Eternal Awakening [LitRPG] [EtA Book 1]

Chapter 5 - A Show of Skill

It was a new day and Obi rolled off his bed and into his wheelchair. It was a perfect Sunday with cool winds and a clear sky. Dern was getting Sara ready as she wanted to go to the park to play. They all had breakfast together and Dern took Sara out.

Obi went through the normal Dive procedures and headed straight into EtA. He was planning to do a little bit of training before the meeting to loosen himself up. Coincidentally, he found Cole near the Desert Trader with a stack of old gear on the table. He walked up to Cole and tapped on his shoulder.

"Hey, Cole! Funny seeing you here, great Warden. I thought you were supposed to be in Sylis, doing a few contracts. What are you still doing in Cylvador? You won't be able to train easily in the forests."

"You see, Obi. I need a challenge. I just reached level 80, and you know what that means. I'm not a Warden anymore, you call me a Warlord now. Watch me."

Cole pulled out his regular sword, the one he carried all the time, and Obi just stared.

"What's different?"

"You still haven't seen it. Now look."

Cole pulled out a previously invisible second sword and waved it around with his left hand. He twirled them around and took a stance.

"That is cool, but can you do anything with it?"

"You want to see? Come to the training ground."

Cole leaped skywards, nearly reaching 50 feet in height, and landed straight in front of the training ground.

"Showoff," Obi muttered to himself, and he trudged over to the ground while loosening himself up for the fight.

He found Cole smirking at him while leaning against a wooden wall. They went over to the Gatekeeper and asked for a pass to the ground.

Gatekeeper: Welcome to the training ground. Would you like to proceed?

Cole responded with, "For the two of us please."

Gatekeeper: Very well then, enter and train. Your items and gear have been kept as a backup, your status and profile will be reverted when you exit the grounds again. 20 credits will be deducted from you.

The gate lifted and the two were led into a transparent dome. They stood at opposite sides and waited for the center wall to be lifted. Cole gave a signal and a countdown began.

Obi prepared himself by readying his shield and checking his equipped gems. As soon as the wall vanished, he ran along the edge with his back always towards the curved wall. Cole whipped out his two swords, and then seemed to reconsider. He put away one of his swords and pulled out a dagger.

He slowly closed the gap with Cole, barreling straight for the thin, toned Warlord. While sprinting, Obi looked away for a second to check his health and mana. He saw a flash out of the corner of his eye and involuntarily raised his shield.

*Twang*

He saw a dagger poking out of his shied and was startled. Cole wasn't a ranged class, he had always been Melee. Obi slowed down and took a look at Cole. He just waved another dagger and threw it. Obi dodged it and started to think more strategically. By the time he had reached Cole, he had formulated a plan.

Cole approached him with his two swords and swung at Obi with one. He used his shield to block and brought out his sword as well. They exchanged blows for a bit, and Obi realized that Cole was very proficient with his second sword, though he did notice that using a second sword required Cole to use up a little bit of mana to keep the sword steady and block attacks.