“A tie?” Patesh asked as he sat down at the outdoor table with Andy, Quinn, and Gerran for lunch. “How is that possible?”

  “It happens quite frequently,” said Gerran. “But some people are unable to accept it.”

  “Shouldn’t a tie go to the noble-born?” said Patesh.

  “Why would that be the case?” Andy said, cutting in. He knew that Patesh was noble-born, and that Gerran treated noble-borns gently, perhaps too gently, for the sake of long-term relationships, but Andy was getting fed up with the entitled attitude that was apparently common among the ruling class. Though he was happy that he had advanced his [combat] rank earlier in the morning, he was hungry and sore, and his patience was wearing thin. “What could possibly entitle a noble to win a tie?”

  “Well, they deserve it,” Patesh said. “They worked hard to get to their position, and they should be paid respect and deference.” Patesh smiled proudly, satisfied with his answer.

  Gerran looked toward Andy. “And what do you say to that?”

  “I say bullshit,” said Andy, taking a bite of flatbread.

  “What?” said Patesh, his mouth hanging agape. “Why? Are you ungrateful to the nobles for their benevolent support of the underclass?”

  “It’s bullshit,” Andy said. “You believe and repeat bullshit. What does a noble actually do to earn their place among the nobility?”

  “Well, they’re born to noble parents and–”

  “Exactly, it’s just a lottery, the luck of the draw. Why does an accident of birth entitle someone to more rights than another person?”

  ‘Well they have to work hard… nobles receive very rigorous training! And–”

  “Look, I’m sure many nobles do indeed work and train hard,” Andy said, letting out an exasperated sigh. “But why would their training entitle them to winning a tie? Wouldn’t that just prove that their opponent also underwent rigorous training if they were able to match their skills?”

  “Well… it… but…” Patesh’s face fell into a frown as he tried to string together an objection.

  “You have an odd way of viewing things, Patesh,” Quinn said. “I don’t get it, personally.”

  “Me neither,” said Gerran, breaking his stoicism with a chuckle.

  Patesh’s eyes closed into slits as he looked around at everyone sitting at the table. “You’re all ganging up on me?” Andy saw the rage rise in him, something he had seen when he sparred against Patesh a few days earlier.

  “Calm down,” said Gerran. “No one is ganging up on you, we’re just having a conversation and we don’t agree with your logic. If anything, we’re respecting you by arguing against it.”

  “But–”

  “You see, when someone believes something false or harmful, it is the duty of a friend to challenge those beliefs,” Gerran continued. “If we didn’t consider you a friend, we wouldn’t argue with you.”

  “But what if you are the one that has false beliefs,” Patesh said.

  “Very good,” said Gerran. “Then challenge them.”

  Patesh huffed.

  “But relax first,” Gerran said, “like we’ve practiced.”

  Patesh inhaled and exhaled deeply, letting his shoulders fall. He picked up some flatbread and took a bite, chewing thoughtfully. “I think that the nobles were put here to rule,” he said. “Someone has to rule, otherwise you’d just have… anarchy.”

  “And why do you believe that?” Andy asked.

  Patesh took another bite. “It’s just the way it is.”

  Andy just chuckled. Just the way it is… exactly what he had heard countless times in his previous life.

  “I suppose we can pick this conversation up another time,” Andy said.

  “Good idea,” said Gerran, rising from the table. “Let’s get started on that rank 2 [martial weapons] training, shall we?”

  “Already?” Andy said. “That will be three skill levels in two days…”

  “Well, I’m taking you through your second ranks rather quickly for two reasons. First, because I can see that you learn fast, and you can handle quick instruction. That’s a testament to your natural skill,” Gerran said. “But there’s also a second reason, something I haven’t told you.”

  “What’s that?” Andy asked.

  “I’ve received a job request that I think would be good for you. All three of you actually,” he said.

  “What kind of job?” Quinn asked, perking up.

  “Well, in a couple of days, a Wizard in the nearby countryside is hiring a massive team to clear a dungeon. It’s a long story. There’s a wing of the dungeon that should be a good challenge for the three of you, but not too much to be deadly. I thought I’d pass the lead along to you three. You could begin to build your professional network, put a dungeon crawl on your resume, and walk away with some loot.”

  “That sounds great,” Quinn said.

  “I’m in,” said Patesh. “I’ve been waiting a long time for a proper dungeon.”

  “Andy?” Gerran said.

  “Don’t I need a Fighter rank?” Andy asked.

  “I don’t see why you would,” said Gerran. “I wouldn’t send you on a job I didn’t think you could handle with two ranks in the core skills. Besides, neither of your comrades here have a rank in Fighter yet either.”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Andy nodded. “Okay,” he said. “That sounds good, then. I’m in.”

  “But we need to get your [martial Weapons] rank done as quickly as possible, so we may as well start training today,” Gerran said.

  ***

  “I think the medical tent should go there,” Yarel said, pointing to an empty patch of grass near the firepit. “It’s a short distance to the cave mouth, so adventurers will have easy access in case of emergency.”

  “Consider it done,” said the blue automaton spirit. The short, featureless humanoid entity scurried off, joining a group of other blue spirits and directing them to put up the tent.

  Yarel had been onsite for over an hour and still hadn’t encountered her employer, but a page named Blerimy had greeted her and given her command of a group of several automatons, before hurriedly welcoming another group of support staff impatiently asking where they would set up.

  Wizards weren’t great about organization, but she’d seen worse.

  As a Cleric, Yarel was often asked to organize medical resources for adventurers, but this was the biggest job she had accepted in recent memory. There were hundreds of dungeon crawlers headed their way in a matter of days, and she expected plenty of injuries. Luckily, she had a small team to work with, and a considerable budget for healing potions.

  Yarel had accepted the job not only because the money was good, but also because the situation was interesting. Ficteh the Obscure, a legendary if reclusive Wizard, had been working on a technique to make the {create silver dungeon} spell work more efficiently. By all reports, the experiment had succeeded all too well, and now the cave systems near Towermeade were being overrun with the silvery veins of the dungeon. It had spawned plenty of treasure hordes, as silver dungeons do, but also plenty of mobs. It was getting out of hand.

  She knew little about Ficteh, save that he was an absentminded but high-level Wizard. There were legends she had heard as a girl, of course, about how the “Wizard of Towermeade” would capture you and eat you if you misbehaved, but those were idle stories, half-jokes made up by parents to scare their children into good behavior. She was interested to finally see this Wizard for herself…

  ***

  “Unlike the shortsword, the longsword is best utilized with two hands, at least until you advance further in your [martial weapons] training,” he said, handing the hilt to Andy. “You can use one hand in a pinch, but for now, I recommend two.”

  Andy took the longsword. It was heavy, but balanced, crafted from plain but high-quality steel. He held it tightly as Gerran drew his own longsword.

  “You can use the weapons I’m giving you today as loaners for your training, but you’ll need to buy your own when you leave here. Unfortunately I just don’t have enough gear to go around…”

  “No problem,” Andy said. He rather liked the idea of purchasing his own weapons. He had to spend the gold that Noel had given him on something, after all.

  “Now, you’ll have a longer reach than you do with the shortsword, but you’ll have less agility and range of motion,” Gerran said, modeling a few blocks with his weapon.

  Andy imitated his movements, blocking an imaginary attack from the top left, top right, and overhead.

  “Good,” Gerran said. “Now with the longsword, you’ll be tempted to take big swings. It feels good, trust me I know, but in most cases, it’s unwise. Swinging recklessly will cause you to fall off balance more often, and will expose weaknesses in your defense. Only take big shots when you have the perfect opportunity, or when you absolutely must.”

  Andy nodded.

  Gerran showed Andy a few attacks: an overhead swing, two lateral attacks, and a forward-aiming thrust that would pierce an enemy.

  Andy copied them all.

  “Very good,” Gerran said. “You’ve got a natural knack for it. The first thing we’ll do for your test is run through some drills. I will model some attacks that you defend against, and then you model some attacks that I will defend against.”

  “Just like I did with Morwen for the staff and shortsword,” Andy said.

  “Exactly,” said Gerran. “Now, I’m going to take a few swings at you and I want you to block them.”

  Gerran moved toward, swinging in from the left side.

  Andy met Gerran’s blade with his own, pushing it to the side.

  Gerran moved forward again, swinging from overhead.

  Andy raised his blade, blocking the attack.

  Finally, Gerran swung in from the right.

  Andy parried.

  “Great,” said Gerran. “Now throw some attacks my way.”

  Andy swung overhead and from either side, just as Gerran had done, and Gerran met each swing with a defense of his own.

  “Well done, you’ve got the drills down. I don’t think I need to instruct you further there. Now, let me show you the longsword form we’ll be using for your test.”

  Gerran walked through a series of steps: overhead block, right lateral attack, left lateral block, forward pierce. Overhead block, left lateral attack, right lateral block, forward pierce. The form concluded with roll forward, a leap into the air, and a big overhead swing, landing in a crouch.

  Andy copied the form. He blocked overhead, made an attack from the right and blocked to the left. He pierced forward, just as Gerran had done. He made another overhead block, attacked from the left, blocked toward the right, and jabbed forward again.

  Here we go with these rolls, he thought.

  He held the longsword in one hand as he fell onto his shoulder, rolling forward. He found his footing again and leapt several feet into the air with astonishing ease.

  This [athletics] training is really paying off…

  He brought the sword behind him, his other hand finding the hilt as he reached the apex of his leap. As he fell back down to the earth, he brought his blade down in front of him, swinging forward as he landed in a crouch.

  “Very good!” Gerran said, clapping lightly. “I’m really impressed.”

  “Thank you,” Andy said, rising to his feet and breathing heavily.

  “You have a knack for it,” he said. “Most low-level brawners struggle with the rolling.”

  “It took a while to get it down with the staff forms,” Andy said. “But after that, I think I more or less have it.”

  “Morwen taught you well,” Gerran said. “Now, let’s do some practice on the shortbow.”

  Gerran’s pace of training was breakneck. Andy had just completed a fairly difficult form. He hadn’t even caught his breath and now he was expected to walk across the gym and learn an entirely new skill immediately.

  I suppose I’m making very quick progress with him, Andy thought.

  Gerran led Andy to the edge of the gym where an assortment of bows and quivers leaned against a support beam.

  “We’re going to cover the shortbow, since it’s a more compact weapon and more easily portable than the longbow,” Gerran said. He reached down and picked up a shortbow, handing it to Andy before taking one for himself. “We’ll use those targets there,” he said, pointing to three bullseyes about fifty feet away.

  Andy held the bow. It was small, maybe two and a half feet in length, and contained a reflex curve on either side of the center grip. Andy was much less sure about how to approach using a bow and arrow. The staff, the shortsword, and the longsword had all been fairly straightforward and intuitive, but archery seemed to require a more delicate technique.

  “Now,” Gerran said, notching an arrow in his bow, “have you ever used a bow like this?”

  “No,” Andy said.

  “No problem,” said Gerran. He handed Andy an arrow. “You just nock it here, like this,” he said, placing his arrow at the center of the bowstring.

  Andy copied him.

  “Yes, perfect,” said Gerran. He stood still, demonstrating how to hold the bow. “Now you hold it like so, and pull the arrow back. Aim, and release.” He let the arrow fly. It struck the center target around the rim.

  Andy brandished his shortbow pulled the arrow back, doing his best to aim it straight at the center bullseye.

  “Wait–” Gerran began.

  But Andy had already released it. The arrow flew forward, but didn’t hit the target. Instead, the arrow overshot it, flying into the woods.

  “I forgot to tell you,” Gerran said, “you'll naturally overshoot at first. You've got to get used to the way that the arrow arches. Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it.”

  “Ah,” Andy said, “yes that makes sense.” He nocked another arrow and drew it back, letting it fly toward the target.

  The arrow whizzed through the air in a gentle arc, barely missing the top of the target and piercing a tree trunk a few yards further.

  “Better,” Gerran said. “You’ve almost hit the target. You can make it connect.”

  Andy took a few more shots, each one barely missing the target’s edge. After each try, Andy subtly adjusted his technique, looking for the right form. Finally, Andy struck the upper rim of target.

  It connected with a thud.

  “That’s much better,” Gerran said. “You’ll continue to improve quickly with just a bit of practice.”

  The melee weapons had come easily to Andy, but the bow was going to require a bit of acclimation.

  “How will I be tested on the shortbow?” Andy asked, relaxing his shoulders after a few practice shots.

  “It’s quite simple, actually,” said Gerran. “There’s no form associated with the bow, at least not at this stage of training. So you simply need to successfully hit those three targets from where you’re standing.”

  “That’s it?” Andy asked. “Does it count if I hit the edge of the target?”

  “Yes, it counts,” Gerran said. “For your initial levels of [martial weapons], we’re looking for competence, not mastery or even expertise. I’d say you’re in good shape. But as your coach, I want to see you hit the center of each one. Consider that a stretch goal. We’ll perform your test tomorrow morning. How’s that?”

  “That works,” Andy said. “So I just perform the longsword form, run through some drills with you, and hit these three targets?”

  “Exactly,” Gerran said. “I think you’re more than ready for the longsword portion. Keep practicing your bow skills until dinner.