New System, Who Dis?

Tutorial Day 86

Thrust. Reset. Focus. Thrust. Reset. Focus. That one didn't count. Brace with the legs. Thrust. Reset. Focus. Brace. Push my feet into the ground. Thrust.

Admittedly, I felt like a rower might, in what used to be a sport in the Olympics and now was much more of a leisurely activity. But one thing was for certain. I was starting to perform the actions in this task with an efficiency that almost didn't need thought. However, I wasn't there yet.

I pulled up the Daily To Do window, causing a small smirk to cross my face.

Sure, I might not be able to perform the tasks without thought, but I was completing them. Slowly but surely.

A few days ago, I'd decided to break them down into two hundred and fifty actions before moving on to the next. It both helped and hindered my progress. Sure, I'd just be getting into a zone with an action, when I switched–but also in about another hundred or maybe fifty, I'd lose focus. The real trick seemed to be managing myself for now.

Glancing at the Sunstone, I realized I only had about two hours left until midnight and the reset of this task. And I was not averaging two hundred and fifty Sweeps or Spins per hour. It was likely I was going to fail again.

Yet, I still had one trick up my sleeve: using my Mana to supply Hatchling's Body.

Did I think that Claude intended for me to finish the task this way? No, I didn't. However, I was desperate for that first completion. Maybe I even needed it. I felt like Evelyn, my pseudo-therapist, would tell me that cheating wasn't the answer, but she wasn't here–and I was all alone. I was also slightly gleeful at the idea of getting one over on the infuriating trainer.

It wasn't like I was going to claim to have done the task without using Hatchling's Body… Well, if I considered that thought further–I probably wouldn't tell Claude how I'd managed… And it wasn't like I was going to finish it one time and never do it again!

Was I aware I was wholly justifying my rationale for cheating this Daily To Do? Yes, but I wanted to finish this task for the first time, and I was so close.

Also, the icing on the cake is the metaphorical middle finger to Claude. I smiled. Even if I'm the only of the two of us who knows about it.

Closing my eyes, I envisioned my Mana going to Hatchling's Body. However, to make the Skill last longer, I envisioned a strong, slow and steady stream of Mana slipping through the black hole in my Mental Universe, and plugging only a fraction of the venting holes on the red, misty planet.

It took me a little bit longer to activate, but when I opened my eyes, I could see a few scales on the bare skin between the heavy gauntlets of my armor and the shoulder guards. It wasn't a full activation, but I could feel the strength of the Skill coursing through my blood, my bones, and my muscles.

After a deep breath, I began to sweep, but the first action didn't count. I popped a piece of Borker belly into my mouth and remembered just a few hours ago when I was in the metaphorical performance zone for this To Do task. Right. Picture an attack. Sweep to the right. Almost. Sweep down and away… There.

Seven hundred and fifty-one.

I continued the task, eventually feeling my right arm starting to shake, I switched to my left. It wasn't the first time that one of my arms had gotten tired from the repetitive motions, and I figured this was a martial art that I needed to be ambidextrous in, anyway. Sweep. Sure enough, with my Mana and Qi depleting but empowering me, I managed to finish the Sweeps in under an hour.

Now, I reached an issue. My Mana Pool was down to about ten, and my Qi was only a little higher, thanks to the Borker belly. at fifteen. Actually, the problem turned out to not be much of a problem. I kind of had an unlimited supply of something that could fix both issues simultaneously.

I took out a Rejuvenation Pill and popped it in my mouth. The taste was still the same, and I followed it up with a piece of Borker belly to wash out the pine needle flavor. And to hopefully keep my Qi rejuvenating.

Now it was time for the last set of spear-spins. Spin had been a tough technique for me to quantify. What was the reason for spinning a spear? It seemed superfluous to me in battle, something that was more decorative than it was functional. It had taken probably most of my practice time early on to discover that, yes, that was exactly what the spin was.

Sure, I could swat projectiles out of the air with a spin, and if I got fast enough, perhaps create an ever-moving shield, but both of those would be wasted movements, when dodging was probably simpler

Now, I realized that the purpose of spinning the Spear was essentially teaching my hands how to move on the Spear without dropping it. Without Claude having to, and perhaps being infuriatingly unwilling to, explain things, I realized that if a warrior could move the Spear in a fast spin but maintain his grip, he would have an advantage in battle because he would intrinsically know where to place his hands in order to maintain his hold on a Spear. It was, in essence, training yourself to not be disarmed or slip up in combat.

That became my focus. That was what I was going for. For the next hour and five minutes, I Spun my Spear. It wasn't enough. Perhaps I should have started using my trump card a little earlier. However, when I went from nine hundred and two to one completed Spin, I allowed my body, exhausted as it was, to collapse.

My air whooshed from my lungs in satisfaction at stopping and disappointment with the result. This was the issue with my training. Sure, I was getting better, but with this heavy Armor and mostly stagnant Stats, I had yet to complete the task. There was no guarantee I'd ever be able to. I was sure if I told Claude this feeling, he would have the same reaction as the last time. Claude would tell me that rushing to completion wasn't the goal. "Slow and steady wins the race," or something like that. However, that stupid saying, where the tortoise beats the hare, was just that. A stupid saying. Unless it was some sort of Monster Turtle…

I moved over to the bucket of water from the well, and cleaned myself, removing the cooling sweat from my brow and what exposed skin I could. Afterward, I used the remaining Qi that I had to trudge into my room, where the extremely heavy Training Armor vanished. If I performed the task in here, without the weight, I'm sure I could do it. But the stresses of that weight were what the training was really about, and I'd already tried completing some Thrusts, Sweeps and Spins inside the bedroom. They didn't count.

Moving to the 'shower' in my room was beyond depressing. Still it was better than nothing, I used the washcloth and basin to clean my body and a bit of the worst stains on my clothes. I wondered if there was some way to add the Magical Shower, or a real one to the room. Something I could ask Claude later…

With quick efficiency, I set my alarm, which, in essence, was just a mechanical device that I wound up like an egg timer and set beside my bed. In six hours, I would wake up and try again. Was this method perfect? No. No, it was not. But I had to hope that tomorrow, I could get those last ninety-eight spins before midnight.

That or I should move out and join a group that took on other zones…

* * *

"Would you also like to cheat on your breakfast today?" Claude asked, his French accent sounding extremely sweet, almost sickening. I let my head fall, then slowly looked up from my milk porridge, something I was growing very tired of eating, and met Claude's eyes.

"I'm so close," I complained.

Claude's face broke into a half-smirk as he responded, "And yet you're not. How close would you have been without using your Skill?

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Probably at least three hundred away?" I answered, sheepishly.

"And that's how close you are to finishing, in truth."

Claude stood up, wobbled a little bit, thanks to the rather large empty bottle of liquor in his hands, stretched it above his head, and fell.

Shaking my head, I moved to his side, Healed, and Cleansed him.

"Claude," I admonished once his eyes cleared of the drink, "are you ever going to tell me why you're drinking so much?"

Claude's eyes hardened for a moment before they softened, and he shook his head. He pushed my hand off softly, but firmly, stood up, and walked out the main door. This was somewhat of a first; I hadn't seen Claude leave the Dojo in quite a while. I wasn't sure whether I should follow him or not. I chose not to.

He hadn't given me any tips to completing the task, other than to not cheat, so if I didn't get started on cleaning; then my thrusts, sweeps, and spins, I was going to be very far behind. I took my spear from its place, just inside my bedroom door, and began.

To my surprise, I finished cleaning about thirty minutes to an hour earlier than I had the day before. I blinked, looking around to see if anything had changed. Nothing seemed different. The heavy armor was still on me. I even opened my status to confirm that all of my physical Stats were still stuck at ten.

However, just looking at the Status Screen showed me what had changed. Both Perception and Wisdom had reached fifty.

I checked the two Skills I could access without a Spent Mana Crystal and discovered something I probably should have checked earlier. The Skills had been leveling up because, of course—the Battlefield Healer Class had given me Heal and Cleanse in the E-Rank. They'd both also reached Fifty, which is why I was now at fifty in both Stats that were linked to the Class.

Which likely meant the Class was the reason that the Stats had gone up with the Skill level.

Still, that wasn't an explanation for what had changed. Claude claimed that Stats were just a representation of potential. Meaning that Strength of ten and fifty could look the same, unless the person worked out, and fought to master the body or Stat… That of course was infinitely easier to understand with the physical Stats. So, then what did Wisdom and Perception do?

Considering I had been working to improve my Qi, Mana and Soul Control I had to assume that they helped in some way. So, had increasing my Potential improved the speed at which I was progressing?

"What was it that Fong had claimed all those days ago?" I said out loud.

Fong's words returned to me:

'Some people find new ways to use Skills, then unlock a new Stat and keep exploring. They teach lessons now. Others are what we call Body-Awakened and have a Skill that ties them to Stats right away. Too many to list now, but everyone here can now grow.' I wanted to violently face-palm. That single answer from Fong should have had me considering the track my mind was now on much sooner.

What had I been doing with the Heal Skill, and the Cleanse Skill, so far? I had simply been activating them with SNS inside my Mental Universe and allowing the Skill to function as intended, but what if using them properly would truly increase my growth.

Even worse, wasn't there a third thing unlocked when I got all my stats?

It wasn't listed on the Status page, and so was easy to forget. Not to mention the circumstances of the window popping up and me immediately free falling. What had it been? Something to do with Magic efficiency, I thought. Or had it been something to do with Control?

In truth it didn't really matter much, but surely there was a way to check–I actually face palmed when clicking on my Mana Pool brought up a small pop-up window.

Magic Control

Current Control: +60%

So, what did that mean?

Well, I had to assume that I could now somehow have better control over my Mana, certainly. However, did it also help with Soul and Qi? Based on the Stats layout, and that number I had to believe that Intelligence and Wisdom contributed there. So then was Soul linked to Perception and Dexterity? Seemed a bit odd with the second Stat, but it was the only conclusion I could currently draw.

I started examining how I'd been using my Skills to date.

When I healed Claude, I took away bruises, maybe some minor scapes from his falls. But what was a bruise? What was I Healing?

I knew the answer to that, mostly because of my gym class in high school. A bruise was essentially a healing mechanism of the body where it swelled to stop movement of the limb because the cells burst to both give it healing nutrients and essentially non-healing materials in the form of cell plasma. So, when I was healing a bruise, I was providing the healing factors and speeding them up while flushing the bad parts out?

The fact that I had to question the method told me that I wasn't doing any of those things consciously.

That brought a very important question to mind. I had a Recovery Skill, which meant that my body was constantly healing itself. That Skill was also doing its job subconsciously. The question was whether or not that method was the 'correct' one. For example, when I performed weighted exercises, I should create micro tears in the muscles that healed themselves over days or weeks. And over time, I should be left with larger, stronger muscles. However, what if those micro tears were being healed in a way that wasn't efficient for that purpose? What if my Recovery was removing the injury and returning my body to a normal state? Sure, I had increased in 'effective strength,' but my Stats weren't reflecting that increase, despite my Breakthrough and me being able to raise them! My Stats were still claiming that I had a limit to my Potential…

My legs went numb and I half sat and half collapsed to the floor. Recovery had never been a Skill I'd been able to find in my Mental Universe, which meant it would be very hard to interact with and direct. Heal, on the other hand–I could find. Could I perhaps interact with it in such a way to make it a more conscious effort when I healed someone? It was going to be annoying to experiment with, since I didn't have a line of injured people, and was hiding the fact that I was a Healer. However, I guessed I could be patient and try with Claude over time.

I closed my eyes and entered my Mental Universe.

Instantly, I found myself where I needed to be, which was next to the Class Skill planet that circled the Sun of Demonic Vault. I moved to one of the far larger moons, and instantly knew it was Heal.

In fact, it didn't look like a moon anymore at all.

On the planet, there were rivers and plant life. The rivers seemed to flow naturally through the landscape as if the water had taken eons and eons to create the pathways, some large trees affecting it or extremely sturdy rock, creating a winding path. The only hint that the rivers had something to do with the Skills activation was the water's color. It was off-blue, call it aquamarine, maybe even teal. It just had this green tint to it.

I called up my Soul Nervous System and sent a little bit of Mana to the planet, knowing that I couldn't use the Skill, but wanting to see how the rivers reacted. Sure enough, for the briefest of moments, the rivers flashed green.

Claude chose that moment to walk back through the door from outside, startling me. My eyes opened as I lost concentration. The questions burning inside me couldn't be contained.

"Claude, when you have a Skill, does the planet it resides on in your Mental Universe determine how it functions?" I blurted.

Claude tilted his head and raised an eyebrow before asking, "Mental Universe?"

I could tell he had already resumed drinking, based purely on a bit of a slur and a half-empty bottle in his hand. I did my best to explain what my Mental Universe was, and Claude eventually nodded.

"For us elves, it's the Cards and the Mana Circuits upon them that we have to alter. It sounds like for you, what you're envisioning is a planet. So, can you—what's the word you humans use, terraform said planet in your Mental solar system? Universe, sorry—Universe." He muttered the next thing under his breath, but I still caught it. "Even if what you're describing is not actually a universe, it's just a few planets and stars…"

Claude hadn't had enough time to get truly drunk, so it sounded like he was giving me good advice. I smiled and nodded.

"Maybe I can," I whispered.

Claude nodded once and entered his room.

Silence followed in his wake. There was definitely something wrong with Claude. I knew that, I did. Drinking wasn't a healthy coping mechanism. While I had no doubt that he had plenty of reasons to need said coping mechanism, from what he'd already told me, Evelyn would likely claim that he'd had plenty of time to heal. I felt like there was something larger that he had left unsaid.

But he had to have his reasons for not telling me–I supposed…

I turned my mind back to considering what I could do with my Skill planets.

Terraforming suggested changing a planet in its entirety. What I discovered I could do with the rivers on the Heal planet was more akin to a single farmer with a trowel trying to dig out the banks. By the time I took a break, it was already past noon, and I'd accomplished perhaps five feet of 'straightening.'

Additionally, I hadn't performed a single action on my daily to do tasks, including the cleaning. Even more discouraging than my paltry straightening attempt was that I wasn't even sure it was having any effect on the Skill. There was no way to test it right this moment–not without revealing myself as a Healer.

So, what I had effectively done this morning was possibly something very important, and possibly something that was entirely useless.

A growl escaped my throat. This Tutorial was beyond frustrating. Not due to the System, but due to the other humans. Shaking that depressing thought away, I looked around the Dojo. I probably should at least get the two cleanings done. Otherwise, I wouldn't get the discount for my room and board today. So, I went out to the well, taking the extremely familiar route.

When I returned with the bucket, I discovered an entirely different Dojo. This one was covered in blood, vomit, and a copious amount of sweat, I hoped. Unless those 'water' stains were something less-than-savory.

Immediately, I got to work.

It was probably closer to dinnertime when I finished my second cleaning of another disgusting Dojo.

I was left with a question. Should I continue with my daily task, trying to better myself with my thrusts, sweeps, and spins? Or, should I take the rest of the day off and see to tasks outside of the Dojo?

In the end, I chose a third option. Curiosity had gotten the better of me. I returned to the Skill Planet for Heal. The river I had 'straightened' minutely stared back at me. My reflection, not there, but staring at me all the same.

In frustration, I chose to just immerse my consciousness in the river. Perhaps what happened next would surprise some people. But, to me, I just felt a little extra stupid. As soon as my consciousness entered the river, I knew what this particular point in the river was for. It turned out that this particular point in the river was redundant, at least—-with my Skill set. When Healing an infected injury, you should first drain the pus. Pretty self explanatory.

Well, this section of the River allowed Heal to drain pus and Heal simultaneously.

Since I had Cleanse, it was almost entirely useless and I'd wasted a bit of time straightening it out this morning–yay me!