Chương 22: Sparring

The next few days passed in a blur. I spent them mostly in the courtyard training with my guard and checking on their progress. Ren, the Swordsman, was doing fantastic. The man's Common Swordsmanship had evolved into Uncommon in these past few days, mostly thanks to his own insights and the boost he got from the General Skill. He was good. In fact, he was so good we all convinced him to abandon the shield for the sake of fully focusing on the blade.

At first, I was a little afraid that would kill him, but after seeing what kind of killing machine he became with just his sword, I knew it was the right decision. Offense was truly the best defense. Ben, the Rogue, was also progressing nicely. In a head-on confrontation, he would be bested by Ren. However, the two also began to play around in the Verdant Expanse near us. Ben would use his Hiding Skill and then ambush Ren. The young swordsman stood no chance in that environment.

They also played around with the usage of their other skills, but they were mostly too lethal to use in regular sparring. I could see the envious gazes of the other three men of my guard. Nobody said anything. But they knew I was the reason for the current growth of those two men. I didn't say anything, just promised to get them their own skills in the future. Of course, neither Ben nor Ren could compare to me. Not only was I higher level than them, but my Skills were a different matter in themselves.

My only sparring partner here was the injured Guard Captain, Gerlad. Even with a missing arm, the man was a force to be reckoned with. A force that was currently charging at me with such intensity in his gaze that I practically froze. A skill. My mind snapped out of it fast. I had experienced worse. He swung his ginormous blade, and I sidestepped his attack. I got ready to counterattack, but before I could, his sword made its way towards my neck. I threw myself to the side, barely dodging the strike.

By the time I was on my feet again, his sword found its path back to me. A stab towards my midsection. I dodged, tried to close the distance, but Gerlad was already too far away. His reach with his great sword was too great. He also had much more combat experience than me and had more stats. He was at the Peak of Stone Rank after all.

"I think you should use your Stat Points, my Lord," Gerlad advised me. I put all in Mana. Mana: 31→59 Immediately, I felt the lump inside my chest grow to unimaginable heights. It hurt. Like a tie that was far too tightly tied around my neck. Not to the point that I would scream out in pain, but it annoyed the hell out of me. It was my Mana. How dare you try and cause me harm? SETTLE DOWN! And it did. Mana Manipulation [Uncommon] reached level 9. Now HEED my command.

I channeled the Mana through my body, at a slow and constant pace. Gerald waited patiently. My Mana Channels felt like they were about to burst. But my fine control of Mana significantly lessened the burden. If it was the me from a month ago, I would have died. The current me was able to control my Mana. Mana Manipulation [Uncommon] reached level 10. The new level up did wonders for my control. The Mana gathered around my feet. The next second it felt like I teleported in front of Gerald.

His eyes widened and he lifted his blade to block. My fist lashed out, Mana flowing through it before hitting the metal. It was like metal hitting metal and a loud thud echoed through the courtyard. Gerald's weapon shook from the sheer force of the attack and he had to take a step back. He never had to take a step back. With Gerald still on the verge of confusion and surprise, I decided to test out my new Skill, Martial Forms. It currently held 3 slots with Snake Strike taking up one of them.

I activated Martial Forms and mentally selected Snake Strike. My hand turned into a blur; it was so fast, Gerald's eyes were only able to track the attack but his brain wasn't able to process the information. My hand appeared next to his throat and he just stared at it. Only a moment later did his eyes widen and the breath he was holding let go. For a moment, both of us stayed silent.

"Maybe I shouldn't have advised you," Gerald joked.

"A level ten Stone Rank defeating a level 24 Stone Rank. That's practically unheard of." If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"I just took you by surprise," I told him the truth. I didn't tell him about the aching of my whole body. It hurt bad. But it was still at a point I could bear with. I hoped the Blackstone Bodyforging Manual would be usable soon.

"You did," Gerald nodded.

"But I still had an Uncommon Class in Wood Rank and another Uncommon Class in Stone Rank. That means I got four points for each level in Wood Rank, and 11 in Stone Rank." I stayed quiet for a moment. It seemed that for the naked eye that my Mana Manipulation was just me having a shit ton of stats. But that was not true. It was my skill that allowed me to fight at such a high level. It obviously came with its drawbacks. Firstly, my body hurt. Secondly, I couldn't keep up this battle power up forever.

It was a huge Mana drain to strengthen my body to the degree I did. One I couldn't keep up for long. And once my Mana ran out... I was nothing.

"Is 11 Stat Points for an Uncommon Class the norm in Stone Rank," I asked curios. Gerald nodded, "It's on the high end but yeah."

"What about a Rare Class?"

"14-16 Points."

"All Free Stat points?"

"Of course not," Gerald said.

"That was only the case for Wood Rank. Most of the points are automatically assigned. Some remain as free points, however." I nodded and didn't continue speaking on the topic. I wonder how Gerald would react if I told him I was getting 20 Stat Points per level now? It should be at a Rank of an Epic Grade Class. At Stone Rank, that was. A Bronze Rank Epic Grade Class would give much, much more Stat Points. It was also one of the reasons the difference between Ranks was so large.

Even just an Uncommon Class in Stone Rank gave more stat points compared to a Rare Class in Wood Rank. It was a little confusing, but the principle remained the same. The higher the rarity, the more stats you got. Of course, I was not a true Epic Grade Class. My General Skills were all at most at Uncommon level. While my Class Skills weren't made for fights.

"How is the digging progressing?" I asked and changed the topic.

"Very well, my Lord," Gerald said.

"The conscripts and the guards are working hard to make sure everything is prepared once Julie is done with her experimentation. We should be finished ahead of schedule." I nodded, "Good job, Gerald. And good job to you guys too. I can see the hard work you guys are putting in. I am proud of you." The five guards tilted their heads slightly. They had been watching us the entire time. Over the next few hours, I simply checked upon the progress of everything.

I didn't try to micromanage anything and instead just wanted to be aware of everything happening inside my little town. It was honestly a little weird, going from trying to solve each problem myself to delegating these tasks. I had much more time now. Luckily, my training filled up that time. Besides this, everything was progressing smoothly. Sebastian was still inside the Verdant Expanse and should come back in a week. Maybe less. Until then, Samuel was doing a lot of tasks.

He made sure people were aware of all the herbs we needed and had them gather them. Also, he made sure raw material was being gathered and that nobody overworked themselves. Rumors about the beast wave were also now basically confirmed for everyone. Our soft launching plan worked well and the people were motivated to gather these materials. They knew why they were needed. I would hold a speech soon once Samuel gave me the okay and most of the town folk were in good enough shape to do some hard labor.

This time I would write the speech down. These last few days, I had also gathered a few more loyalty oaths. By now, it seemed almost like a trend. Samuel and Julie both swore one without me even having to say anything. Honestly, it felt nice knowing people trusted me so much. It also put a heavy burden of responsibility on me. One I promised to fulfill. I also thought about giving the thugs a visit, but now wasn't the right time. I wanted for it to be a show of force, one people would watch.

Right now, I was seen as a very kind lord that was mostly incompetent. It was fine for now, but I had to change that image. I had to make sure everyone knew that my kindness was not a weakness. It was a deliberate choice. I chose to be kind, not because I had no other choice. There was a distinct difference. So, I would let them simmer for a few more days. Either way, I went back to the mansion, played the board game for a little while, and went to bed once I couldn't bear Margret's glares anymore.

Our record was 0-9. I won nine times. Unfortunately, I couldn't beat any of the other cleaners. I woke up, took care of my needs, and took a cold shower. Then I ran all ten Minor Simulations like every morning. Once that was done, I left the mansion and walked through the town. It was early in the morning so only a few people were out and about their day. They greeted me with smiles. I greeted them back. The people looked much better. Their faces were rounder. Their cheeks plumper.

I could hear children cry and even caught a group playing tag. My chest couldn't help but swell up in pride. This was our progress. We did that. From a dead silent town with barely any people leaving their homes to this. To something normal. It felt great. Eventually, however, my face turned into a frown as I arrived at the house I had set out to reach. It was one of the few houses with a chimney and a forge inside. I had visited the house three times already. Three times I was denied entry.

I had been told by the neighbors it was nothing personal and just a man fighting depression. I heard the sound of hammering coming from inside, but it felt... weak? I wasn't sure how to describe it. But I imagined instead of hitting the iron with as much force as possible, the hammer kind of just fell down. I wanted to give the man some time. But then I remembered myself. The old Ivor Harvings. The one from Earth. And the one from this planet. Time didn't solve shit—at least not on its own.

On Earth, my life remained just as miserable as before. After my sister lost her battle to cancer, I was a husk of my former self. I thought time would fix that. It didn't. Things only got worse as I developed bad habits, blamed myself for them, and felt even worse. It was a negative downward spiral. The same was true for this world's Ivor Harvings. His crutch was drinking and women. Did time fix any of that? No. It only got worse, especially with practically unlimited resources.

You had to break the pattern, or the cycle remains the same. That was the only way. My pattern was broken by dying and reincarnating. Somebody or something saved me from myself. I wanted to be that person for Jason, the Blacksmith. So, when I arrived in front of his door, I didn't knock. I hit. Seeing it didn't budge, I gathered mana inside my leg and smashed the door in. It flew off the hinges and shattered into hundreds of pieces inside the man's living room. It was messy and dirty.

"Jason Blackstone Smith!" I said, and used my newest Skill. Commanding Presence.