ranged weapon attack to round out his options. For hand-to-hand combat, Kendell's weapon of choice was a hand-pick, followed closely by hand axes. For a thrown weapon, axes took the top spot as picks were not practical for hurling.

When Joe mentioned the hand axe he had manifested in the Spirit Realm, Kenda was certain it was a good sign. She felt it meant that Joe would almost surely uncover a connection to similar weaponry.

She lent Joe a pair of her old enchanted axes, and he had been training with them nonstop for the past couple of hours. Normally, a person's arm would fall off if they had been throwing large tomahawks for that long, but Joe could cheat. By burning [Homefire] at his feet or expending a [Healer's Touch], along with [Effereous Endurance], and optimizing his arm with [Morphic Form], his shoulder was only a little bit sore.

Her plan was to evolve Joe's simple weapon aptitude into a stronger weapon expertise. Kendell, or Kenda as she had asked Joe to call her, had [Versatile Weapon Mastery], an upgraded form of [Versatile Weapon Expertise]. She had started with [Spear Aptitude] and, by working with thrown blades, darts, and handaxes, she had evolved it.

He admitted he felt a bit stupid having just expended a free skill evolution, but Kenda firmly disagreed with him. If someone has time to work on an evolution, they should do so. She added that one hung onto the free evolutions for emergencies, just as Joe had done to save Hoodoo on the ship.

He had to remind himself about the difference between upgrading a skill and evolving it. Making an uncommon skill into a rare one, for example, was an upgrade. This made the skill more efficient. Evolving one, on the other hand, added features to the skill. Joe's favorite skill evolution so far had been when his [Coin Catcher] had become [Helpful Hand]. The skill went from just grabbing loot for him to being a fully functional telekinetic third hand. The even-further upgraded hand was now recovering the axe he had just thrown.

Kendell's plan was to have Joe evolve his [Simple Weapon Aptitude] into a skill called [Versatile Weapon Expertise]. 'Expertise' was better than 'Aptitude' and could only be acquired by training. 'Aptitude' was the base skill one got from a crystal. [Versatile Weapon Expertise] was a bucket skill for weapons that served multiple functions.

Staffs, coincidentally, fit into this group since they were primarily a defensive tool that could be a passable weapon. Parrying daggers and spiked shields were other such examples. Hah'roo's rope dart would fit into this category as it was both a weapon and a control implement. Additionally, Joe's claws applied, as his fingers were primarily designed to manipulate objects. The bonus of being able to slash enemies with them was a secondary enhancement.

A big set of weapons in the group were melee weapons that could also be ranged weapons, aka, thrown weapons. If Joe could bring about the evolution, it would allow him to use more exotic weapons than were compatible with his current weapon proficiency skill.

Evolutions were usually offered by Hawking when a skill had at least twenty ranks. Joe's [Simple Weapon Aptitude] was at twenty-one, so this was a perfect time to push for the evolution by spending some serious time with thrown weapons.

They had started only a few feet away from the target. Kendell had lent him her good hurling axes. The weapons had an enchantment on them called [Returning]. This meant that the hatchets automatically flew back into your hand. If your hands were full, they would land on the ground at your feet. This was before Joe showed her his handy extra hand. After that, she let Joe use whichever axe he was constantly hitting with.

When Joe reached the point where he was comfortable sticking the hatchets at six feet, they moved back a bit, and Joe learned how to hit his target from eight feet. Then ten feet. At twelve feet, Kendell informed him that this was about as far as he could be expected to easily hit a target until he had a thrown weapon compatible skill.

Now she was having him move and throw in combination. Joe used [Hunter's Pursuit] to flow across the grass and chucked the axe as he made a turn. The throw wasn't perfect, but it did thunk blade first into the target manikin's shin.

"Alright, let's push this to the next level. How would you feel about some sparring?" the savant asked with a gleam in her eyes.

"Sounds great. I've been training every day for the last week aboard a ship. It will be nice to have some room to move around, for once."

"Perfect," she exclaimed, throwing Joe what looked like a heavy leather slap-bracelet. Sure enough, she whacked the flat slat against her wrist. The moment the band cinched around her forearm, an almost transparent suit of force armor manifested around her body. If Joe looked at it from an angle, he could make out its faint blue outline.

"Let's go a couple of rounds to get the One Above's attention on your evolution," Kenda beamed.

"Sounds like a plan," Joe replied, clicking the band around his wrist. As soon as that field snapped into place, Joe dove around the golem and threw one of the tomahawks as quickly as he could.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Kendell was not surprised. She batted it away and threw both of hers, one a second behind the other. Joe could tell the best angle to dodge away from the first would put him straight in the path of the second, but he had a secret weapon she hadn't seen yet. [Heavy Hand] sent the first axe spinning away, giving Joe all the time in the world to dodge the second one.

[Heavy Hand] - Uncommon - Strength: The skill allows you a chance to block attacks or push a target away from you. Increases your Physical and Magical Deflection and your Shove proficiency by 20% plus 2% for each skill rank you have with this skill for 1 second. This skill is not applicable against non-tangible or area attacks. Cost: Moderate Stamina. {Might}

He and Kendell began dashing around the golems, hurling weapons at each other nonstop. The trainer had ordered the log constructs to amble around in circles, giving them an ever-changing obstacle course.

Joe's ferally-enhanced movements involved more bounding and a strange loping run. These must have had a different cadence than Kenda was used to. She was clearly a better axe thrower, but between [Heavy Hand] and his odd movement, she was missing him more often than he expected she would. She still hit him constantly, but he could tell she was getting frustrated by the number of hits he was deflecting or dodging. She learned that single attacks were mostly useless, as [Heavy Hand] intercepted anything that was less than a perfect throw. Fortunately, she was able to juggle three, sometimes even four hatchets at once, keeping Joe constantly blocking or moving.

Her movement skills involved a skill that empowered her to make explosively fast dashes. Her quick sprints were so fast that she actually blurred as she moved. Joe missed most of his early throws before he learned to aim in front of her. Kenda had another skill that allowed her to make impressive jumps. Joe was pretty sure she could out-jump him by a few feet.

When he saw her starting to lag, Joe dosed her with [Effereous Endurance].

"Oh wow! I was wondering how you were able to keep this up. So, this is your secret. I couldn't figure out how you had been practicing for hours and then skirmishing and not passing out. This is a great spell! HA!" she ended with a shout and launched an axe at him far harder than she had been throwing a second ago.

The throw was a strong one, but she was so excited she telegraphed the attack. Joe flared [Heavy Hand] and smacked the spinning hatchet into next week, vaulting it significantly further away than the weapon's recall range.

"Hey!" Kenda squawked at the same moment in which Hawking rewarded Joe with the prize they had been hunting.

Skill Evolution: You have successfully trained your skill into an improved adaptive fighting style. Do you wish to evolve your [Simple Weapon Aptitude] skill to the [Versatile Weapon Expertise] skill?

"We did it!" Joe announced as he gave his consent to the evolution.

You have learned the common skill: [Versatile Weapon Expertise]. You are proficient with multi-functioning weapons. Versatile weapons are weapons that are designed to be equally useful for defense as they are for offense, or ranged melee weapons. Parrying daggers and throwing axes are two such examples. Ranks with this skill increase your ability to bypass defenses as well as parry incoming attacks. Passive. {Expertise}

"Sweet!" she chirped before sighing deeply. "Ok, I'm done," she exclaimed, fanning her shirt to let fresh air move around her neckline. "And you get to go find my axe that you just launched into the weeds."

The trainer tossed her other hatchets into the air, where they both instantly vanished. She grabbed the shield bracelet from Joe and returned it to its cabinet before signalling for Joe to help her put away the table. As she whistled for the golems, Kenda grabbed a pair of towels and tossed one to Joe.

Wiping off the sweat, she turned and looked at him. "What do you say we clean up and go get food and lots of drinks to celebrate?"

"Definitely. I'll even regale you with Count Valloc stories."

Kendell beamed a bright grin at him. "I think I want to hear more about the werewolf this time. Go track down my tomahawk, then get cleaned up. I'll meet you inside."

Inside the Guildhouse locker rooms, Joe found a half dozen sinks and mirrors. He could hear the sound of splashing coming from around a corner. Joe guessed they had tubs. Once again, he missed a shower. This would have been a perfect time for one.

His eyes landed on a rack of wands. One of them looked exactly like something he had been considering when he was choosing between buying a cleaning wand or cleansing charms. He guessed the others had similar functions. Identifying the rods confirmed his theory. There were mending wands and cleansing ones. Additionally, there were scents, oils, and more grooming options, all of them in wand form.

Joe used one to clean his body and outfit, and found one wand that would give his suit an airy scent, kind of like the dryer sheets smell back on Earth. It was subtle enough not to bug his nose and even piqued a bit of nostalgia. Remembrances of his mother and warm towels right out of the dryer slid out of his childhood memories.

Finished first, Joe spent a few minutes walking around the lobby of the Adventurers Guild. The walls were adorned with pictures and plaques, detailing the long history of Fort Coral. He was halfway through one of the oldest plaques that spoke of the founding of the fortress town by a team of adventurers when Kenda stepped up to him.

"The Founding of Fort Coral," she recited over his shoulder. "That's a good one. Remember Founders' Day I told you about. Those are who it's about," she explained, indicating the plaque. "Oooh, you are going to have to pick a founder. The whole town dresses in their founder's colors, and the games pit teams of each founder against each other. Jequa won last year."

"Do you stick to one founder or change year to year?" Joe asked, looking at the picture of the four heroes from a century ago. The founders' names were Mira Starseer, a diviner, a mage known as Jequa the Red, Margen, a warrior, and Tintze the Trader, who sounded more like a rogue than a merchant from what Joe had read so far.

"Most tend to pick a founder and stay with it, but there is no rule about it. People switch all the time."

"Sounds like fun," Joe admitted.

"It is. Now come on. I'm starving." Kendell looped an arm through his and steered him towards the door.

Joe was surprised by the gesture. He was used to being touched in a caring-for-him manner by the nurses. Hah'roo had done the same back in Peregrine Harbor, but that had just felt like a friendly movement. This was something completely different. It was much better. He could not help but crack a wide smile as they stepped out onto the sunny afternoon streets of Fort Coral.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.