Chương 52

Rudra sat on a wooden crate at the edge of the snowy training yard. The morning air was biting cold, but thanks to his recent survival training, he felt noticeably better. He pulled up his interface while chewing on a piece of leftover cold boar meat.

[Name]: Rudra [Level]: 100 [Class]: Black Staff Expert [Title]: Forerunner of the Twin Paths (+6 others) [Health]: 8, 950 / 8, 950 | [Mana]: 2800 / 2800 [Divine Energy]: 800/800 [Strength]: 432 | [Stamina]: 425 [Agility]: 441 | [Intelligence]: 378 [Persistence]: 330 | [Dexterity]: 250 [Courage]: 225 | [Charisma]: 325 [Dignity]: 325 | [Divine Power]: 80 [Stat Points]: 20"Not bad," Rudra mumbled, swiping the blue window away. His heavy brown cloak wiggled. Kratos poked his tiny head out.

The half-gold, half-black cub sniffed the cold meat, wrinkled his nose in disgust, and let out a cranky squeak.

"Don't be a snob," Rudra sighed, even though he reacted in the same manner before, tossing the meat to the cub anyway. Kratos caught it, chewed it angrily for a second, and swallowed it whole. Heavy footsteps crunched in the snow. Commander Vane walked over. He wasn't holding his massive steel weapon today, just a thick wooden practice halberd. He looked at Rudra, then pointed to the center of the yard. The ground there wasn't muddy. It had frozen overnight into a slick, polished sheet of solid ice.

"Get in," Vane grunted.

"On the ice?" Rudra frowned.

"Your brawling is sloppy," Vane said, walking alongside him.

"I watched you fight those slimes yesterday. You rely way too much on that weird stepping technique of yours. You just jump into the air to escape." Rudra paused. He looked down at his boots. Vane was totally right. Ever since he got the Abyssal Step skill, he had been spamming it to cheat his way out of bad positioning. Whenever a monster got too close, he just walked on the air to dodge even though just sticking his ground could have gotten better results sometimes.

He hadn't used proper, grounded footwork since Gareth's basic training camp back in Seabreak. A wave of nostalgia hit him. He remembered standing in the dirt, exhausted, learning the basic staff movements until his hands bled. He had been ignoring his foundation.

"Out in the real world, you can't always just fly away," Vane continued.

"What happens when you fight in a narrow cave with a low ceiling? Or on a frozen lake? You need balance. Your Black Staff style is known for breaking armor and rattling brains, but you aren't showing its true power. You're just swinging like a wild animal." If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. Rudra stepped onto the ice. He instantly slipped, his arms windmilling before he managed to catch himself with his staff. Vane signaled to the edge of the yard.

Five elite Murray Kingdom infantrymen marched onto the ice. They wore heavy steel plate armor and carried wooden practice swords.

"The trick to your staff path isn't just hitting hard," Vane yelled from the sidelines.

"It's about hitting the exact same dent in a man's armor twice. The first hit breaks the posture. The second hit rattles the brain. Let's see you do it while fighting five men on a slippery floor." The five knights charged. Rudra tried to pivot and swing his staff. His boot lost traction instantly. He fell flat on his back. A wooden sword smacked hard against his leather vest.

"Ouch! Hey!" Rudra scrambled backward, using his staff to block a second swing.

"Stop jumping!" Vane barked.

"Root your feet! Use your hips!" For the next two hours, Rudra got completely beaten up. Every time he tried to use his sweeping attacks to clear the knights away, he spun totally out of control and landed on his face. When he tried to hit a knight in the chest, the guy would move, and Rudra's second strike would hit the shoulder instead. He couldn't land two hits in the same spot. He was getting tired. His stamina was dropping fast from the cold and the constant blocking.

"Time out," Rudra panted, holding a hand up. He carefully walked to the edge of the ice. He pulled out a warm, foil-wrapped bundle from his inventory. It was a spicy, honey-glazed boar wrap he had cooked the night before. He took a huge bite. The sweet, spicy flavor hit his tongue, instantly refilling his stamina bar. Kratos poked his head out and squeaked for a bite. Rudra tore off a piece and fed the cub. Out on the ice, the five elite knights stopped. They were breathing heavily. They sniffed the air.

Military rations in the Murray Kingdom were notoriously bland, usually just dry bread and salted cabbage. The rich smell of honey and roasted spices hit them like a physical blow.

"Is that... glazed meat?" one of the knights whispered, his stomach growling loudly. Vane noticed his men staring. A cruel, amused smile spread across the Commander's scarred face.

"Listen up, recruits!" Vane yelled.

"The masked boy is hiding high-grade food in his pockets! From now on, if you manage to knock him down, you get to eat his lunch!" Rudra choked on his wrap.

"Wait, what?! You can't do that!" The five knights turned toward Rudra. Their eyes were completely locked on the food in his hand. They didn't look like honorable soldiers anymore. They looked like starving wolves.

"Get him!" the lead knight roared.

"Stay back!" Rudra yelled, stuffing the rest of the wrap into his mouth and raising his staff. The brawl turned into absolute chaos. The knights didn't care about military formations anymore. They just wanted the snacks. They tackled, shoved, and swung wildly. Rudra was forced to focus. He couldn't just run away on the ice. He smiled under his dark mask. The intense, burning pressure of the fight felt exactly like his first week in the game. He loved pushing his limits.

He planted his boots, slightly bending his knees to lower his center of gravity. When a knight swung at him, Rudra parried with his staff. He didn't jump back. He absorbed the push, twisting his hips to keep his boots flat on the ice. He struck back. He aimed for the center of a knight's breastplate. Thwack. The knight stumbled but kept coming, clearly desperate for a spicy boar wrap. Rudra didn't pull the staff all the way back.

He used a short, tight motion, snapping his wrists to bring the blunt end right back to the exact same spot. Thwack. The knight's eyes rolled back. His knees buckled, and he dropped into the snow, completely stunned.

"Got it!" Rudra cheered.

"Four more!" Vane yelled.

"Keep your feet grounded!" Rudra ducked under a wild sword swing. His muscles burned. His lungs ached from the cold. But he kept fighting. He chained his blocks into short, brutal strikes. He let the knights come to him, using their own momentum against them on the slippery ice. A golden notification popped up in the corner of his vision. [Through intense physical focus, your stats have risen.] [Agility +1] [Stamina +1] [Strength +1] Rudra grinned. The grind was back.

"Come on!" Rudra laughed, spinning his heavy staff to deflect another knight.

"If you want my food, you have to hit me first!" The snowy yard echoed with the sounds of clashing wood and Rudra's happy, exhausted cheers. The thirty-day training camp had officially begun, and Rudra was fully prepared to fight for every single meal.