The Monarch was furious that I hadn’t made a better impression. The Able just sighed as if it had all transpired exactly as he had expected.
Once in my room, I ate my dinner then set off out to the gym to blow off some steam. No good sitting around mulling when there was still work to do. Plus, I wanted to feel the joy of punching the dummy with a solid right hand made up of all my fingers.
I had devised an attack scenario that suited me from Estwin’s earlier advice. And while it was mostly the same, I had a couple of variants that I practiced to keep it interesting. Especially when I used one of the variants in a feint in a future fight.
Focusing on speed and accuracy, I started by ducking low to avoid my imaginary opponents first attack, be it weapon or fist. Then I hit out with a jab to the body. Side-stepped to the left, and hit a right hook to the sternum. Followed by a left hook to the liver.
Step back, dodge to the right, and snap out another jab, this time to the head to bring their guard up high. Keep moving to the right, following up with a right hook to the kidneys.
This was where I mixed it up. Mainly, I continued stepping to my right, as even in the Union, most people were right-handed and stepping to their weak side caused them issues. But I always practiced alternatives, and this one was my favorite.
Step back to the left, hit that solar plexus again with a left hook while they were still correcting to the right. Then pop up and finish it with a headbutt to the nose. Smash that shit up. Blind them with blood and tears. Beautiful.
As my head cracked against the wooden dummy. I stepped back with a grin and began again.
It was a great combination for dealing with unarmed fighters and even some armed. The headbutt wouldn’t do wonders against opponents with helmets, yet. But if I could get my Toughness up enough, it would help. It would help with my magic resistance as well, which was probably going to be important in the coming weeks.
I was mulling on that thought when the Able came to see me.
“Earl! How are you faring with that extra finger?”
“It’s not extra, dickhead.”
He frowned at my response, and then after a little thought, began to laugh. “I still intend to re-affix your left, though I will need some time.”
“Sure, sure. It’s never going to happen. I’m only getting stronger, and I reckon I’ll need more Toughness sooner rather than later, so fuck the finger. Instead, I want you to do me a favor.”
“That depends entirely on what the favor is.”
“Hit me with a magical attack. I won’t get mad if you hurt me.”
He shook his head. “That is insanity, Earl. It has already become too difficult to heal you, and your last sixteen fight is in less than a week.”
Stolen novel; please report.
“Don’t go too hard then. I have a good reason for it. Trust me.”
He laughed. “I’d have to be beyond insane to trust you.”
“That’s fair. Let’s look at it this way then. The best way to increase my survivability is to increase my Toughness, yeah? It’ll help with my healing and everything.”
“It will.”
“But I’m mainly training in ways I’ve already trained at throughout my life. Sure, I can train a whole load more and get better, but it’s only going to be small increments. If I want to increase Toughness fast, I figure I need to do things I haven’t done a lot of. Tap into some serious noob gains.”
With disbelieving shake of his head, he planted his hands on the tables at the front of the gym. “And in your vast wisdom, you came up with being shot at by a mage?”
“I did, yeah. I’m sure you’d love to give it a go.”
“I’m many things, Earl, but a sadist is not one of them. The thought of willingly blasting a defenseless innocent is abhorrent to me.”
Deflated I tried to come up with reasons it wouldn’t matter. I didn’t need to. The Able had already done it for me.
“You, however, are a stain upon existence. While I want our arena to make as much money as they possibly can from you, I genuinely cannot wait for you to be gone from our halls.”
He quick-fired a bolt of silver energy which struck the center of my chest with unerring accuracy. It stung like a mother fucker.
“Ow! For fuck’s sake, a bit of warning.”
The old bastard snarled and attacked me again. Same type of attack, but bigger. My instincts told me to move. My desire to get strong made me stick out my chest.
The impact caused me to stagger back a few places. Teeth gritted through the pain, I shook myself to clear the fuzzy feeling in my head and smiled. “Beautiful, you miserable bastard! Give me some more.”
He raised an eyebrow, then shot a crackling blue attack at me. It was way bigger than the last, and covered my full torso. I had to raise an arm to protect my face.
It felt like I’d been plunged into a pool of electrified water. My whole body seized up, and I roared in anger and pain at the sensation. As the feeling dissipated, a fresh tingle coursed through my body. Toughness! I checked my stats.
Name: Earl Henshaw
Title: Pool Fighter of the Velkyn Arena
Level: 13
Class: Warrior
Stats:
- Toughness: 25 +5
- Mental Acuity: 16
- Harmony: 0
- Total: 41
It was working. I looked over at the Able and bared my teeth in an ecstatic grin. “Again!”
He shook his head. “It is ridiculous that you’ve withstood what I’ve thrown, Earl. Horrifying even. However, I’m intrigued as to where this could lead. If we see an improvement in Toughness, I’m willing to return once I have fully recovered my mana.”
“If! We already have. I got a point of Toughness for those three hits.”
His eyes goggled. “Truly? And how much more punishment do you think you could take in relation to the power of the attacks?”
I thought about that for a minute before making my decision. It was risky, but I did have another point in Toughness so… “Twice as strong.”
“I will send two of our arena mages down to assist with your training. Whatever you do, please do not get injured prior to the last sixteen.”
I grinned. “I won’t.”
Exhausted he turned to leave. I chuckled then called after him. “What did you come to see me about?”
He slapped his forehead. “You have the worst effect on me, Earl. I came to tell you that Prime Besas has made an offer.”
“He did?” That was a real surprise. I sensed from the Able’s tone that he wasn’t too happy about whatever the offer was.
“Yes. Half the amount the ‘mystery buyer’ offered. But considering we didn’t expect an offer at all, this is something.”
“I hope you told them to go fuck themselves.”
“We have told them we will consider it. House Besas showing an interest in you is the best kind of advertisement we could hope for. If we play this right, there is a chance we can still set off a bidding war for you.”
“Better get them mages sent down here, then. Let’s pump up that buyer’s fee!”
“My thoughts exactly.” With a smile, he turned and swept from the room.