Chapter 51 - Future plans (1/2)

Since Robert and Balthazar got out of the combat room early, they decided to spend the rest of the time they usually train with Salazar at the gym. After an hour when they both were tired from working out and left the gym.

”I don't understand, why he stopped today's session. He hardly evaluated me for 5 minutes before he decided that the best way for me to improve was let my muscles experience more trauma. All he did from then was to make me block his punches,” said Robert while walking back towards their rooms.

Robert found it real hard to believe that Lucius didn't do the same to Balthazar. Lucius told him on his first session that he was not going to be able to compete with enemies much older than him and that they would mostly focus on blocking practice because of that.

Since then his sessions with Lucius involved most of the same thing that happened today and a little bit of instructions on the various stances that he could take to reduce the effect of the blows. He expected more or less the same thing to happen with Balthazar, but what happened was something entirely different.

Though he wasn't sure, he felt that Lucius couldn't decide on how to train Balthazar. He also gleaned something very important today that would inspire him to train even harder. If Lucius hadn't actually had him do blocking practice implied that he already considered Balthazar to be adept at escaping his enemies' attacks, which means that Balthazar was already quite ahead of himself.

”Who know what he is thinking? I heard that he had some issues with Winston and maybe just didn't want to coach me,” said Balthazar trying to comfort his cousin. He could clearly see that Robert was a bit intimidated and envious about it.

”I know what happened between them and also that he wouldn't do that just to get back at Winston. Let us talk about something else,” said Robert. He understood that his cousin wants to avoid talking about it and he didn't want Balthazar to feel uneasy around him just because of this. So, he decided to change the topic.

”So, how was the game?” asked Robert. ”I haven't played games at college like you but, I found this one a bit tedious and repetitive. Also, the blood and killing are a bit too realistic for my taste. Are these supposed to be like that?”

”Yes, most games involve killing a large number of monsters repetitively. I always leveled up your account when you played against other players. So, you never probably realized it,” answered Balthazar. ”You would enjoy more if you play against other players. I also think, it would be very useful in using this to practice for our training. Especially when the arena feature opens up. Fighting other players would definitely improve our skills and the best thing is that we can spend about three times the amount in vita-nova to work on your skills.”

”Yes. That would be useful as I do need to improve on my skills. You are way better than me at the skills and I definitely need to catch up with you. I could even ask Lucius to join us in the game. It would provide us more time to practice.”

”You are forgetting that Lucius just said that he focused on improving your physique. He probably needs to have physical contact for that. Maybe it is better to ask Salazar as he is the guy in charge of combat with weapons and the game offers a unique environment to do just that,” added Balthazar trying to help his brother.

”It is true that Walter called him for that. But you have seen how proficient Lucius is at fighting?” counter argued Robert. ”He has trained both my father and Uncle John. So, he definitely got the skills for it. I am just considering how to convince him.”

”Yeah, he also seemed to be experienced in training. He has a very good control on his movements and seemed to be very perceptive. He might be better than Salazar if he is into it. I will also help you persuade him if necessary,” said Balthazar agreeing with Robert. He also felt that it would be good to have Lucius in the game. Not only would he be a good coach, but if he genuinely gets interested in the game, he would be a great asset.

”So, which village did you start at?” asked Robert changing the topic to the vita-nova game. ”I got sent to the Red Leaf Village. What is the name that you are using?”

”I am at the Blackrock village. Using the name Shadow Tyrant. What is yours?”

”I am using Draco Rigor as my character name, class is guardian. Formed a group of guys. Wait a minute. Are you the Shadow Tyrant that had been recently known for all the announcements?”

”Hmm. I am,” agreed Balthazar nodding his head.

”You got the first clear for the corrupted forest? When did you become so good at gaming? I thought that you would lose your touch after being in the force for 5 years. But you seemed to have become a lot better,” said Robert in shock. His cousin was almost considered to be hacking in the game by many players.

”It was mostly luck. We just got lucky and managed to take down the boss in elite mode.”

”Dude, I played the same dungeon. The boss was ridiculously hard, and it was almost impossible to land a hit on him even for mages. What was the secret? How did you do it?”

”I will send you the dungeon guide, if you want. Just don't talk about it anymore. I just got luck and saw the right path. We can meet soon when we reach level 10 or so when we can teleport to the cities.”

”OK, will send you a friend request once, I log in. But first join me in my room, I need to talk to you about something,” said Robert as they reached his room. He pulled Balthazar into his room and quickly closed the door behind him.

Balthazar had been to his cousin's room before. It was the same as he remembered. There was a chair and a table with a few books at the end opposite the door, a cupboard to his left and his cot and fridge to the right. Balthazar immediately made himself comfortable on the cot as Robert occupied the chair.

”So, what are you going to do in this time?” asked Robert. ”I heard you got a leave for about 3 months. You have been better than recovered. Any idea about the effects of that attack? You are considered a hero and you are playing games.”

”OK, what do you want to know?” asked Balthazar as he was unable to determine where his cousin was steering the discussion towards.

”What happened with your posting? I heard that someone already took over your post. So, what is your new posting? What is going on in your career? What's next in your life?”

”Oh! So, that's what you wanted to know? It is not like I am sure about it either. If I get promoted again, I will be a brigadier general and there hasn't been a brigadier general as young as me since ancient times. It is exceeding rare.”

”So, what is the plan? You would have some sort of idea about what you would get into after your leave, right?”