The spear: a wooden shaft with a spiky metal thing on top. As weapons go it's got reach, can be used as a staff or a club and is great for keeping people at a distance. More than that, spears are easy. There's not very much involved with figuring out that you jab people with the pointy part. They're simple to hold, simple to attack with and they'll let you work around the fact that your opponent towers over you. Against Winter Breeze's small but quick blade there's nothing you can think of that would be better, at least nothing you know about.
So you walk toward the rack of spears and grab the first one you see that's around your size. Swirls of silver and gold blend together across the shaft, leading to a black tip so dark it seems to drink in the light. A blood colored pennant dips down from the top. It's flashy, bold and utterly extravagant. Perfect. Lifting it, a struggle, you turn to examine—analyze rather—Winter Breeze before the fight begins. A quietly whispered skill name and a single point of MP tells you her level if not much else else.
C+ and 19... That's not as scary as it could be. At least you don't think it's that bad. Levels go up to 1000 so 19 can't be that impressive! It still sounds like an all but impossible wall. T-this is a punishment right? It's her secretly punishing you, it has to be! Cursing inside, you prepare to fall nobly on her sword, at least until she feels she's taken enough out of your hide for whatever she thinks happened before.
You heft the spear, wobbling slightly, and start to walk toward the room's center, ignoring how off it's starting to feel to hold the weapon. Your arms practically twitch and you have to fight the urge to drop it. The midnight-black tip looks more like wobbly paper than anything impressive or deadly.
"Affinity," Winter Breeze notes with something almost emotive enough to count as amusement, "Should determine your weapon's quality."
Regretfully you put the awesome spear back and grab one a bit less over the top. Holding it doesn't give you the same sensation that it might tear out your soul, but you still sense a somewhat off feeling. You try again, and again until you're holding something that's little more than a (not particularly) sharpened stick made for training.
Event Skill Unlocked: With Unworthy Hands: Know by sight when you won't be able to use an item.
Well, at least you're getting something out of this incoming torture. As reluctant as you are to go get beat half to death, you're more worried about so you bend down and whisper instructions to Autumn. Your cat purrs solemnly, and follows you to the center of the room. You guess that means he understands.
Winter Breeze lowers her knife for a moment, smiles at Autumn then bows slightly toward you. You mimic the gesture, before raising your spear.
"Good. Begin."
For this to work, you need Winter Breeze's attention on you. With Autumn staying well behind, you step toward your target, thrusting out with the spear as quickly as you can. Winter Breeze allows you to approach, staring calmly until your spear is inches away from her, then she knocks the spear's tip aside with her short sword and steps forward, sliding the short sword up to rap your hands. As you fumble the spear. Then she stomps on your foot and gives you a light push. Instinctively you try to step back, but the fact that Winter Breeze has your foot trapped sends you crashing down hard.
-2HP
+1XP
"Again. Commit less."
You bow then move into place before attacking again. This time you expect Winter Breeze to slip past your first attack and pull back your weapon after the first strike, turning to follow her frantically and jabbing again. Winter Breeze casually steps away from the first strike, and knocks aside the second. As you pull back the spear she steps forward. Her movements are odd, not so much fast as sudden as if you're sure she's moving one way and yet she ends up in another direction entirely.
It lets her slip past your outstretched spear again and the hilt of her blade finds a new home nestled in your forehead.
-1HP
+1XP
"Once more. Your advantage is reach, don't be afraid to retreat to maintain that reach. You have legs. Use them."
You rub your forehead and avoid looking at Autumn. You're not lasting long enough to give him a time to move yet.
"Widen your stance, keep your weight toward your back foot."
"Huh?" you look down, then try to fix your legs only to find Winter Breeze's fist burying itself in your solar plexus.
-2HP
"Never take your eyes off the enemy. Once more." her tone is emotionless, but you can't get rid of the faint sensation that you're being mocked. You sigh at that then quickly step away and try to assume a tougher stance.
You draw up your stance again and resume your attack. It's almost relaxing. You try (and fail) to land even a finger on Winter Breeze while she floats around your attacks, letting you exhaust yourself and occasionally telling you to change your form, or slipping in to deliver one blow that could easily be lethal. A light poke at your throat, a solid strike with the flat of her blade in the ribs and any number of things that make you really nervous given how sharp her knife looks.
Thinking about it carefully, it's not hard to understand how Winter fights. She uses the flexible short-sword dagger to parry, her impossible movements to close the distance and incredible precision to strike a single killing blow, waiting to strike until you give her some faint opening, or, failing that, until she makes you create one. There's a frightening efficiency in her methods that you almost have to admire... At least if she wasn't using them to paint you in bruises.
-3HP
+1XP
-1HP
+1XP
-1HP
+1XP
Still, this works for you. You don't like losing, but if you are losing, you might as well use it. Autumn stays quietly on the sidelines, allowing you to focus her attention on you, waiting with a hunter's patience for his moment to come.
hat's your job in the plan. And on the sixth bout the opportunity comes. Winter Breeze practically teleports out of the way of your attack, only to step into the path of an angry black ball of fur and claws that's not really happy about the woman whose been hurting
his master.
Autumn is a kitten. Eventually you're sure he'll be some awesome giant man-eating leopard monster thing that can eat people, but for now he's small and weak and not capable of doing much more than scratching someone. But anyone, no matter how graceful, would stumble a little bit when a cat charges between their legs right as they're stepping back.
Winter Breeze slips half a step and you strike with everything you have. Your spear lashes out like lightning! You've got her! Winter Breeze bends forward, pulling her stomach away from the blow even as she grabs the haft of your spear mid-thrust and throws herself into the air. Somehow, though you don't see the throw, her blade manages to spin through the air smashing hilt first into Autumn's forehead.
More dramatically she manages to bring her leg around in a circle, kicking you in the temple while she's upside down.
-3HP (Autumn)
-5HP
She continues her flip, landing in a stance, gracefully holding your spear in a ready stance as you impact the ground with a lot less grace.
You resist the urge to moan and you push yourself to your feet. You walk over to recover her knife, then move to hand it to her. Really, aside from that last one you've taken worse beatings. You're not going to let something this minor ask you to stop no matter how much she likes hurting you or how unfair it is to face off against a C+ ranked level 19 warrior. Winter Breeze takes it, but declines to return your spear. Instead she reaches into her robe and pulls out a single large silver coin, before pressing it into your somewhat confused hand.
"You may have the rest of the day to yourself," Winter Breeze states calmly. Then she presses her hand to your forehead, "
Mending" and the pain of your wounds vanishes. She stoops to the whimpering Autumn and does the same.
+5XP
You stare at Winter Breeze. You don't want to say something, but generally healing and giving out money are really bad ways to bully someone, unless it's a prostitute and you hired them and... you end that train of thought.
"I was instructed that should your performance exceed expectations you were to be rewarded, as well as given the rest of the day to your own devices. You selected an ideal weapon for the situation, made effective use of both your and Autumn Shade's abilities and executed a strategy that would have been more than sufficient against anyone near your own capabilities." Winter Breeze remains as chilly as ever, despite her kinder words.
"Tactically the last bout was your victory. Physically it's obvious that you lack the physical ability or combat experience to win, and that Autumn Shade lacks the mass to attack properly or effective enough stealth capabilities to genuinely escape my notice. Likewise your form is sloppy, attacks are weak and stance was abysmal," yay, such high praise. You do your best to smile and nod anyway since she might take the money back otherwise, "Short-term limitations such as these have little to no relevance to evaluating the soundness of your strategy. Likewise, your stamina should soon grow to the point where even a single blow wouldn't be enough to stop you, so I can't announce that 'dying' so many times for the sake of luring an enemy into one later victory was an unrealistic choice against most adversaries."
You stare at Winter Breeze, unsure of how to respond. It's not that she's usually severe, it's just that you've never actually heard her deliver a word of praise before. The senior servant reaches out awkwardly and ruffles your hair precisely once before turning and replacing the spear on the weapon rack. Then she leaves.
LEVEL UP
Stamina+3
Agility+2
Affinity+3
Perception+1
Luck+1
Charisma+4
Monstrous Bloodline increased to level 2
How do you spend your free time
[ ] Wander around town
[ ] Go Shopping (You have 1S)
-[ ] For something nice
-[ ] For something adventurery
[ ] Practice!
-[ ] The spear
-[ ] Another weapon
-[ ] Something else
[ ] Actually you'll take a nap in the garden
[ ] Play with Autumn
[ ] Study
-[ ] Reading
[ ] write-in
