Chương 12

'Freeze.' Alex lowered his sword arm, wincing, his fingers still feeling the vibrations of the clashes. This time he'd tried fighting it solely with his sword, like the very first time he'd engaged it. He was up to six exchanges, and at least half the improvement was mental—he was actually making use of his new sword skills, and his understanding of the bot's tendencies had far improved. He still felt fine physically.

He was taking decent rests between every try, but it also seemed his body was recovering a little better than it had in its unAwakened state, and this was without his first Level up. His body seemed to be unconsciously siphoning away a tiny bit of his Pure mana, which led him to think Pure mana also had body-recovery properties—although willing this flow to increase slightly didn't seem to have any effect, curiously. A few minutes' rest and his sword was back in hand.' Start.' Six exchanges.

'Freeze.' Rest.

'Start.' Seven exchanges. He decided this time to try with all his capacities, including his newly upgraded Mana Shield. And this is the true test of where I'm at. The bot showed a blue percentage in its chest, a percentage that'd appeared the first time he'd landed a strike—a glancing blow across its chest. He'd managed two more slashes since, and the percentage was currently at 3%. It seemed a little less durable than the Whetslab. Like with every prior attempt except for the first, he didn't feel any fear.

Back then I think it was an ego thing, I was scared to know where I actually stood, he realized. Now he felt he had a pretty clear idea— what's there to be afraid of? A deep breath.

'Start.' The dueling bot swung for his neck. He predicted it, sidestepping the blade even as it started its upward arc. He slashed, the bot blocked; he leaped back and it sprung up in pursuit— Mana Shield. The Shield had spawned less than a foot in front of its face. It'd barely left the ground, when— CLANG. He'd realized, after the incredible revelation that he could actually move his Mana Shields, he'd been thinking about his capabilities a little simplistically.

If I have a big, hard, unmoving block I can summon with less than a second's notice, why not run my enemies straight into it? The Shield hardly cracked, and as the dueling bot stumbled back he slashed a blade tipped with Force-mana right across its lower back, dragging it back up its back as it turned to face him again. It was the cleanest strike he'd landed, and the 3% damage indicator flickered up to a nice 4. 6%. Three exchanges later, it was 6. 2%, 7.

9% — Spawning the shield's much easier than moving it, he was realizing. It always felt a little unwieldy moving the shield; it was a valid strategy, but unless he had a second's head start and timed it perfectly, actually blocking with it was pretty difficult. At least at his level of shield manipulation, it was usually easier dancing behind the shield's position than repositioning it. The shield, with its new shatter resistance, was holding up nicely; it'd survived four glancing bot slashes so far.

And I'm thinking about all this as I'm fighting, he thought, slightly amazed. He was maybe a little too relaxed, since the next second it'd off-balanced him with an awkward slash, and he was forced to spawn a new Mana Shield to halt it— CLANG! He recovered before it did, slashing it twice. 9. 1%, 9. 7%. Freeze, he thought, and staggered, sweat beading down his grinning face. He glanced around.

The newbies he'd seen when he'd first walked in weren't there, as were the v-Duelers he'd seen initially, and the two girls in the station diagonally across seemed to have left sometime in the past hour, replaced by a new party who seemed to be conducting a 5-on-5 v-Duel. It wasn't that he wanted an audience, but— it kind of would've been nice to follow up that almost literally face-planting try with something a little redeeming—a little less embarrassing, at least?'

He recalled the words, ' you can exit v-space if it's too much for you.' Then again, he reflected. I'm not here to impress random girls. Also, it is still the easiest training bot. It's not like I just placed at the Olympics. A little bemused— I can't believe I was still thinking about that. There's are a few takeaways that actually matter here. He forced himself to refocus. Such as—I could be that unfocused, let it get me off-balance, and still recover. Seems like I have a little margin on it.

Every slash held a little Force mana, and he was sure he was close to achieving his first proficiency level in it as well; his expectations were high when he heard the ping! He felt the new notification before he opened up his soulspace. It wasn't the Force mana. Level up! Class 'Base Mage' has reached Level 2 In the same instant he felt an influx of warmth, starting at his chest, washing through his body and also his soul.

It felt like a golden wave sinking into his entire being—he wasn't sure how he could feel it was golden, but he knew it was. He felt what he could only describe as pure dopamine, this instant of distilled joy. He felt it about the level-up, and also felt it from the level-up itself. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. The light vanished in the next instant, leaving a slightly altered body behind. He knew his body was altered even if he didn't feel it immediately.

He felt a second ping! and he held out his hand. His Class Card appeared between his fingers and he willed up the notification. Stats updated! +9. 0 per level. User distribution— 12% / 16% / 21% / 11% / 17% / 14% / 9% Strength — 8. 2 (+1. 1) Dexterity — 9. 1 (+1. 4) Wisdom — 11. 0 (+1. 9) Constitution — 7. 6 (+1. 0) Intelligence — 9. 3 (+1. 5) Perception — 9. 2 (+1. 3) Endurance — 7. 7 (+0. 8) Every of his attributes seemed to have undergone a fairly significant increase, between ten and twenty percent—especially Wisdom, which was already his highest. And that's tied to mana, which means— He visualized his soulspace, and with a few seconds' observation was pretty certain his mana was regenerating about 20% faster, right in line with his Wisdom increase. It also added about 20% to his maximum mana, but since his mana pool wasn't near full he'd have to wait to experience it.

He inspected his body and was surprised to discover a few visual changes. Is it just me, or are my arms a little more defined? He was pretty sure they were, his upper arms as well as his forearms. A slight difference, but clearly visible. He didn't want to check his abs in public, although he was curious—he surreptitiously tapped his belly, mentally getting over the awkwardness. It still didn't feel like he was anywhere close to a six-pack, but… He touched his jaw, curious, especially near his neck.

It feels a little sharper, I'm pretty sure I'm not imagining it. I assume this is what it'd feel like to finish your first few weeks at the gym? It seems like somewhere between where I am and level thirty-ish, most folks get in excellent shape. Amused— I might be able to speedrun a year's worth of physical progress in a few weeks. A few seconds later, he slashed a bare blade against the T1 Whetslab. 26. 2% -> 26. 5%. 0. 2% per slash to 0. 3%. It's not an insane improvement, but it is still my first Class level.

It was against the dueling bot that he felt the clearest difference. He felt so much nimbler against it he almost couldn't believe he was only working with 1. 4 more Dexterity, about a 15% increase in the attribute. It wasn't simply that he was faster, his hand-eye coordination had noticeably improved; his body was able to actualize his will better. It's probably also because of the Perception differences, I'm reacting faster when it strikes. Its damage flickered again and again— 10. 4% -> 11. 4% -> 12. 3% -> 13.

6%— The simulation Warrior was up to 19. 6% before he decided,'Freeze.' He walked back to the walkway with his towel, thinking. At the station he summoned a glass of iced water. Why it allowed him to summon that, but not a Mana potion, he didn't know. He tapped the sword against his face. I have a pretty clear idea of the fight dynamics. It's still stronger than me, physically. It's way more durable— as evidenced by the fact it was able to crush him in two moves.

His body hadn't improved since then, beyond presumably a 10%-ish increase due to stats—the true difference was his Skills. I'm faster, my timing's better, I have a clear magic edge. He willed himself to exit the v-station, to quickly use the restroom and drink real-life water. He also willed a few more golden essence-strands into his soul, topping up his reserve of potential experience points. When he returned to the v-station, he willed,'Start.' Time to polish off an objective.

Alex sank to a knee, gasping, his hair slicked to his face. The sword slid out of his fingers. In front of him was a faceless bot, face-down against the station. The indicator that was on its chest, visible on its back, read, 100%. Seven minutes, thirty-six seconds. Fuck. Yes. It was as clean a victory as he could've wished for. Also— honestly, I probably should've lost that at the end.

It wasn't because he wasn't clearly winning the exchanges, but because at about 65%, he could barely feel the fingers on his right arm. The simulation Warrior nearly disarmed him with a wrist-wrench. It was at this point he'd made a bit of a forced discovery. He was ambidextrous with the sword. Switching hands was a choice made entirely out of necessity. Since there wasn't a right-handed and a left-handed version of the Swords Proficiency Skill, he'd assumed it granted equal proficiency.

A little luck, but I'll take it. He stumbled his way back to the walkway. I need water. He downed two glasses. I'm still not in incredible shape. He was still gasping, but— Tier 1 Dueling bot, vanquished. I wish there were some kind of congratulations notification. He tilted his head back to the ceiling. When he checked his soulspace— wow, that… Almost half the essence he'd just taken in had vanished, converted into Class experience. I have to be at least a third of the way to the next level?

Seems like there's an intensity aspect to experience gain. There isn't a congratulations notification, but I swear I felt a ping at the end there— and he swore his damage %'s started jumping faster than expected. Let's see. Skill evolved! Mana Manipulation [Common] (2/3 -> 3/3) Allows the user to manipulate claimed mana in accordance with his affinities, structuring all mana the soul manipulates in mana-perfect form.

This Skill has achieved slight proficiency in Pure mana (1), including slight proficiency in hard constructs (1). This Skill has achieved slight proficiency in Swordforce mana (1). There it is. He'd filled out the rarity grade. Another Support level, and the Skill should evolve to the next grade. Then— Swordforce? Was that not Force mana? I'm assuming it's the sub-type of Force mana, specifically for the sword? It should still be Force, it's just—I suppose I don't have proficiency in Force mana in general, then?

He walked over to the Whetslab and slashed a few times, experimentally. The damage indications—flicking up by 0. 5%'s and an 0. 6% —were significantly higher than before. Surprised the proficiency level makes that big of a difference. It was impossible to keep trying, as curious as he was; he was forced to sit back down. If what I've done in here transfers at all to my real-life body, he thought. I'm not going to be able to use my right arm for a week. He sat there, mind clear. Give me—half an hour. At least.

A little air. He wiped his face. Fuck. As he rested, he let the world filter in. He'd idly listened into quite a few snippets of the conversations drifting around him in the past few hours. He liked the practice—it was often pretty illuminating.

"—it's a real thing," a guy was insisting as he walked past—he looked like a newbie.

"It's like a virtuous cycle, since you get into a prestigious Guild, then Duelist's Cups, then it's like solo rift clears, your v-Dueling elo, ideally you'd get to duel for your Guild, get a few results—""I'm just saying it's not necessary," said a second.

"You can get to a high level without any of that."

"But like, you get to a high level if you get certain opportunities."

"Maybe, but what you're saying is, ' just because I didn't get slight proficiency in hard constructs, I won't get accepted to ArchKnights, and then I'll never get really good."

"I—I feel like that's—" Alex took another sip of ice water. Wait, is that guy worried about getting slight proficiency in hard constructs? Is this a different 'hard constructs'? The implements at his station—Whetslab and the simulation Warrior—flickered, and he paused. Instance time limit reached, flickered above the station's steel. Station resetting—please allow 20 minutes for station reset. I feel like I've improved a lot, he reflected. In less than a day—in a single Class level, even.

He took another sip, letting the iced water soothe him. Successful first day. The digital clock read, 9: 31PM. An hour and a half until closing time. Training Hall 3, which had been full of spells and clashes and steel-on-steel, was back at its occupancy when he'd first arrived—a little less than 1/3 full. He decided, with a flicker of will, to exit the v-station. He spent a little time cultivating, topping himself up with a few more essence-strands—the crystal was quickly running out.

It didn't require all his attention. He had a little space to think. What's next? As in—I guess, what do I want? I want Class Levels, for sure. I wonder how far I can push these Skills as well, I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of what I could do, even just with Mana Shield. I'd like to check out rifts, and 'Towers,' and I haven't even touched on treasures and gear yet at all. Or any of my other affinities, actually. It's just… I've been given a chance.