The sparing continued.
Zeo and Marcos turned around each other, exchanging blows and strikes. While Marcos escaped, dodged, parried and blocked all of Zeo's attacks with one blade he attacked with the other. Zeo tired quickly, needing breaks every hour where as Marcos never seemed to sweat even when the sun was at its brightest.
As the days became weeks and the weeks months an improvement could be seen. Zeo started using tactics such as directing his opponents eyes towards the sun, making feints and passes at specific moments, targeting vital areas or even suddenly accelerating his movement speed. All of this in order to confuse his opponent and have a chance to land a strike.
But all was in vain. Marcos had experience battling much more gifted and ruthless opponents than Zeo and was much faster and stronger than him.
Not that he did not notice the improvements or approve of the tactics Zeo used. No, he knew that mercenaries needed to use every advantages possible or they would perish. What Marcos was discontent with was Zeo's inability to coordinate his two hands.
If one strikes or blocks the other was still, it annoyed Marcos that his student did not even think of using both swords at the same time.
Unknown to him, Zeo was aware of his miss-giving. In fact it was done on purpose. While he hunted wolves and bears, yes bears, he would use both swords to attack or defend but when he was with Marcos he would only use one at a time.
This was because Zeo was studying Marcos movements and gesture. He was so concentrated on them that he lost the ability to wield two swords simultaneously correctly.
He also trained mentally during the spares, imagining how to respond to Marcos attacks and footwork.Little by little Zeo learned how to block and attack at the same time, how to spin in a deadly manner, how to move his body in accordance to his opponent... it was slow but it was effective.
On the first week of the training he switched from his clothes to a leather outfit made of bracers, torso armor, leg armor and boots. He still wore the woolen clothes underneath it but had taken off the fur jacket and boots. It was the start of summer in the game and he could feel the sun on his back. The leather did get hot but still less than the fur.
In the second month he had to bring his swords to the smithy to have them repared. He was surprised to see the same red headed girl from the wood carver there. She did not notice him.
After four month of sparing Marcos lost patience. He started reprimanding Zeo for not working properly on his dual wielding. It went on for three more weeks like so: Marcus instructing Zeo and Zeo messing the moves because he did not pay enough attention, too busy as he was thinking and mentally training.
In the end Zeo was forced to get serious when Marco threatened to let go of him.
"Give me a chance to prove my worth. This time i will give my whole."
"Fine. one last chance. if you can lay a hit on me by the end of the week i keep teaching you."
And so Zeo got serious.
From low, disorganized and clumsy his strikes became powerful, fluid and many. That had taken Marcos by surprise and one of his swords flew out of his hand. The next attack blocked his last blade while Zeo's second weapon came under his neck. For a moment both were motionless until Zeo put his blades back in their sheath and said "I win."
After that both of them went back to sparring for another week but this time Zeo was a hundred percent concentrated on Marcos while the mercenaries guard was up and expecting.
On the last day of the month, after their spare Marcus sat down on the grass under their lone tree and invited Zeo to do the same.
"I have taught you all i could about dual wielding. The rest you will learn with experience. Go now. You are a mercenary."
[Congratulation, your apprenticeship with Marcos is complete.
Skill learned: [Strike] [Hit] [Slice]
Talent learned: [Dual Sword Mastery] [Sister Sword Mastery] [Bastard Sword Mastery]
It is advised you refresh your status plate.]
Biding goodbye to his mentor, Zeo did what he was counseled to and went to the church to obtain his status. He paid the forty silvers and waited as his blood and the magic inscribed his stats on the parchment.
[Status:
Name: Zeo. Sex: Male. Age: 16
Civilisation: Pholien Nationality: Last City
Class: Mercenary. Job: none. Rank: H
Status: free men. Reputation: 0. Bounty: 0
<Stats>
Health: F Magic: I
Agility: F-32
Athletism: F-63
Charisma: I-21
Dexterity: G-19
Endurance: G-83
Intelligence: H-77
Luck: H-92
Mind: I-48
Personality: H-67
Speed: F-91
Stealth: I-03
Strength: F-29
Stats go from I to SS. Resets at Rank Ups.
<Talents>
•[Dual Sword Mastery] [Sister Sword Mastery] [Bastard Sword Mastery] [Leather Armor] [Cloth Armor]
<Skills>
•[Strike] [Hit] [Slice]
<Spells>
•
<Affinity>
•
<Education>
Languages: [Common Language]
Cultures:
History:
Architecture:
Clothing:
Agriculture:]
After that he brought a blank plate at a general smith and went to a carver to have it filled in.
[(Front)
Pholien, Zeo
Mercenary, Rank H
Free man, 0, 0
<Constitution>
Agility: VH
Athletism: VH
Charisma: VL
Dexterity: S
Endurance: S
Intelligence: L
Luck: L
Mind: VL
Personality: L
Speed: VH
Stealth: VL
Strength: VH
(Back)
<Affinity>
•
<Spells>
•
<Talents>
[Dual Sword Mastery] [Sister Sword Mastery] [Bastard Sword Mastery] [Leather Armor] [Cloth Armor]
<Skills>
[Strike] [Hit] [Slice]]
Stats are described as Very Low (VL), Low(L), Standard (S), High (H) and Very High (VH) and the grading scale depends on each person's stats. For example if all of a players stat are at I then they will be considered standard but at the same time if all are at SS they will also be Standard. If all but one stat are H then the different one will either be VL of VH. all stats between the lowest or highest ranked stat and the standard standard stat are considered Low or High stats. This system allows players to show their playing style without revealing their stats to other players they are temporarily teaming with.
Zeo put the plate around his neck and went to sleep in an inn. Tomorrow he would join a party and hunt.
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Fantasy World Online II: Second Chance
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