[[Volume 1]]: Humble Beginnings
Chapter 6: Sweat and Steel
Tyrith returned to his dorm and flopped onto his bed, exhausted. The training session with Saelyn was productive. He was more evenly matched with her than with Verrick, although it was obvious she had at least some experience wielding a sword. They had sparred for a couple of hours before Saelyn relented. By that time, Tyrith had gotten a basic grip on how to use the sword, and he felt that he could use it without any serious danger of hurting himself.
His muscles were sore from the exertion of moving the sword time and time again, a sign of the strength that would come. Tyrith did not look forward to the physical training that he would have to complete tomorrow with these sore muscles.
He took a deep breath to focus himself, then sat up. He set his gaze on the 'Practice makes Perfect' stone which was sitting on the floor of his dorm. He focused his mana, and tried to cast a continuous 'Slice.' He successfully started it, but encountered extreme resistance when trying to push it into the stone, and ran out of mana before he knew it.
The mana core was like a muscle too, and its power would grow with use. He ran his rudimentary mana gathering technique. Tyrith had yet to decide on a name for it, although he was pondering something like 'Hidden Hand.'
He sensed that his core was already on the verge of breaking through to the Solid Bright minor stage. It should come within the week, as long as he used 'Slice' a lot. And he would be using 'Slice' a lot, to practice with it and strengthen it.
After a half hour, his mana had regenerated to full, and he practiced casting a continuous 'Slice' on 'Practice makes Perfect' again. He repeated this exercise once more before going to bed. His control over the continuous 'Slice' had improved a tiny bit. Perhaps after a hundred more repetitions of this, he would be able to peel an apple perfectly.
The strain from repetitive use of mana was unlike that of muscle. It didn't make one sweat, but it did leave a strange feeling in the body and soul. A bit of an aching, cold, and drained feeling.
He brushed his teeth, and collapsed into his bed, falling asleep quickly.
---
He dreamed of that space filled with purple fog again. This time it felt further away. He watched from afar as shadowy figures argued with each other, for what seemed like hours.
In an area where the fog was thinner, there were more shadowy figures. There, they were discussing pleasantly.
---
It has now been a week since Tyrith started his tutelage at the Eubukor Bladespire.
He was currently huffing and puffing, running around the edge of the campus on the dirt path, on his prescribed 10km run.
Over the past week, he had begun his physical, magical, and martial training in earnest.
On the physical side, he had been following Verrick's training plan, and although it may be a placebo effect, he swore he could see muscles forming in the mirror.
Magically, he was a good mana gathering session away from breaking into the Solid Bright stage, and he planned on attempting on doing it today. His control over 'Slice' had increased. He was confident in peeling any sort of fruit of vegetable you threw at him. Lately, he had been tempted to try and cut his fingernails with it.
His mana gathering and mana circulation techniques had improved in efficiency, but no qualitative change had taken place.
He continued running on the dirt, his steps kicking up dust.
Students were sparring closer to the buildings, flashes of magic popping up.
Tyrith passed Saelyn on her run and gave her a wave.
He finished up his run, and hit the showers. The water were heated to the perfect temperature with a nice little rune setup.
The water formed rivulets as it ran down Tyrith's back. He thought about his goals, and what he had to do.
<"In order to keep my pace, I need to advance to the Orange core by the end of the semester. I also need to try and win a spar with another student to get ahead on my monthly goals. And I need to work on my homework...">
He finished washing himself in the shower and dried off with one of the school-provided towels.
It was time for class again.
---
After a long but surprisingly interesting class on the debtor games which took place in the Great Merchant Group, and another practice session on his Mana Gathering and Mana Circulation techniques, it was time for Tyrith to attempt to break through a minor level, under the watchful eye of his mentor Verrick.
He entered the training hall and saw that Verrick was already there.
["It's about time you showed up! I've been waiting here forever."]
["Well the professor kept us late... anyways, what do I need to do? Is there anything I should be worried about?"]
["Advancing a minor level is usually not any trouble, especially at the lower levels. All you need to do is intake a large amount of mana and send it to your core, sort of attacking it with your mana, and willing it to evolve. If you do it correctly, today you will advance to the Solid Bright stage. I will help supply mana to you."]
["Let me know when you are ready, then assume a comfortable position."]
["Got it."]
Tyrith thought for a bit, then remained standing, but relaxed his posture.
["Alright, hit me."]
Tyrith sent his Mana Circulation technique into overdrive, taking all the mana that was distributed throughout his body, and sending it towards his core. He felt excess mana flow into his body from Verrick's help.
The mana entering his body surged like a river toward the core.
Tyrith circulated the mana around his core, methodically bombarding the shell of his core with mana.
Flashes of light emitted periodically from his abdomen as he worked.
Suddenly, he felt something like glass breaking, and he felt like he was dropped into a chilly ocean. The barrier surrounding his core surrendered to his mana, and the mana he was bombarding with suffused the interior of his core, strengthening it.
Slowly, then all at once, the red glow of his core brightened, and the interior of the training room glowed with a red light, before the glow faded inside himself.
["Congratulations. You have advanced a minor stage."]
Tyrith opened his eyes and shook himself out. A subtle sense of strength permeated his body. He definitely felt that he could contain and channel more mana than before, and have more control over his mana.
["Just three more minor stages until you can try to advance to the Orange core. Feel free to test out how your strength has upgraded with our machines."]
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Tyrith cracked his knuckles and flexed his arms.
["Alright then, let's give it a go..."]
He walked up to the damage dummy that was gathering the dust in the corner.
He gathered the mana inside himself, and sent out a maximum power 'Slice.'
<"Hmm.. still consumed about 10% of my mana reserves. Looks like the increase in maximum power is proportional to the increase in mana reserves.">
Tyrith looked at the display of the damage dummy to see the number 16 popping up.
<"An increase of 3, or... 20%. That's pretty good for just a minor level. If it's a similar increase for every mage, and multiplicative every level, no wonder they call high-level mages walking disasters. That sort of exponential increase can get out of hand. ">
Tyrith manipulated the levers of the mana calculating machine, figuring what his mana compression talent should be, and it spit out a mana capacity of 60 SMU, which is what he expected from a 20% increase.
Verrick watched as Tyrith rubbed his chin as he thought.
["Go ahead and try that thing you've been wanting to do."]
["Of course! How could I forget!"]
Tyrith faced the damage dummy again, and focused his mana. He used his nascent mana circulation technique in tandem with casting his 'Slice' and concentrated on splitting the mana streams.
He flicked his wrist to send off the modified 'Slice' and he knew intuitively that he had succeeded. He saw the surface of the damage dummy deform in two different spots, and the number on the damage dummy displayed 5, then 4, then 9.
["You were right, I can split it into two now. "]
["Excellent job. Based on what you were telling me about your mana circulation technique, I think you should manage to split it into 7 at least by the end of the Red core."]
["Speaking of, work on your mana circulation technique now. You should be able to make some progress."]
Tyrith nodded.
["I'll work it after I go out and spar. I want to get a win under my belt."]
["Sure. Just go and pick up the doohickey from the general store first."]
Verrick tossed some celens at him.
Tyrith managed to catch them in his hand.
["Yeah yeah."]
Tyrith walked out of the training hall, barely holding himself back from breaking into a run due to his elation at advancing.
---
Tyrith approached the dirt arena at the edge of the Bladespire campus. He rubbed his right earlobe.
<"Perhaps I should have opted for the handheld option...">
His right earlobe was now pierced with a bright orange something. It was a nice spherical shape, with a sword logo on it.
["Alright... Rank!"]
In his right eye, a bevy of information sprung up. There were many sections, and at the top his information was displayed.
{Tyrith: Unranked 1st Year (0/7)}
{Red Core: Solid Bright Stage}
["Leaderboards."]
{1st Year Rankings}
{1st: Drendt, 10/0/0, 353 }
{2nd: Morn, 9/0/1, 344}
{...}
{112th: Saelyn 3/1/0, 143}
{500th: Tyrith 0/0/0, 0}
{...}
{500th: Brad 0/0/0, 0}
It seemed a lot of students had still not completed their 7 ranking matches. After completing the placement matches, they would be assigned a numerical 'strength' ranking, the last number in the column. Only by dueling students within 50 points of their strength rank could they add the win to their total. There could be no farming of a weak student to rise to the top. Strength rankings would decay over time if they did not duel.
<"This Drendt guy looks very impressive. Maybe I'll get the chance to duel him one day.">
<"Anyways... the guy at the shop said the mana in this thing should last a week before I need to bring it in for recharging. And once I reach the Orange core, I should be able to recharge it myself.">
Tyrith watched as a student in orange clothing shoved a student and then laughed about it. That was Amelia, if he could remember correctly. He had come back for a rematch.
Curious, he asked the Bladespire Bud to pull up her stats.
{Amelia: 2nd Year, Rank 90. Strength: 544}
{Orange Core: Speckled Stage}
<"Pretty pretty strong... Might as well give it a shot. I've got a few ideas.">
He trotted up to Amelia and greeted her.
["Hey, remember me?"]
["Ah you! Invisible slicey guy. What's up?"]
["I want to spar again, this time on the record."]
She looked at his ear and saw the Bud.
["That's bold. But sure, it won't affect me since you're unranked. I won't hold back though."]
["Excellent. I'll set the terms this time. How about to the surrender, to 10 points, or to being pushed out of a 10m ring? Points are scored by hits to critical places, or a knock down."]
["Hmm.. sure, whatever. Help me draw the ring."]
Tyrith and Amelia worked together to draw a ring in the compact dirt, then stood within it.
["Ok let's see.. Duel, Amelia 2nd Year Rank 90, Send."]
In Amelia's eye, she saw an invitation pop up, and she accepted it.
In Tyrith's eye, he saw an option to start the duel pop up.
["Start."]
{3... 2... 1... Fight!}
Tyrith burst into action, running directly towards Amelia. He cast a low-power 'Slice' towards her stomach.
Before she could notice, it hit her, tearing her clothes, and drawing blood. One point for him.
Tyrith noted, with equal parts relief and dismay, that 'Slice' seemed to be less effective against humans.
<"Perhaps it's less effective against any living thing... or anything that resists mana flow? Don't get distracted.">
He continued running, and cast another 'Slice', this time at Amelia's wrist. However, she noticed where he was looking, and moved her wrist, making his cast miss.
She ran towards him and cast a 'Push' on his shins. He felt the force and his leg slipped while he was running, and he tripped. That was a point for her.
He continued advancing towards her casting low powered 'Slices,' sometimes '2-Split Slices,' mainly targeting her wrists and ankles. Sometimes he hit, but sometimes he didn't. However, his plan was slowly taking place.
They met in the middle of the ring and grappled with each other. She was strong, and her invisible hands gave her an edge.
She grabbed his wrists and pulled them up near his head.
["You've done much better this time."]
["Thanks. But I'm not done yet."]
Now that he was up close, his accuracy was much better. He cast a full-powered 'Slice' at a place on her wrist which had already been hit by some of his other attacks, and was bleeding slightly. Although his hands were trapped, all he needed to do was flick them at the spot he wanted.
Amelia let out a grunt of surprise as the 'Slice' hit, and dug deep into her hand. More blood fell to the ground as they struggled.
["Maybe if you had cut my hand off, I would've had to surrender. But we're right next to the edge now, 'Push'! "]
She sent mana flowing through her veins to her hands, but before they could reach her hands and complete the casting of her Innate Spell, they reached her wrist. Engraved on her wrist, through a bunch of bloody 'Slices,' was a shoddy Mana Dampening rune.
Genuine shock came over her face when her spell didn't come, and Tyrith took advantage of the moment to knock her off balance and get behind her, reversing the situation. He then cast another full-power 'Slice' at her knee, fully knocking her off balance. Tyrith shoved Amelia out of the ring and she fell onto the dirt.
["Damn. You got me good good. Alright, I Surrender."]
{Match Won! Ranking In Progress {1/7}}
["Nice! Uhh.. do you want me to help you to the infirmary?"]
["Nah it's fine."]
Amelia called one of her friends over, who seemed to have an Innate Spell that healed people.
["Was that a Mana Disruption rune you carved on me?"]
["Just a Dampening one. Perhaps it's proximity to your mana made it have a larger effect."]
["That was very clever. You're a sharp one. No pun intended."]
["Haha... thanks. I'm sure it won't work again against you, but I think it's a good trick to catch someone off guard."]
["For sure. I'm gonna go take a good nap now. See you around!"]
Tyrith nodded and waved bye to her.
He headed back to his training hall.
---
He walked in on a bizarre sight.
Verrick was balancing a sword on his finger. With the point facing down, sitting delicately on his finger pad. He also had a sword balanced on his head, this one on its pommel.
Saelyn was watching him with a confused look on her face.
A mischievous smile appeared on Tyrith's face as he cast a low powered 'Slice' at the sword balancing on Verrick's head. He was slightly disappointed when it didn't move at all.
<"I guess there's no momentum transfer.. what a shame.">
He went for the next best thing.
["HEY VERRICK!"]
Verrick twitched a little bit but he kept balancing the swords.
["Hello Tyrith. It seems you won your first duel. Well done."]
["What exactly are you doing?"]
["I was demonstrating to Saelyn the importance of balance in sword combat."]
["Mhmm. I see. How exactly is this demonstrating that?"]
["You wouldn't understand."]
["Of course."]
Verrick shook his head to the left, and the sword bounced off his head, which he caught with his left hand. He held out the sword in his right hand to Saelyn.
["Let me see you fight."]
Saelyn took the sword from his outstretched hand.
Tyrith walked up to him and took the sword from his left hand. He inspected it closely and saw that there was a small dent where his 'Slice' had hit it.
["Alright, get to the ring my lovely students."]
Tyrith and Saelyn walked toward the center of the training room, where there was a mat with a yellow ring painted on it. They stood on opposite sides of the ring.
Verrick raised his hand.
["Take your stances!"]
Tyrith shifted his center of weight to be lower, and held his sword hand in front of him, lowering the sword until the tip pointed at Saelyn's head.
Saelyn also lowered her stance, but instead put her blade perpendicular to Tyrith.
["Go."]
Verrick dropped his hand, and the students rushed at each other.
They met in the middle with a clash of steel, whose harsh sound rang out in the room. Tyrith took a step back, and raised his sword high, attempting to deliver a crushing blow to Saelyn, who blocked it with an angled blade. Sparks flew from their swords as they fought.
Saelyn stumbled under Tyrith's repetitive blows, but she saw her chance and took it, darting her sword through his defenses towards his abdomen.
In a panic, Tyrith leaned backward, barely avoiding her thrust, and he caught it with his own blade, sending them both off balance.
Verrick gave a shout.
["Balance!"]
They flailed before a bit then got back on their feet, rushing at each other again with a flurry of blows.
Tyrith attacked Saelyn, slowly but steadily backing her into a corner with his heavy attacks. He drew a slash from the floor and her blade met his. He quickly slid his blade along his and rounded it over the top, thrusting it right up to the fabric of her shirt covering her heart.
["Match! Tyrith wins. Y'all are now 3-3. It seems like you two are familiar enough with blades that I can teach you the first step of a sword dance. I think we'll do 'Bladespire's Lament.' "]
