TO GUTS
XX.
Stance
He straightened up.
— And it's not just
physical. It’s mental. Spiritual, even. When you hold the right
stance, truly well, perfectly aligned, you’ll feel something
strange. A sense of blurriness around things. As if time were slowing
down. As if you were outside the normal flow. That is what you are
looking for. That moment of absolute clarity.
— How do I learn it?
— Through brutal
repetition. Hundreds of hours. You get into position, you hold it
until your legs burn, you move, you fight, you return to the
position. Again and again. Until your body knows it better than its
own name.
He placed his hands on
Kael’s temples.
[TRANSFER IN
PROGRESS...]
Pure physical
sensations. Perfect balance. Optimal muscle tension. Synchronized
breathing.
[CONCENTRATION
STANCE - LEARNED][PERFECT EFFECT: MP COSTS -50%]
[CURRENT LEVEL:
BEGINNER (ACTUAL EFFECT: -10% MP)]
[MASTERY REQUIRES: 200+ HOURS]
Kael staggered.
— It’s... complex.
So many simultaneous parameters.
— That’s why no
one masters it quickly. Immediate test.
He pointed to an open
space.
— Get into the
Stance. Now.
Kael obeyed. Feet,
weight, torso...
— Leaning too much.
Eighteen degrees, not twenty-five. You look like an old man with a
lumbago.
— He’s right.
Straighten up.
Correction.
— Front foot turned
too far inward. Parallel to your line of strike.
Correction.
— Better. Now hold.
A full minute.
Kael held. His legs
trembled after thirty seconds.
— This is hard. My
thighs are burning.
— It’s normal.
Keep going. Mental strength.
At fifty seconds, his
thighs were on fire.
— I can’t anymore.
— Ten more seconds.
You can.
—
Kael grit his teeth.
Held. Sixty seconds.
— Stop. Rest.
Kael straightened up,
panting.
— That was just one
minute and I feel like I ran a marathon.
— It’s not a
natural position. Your body must relearn it. Second test. Harder.
Valdris gestured to
Zik.
— You, the goblin.
Come here.
Zik approached
cautiously.
— Kael is going back
into the Stance. And you, you’re going to talk to him. About
anything. Try to distract him. If he can keep the perfect Stance
while listening and answering you, he’s starting to understand.
— Easy, Zik smiled.
Kael returned to
position.
— Go.
— So, Kael, did you
know that goblins can literally smell human fear?
— What? No. Really?
— Yeah. And right
now, you stink of fear. It smells like... wait, your front foot just
moved.
Kael looked down. Damn
it.
— Resume, Valdris
ordered. Start over.
Kael corrected.
— And did you also
know we could easily kill you while you sleep? You have no defense at
night.
— That’s
reassuring. Thanks.
— You’re welcome.
Oh, your torso. You’re at fifteen degrees, not twenty.
— DAMN IT.
— Concentration,
Valdris growled. Conversation is part of combat. The enemy speaks to
you, provokes you. You must stay in the Stance no matter what.
They repeated it six
times. On the seventh, Kael held for two minutes without moving.
— Better. Much
better.
Valdris nodded with
satisfaction.
— Now, I’m going
to make you an offer. I have a private training room here, at the end
of this hallway. You can come train here, in secret. No one will see
your weapon. It’s safer.
— You would do that?
— For the heir of
Black-Forest? Yes. Come every day. Morning and evening if you can.
Train with the heavy sword. Practice the Stance. And for the last
half-hour, use your real rapier. I’ll watch over you when I can.
— Thank you, Master.
Truly.
— Now, the sword
techniques.
He placed his hands on
Kael’s temples, holding the heavy training sword.
— Two fundamental
techniques.
CLOSE THRUST — short-range attack on vital
points, 8 MP.
LONG THRUST — long-range attack with maximum
body extension, 12 MP.
[TRANSFER IN
PROGRESS...]
Precise images. Fluid
movements. Angles of attack. Perfect timing.
[CLOSE THRUST -
LEARNED][+30% DAMAGE, +15% CRIT, 8 MP, RANGE: CONTACT]
[LONG THRUST -
LEARNED][+20% DAMAGE, +20% RANGE, 12 MP, RANGE: 2M]
[DEBT: 135 COPPERS
TO VALDRIS]
Kael reopened his eyes.
— I can feel them in
my muscles.
— That’s the basic
knowledge. The real work starts now. Daily training. Several hours.
The Stance above all. It is the key to everything.
— I’ll train hard.
— Good. The more you
practice, the less mana it will cost. An expert can perform a Close
Thrust for 3 MP instead of 8. But that takes months of relentless
practice.
— How many exactly?
— Six months minimum
of daily training to master the Thrusts. The Stance? A year. Maybe
more depending on your natural talent.
— That’s long.
— It is the price of
true excellence. Shortcuts do not exist. Now go. Use my private room
tonight. Train all night if you want. Earn money tomorrow. And come
back and pay me my 135 coppers.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
— Thank you, Master
Valdris. For everything.
— Honor the weapon
and its former wielder. That is all I ask.
They stepped out.
[+100 XP FOR
ZIK]
[LEVEL 3 REACHED!]
[HP: 38 → 52]
[MP: 42 → 54]
[FULL RECOVERY]
— Level 3, said Zik.
— Spend your point.
— Agility.
[AGI: 19 + 1 = 20]
XXI.
Night Training
Valdris led them to
the end of the corridor. A heavy wooden door. He opened it.
A private room.
Smaller than the common room, but better equipped. Quality
mannequins. Precise targets. Thick mats. Mirrors on one wall to
correct his posture.
— There. Train here.
No one will come. Lock the door from the inside. Come back whenever
you want.
— Thanks.
Valdris left. Kael and
Zik entered. They locked the door.
Past midnight.
Complete silence.
Kael took the heavy
training sword. It weighed easily three kilos. Heavy, unbalanced
compared to his rapier. He moved into the Concentration Stance.
Feet. Forty-sixty.
Front foot straight. Back foot at forty-five degrees. Torso. Twenty
degrees back. Heavy sword forward. Training main-gauche as well.
He held. One minute.
Two. Three. His legs trembled under the extra weight.
— You’re
holding up well. Keep going.
— Narrator? You’re
even here?
—
— That’s creepy.
— It’s
practical. One more minute.
Kael held. Four
minutes. His thighs were burning. He straightened up, panted.
— Break. Thirty
seconds.
He drank some water,
stretched, got back into position. Five minutes this time. Then six.
By the tenth attempt,
he began to feel something. A subtle change. His breathing calmed.
His muscles found a balance.
— Zik, come here.
Zik approached.
— We’re going to
do some weapon passes. Slowly. So I can test the Stance in movement.
— You sure? You look
exhausted.
— Exactly. I need to
hold it even when I’m exhausted.
Zik drew his knife.
— Ok. Slowly.
—
They began. Zik
attacked slowly. Kael parried from the Stance. First pass: he lost
the Stance in three seconds.
— Damn it. Again.
Second pass: eight
seconds. Third: fifteen. Fourth: thirty seconds.
— Better, Zik
encouraged. You’re starting to get it.
They continued. One
hour. Two. At three in the morning, something changed.
Kael was in the
Stance. Zik attacked — a bit faster. And suddenly, Kael SAW it. Not
just physically. He saw the movement before it happened. The
trajectory. The intention. He parried effortlessly, stayed in the
Stance.
— Holy shit, he
whispered. I saw your strike before it arrived.
— I felt something
too, Zik said. You were different. More present.
— Again.
— That’s it.
That’s the feeling.
They resumed. This
time, Kael felt the blur. That strange sensation. Zik's outlines
became slightly blurred. Time... slowing down? No. But his perception
sharpened. He parried three strikes without losing the Stance.
[CONCENTRATION
STANCE: NOVICE LEVEL]
[EFFECT: -15% MP COSTS]
[PROGRESSION: 8/200
HOURS]
— That’s it, Kael
breathed. This feeling. The blur.
— Keep going, said
Zik. I’ll attack faster.
—
— I know, Narrator.
They trained until
dawn. Weapon passes. Parries. Counter-attacks. Dodges. All while
maintaining the Stance as much as possible. Zik was also progressing.
His attacks were becoming more precise. Faster.
[ZIK: SNEAK ATTACK
+5%]
[ZIK: BASIC FEINT LEARNED]
At six o'clock, they
collapsed on the mats.
— Damn, Kael panted.
I held the Stance for almost two minutes in combat.
— That’s good for
one night. Valdris said it took months. I progressed too.
— I know. You’re
getting more and more vicious.
— Thanks.
They laughed weakly.
At six-thirty, Kael stood back up.
— The last
half-hour. Valdris said to finish with my real rapier.
He put away the heavy
sword. Drew his rapier from the new black scabbard. It was so light.
So perfectly balanced. Like a natural extension of his arm. He
returned to the Stance.
And everything became
easy. The Stance held effortlessly. His movements were fluid. Fast.
Precise.
— Holy hell, he
whispered. The difference is incredible.
— You’re three
times faster, Zik confirmed.
They did one last
weapon pass. Kael parried everything Zik threw at him. Effortlessly.
The rapier almost sang in the air. No. Not yet. But almost.
At seven o'clock, they
stopped.
— We should sleep.
Two hours. Then we take a quest.
— Good idea.
— You’ve worked
well.
— Thanks, Narrator.
— Yeah, thanks. You
were less annoying.
— ...
They went up to the
dormitory, collapsing onto the beds. And slept for two hours.
[NIGHT TRAINING
COMPLETED]
[KAEL: STANCE - 8 HOURS]
[KAEL: COORDINATION +2%]
[KAEL:
MENTAL ENDURANCE +5%]
[ZIK: SNEAK ATTACK +5%]
[ZIK: BASIC FEINT
LEARNED]
[KAEL-ZIK BOND: STRENGTHENED]
DAY 4/7
Two hours later, Kael
woke up. A dull headache.
— Damn it.
Zik was already up.
— We’ve had two
hours of sleep. We need to take a quest. We need coppers.
— Yeah.
They went down. Quest
board.
— Which one? Zik
asked.
— The wolves. Wolf
Rank. 50 coppers plus the pelts.
— It’s risky.
— We need money. 10
coppers to Kassios, 135 to Valdris.
— 145 coppers total.
Damn it.
— Then the wolves.
—
They took the
parchment and went to the counter.
— We’re taking the
wolf quest.
The clerk noted it
down.
— Blue Quest. West
Forest. Pack of six to eight wolves. Level 4-5. Wolf Rank
recommended. 50 coppers plus pelts. Do you accept?
— Yes.
— Good. Three-day
limit. Good luck.
[QUEST ACCEPTED:
WEST FOREST WOLVES]
[DIFFICULTY: MODERATE]
[REWARD: 50 COPPERS +
PELTS]
[TIME: 3 DAYS]
They stepped outside.
— The West Forest,
where is it?
— Two hours' walk
northwest, an adventurer replied. You can’t miss it.
— Thanks.
They took the road.
— You have your
techniques. You’ve trained.
— Is the Narrator
encouraging us? Zik asked.
— The Narrator
wants you to survive.
— That’s new.
— It’s
pragmatic.
The road was long.
They walked in silence. Halfway there, Kael stopped.
— We should practice
the Stance while walking.
— How?
— I’ll get into
the Stance. I’ll walk. You correct me if I lose it.
— Ok.
Kael got into
position. Then walked slowly. He lost the Stance within five seconds.
— Front foot is
turning.
— Damn it.
They continued. By the
end of the two hours, Kael could hold the Stance while walking for
almost a minute.
[STANCE: +1
HOUR]
[9/200 HOURS]
The West Forest
appeared. Dense. Dark. Tightly packed trees blocking the light.
— Shall we?
— Let's go.
They entered. Silence.
Only the wind. The cracking of branches.
— It’s creepy.
— Yeah.
Twenty minutes.
Thirty. Then a howl. Distant.
— Wolves.
— Let's follow them.
The howling grew
closer. Then they saw them. Six wolves. Large. Gray-brown fur.
Glowing yellow eyes.
[WOLVES ×6]
[LEVEL
4-5]
[HP: 40-50 EACH]
The alpha wolf
growled.
— Human. Goblin. You
are on our territory.
— The wolves talk?
Kael whispered.
— Apparently.
— We’re here for a
quest. The Guild sent us.
— The Guild, the
alpha spat. Always the Guild. You kill. You take. You leave.
— We’re just doing
our job.
— And we are
defending our pack.
The six wolves formed
a circle around them.
— Shit. We’re
surrounded.
Kael moved into the
Concentration Stance. Feet. Torso. Weapons. The blur appeared.
Slightly. His perception sharpened.
[STANCE ACTIVATED:
-15% MP COSTS]
— Do we negotiate or
do we fight?
— We fight, the
alpha replied. You came here to kill. So kill. Or die.
He lunged.
[COMBAT INITIATED:
KAEL & ZIK vs. WOLVES ×6]