30. A Magic Spell!
With all the corpses burnt to a crisp, the party continued walking out of the forest. It was almost noon by the time they finished burning the bodies, and they still had a few hours' walk ahead of them.
It was a pretty uneventful walk for them. They only saw small critters running around, and a lot of bugs. But eventually, they made it to a clearing. The walls of the city could be seen off in the distance.
"We're finally back!" Sharna got excited once she saw the city gates. She was happy to be back in one piece and safe. It was a sight for sore eyes.
"Not quite, still have to enter the city first." They were the first ones to arrive. Though Lance was happy to see the gates, he dreaded having to deal with Elandra though.
Lance could see the two guards from before, and a third person standing with their arms crossed. As soon as the pair reached the gates, "You're late!" Elandra was waiting for them just outside.
"Late? We have till tonight!" Lance couldn't understand how they were late. Not only did the quest say return before night, but even Elandra explained they had till tonight.
"No, you two are early. You finished the training before everyone else. But you newbie, are late. You were supposed to be back before sunrise!" Elandra was talking about their private training. Even though this was a different type of training, she still wanted Lance to keep to their one-on-one sessions.
"Oh come on! You expected me to make it back by then?" Lance had no way to be there before sunrise. So he ultimately had to admit defeat and failure in the quest.
"Just get to the training grounds now, and I'll overlook your tardiness. As for you Recruit. Good job today. You're free for the rest of the evening." Elandra turned and walked into the city.
"What was that about? Why did she scold you?" Sharna was baffled. She knew something was going on between the two of them. She had seen them sparring in the morning before drills started and felt it odd that Elandra was personally training Lance. Though to her, it did kinda explain why Lance was so strong.
"It's nothing. Anyways." Lance turned and extended his fist, "Good work, we made a great team. I'll see you tomorrow."
Sharna bumped his fist, "Yes!" She shot him a smile. "Oh, wait", She grabbed a paper and pen from her pocket, quickly wrote on it, and handed it to Lance. "Just in case." She turned and walked into the city, still smiling and blushing.
'What did she hand you?' Vixen was curious.
'Her phone number. I don't even have a phone yet.' Lance looked at the note with numbers on it, then watched Sharna's back leave his view.
'You'll be issued one after completing the training.' Vixen told Lance. Although she didn't like that Sharna had given him her number. But she ultimately had to admit Sharna had some usefulness.
'Oh okay,' Lance thought that was a nice perk of becoming a guard. He only wanted to join for the class, but the experience he was getting was worth staying.
'So, what do you think Elandra has in store for us today?' Lance questioned Vixen.
'No clue, but it won't be pretty.' Vixen shuddered at the thought.
Lance let out a sigh and headed through the gates. He couldn't focus on what trouble they were about to get into right now. As Lance walked through the gates, the system chimed in with the completion of the quest.
*Trling Trling*
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Quest Complete!
Fourth Day Of Training!
Rewards:
Experience: 2400
UAC: 1200
+1 Potential Points
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Hidden Quest Complete!
Special Training Second Day!
Rewards:
Experience: 2500
UAC: 1200
+5 Elandra Favor
+5 Attribute Points
+2 Potential Points
New Skill Unlocked!
- Quake (1/10) Cost: 35 Energy
-Shake the ground to cause physical damage to your opponent. Damaged Based on 85% of the highest attack.
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Hidden Quest Completed!
Protect Sharna!
Reward:
Experience: 1500
UAC: 500
Gained 25 Favor with Sharna
Skill Unlocked:
Hidden Skill Selection!
Choose only one of the following:
- Fire Bolt (1/5) Cost: 3 Energy
- Launches a fireball at your target. Damaged based on 75% highest Attack. True Damage skill. May burn target.
- Serene Grace (1/1)
- Gain natural healing. Your health, Energy, and Stamina heal over time and during combat.
- Heal (1/10) Cost: 15 Energy
- Heals for 15% of max health. Can also heal teammates.
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With the collection of rewards from the three quests, Lance was quite happy. But now he faced a dilemma. 'An attack Spell, a Healing Spell, and a passive buff.' He fell into deep thought as he headed toward the training ground. He didn't want to rule out the attack spell, but he did because he planned on doing the Mage Class quest. And more than likely he would get that spell at some point. The healing spell, Although good, he didn't have a high reserve of Energy. So he ultimately settled on the passive.
'That's not a bad choice. I would have picked the healing spell though.' Vixen watched Lance go through his rewards. She liked that he picked something that could help him with survivability.
'Yeah, but currently I'd only be able to heal for half my health. I can buy potions to do that. Plus, who knows, maybe I'll get another chance at learning it.' The passive skill was really good. Even with his low intelligence, it could be used more frequently than a spell.
It didn't take them long to reach the training grounds. Once outside Lance looked in and took a deep breath. But before he could let it out, a dagger came flying at him. Due to his training with Elandra, he was able to catch it without any issues. "Heighten reflexes. Stronger body. Increased speed. And nearly three times the strength. If I didn't see it firsthand, I would call the person a liar. But the real question is, How?" Elandra walked out from behind the doorway. She slowly walks up to Lance and studies him.
"I just learn quickly, that's all." Lance knew she was gonna grill him, or beat him to a pulp. But he didn't know how to explain everything.
"That's not the full truth!" Elandra stared at him, waiting to see if he would change his answer. After some time of them just staring, she let out a long sigh. "Fine, Whatever. I need to blow off steam. Let's go!" Lance followed slowly behind her, dreading what was to come.
*
A few hours went by and the last of the recruits showed up. The Suns were beginning to set when Lance and Elandra finished sparring. "Now I feel better." Elandra stretched her back as she spoke in a more calm tone. "But you better explain this all to me one day. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow Rene." Elandra walked off the field, heading towards the main building.
'Why did she have to go all out'. Lance was red in places he didn't know he had, with a black eye and a fat lip to boot. Elandra didn't hold back.
'You should have told her, She wouldn't have believed you, but still.' Vixen doesn't mind certain people knowing, but it saved Lance the headache.
'Yeah, maybe one day I'll tell her.' Lance let it go for now and started to leave. He still had time to visit an armorer and go see old man Lokarn again. With the rare material burning a hole in his pockets and the thought of new and strong gear, he pressed forward. As he left the grounds, the system chimed with a new quest.
*Trling*
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New Quest!
Final Day of Training!
Description: Finish your final day with the remaining recruits.
Reward:
Experience: 5000
UAC: 3000
Unlock Daily Guard Quests!
____________________
New Hidden Quest
Special Training!
Description: Train with Guard Captain Elandra. She chooses you to Specifically train.
Rewards:
Experience: 6000
UAC: 2500
Unlock Daily Special Training!
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'So I'm gonna become a full Guard after tomorrow. But five days seems kinda fast?!' Lance didn't understand. This is supposed to be the real world, But its speed and progression are that of a video game. It should take him at least a few months of training to become a guard. But the quests are indicating that it will only take five days. He was at a loss right now.