by Pegaz
Martial Arts: Judo, Karate, Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, Kung Fu, Throwing Knives, Throwing Stars, Assassination... The list kept going on and on.
"How much would it cost for you to teach me all the basics about these five?” John pointed out on the list: Judo, Karate, Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai and Kung Fu.
"Only five out of all of them interest you?” Robert raised an eyebrow. “So you neither use weapons, stealth, or party members, then. Is that it?"
"Not right now, I don't. If I think I'm going to use those martial arts in the future, I'll come back for more training but for now just these five, please."
"Okay, how does £300 sound? That's £60 for each of the basics, but you take care of your food and sleeping area."
"Deal. Let's get started."
Chapter 16
Master of the Basics
"Right then, today let's start with the top of the list. Judo is..."
Over the next hour Robert explained the very basics of Judo. Following that subject, he then started going over the other four Martial Arts.
The old man was well-versed in teaching. He even had a wooden dummy for John to practice on. The dummy was rather advanced, the whole thing rotated and the arms moved up and down. John was eager to practise his techniques on this.
There were five books in total, each thoroughly covering the basics of each of the Martial Arts. Flipping through the pages, John found a few moves to practice too. By the time he was ready to leave the house, it was already 9pm. Robert just told John to study the books and come back tomorrow.
John did his homework, pouring over each book thoroughly. He made sure he could perform any of the moves he found in the pages, using his levelled up mental skills to memorise both the illustrations and descriptions of the movements. He wanted to get his money's worth, at the very least.
This routine of arriving in the morning, training all day, and completing his homework at night settled into John’s schedule. After two whole weeks of rinse and repeat, John was exhausted both in body and in funds. During those two weeks, he'd learnt everything he could from Robert.
From here on out, it was just a matter of practicing and refining everything that he’d learned. He’d also yet to master hiding any tells, like how a boxer’s shoulders sometimes moved ever so slightly before they threw a jab or a straight. John wanted to be completely unreadable in battle.
On the final day, John left Robert’s home around 6pm. Thanking Robert again for teaching him, John promised to come back to learn the more advanced stuff in the future. After he’d saved up the money, of course.
Within the system, there had been some changes over the past two weeks. The Flesh Strength’s Immunity skill had finally levelled up to Level 1. The Organ Strength, Bones Density, Muscle Elasticity, Mind Strength, and Sprinter skills had all, also, levelled up.
The Direction skill had also completed, disappearing from the list. The reason why it only took two weeks to memorise all the books, stances, moves and instruction was because the Mind Strength skill’s Memory had also completed and faded from the list.
John now had photographic memory. This meant that he could read all of his textbooks at a faster pace and still retain every word. He put almost everything he had into Maximum Idlers. With nine Idlers in that category, the countdown indicated that 90 seconds per second was being knocked off. This meant that the ten days’ worth of time to level it up would take just under three hours to complete. The next level after that, which initially took four months and eight days, would then take eighty hours.
With all of these advantages, John felt considerable growth in just two weeks.
Welcome to the Idle System 1.5
Name: John
Age: 15
Idlers: 0/22
Time Pool: 0
Skill Points: 0
HP: 69
Attack: G (270 Points)
Defence: N/A (30 points)
Stamina: N/A
Defence List:
Flesh's Strength - Idlers 1/99, Regeneration - 16/100, Immunity - 1/2, Time - 2mo 12d 15h 34m 42s
Misc List:
Maximum Idlers - Idlers 14/99, +1 Max Idlers - 21/2159, Time - 23d 3h 06m 15s
Analyser Eye - Idlers 1/99, Godly - 0/1, Time - 5mo 15d 12h 6m 12s
Sprinter - Idlers 1/99, Reduction Cost 3/10, Time - 2mo 24d 21h 57m 32s
Completed List:
Flesh's Strength - Placement.
Organ's Strength - Stomach Acid.
Mind's Strength - Memory.
Continuous - Continue Option.
Impurity Filter - Filter Option.
Analyser Eye - Advanced.
Senses - Time and Sight.
Idlers Speed.
Dismantler - Master Option.
Directions - Map, Transparent and Icons
John had gotten a few completed skills while he was learning martial arts from the books and from Robert's years of experience. He’d now mastered the use of his palms, knees, elbows, and feet in combat. He'd also learnt how to shift his weight into each attack, using the enemy's weight against them, along with various throws and so much more.
The only thing he was missing now was combat experience.
With that in mind, John went straight to the Guild Halls' second floor. He asked a merchant about knives used to skin animals and was shown a popular model of knife that a lot of the adventurers used for such things.
Normal Skinning Knife
Attack: 25.
Hmm? What surprised John was that the system’s analyser worked on equipment. When John stared at the title of the weapon, he recognised the word ‘Normal’ in some descriptions of the skills.
He also remembered the way Alan had used the word to describe his blade when they first encountered the bear together. Did that mean there were other grades, too?
While John was holding the knife and looking at it, he pinched it between his thumb and index fingers knuckle, to test how durable it is.
CRACK!
Both John and the staff member showing the knife to him heard that. Looking down, John saw that half of the knife's handle was now full of cracks that wrapped all the way around it. Then, the blade snapped off completely and fell onto the ground. John was still holding the handle.
Both John and the staff member silently stared at the knife blade on the floor.
"Isn't this knife a bit too fragile if it simply cracked in between my fingers?” The words eased out of John’s mouth as he tried to turn the situation around. “What would have happened if I had to use it on a rare game, but couldn't dismantle it because it broke on the slightest touch? Would you have paid for the losses that I would have suffered? What, is it made out of glass?"
He had to shift the blame! He couldn't afford to pay for a broken product, even if he was actually the one at fault. He'd make it up to the guild later on!
The saleswoman panicked a little, visibly flustered. "I'm so sorry sir, let me clean this up. I-I'll fetch a much better knife that has already been proven to work in the field."
"Okay, don't worry too much. It wasn't your fault…” John tried to keep the mood light-hearted by adding a playful, “unless you’re the one who made this?"
"Please don't joke, sir, this was made by a blacksmith here in town. His work is usually excellent, I assure you. He must have had a bad batch of materials for this one."
"It's okay.” John raised his hands defensively. “Everyone has a bad day."
The staff member nodded and headed to the back of the shop. As soon as she was out of sight, John wiped the sweat from his forehead. Soon she returned, holding a much better looking knife. Upon receiving the blade, John made sure not to pinch it. He admired the knife's edge.
Rare Skinning and Boning Knife.
Attack: 115
Wow, over four times the attack! It looks a lot sharper too.
The knife was curved, which was best for skinning animals. What was surprising was that the pointing end faced upward, which was the main feature
of a boning knife. This was a two-in-one blade!
“Miss, how much is this knife?"
"£250."
Hearing the price, John knew he couldn't afford it and shook his head a little.
"Sorry, I don't have enough."
At that moment, Tom walked into the store from the backroom. He was talking to a bald man with a black beard. John recognised him as one of the counter staff. Seeing the two together, he hadn’t realised the man behind the counter was actually so small.
"Ah, hello again,” Tom, the manager, took notice of John and approached. “How was the whole deal with Robert?"
"It went along just fine. I've actually just completed his training. This was my first stop after leaving his place."
"Great! Ah, please forgive me for not introducing you.” Tom now gestured to the man who accompanied him “You might not have met, but this is Brad. He works here part-time. Normally he’s a blacksmith, but he comes here for a little inspiration from time-to-time."
"We've met,” Brad said dryly. “This brat is the guy I put on a quest. He’s a Sider, Tom. I saw it on his ID card."
"You're a Sider? I didn't know that."
"Does it matter?” John spat out perhaps with a bit too much fire. He backed off a little, “I mean, if I’d mentioned I was a Sider, would you have given me the same amount of money when buying the flowers? Given me the same advice about Robert? It would have been the same treatment, right?”
"I would have done everything the same, whether you’d told me or not."
Tom’s absolutely even tone of voice invited a tense silence among the three men. A chill ran down John’s spine as he almost ogled at the amount of level-headed conviction in Tom’s words. John felt like he could trust this man’s words with his life.
As if trying to break the sentence, Brad looked at the floor near John and noticed chips of steel from the broken knife.
He pointed at John's feet and asked: "What happened there?"
John looked down and saw the pieces of the knife. He turned to the store lady, hiding his guilt behind (what he hoped to be) an air of self-righteousness.
“Care to explain?”
"The customer was holding the knife when it broke in his hands. It was made from inferior materials, so it was brittle to the point that it broke while the customer was holding it."
Brad looked at Tom. Tom looked at Brad and shrugged his shoulders. Brad took the broken knife's handle, examined it for a little while, and sighed.
"This dagger is from an apprentice who has good skills but needs more training in the basics. If he can't even make a Normal knife from iron, how's he going to make it as a blacksmith? As an apology for almost selling shoddy work, brat, you can keep that knife you're holding. I’ll pay—"
"Hold that thought," John held his left hand up, glancing around the shop but not finding any other blades of real value. He turned to the lady and asked, "Miss, are there any better knives the Guild Hall has? Just let me hold it before he finishes that sentence."
Nothing but stunned silence. The woman and Brad just stood there while Tom burst out laughing.
Chapter 17
Truth
"Brat! Don't get smart with me. I'm offering this as an apology because that broken knife is from my apprentice. Don't try to get anything else out of it unless you’re willing to pay through the nose to get it!"
"Relax! I was teasing, jeez,” John’s smile straightened out. “But in all seriousness, thanks for the knife. It will come in handy."
Brad snorted but held to his word, giving the money to Tom. After the transaction, he carried on out of the shop and down to the 1st floor.
"He doesn't have much of a sense of humour. Dwarves are like that. They take everything so seriously."
"No worries, as long as he knows I wasn't trying to take advantage of him.” John paused, catching onto Tom’s sentence. “It's my first time seeing a dwarf, though. We have them in mythology where I'm from, and they're mostly grumpy old buggers who hold grudges."
"Well, no worries there. Brad’s not the type to hold grudges."
"That's good. Ah, hey, while you're here—can you tell me how much it would cost to take the Survival course you mentioned? And does that teach you how to skin the animals?"
"Yes, actually, it does. It also teaches you where to find water, what plants are safe to eat, how to skin animals for food… The whole lot. The course lasts overnight and costs £100."
John started calculating how much he had left out of the £700. He’d spent £300 on the martial arts, £210 for two weeks at the inn, £3.50 for the clothes, and £10 for the belt. That left him with £176.50 left.
"Great, I'll take it! When does the next course start?"
"Tonight, actually. The instructors will take you out into the wilderness to show you what you need to know, rather than explaining it. They say it helps to learn by experience rather than by memorising facts."
"I've got a good memory,” John smiled. “But I'll come back tonight. What time does it start?"
"8pm."
It was settled. Tom parted ways with John, while John put the knife into its leather sheath, making sure to thank the store lady. He clipped it to the back of his trousers with the blade side down, handle closest to his right hand and the blade’s point to his left. Then, he exited the store.
Back on the first floor, John searched the posting board for any quest that involved Continuous Bears. Even though he hadn't raised his Defence up to Rank H yet, in his mind he now had the proper knowledge on how to beat the creature without getting hurt. After all, he still had his personal vendetta to see through.
John walked to the H Rank quests and saw four different materials needed from a Continuous Bear, each of the items were priced separately. The items that John needed to acquire were the hide (for the clothing shop), the claws (for the blacksmith), the gallbladder (for the apothecary), and the meat of the bear (for the butcher shop).
Hide priced at £40 per pelt while the claws priced at £25 for an entire set of ten. The gallbladder sat at £10 each, and the meat was £5 per 10 grams of the best part of the bear's meat only. If he skinned them correctly, he could get about £80 per bear.
Now, how am I going to store it all? Especially the meat, that will rot within days or possibly even hours in the sun.
Stumped by what to do, John first went to the counter for registering to ask about tonight’s survival course. The woman behind the counter asked for the £100 payment first, and told John she'd register him for the course. He paid, thanked her, and then went to the waiting area to sit down. There was still roughly and hour and a half until the class started.
At 7:40pm, there were roughly fifteen young people in the waiting area. All of them boasted about how they'd hunted before, gloating about where they’d trained and under whose master’s guidance. John listened in and thought about the novels he'd read back on Earth.
One of these guys is going to be arrogant and think he's better than everyone else because he's got his family's background. After scanning over the kids, John’s gaze rested on this one plump kid who’d only bragged about his family status.
He's the one, John decided. Now I've got two choices: avoid him and play it safe, or kill him and anyone who's with him. I could do it after the course, but before everyone gets back to the city. If he starts trouble with me, I can mess with him for a while before killing him off. Of course, that's IF he makes trouble with me. I'm not looking for an excuse to kill my first human!
By the time 7:50pm rolled around, the group of students had fully gathered. A man walked towards the waiting area, John wondered if he was the instructor. The man stood just under six feet tall. He was slim and wore a black hooded cloak with the hood down, blue hair peeking out from under.
“Quiet!”
The man’s voice echoed in the hall and all fell silent. You could have even heard a pin drop.
"Good,” he continued. “Now, you brats are here for the survival course. The
re's twenty of you here, excluding any guardians. I'll not be repeating myself at any point, so you better all shut up, follow instructions, and give me your undivided attention."
A pause for impact. The silence was heavy with anticipation.
"If you feel unhappy about the treatment that I or any of the guild staff has given you, then sorry. No refunds are to be made available. We're setting off in five minutes. You’d best be ready.” As he turned to walk off, without turning back around he added, "I forgot to introduce myself. Rank S Adventurer, Gavin Duns. My speciality is tracking."
When John heard his rank, he immediately opened the system’s analyser and directed it at the instructor, trying to be as discreet as possible.
Gavin Duns
Attack: ***
Defence: ***
There were two things he could conclude with this information:
1 - His analyser was too low a level to measure the higher ranking creatures.
2 - The system’s standards were higher than the Guild’s since the S rank for the system was a minimum of 1,000 points in Attack or Defence.
The five minutes flew by, and soon enough John and the rest of the students followed Gavin out the Guild Hall.
Inside the Guild Hall, Tom and Brad were inside Tom's office. Brad was sitting in a chair opposite Tom's desk while Tom was standing up and looking out the window. He could see the survival group leaving into the distance.
"Why are you so nice to that brat? You even assigned Gavin as the instructor for that course last minute! Did it as soon as you heard the brat was going to join, ‘ya did."
Tom stood in a calm silence, unperturbed by the heat in Brad’s words. After a moment, the man’s cool gaze turned from the window as he addressed the dwarf in an eerily level voice.
"While you have a high rank inside the guild, Brad, you have yet to gain access to the most important information about Siders. Information that's known only to royalty, nobles, guild masters, and a select few others.” Tom paused and a cold smile eased onto his perfectly calm face. “If you want to know the reasons for my actions, you've got to make a blood oath to never reveal this information to anyone who hasn’t taken the oath.”
