Chương 62: Chapter 61 - Hard Work Begins to Pay Off

A loud clacking sound echoed around the forest, the beat of wood on metal ringed out and echoed back from the sides of the nearby wagons as the patrol had parked and rested along the trail for a mid day break. Elias was currently working through a series of spars with the men and women of 1st squad, as Mira had decided he needed a change of pace from only sparring with Astra, and he could understand why.

For one, the change in opponents for his first spars earlier in the morning after breakfast had allowed him to get the final level he needed in his shield skill; which, combined with a strenuous archery session with Sasha earlier had allowed him to round out his final few levels in the ranged skill. While the last level in the shield skill had come easy, Eli had to put in some hard work with Sasha to meet Mira's midday deadline.

Eli's mind drifted back over the past events as the previous couple days had seen Eli firing at a series of targets that she had hung from the treeline while on the back of the moving battlewagon. When he had just been getting the hang of it, Sasha had decided to up the difficulty and would periodically strike the target first causing it to sway and foul his aim.

That had been hard enough, but this morning she had really turned up the heat, and she had Franklin chasing him around the top of the wagon putting pressure on him as he dodged around the man while trying to strike the targets. Granted he was only moving at a walking pace, but given the limited room to work with on the top of the wagon, Eli was gasping by the time he got his final level. Ding [Congratulations! [Basic Weapon Proficiency - Ranged Weapons] has reached Lv 10] Even if I only hit maybe 30 to 40 percent of the targets, the difficulty must have been high enough for the system to consider this a success anyways. Crack. A white hot spike of pain shot through Elias's skull as one of Mira's 'Reaction Training' pebbles struck him in the temple, bringing his focus back to the present." Now, now, Mr Mercer. Do not lose focus or your opponent will gut you in a heartbeat.

Mr Craft, watch your low guard, Mr Mercer almost slipped through. You will be joining Mr Mercer for some remedial training if you do not apply yourself, I expect better from a [Shieldbearer] working on their evolution prospects." Mira's voice from the sidelines reminded him that while the other soldiers were no match for Astra's speed or precision they had plenty of talent of their own, and definitely had him beat in experience with their chosen weapons.

A look of resolve spread across Private Craft's face, as the threat of Mira's 'remedial' training proved sufficient to motivate the man to press the offensive. A shield may not seem like an offensive weapon, but in the right hands, combined with the wooden shortsword in the other, it could prove a dangerous challenge. Especially since Mira seems determined to make it damn near impossible for me to fight smart.

As Eli rotated through opponents, Mira would periodically have him drop his current weapons and would toss him a new combination, often without calling a pause to the fight. She especially seemed to delight in setting him up with terrible pairings, a Greatsword versus their archer, daggers against the spearwoman, and the worst so far, bare fists and a shield against Corporal Mason their mage. At least she let him have a swordbreaker against the shieldbearer.

Eli could appreciate the concept behind the training, even if he didn't particularly enjoy it in practice, she was trying to force him to push the boundaries of his skill with multiple weapons and force the skill merge. Elias grunted as he danced back out of the range of a shield bash, while parrying the shortsword with the blade in his other hand. Private Craft had been wary of the swordbreaker, and Eli had yet to be able to catch his weapon in the teeth on the back of the blade.

The man spun with the momentum of the parry, and as he swung around, the edge of the shield lined up for a straight thrust, the drums in Eli's chest picked up tempo as he spotted his opening and his perception of time slowed. Thump. The shield rocketed around, aimed for Elias's throat in a vicious punch. Eli eyed the angle of the short sword from the corner of his vision while keeping his focus on the approaching shield to not give away the game. He flipped the swordbreaker into a backhanded grip. Thump.

Eli ducked under the approaching shield at the last moment, the wind of its passing ruffling his hair as he brought the swordbreaker up into a high guard as the wooden shortsword swept in. The angle was bad, there would be little force behind the blow. Eli grinned as he angled the teeth of the swordbreaker's comb to catch the blade, and he shifted his stance to gather his weight over his lead foot. Thump.

His opponent had overextended, and as the thunk of his opponent's blade sliding into the comb of his weapon reached his ears, Eli's grin grew feral as his left hand gathered into a fist and he coiled his legs under his opponents torso. Craft's head had followed his shield's momentum, and as he leaned forward, a tantalizingly open expanse of chin peeked out between the leading edge of his helmet and his breastplate. Thump.

Eli's left fist flashed upwards, connecting with Craft's exposed chin, rocking the man with a vicious uppercut as Eli's perception of time resumed its normal speed. The blow was heavy enough to lift the man a few inches in the air, armor and all, and he crashed backwards with a surprised grunt. Elias fell back into a ready position, but it was unnecessary as the blow had appeared to have dazed the man, at least for the moment.

Having learned this lesson before, Eli flashed forward and pressed his blade against the man's throat, as Mira called from the sidelines, " Match point! Mr. Mercer." Last time I didn't move in for the kill, she sent in a second opponent, and let them both fight me after the first recovered while I was busy with the second man. Won't forget that lesson anytime soon. Mira's voice rang out in his memory," Never leave a living enemy at your back, Mr Mercer.

Lest you find a blade sunk into it when you least expect, mercy is a privilege of the strong, and you are not yet strong enough to stay your blade." Eli stood as a chime rang out in his mind, he held up a hand to Mira for a pause as he checked his notifications. Ding [Congratulations! You have unlocked the general skill [Basic Martial Proficiency - Unarmed Combat]] Ding [Would you like to discard a previous skill and learn [Basic Martial Proficiency - Unarmed Combat]?] Elias was surprised that this was the result, he was hoping that he would have triggered the prerequisite for the merger. He was a little disappointed, he dismissed the window without discarding the skill, Mira had said they would hold anywhere from a few hours up to a full day if he needed time to make a decision. When he shook his head in her direction, and mimed punching the air with his fists a few times, he was surprised when she smiled back and turned to the stack of practice weapons behind her.

With a sigh Eli helped Craft to his feet as the man shook off the hit, " She only smiles like that when she is planning something nasty, you ok?" Craft laughed as he took off his helmet and rubbed his sore jaw while he probed a tooth with his tongue, " Aye, I'll need a moment for it to heal. You cracked the bone and loosened a tooth, that's a mean left you have there. Get your skill?" The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Eli shook his head, " Not yet, got [Basic Martial Proficiency - Unarmed Combat] though?" Craft nodded with a wince, " Aye, that would do it." As a blur of motion passed into his peripheral vision with a flare of warning from [Ranger's Resiliency] Eli spun and caught a training poleaxe that had been flying his way. Eli turned to Mira as he arched a brow at her, as she waved Craft back." Take a break Mr Craft. Mr Taylor and Ms Hastert if you please?"

Eli groaned as the archer and spearwoman for 1st squad stepped forward at the same time. Mira chuckled, " Oh come now Mr Mercer, you are almost there. It is time for a little pressure, we shall forge you into proper steel soon enough. Mr Craft and Mr Mason, you will swap in at my mark."

"Now, begin."

Eli winced as he pressed a frozen water skin that Mira had handed him to his temple as he plopped down on top of Coop's wagon as the patrol started back down the path. His health pool had long since exhausted itself on the myriad of bruises from the sparring, but his remaining injuries were deemed minor enough that the benefit of healing them the old fashioned way outweighed availing himself of Astrid's services.

To be fair at this point it's just bruises, scrapes, and tired muscles, not cracked bones and sprained joints. Man the increase to basic healing from [Ranger's Resiliency] is pretty nice, hard to believe a few minutes of rest can heal basic stuff so quickly. The evolved versions have to be fantastic. Eli pulled up his notifications as he settled in and the caravan got underway. Her methods may be brutal but you can't argue with the results. Ding [Congratulations! [Stalwart] has reached Lv 10] Ding [Congratulations! [Ranger's Resiliency] has reached Lv 6] Ding [Congratulations! [Studious Pupil] has reached Lv 7] Ding [Skill synergy detected. Would you like to merge [Basic Martial Proficiency - Unarmed Combat], [Basic Weapon Proficiency - Polearms: Lv 10], [Basic Weapon Proficiency - Small Blades: Lv 10], [Basic Weapon Proficiency - Shields: Lv 10], [Basic Weapon Proficiency - Sidearms: Lv 10], [Basic Weapon Proficiency - Ranged Weapons: Lv 10]?] Elias arched a brow at the unexpected inclusion of the unarmed combat skill, and sent his consent to the System. Ding [Skill merging….] Ding [ERROR: Skill structure exceeds standard Tier 1 parameters] Ding [Adjusting classification…] Ok, that doesn't sound good. Ding [Skill merge complete. Congratulations! You have unlocked the general skill [Soldier's Foundation]] Ding [Congratulations! You have learned the general skill [Soldier's Foundation] Lv 1] Ding [Soldier's Foundation: Lv 1 – Battle is not won by the weapon, but by the one who wields it. You have forged a unified base across multiple forms of martial disciplines, where others divide their focus, you refine the fundamentals that bind all combat together. This foundation will support your growth, preparing you to adapt, overcome, and excel regardless of what lies in your hand. This skill passively improves your proficiency gain rate across all weapon types, allowing experience in one discipline to inform and reinforce others. It reduces the penalties associated with unfamiliar weapons and improves the efficiency of basic combat actions by minimizing wasted motion and poor form. When in active use, this skill sharpens your awareness of timing, distance, and structure, drawing your attention to common patterns shared across fighting styles. This allows for faster adaptation in active combat, improved transitions between techniques, and more effective responses to unfamiliar opponents at a low stamina cost. Increased proficiency gain, skill transference, adaptability, efficiency, pattern recognition, and reduced stamina cost per level. This skill was merged from [Basic Martial Proficiency - Unarmed Combat], [Basic Weapon Proficiency - Polearms: Lv 10], [Basic Weapon Proficiency - Small Blades: Lv 10], [Basic Weapon Proficiency - Shields: Lv 10], [Basic Weapon Proficiency - Sidearms: Lv 10], [Basic Weapon Proficiency - Ranged Weapons: Lv 10]] Never mind, that sounds fantastic! Sounds like a combination of the proficiency skill with a martial learning skill like [Studious Pupil]?

Eli hopped down from the wagon and trotted forward to speak with Mira about the strange error message, and the unexpected skill. According to her lessons he should have received something like [Intermediate Weapon Proficiency- Martial] or something similar. As he approached she dropped a privacy dome around them at his gesture with an arched brow.

"Something the matter Mr Mercer? Was the merge unsuccessful?" Eli shook his head, " It was, it was just a little more successful than I expected. Here, take a look." He gestured in her directions while willing the system to display the messages to her. A slow smile spread across her face as she read the notices before looking down and Eli with a smirk, " Why Mr Mercer, whatever would be the problem? If anything this shows that we are headed in the correct direction.

This seems like an excellent result for your efforts." Eli smiled, " By all means I'm pretty happy with the skill Mira, but what about the error?" She shrugged, " They are extremely rare, but I have heard tales of them. Typically they occur whenever the System encounters something new."

She leaned down from her saddle, " You find yourself in a rare position Mr Mercer, how often do you think younglings would gather not just one but six martial skills, level them to the cap, and then be under enough pressure to force a merger?" She sat back up with a smile, "I am not so surprised by the error, it must be a rare occurrence if it has ever happened before at all. Rejoice for you are treading new ground! This will be an interesting journey.""

Now in order to awaken a magical proficiency with your next tier class we need to work on your mana sensing and manipulation. First we will start with acquiring [Meditation] and a couple of your attributes to increase the speed of your resource recovery. This combined with your success with your ocular skill should help you with [Mana Sense] which should then assist with quickly triggering the prerequisites for [Identify]."" Now, Mr Mercer.

You will need to resume your perch on Mr Cooper's wagon and work on settling your mind with a focus on the sensations of your internal essence pathways…" Eli nodded with a smile as he listened to the next lesson plan, excited for what it might bring. It doesn't take much to get her excited when new skills and magic is involved, I can see where Astra gets it.

Elias had spent the last couple hours working on sensing the energy flowing through his body, and given Mira's instructions he felt he was close, but his focus was abruptly broken as two men came bursting through the tree line carrying their blood covered comrades in their arms as they sprinted up towards where Astrid was walking next to the lead wagon carrying on a conversation with Sasha and Cooper.

Eli broke off from his musings and rushed over as Astra dismounted to speak with one of the men as Astrid's hands glowed as she began working on the fallen. He caught the tail end of the report as he reached the edge of the wagon roof and dropped to the ground as the convoy came to a halt.

"... it was shaking Marcy in its jaws when Phillip arrived, he was able to get it to drop her with a lucky shot to the eye, but it was all we could do to get them back here in time. We were lucky to escape with our lives, will they make it?" The man said the last down to Astrid as she bathed the two scouts in a glow of soft yellow light. Astrid grunted in concentration before responding, " Aye, they will be dehydrated from blood loss, and some serious damage but they will pull through.

You got them here before their hearts stopped, even if it was a close thing." She looked up at Astra, " They will be down for at least two days my Lady, but they will make a full recovery. I could push it faster but at their level their bodies may not take the strain, they'll be ravenous enough as it is. Luckily we have plenty of enriched meat to refill their reserves."

The man heaved a sigh of relief before turning back to Astra, " I think it has been stalking the patrol for a few days, 5th Squad had seen some tracks, but no live sightings. It pounced before we saw it but I was able to get an [Identify] off before we lost track of it, [Midnight Panther Lv 30]." Astra shot a glance back at Eli before turning back to the scout to take his report. Shit. Did the one we kill have a mate?