11 The Dungeons Entrance (1/2)
A few hours after midnight, Rainer awoke to a small push in his side. He jumped up and upon seeing who it was tried to control his armed [Arcane Bolts], but contrary to expectations, his magic didn't react at all.
Seeing the confused and half-awake look on Rainer's face, Kara gave a minor explanation.
”You have too much faith in that spell of yours. Even an average assassin can get around it.”
Rainer just gave her an annoyed stare and lay back down.
”I had thought you dead, how can one sleep so heavily on the ground?” she said not knowing how skilled Rainer truly was at sleeping. ”Come. I suggested we take the second night-watch so that we may begin your training. The Dungeon is but one week of travel away.”
”Five more minutes…” Rainer grunted out, wondering when this quiet wolf had become such an excited person.
To his complete surprise, Kara sat directly on his chest.
”If you do not get up I shall not train you,” she said with her tail still wagging since she finally saw him waking up.
”You care that little about the lives of your comrades?” he said with annoyance and immediately regretted it.
She had grown angry for a moment before she realized he was referring to the condition that if she trains him he will join them in entering the Dungeon.
”Then whenever you are ready we shall begin,” she simply replied and left the tent, her tail no longer wagging excitedly.
Closing his eyes Rainer swore to himself before he forced himself up. He felt like he just kicked a puppy, and he himself knew what a pain he was to wake up. He checked on Luna a brief moment to see her still sleeping in his pocket and left the tent. Looking around, he found Kara tending to the campfire. He walked over but she spoke without turning around.
”There is no rush. You may sleep as long as you wish.” Her voice came out lacking any of the enthusiasm from before, and instead returned to how it was when he first met her.
Rainer understood why she was so excited to begin training with him. It was likely similar to how he met his first girlfriend.
For likely one of the only times in Kara's life beyond her family, someone was interested in her beyond her appearance. He could tell from the warning Leaf gave him it wasn't an uncommon situation for someone to approach her with romantic or less savory intentions. He felt like an even bigger dick for taking that joy away after having fully thought about it.
”Hey look, I'm not great at waking up. I'm sorry I took it out on you. I'm very much looking forward to training with you, the moment I saw how you handled your blades...I knew it.” He lied a bit but saw no harm.
Soon recovering a bit of her mood, Kara responded.
”I should not have threatened you as such when in truth your side of the bargain outweighs mine. There are far stronger groups who would gladly invite someone of your capability and provide bonuses for you as well.”
Rainer flinched a bit at this, but he wasn't one to go back on his word. Besides, he preferred dealing with people who didn't seem as likely to leave him for dead when the opportunity arose.
”So how should we start?”
She turned around and even though it didn't show on her face her tail had moved side to side a few times happily. Rainer couldn't help but wonder if she was aware of it, but figured it wasn't something you could ask about. He noticed from up close she was about his age in appearance and an inch shorter. Her hair remained in the same ponytail with the front part of her hair partially tied into two strands, the rest hanging loosely by the side of her head. Of course, two black wolf ears rested on top.
”I assume that your blade magic can function with a scepter or staff as well?”
Rainer remembered the staff he shattered when he channeled Arcane energy through it. Looking back, it may have been related to his Arcane energy rather than the staff itself.
”It generally can't. I'd like to learn with and without it if possible.”
Rather than becoming discouraged, this seemed to make Kara happier.
”Well then as it is not the same as using a blade I will have to adjust my forms and techniques, but I can do it. You'll have to give me a few moments to practice in the same manner as you would wield your blade.”
Rainer watched as she quickly headed back to her tent and, using a strap, tied her blade to her arm. She concentrated and her blade glowed green for a moment before once more the [Supreme Lightness] buff from earlier was on it.
She motioned Rainer to follow her a few feet outside of the camp. Two moons and numerous stars illuminated the night. Rainer looked on as she stood completely still. Her arm and fingers pointed the same as his when he cast [Arcane Blade] with the addition of the blade strapped to her arm. He had no idea what her goal was. Could her technique really be transferred in such a manner?
Waiting a bit he thought what he wanted to gain. He was only interested in gaining a few skills at level 1 and then using [Sleep Learning] after having her demonstrate it enough times for him to gain a few more levels. The demonstration and then mimicking that under her supervision would be key. He'd then sleep learn until his demonstration started to approach hers.
He had overnight used [Sleep Learning] on [Sprinting] but there was no increase like he expected. How does one become a better sprinter in reality? They either improve their bodies or they have a coach teach them better techniques. Practicing could only help when you knew what you needed to practice. Perhaps with a true talent, they could improve their own technique.
The only reason Rainer was able to even learn [Sprinting] in the first place was because of the [Arcanist] class. That isn't to say enough [Sleep Learning] couldn't increase [Sprinting]. So long as it was intentional practice seeking improvement eventually he'd grow to understand it further, the question was how long would that eventually be? Running 8 hours a day was definitely impressive, but it wasn't really that much in the grand scheme of things.
Spells and runes, however, only were difficult to learn. Once you knew them, everything became easier, though, not necessarily quicker. Some magic could be leveled through sheer brute force practice so long as the practitioner remained focused and improved his connection with the magic.
Rainer realized in this world warriors and mages had different barriers to advancing. Learning even a basic spell was hard. Without Rainer's prior study under his grandfather, it could take another decade or two before he managed to learn runes and cast even a [Candle Flame]. Without a teacher? Perhaps only with the impossible talent the first mages probably had. And after all those years, one may not even have an Affinity at a high enough level to do anything.
Had he not used [Sleep Learning] on [Arcane Bolt] when he first came here, he may very well not only be dead but at the very least not have more than just [Arcane Bolt] as a spell. As the only reason he was able to manipulate the Arcane energy into new spells was through the mastery of the [Arcane Bolt]. Added to that was his massive 300% improvement to the Arcane and the human racial bonus.
He guessed a sword skill could likely be gained at level 1 from a year or two of hard practice, not counting their talent or their teacher's talent. Perhaps also without even a teacher's assistance if the person was extremely talented. But level 2? That was a different story. For him, level 1 should only take a few hours and, if unlucky, maybe a few days. But it shouldn't be too difficult.
It was these kind of thoughts that caused him to become furious with Gognar before he went to sleep. The notes were the equivalent of a high amount of levels and their value may be priceless in this world.
Rainer turned his attention back to Kara as she began to move. Her eyes slowly opened and her feet shifted, a flurry of strikes exploding out. Rainer watched in shock at the elegance of her moves. Not even having a blade strapped oddly to her wrist could detract from her. His original idea of simply copying the moves for [Sleep Learning] seemed foolhardy now. He would need a lot of help before he could do that.
Different from ordinary sword-play, there was nothing that looked like parries. She focused purely on speed as if every strike meant to kill and slash through in a single move.
She paused in the midst of a strike before nodding to herself, seemingly satisfied in her adjustments.
”Rainer, can you cast your own blade at the length you are most likely to use?”
He drew on Arcane energy but kept it to the normal level of the spell in an effort to reduce the mana cost. A 3-foot blade extended from the tips of his fingers. Now that he looked closely it truly fit the definition of a blade. Only one side could be used for slashing while the other supported the form and helped control the unleashed Arcane Energy. It drew the energy towards a sharp edge.
She walked closer and stared at the [Arcane Blade], part in wonderment and part in serious consideration.
Rainer became distracted for a moment at the violet and white light reflecting in Kara's golden eyes before she spoke up.
”You may cancel the spell. While it's best for you to train while using your magic, accidents would be hard to avoid with such a powerful blade. We will use it sparingly, though.”
She said this while sitting down on the snow. Rainer was now curious if it was her race's ability to resist the cold so well, seeing as she clearly lacked the proper attire.
”Yes, Teacher.” Rainer canceled the blade and sat as well while he waited patiently for his teacher. He, of course, admired the fact that her tail moved when he called her teacher.
”I'll explain my skill to you and we can begin with some basic forms. It is an art that is passed down amongst the women in my family it…” She paused for a moment before skipping ahead.
”The technique focuses on…”
But she was interrupted by Rainer.
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”Please, I'm interested in the history of it, there's no reason to rush, Teacher.”
He wasn't actually that interested. But he felt he owed it to her after what he said to her. Plus, her tail would probably be wagging during the whole story. He'd be entertained.
”The technique is passed down amongst women in my family as means for not fighting strength head on but instead flowing around it and striking death regardless of our opponent's power.”
”Is that something you can be teaching to me?” he asked, a bit confused.
”Hmm? Not an issue. It would take many years of arduous training before any real secrets were revealed, I do not mind allowing you to eventually gain the first level of the skill. Though you may need to journey with us for some time,” she said a bit happily.
Rainer simply nodded his head, now thinking of a way to hide it when he learned the skill. It wouldn't be hard for a master to see such an improvement. His only idea was to immediately stop and fake injury or tiredness.
”It had originally been developed by the women oppressed in our tribe prevented from fighting due to the difference in strength between our men and women. It was even larger than humans. Though our women were still stronger than most human men.”
”Don't look like you're referring to me,” Rainer joked.
”Eh? I was merely noticing that your physique was quite impressive, as a mage even more so,” she said bluntly with no embarrassment.