Intermediate Training Center

It was in times like these that Kiro was extremely grateful for all his break falls practice. It transformed his panicked dive for safety into a somewhat graceful manoeuver by means of a well-executed recovery.

By the way, rolling on top of a stone floor is extremely painful.

He turned around towards the entrance, to see that the door was already closed. But the interior of the room was still visible due to the numerous torches providing lighting. Beside it was huma… wom… troll… elf?... …female creature.

Something inside him rebelled at the idea of calling such a huge, large and wide woman elven even if she did have the characteristic pointy ears. But such thoughts, although natural, were rude so he quickly quelled them.

"My name is Kiro. Thank you for letting me in." He said, thanking her as he indeed had been in quite a predicament.

"Hum." The woman said, in a frosty tone of voice. "Don't mention it. I was seriously considering leaving you out there, seeing how pathetically sloppy you were." Her words were curt and her eyes cold, as if she was looking at something disgusting.

Slightly annoyed now, Kiro faced her squarely and asked: "What do you mean? I left them alive. I don't see what's sloppy about that!"

"I am not talking about your methods, but about your movements."

With a tilt of the woman's hand, a ball of light appeared. In it, Kiro had a bird's eye view of himself as he was dodging the arrows earlier. The woman, pointing at him at him in the orb while he was dodging the arrows, leaping forward, running, dodging the berserk elves, kept repeating: "Sloppy, sloppy, SLOPPY!"

"I didn't get hit!" Kiro protested. He was curious about where the orb had come from.

"Look at the way you dodge!" the woman suddenly roared. "The way you move. All your movements are too exaggerated. You dodged an arrow that would have missed had you tilted your head by jumping two meters to the side! Disgraceful! Wasteful! You could see everything that those elves shot at you, but your reaction was exaggerated. Such unnecessarily large movements waste your stamina. And if you run out of stamina during a fight, you DIE!"

There was nothing Kiro could retort. Her words hit way to close to home for comfort. Just looking at himself through the orb, he could see what she was talking about.

It was probably because he was too used to dodging attacks from giant monsters like the ape-creatures in the forest that he had picked up the habit of dodging in such an exaggerated fashion. Bowing his head, he said the only thing he could in this situation: "You are right, I apologise. I will work on it."

Witnessing his honest apology, she calmed down. "Huff. Well, at least your attitude is not bad. Very well, let us start anew. I am Master Amesina, Master of the Intermediate Training Center known as Amesinamen."

"Amesinamen sounds a lot like your name, Master Amesina."

"That's because it is MY Training Center."

Kiro could make no comment to that.

"Master Amesina, why is this Training Center surrounded by such secrecy?" He asked, thinking about the elven village he just escaped.

"There are two answers to your question. First, in general, even if the Basic and Beginner Training Centers are located in cities, more advanced training centers, along with being less numerous, are located in more remote areas. Finding them is part of the challenge.

As for this particular Training Center, the village beside it is special. The elves in that village are from a cult that worships the gods of the training centers. So this training center is like a sacred monument to them. Even I can't go outside without them trying to kill me."

Kiro wasn't really surprised. The behavior of the elves stank of fanaticism, which in his mind was closely associated with religion. But he didn't know the Training Centers had gods: "Master Amesina, what do you mean by the gods of the Training Center?"

"Legend has it that hundreds of years ago, when the sentient races of New World were being decimated by powerful monsters, gods came down from the sky to teach their martial techniques to a group of warriors. Empowered by these techniques, the warriors drove back the monsters and spread across the world, taking on disciples and passing on the techniques they learned. Eventually, these disciples sought to pass on these techniques as well, which led to the creation of the training centers, were even now the techniques granted to us by the gods are being taught. The trials you face in these training centers actually come from the trials the gods themselves gave mortals in order for them to master their techniques. Well, in any cases, our trials now are easier than what the original warriors had to go through, so be relieved."

That didn't make Kiro feel much better.

"Now then. Do you have any more questions before we start, Mr. Kiro?"

"No, I don't." He did have questions about the gods, but he preferred to wait before asking them, as he was itching to start the Intermediate trial. This whole place was making him edgy.

"Good. The Intermediate Training is different than the first two because this time, I will start by teaching you a technique, then you will do the trial to master it. If you give up during the trial, you will not be allowed to continue on the Advanced Training Center. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Then let us begin."

*****

The first floor of the Intermediate Training Center Tower was a stark circular room made of stone. There was no furniture, nothing on the walls but torches and nothing of interest but the wide circular staircase leading to the second floor. In the middle of the room, Kiro and Master Amenisa were sitting in front of one another.

Kiro was concentrating on Master Amenisa's lecture, committing every one of her words to memory.

"The first step is to relax. Let all your thoughts disappear, to leave only calming darkness."

Kiro thought it felt a little like meditating. So that step was easy for him.

"When you manage that, think of yourself. Not how you look, but your likes, your dislikes. How you're feeling right now. Your family and friends. Your hobbies. All those little things that make you you."

He thought of his family, his brother and sister, his mother and dead father. He thought of the dojo, and the friends he had there. He thought of green, and ribs, potatoes, spinach, all his favorite things and least favorite things.

"Now, take all those feelings, and press them into a ball. A shining sphere made of a multitude of colors. That orb represents you."

He did as she said. His self was mostly green, with some brown, black, blue, red, white, and a thousand other colors he couldn't even begin to describe.

"Image your body now. The ball that is you should be in the center, with your body surrounding it. Focus on that image. Do you have it?"

"Yes."

"Good. Very good. Now, for the last step. Concentrate on the ball again. Make it expand, let it swell until it covers your entire body. It is now your armor, thicker than strongest of steel and infinitely more durable."

He concentrated just like she said. He made the ball of light expand. It was difficult, as he had to keep the image of his body in mind as well. He pushed the sphere until it grew big enough that his whole body was covered in it. Then he tried to modify its shape, until it hugged his body line completely. It looked like his body was glowing.

"Open your eyes now."

He did. To his surprise, the same glow he had pictured before was covering his body, like a second skin.

Ding!

You have learned a new skill: Protective Aura

Protective Aura

An Aura that covers your entire body to protect it against harm. The effectiveness of the protection depends on the power of the attack and the level of the Protective Aura.

-The damage deduced depends on the blow received.

-Costs 10 mana/sec and 10 stamina/sec

-Cost additional mana and stamina for every hit on the Aura.

Current level: Beginner lvl 1 – 10.69%

Kiro felt both extremely happy by his skill, scared and confused. Happy because he knew it would be extraordinarily useful, scared because he had a good idea of just what kind of trial he'd have to go through to master that skill. And confused because of the skill description.

The whole process of creating the Protective Aura had felt a lot like casting a spell. The meditation part was also an activity he had associated with magic. Yet the Aura also consumed his stamina, and he couldn't quite understand why.

"Congratulations Mr. Kiro. It took you only 4 hours to manifest your aura for the first time. It is extremely fast. A record, I would say."

Kiro was once more startled. He had had no idea that so much time had passed.

"Master Amenisa, why does this skill consume both stamina and mana?"

"Do you want me to tell you?"

"Yes please!"

"Then figured out for yourse-elf!" She replied in an annoying sing song voice.

Pissed, he did exactly as she said, not realising that was exactly her aim.

Okay, let's think about this carefully. How did I form the Aura? I gathered everything I was in a ball. Hum, everything I was. In other words, my personality? My soul? Now that I think about it, the description of the Protective Aura kinda reminded me of that scene in Bleach were Ichigo tried cutting Captain Kenpachi Zaraki but couldn't because of his spirit energy protecting him. Is that what I was using? My spirit energy? But that still doesn't explain why it consumes mana and stamina. Hum… Let's look at it differently. Mana is tied to the brain, or the mind. Stamina depends on the body. Then does the protective aura cost stamina and mana because using your spirit puts a burden on both your body and mind? So meditating is just a means of controlling your spirit. Yeah, that could be it… Come to think of it, in the real world, meditation is closely related with religion, which deals with the soul, or spirit. But it's also related to martial arts, and Ki. Ki, huh. In Dragon Ball, it's true they use Ki to attack and defend, and they increase their Ki by training their bodies, while Piccolo also uses meditation to do the same thing. So both the body and the mind help increase Ki, which can be used to further enhance the body. So your mind can enhance your body. Still, that explanation seems like its missing something. Let's go back to the beginning. I start by gathering everything that I am, and use it to… But wait, does that mean…

Kiro had long forgotten his original question. Earlier irritation forgotten he eagerly beseeched Master Amenisa to confirm his hunch: "Master Amenisa, both your stamina and your mana are part of your spirit, right? Then, can you use your stamina to increase your mana, and vice-versa?"

She smiled, the first genuine smile Kiro had seen from her.

"So, pretty sharp, aren't you?" She murmured. "You're quite right, you can indeed substitute mana for stamina, and the inverse. And using your spirit has many other applications, which you'll discover with time."

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Through keen thinking you have reasoned out the existence and purpose of Spirit Energy, which is also known in this world as Life Force.

+ 2 intelligence

+ 5 wisdom

You have gained a new Skill: Life Force Manipulation

Life Force Manipulation

Passive Skill. Mana and Stamina are both related to one another. They are part of your life force. This skill allows you to convert stamina into mana, or mana into stamina. There are, of course, other applications to Life Force but you have not discovered them yet.

-Current Conversion Ratio is 4:1

Current level: Beginner lvl 1 – 2.45%

Your discovery of Life Force gives you a better understanding of one of your proficiencies: Battle Regeneration. You now understand that this regeneration comes from your subconscious manipulation of your Life Force to restore your health, stamina and mana. This discovery increases your Battle Regeneration level to Intermediate lvl 3.

Kiro eyes grew as wide as tennis balls, and his smile grew along with it. It was extremely satisfying when your theory proves correct.

Cutting through his celebratory mood, Master Amenisa's words brought him back to reality: "Now then, Mr. Kiro. You better get to mastering the Protective Aura, you'll need it for the upcoming challenge."

*****

After several hours practicing the Protective Aura, Kiro was able to form it almost instantly. Then he ate a quick meal, had a long nap, and was ready for the Intermediate Trial.

"Master Amenisa, what happens if I die during the challenge? Do I automatically fail?"

"No, you cannot die during the challenge. The worst that can happen is that you fall unconscious. If that happens, you have to restart the trial from the beginning."

"Doesn't that make the challenge too easy, if you can try again as many times as you want without consequence? I thought these challenges were there to test our determination"

"Don't look down on on the Training Centers. To complete them, the weak determination of people who say: "I will succeed or die trying!" is simply not enough. I pity such weak fools. To complete all of the challenges, one will need to show a determination to keep trying after 100, 1000, 10000 failures. To keep trying until they succeed. No, death is too convenient of an escape route, so we remove that opportunity from you."

On that note, Kiro walked to the staircase. Master Amenisa had already told him what the challenge was. He had to climb to the top of the tower. She had also told him he wasn't allowed to take a single step without the Protective Aura.

He slowly climbed up the stairs to the second level. It proved hard to walk and maintain his Aura at the same time, so he wasn't moving very fast.

On the second floor, he could see a long corridor that curved inwardly. Stepping into it, he heard a slight thunk! sound before he was assaulted by wooden pellets that were ejected from minuscule holes in the walls. Each pellet stung, despite the protection offered by the Protective Aura he was covered with. It was a sensation he assumed was similar to being shoot by rubber bullets from a gun. Worst yet, the hits took him by surprise and disturbed his concentration, making his protection vacillate. He didn't want to even imagine what it would be like to be hit without it. The corridor was filled with thousands upon thousands of these pellets shooting across the narrow space between the walls. Every step Kiro took he was hit by dozens of the pellets. Standing still didn't help, as every hole continuously spewed forth such pellets. And he couldn't hurry as that would make his protection vanish. Thus without any possibility to dodge or block the pallets that were simply too numerous and fast, Kiro advanced step by agonising step, on a curving corridor that seemed to last forever. Finally he arrived at the center of the floor, where a staircase leading to the next floor was located. There, there were no pellets shooting at him, so he was able to release his Protective Aura for a few seconds.

He realized both his mana and stamina were nearly depleted. If he had spent more than another minute in that corridor, his Aura would stop protecting him. Shivering at the thought, he rested and ate until his mana and stamina were restored. Then he climbed to the next floor.

This time, it was needles that came out of the walls. They hurt even more than the pellets. And when they touched his skin, it did no damage to his health and instead depleted some of his stamina. Because of that, his stamina was dropping extremely fast. In fact, if the corridor on this floor happened to be the same length as the one on the previous floor, Kiro's Protective Aura wouldn't last.

Realizing that fact, Kiro stepped out of the corridor. He considered his options. He didn't have many of them. He could either give up, which would mean he would lose all chances of completing all of the training centers, push forward and lose consciousness, or train his Protective Aura on the lower floor until it was strong enough to provide adequate protection on this one.

That's what he did. Going back to the second floor, he started walking into the corridor. He went back and forth from both sets of stairs at least a dozen times until his Aura grew strong enough that the pellets didn't hurt anymore. After that he climbed back to the third floor.

*****

In the same manner, he proceeded to the other floors. He went through a corridor filled with spikes and one so cold the walls and floors were solid ice. He travelled through one that was just a long cloud of acid and a particularly disgusting corridor occupied by thousands upon thousands of creepy-crawlies such as snakes, spiders, scorpions and bugs that crawled and slithered all over him, biting or poking at his an Aura, just waiting until he lost his concentration to sink their fangs into him. The last floor was an inferno. Fire covered the floor, walls and ceiling. The heat was unbearable. The flames clung to his Protective Aura. If he had tried to enter the flames without it, even with his high endurance the pain alone would have been enough to kill him. As it was, with the Protective Aura as levelled as he had made it, it was barely bearable. At the end of the corridor, he looked longingly at the stairs leading upwards, before sighting and proceeding to walk back and forth through the corridor until the pain of the fire faded into oblivion.

Then he walked up to the next level.

In front of him was a room eerily similar to the one on the first floor, complete with the bare floor and walls, the torches providing lighting, the staircase at the opposing end… and Master Amenisa standing in front of him.

"Congratulations!" She told him. "You have completed the Intermediate Training Center's Trial. You are the first stranger to do so. Additionally, I can tell you that no stranger has completed the Beginner Training Center yet, even though 149 have completed the Basic Training Center. In any case, as a reward, I will teach you a new skill."

She took out a sword. Placing both hands on the hilt, she tilted her body forward.

"Watch closely. This skill is called Charged Rush. You start exactly the same way as for the previous skill, but you gather the energy in your arms and legs instead. This time, picture it as a spring, that gives and extra boost of acceleration to make yourself move and attack faster."

Kiro watched her as she did just as she said, and propelled herself forward so fast it was a blur.

"This is a continuous skill, which means you can increase your speed like this at every step. But there are three drawbacks to this skill. One, if you are forced to stop at any point, you have to start back from the beginning. Two, there is no way to change the direction you are going in between steps, so your attacks can be avoided if the person is fast enough. Three, it consumes massive amounts of stamina, so don't use it to much. Despite its drawbacks, however, it's still a very handy skill. So try it."

He did, and soon the familiar window popped up in front of him:

Ding!

You have learned a new skill: Charged Rush.

Charged Rush

Active skill. Using a sudden and tremendous acceleration, you attempt to take your opponent by surprise with the increased speed and power of your attack.

-100% Movement Speed increase (+10% for every subsequent step)

-100% Attack Speed increase (+10% for every subsequent step)

-Skill must be reactivated if you stop.

-Cost 100 stamina and 50 mana per second.

Current level: Beginner lvl 1 – 23.01%

Seeing that Kiro had learned the skill, Master Amenisa handed him a ring: "Now then, take this. It is the proof that you have successfully cleared the Intermediate Training Center."

She then took a step back, showing a mischievous smile that went terribly with her overly large body.

"Now then, Mr. Kiro. Would you be interested in a chance to win an extra reward?"

He was extremely suspicious of her and her behaviour, but his curiosity won over his caution and he responded with: "That depends: what is the challenge, and what is the reward?"

She gestured towards the staircase on the other side.

"I will fill this room with golems. Like the ones in the Beginner Training Center, they will be adjusted to be good opponents for you and give no experience. You will have to make your way through them to the staircase leading to the roof, were you will get your reward. Up there there are two artifacts: a scrying orb and a teleporting stone. The scrying orb allows you to view anywhere on the continent and the teleporting stone teleports you at the place the scrying orb is pointing at. Using them, you will be able to teleport to anywhere on the continent. Pretty neat right?"

It actually was a good reward. Using it, Kiro could not only avoid the annoying elves lurking near the tower, he could also teleport himself close to the Advanced Training Center and train there before taking on its challenge. It would save him a lot of travelling time. Besides, he had spent months navigating crowds of monsters. He was confident that he could breeze through this challenge like it was nothing.

"I accept." He said.

"Splendid."

At her words, golems started to appear from the floor. They were the same height as Kiro, and carried a variety of weapons ranging from daggers and swords to maces and spears. As about twenty of them appeared, Kiro smirked as he was confident he could make his way around them. Then another twenty appeared, followed by another one, then another one, until the ground was one gigantic mass a golems, without any space for even a mice to sneak through.

Kiro's confidence was replaced with consternation. He realized that dodging every blow would be impossible in such conditions, where he would have no room to move. Blocking and Parrying would also have mixed results. There was only one way to do this, and knowing Master Amenisa, she had intended it that way. He would have to trust in his Protective Aura and carve his way to the other side.

That decision made, Kiro was suddenly filled with trepidation. The last real battle he fought had been against the Mad Carp. Sure, he had battled monsters in the forest, but he had been spending all those fights without killing any enemies. This time, it would really be a fight to the death.

With a grin, he equipped his sword and a dagger. He used Elemental Attunement to attune both of his weapons to wind, which added a bonus to armor penetration. He activated his Protective Aura and charged the mass of enemies.

With a swing of his sword, he beheaded on of the golems. He half-tackled a second one while stabbing it with his dagger, before beheading a third with the backswing of his sword. He front kicked a four golem straight in the chest, projecting it back into several more golems, and jumped into the opening he had created.

Every swing of his sword and dagger aimed to behead or dismember. The golems felt no pain, so that was the only effective way to stop them. As he went deeper into the mass of enemies, he got hit numerous times by their weapons. But the Protective Aura, his endurance and the rush of adrenaline he felt due to the excitement of the fight dulled the pain of the blows to a point he barely noticed them.

Ducking his head to the side to avoid an axe swipe (Master Amenisa had been right about making small movements. Drats!), he countered by a lunged followed with a trust of his sword into the eye of the golem in front of him. The golem fell, and Kiro heard his sword snap before the hilt in his hand separated from the blade still caught in the golem's eye socket. Kiro felt a little pang! as he had had that sword for a long time and had grown attached to it, before pulling out his second dagger. He had no time for sentiment, surrounded as he was by enemies.

After an hour of combat, Kiro was a little more than three quarters of the way through and he knew he wouldn't make it. At some point he had also lost his daggers, and was currently fighting with weapons he had taken from the dead golems: a short sword and a dagger.

The only reason he had survived for so long is because of his high level in his Battle Regeneration Proficiency, which restored most of the health he lost from the blows that pierced through the Protection Aura. But even with that regeneration, it was not enough to counter the depletion of his stamina and mana. He was down to about 500 stamina, which would give him about 3 minutes before it would run out and he would die.

It was time to gamble.

He deactivated his Protective Aura, and activated Charged Rush instead. He knew it was a skill he could only maintain for about five seconds.

He pushed himself forward with his left leg and used his right to quick another golem's chest.

With the added power of Charged Rush, the golem crashed into the ones behind it and they were flung back several steps, giving Kiro some precious room to maneuver.

One.

He made a series of quick steps, accelerating even more, before using the chest of the golem he had kicked as springboard to throw himself into the air.

Two.

Three.

He wasn't going to make it, that much was certain. He was already falling down, and he still had a lot of ground to cover. As he fell, his foot came into contact with a head, and he used it to once again push himself forward over the golems.

Four.

A golem lifted his spear up, intending to impale Kiro. Making use of it, Kiro parried with his sword, and was thrown to the side, towards yet another golem. Kiro pushed himself off said golem, sailing over the remaining meters separating him from the staircase.

Five.

Kiro's Charging Rush stopped. He crashed into the staircase so hard his vison went white with pain and his health dropped down to half. A few minutes later, as he recovered and ate a quick snack, he observed his surroundings.

He had landed on the staircase leading to the roof. Around it the golems milled around looking confused. It seemed they wouldn't follow him up the stairs. Kiro looked upwards. There was his goal. He looked down. There were still numerous enemies. With a wolfish grin, he charged back down.

*****

Master Amenisa was looking at Kiro's struggles. As she saw him reach the other side, she clapped.

When she saw him charge back down the stairs, she exploded with laughter.

He showed such promise.

*****

When his health, stamina or mana reached dangerously low levels, he would step back unto the stairs until he recuperated, then he would jump back down and resume killing golems.

After several long hours, he stood in the middle of the room, covered in his own blood. In his hands were the latest sword and daggers he had taken from dead golems, countless others having been destroyed during the hours of battle.\

He was surrounded by the corpses of hundreds of golems. Putting his weapons away, he made his way back to the stairs.

Climbing up, he reached the roof. The stars were out. It was a beautiful sight, usually obscured by the trees of the forest. But this time Kiro was situated above them, and the stars seemed close enough to touch. The ground below was so far he had trouble seeing it in the darkness of the night.

He didn't know how many days he had spent in that tower. But he was itching to be away. He brought his attention back to the roof he was on. The scrying orb and teleportation crystal were situated in the middle of the open space. He walked up to them.

Putting his hands unto the orb, he attempted to understand how it worked. It turned out to be very easy to use. The orb rested on a pedestal, but had a bit of wiggle room. By tilting it in a direction, its focus moved accordingly. By pressing on the orb, it zoomed in and out.

After a few minutes of tilting, Kiro managed to focus the orb on a large canyon on the other side of the continent, where an Advanced Training Center was located. He put his hand on the teleportation crystal, and as it started shinning he understood it was about to teleport him to the area he had selected. A luminous yellow circle formed under Kiro's feet and the ground started to shake. For some unknown reason Kiro lost his balance and tripped, his hand smacking the scrying orb hard as he tried to regain his balance.

The scrying orb started spinning uncontrollably, its focus changing faster than the eye can see.

"Uh oh." Kiro said.

Then he was teleported to an unknown location.