The Forgotten Faithful: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 2) Cajiao, Jez (best selling autobiographies TXT) 📖

but it is a slim chance, and few manage it. Beyond that, you must apprentice yourself to a teacher, serving many years to learn a single rune. In such ways are the balance of power maintained; after all, the greatest armorers will only entrust their creations to the greatest of enchanters. In this way, those of us who are not sworn to a lord or crafting association can never grow to compete,” she said bitterly.

“Well, you’re sworn to one now, so I guess I’ll have to try and get you some more Runes, then.” I shrugged. Enough of this crap, I decided, heading to the door.

I stalked out of the captain’s cabin, shrugging my shoulders to settle the pauldrons in place and trying to ignore the sting of Renna’s work.

I stopped in my tracks, a grin coming to my face as I saw how quickly people were running, determined to make the ‘Freedom’ ready for this trip.

I could see Lydia and her team gathering on the deck of the ship, the crew running back and forth as they completed last-minute tasks.

“Bane?” I said quietly, testing, and a second later, I heard a quiet response.

“Yes, Jax?” he said, and I looked over at him. His stealth skills and natural camouflage had allowed him to hide in almost plain sight next to a pile of barrels by the door.

“Nothing, mate; I just wondered where you were,” I said, when a thought struck me. “I didn’t actually ask you about this, but are you okay with the idea of training me?”

“Do you want the honest answer? Or the nice one?” Bane replied after a few seconds, and I felt the subsonic of his race’s laughter reverberate through me.

“Don’t blow sunshine up my arse, mate, just tell me straight. I’m a big boy, I can take it,” I replied, grinning at him.

“I’d rather you learned how to fight before we go anywhere. So far, you have survived on a mixture of insane aggression, luck, and what seems to have been very basic training, but to anyone that actually studies your fighting style, you have huge gaps in your knowledge. Have you chosen your specializations yet?” he asked, and I shook my head, confused.

“I don’t think so; what are they?” I replied and I heard a low groan from him.

“I knew it. Okay, Jax, this is simple, but oh so complicated at the same time.” He stood up and moved over to stand at my side, watching around the ship as he did so. “Not much point in my staying in stealth when we’re in a conversation, I suppose.” he said, shrugging. “So, when you reach level ten in any discipline, you gain a specialization. I don’t know about the other aspects of life, but in fighting, you can choose a way to improve your skills. When I reached level ten in my daggers, I chose to improve their piercing ability. I gained an extra ten percent of the overall damage done by any dagger I use, and it bypasses my target’s armor.”

“How the hell does that work?” I asked.

“I hit harder, and cut faster; not by much, but as skilled as I have become with daggers, I would have been surprised if I had not improved somehow.”

“Okay, give me a minute…” I said, concentrating as my skill matrix appeared. It flared and changed, the details shifting as I concentrated on only what was important to me right now.

Skill

Sub-Skill

Level

Bonus

Specialty knowledge

Ranged

Archery

1

Bowman (0/100)

Throwing knives

3

Small Blades (20/100)

Throwing axes

1

Axes (0/100)

Melee

Axes

1

(0/100)

Dual Wielding

4

Twin swords (50/100)

Daggers

5

Daggers (90/100)

Maces

3

(40/100)

Swords

6

Swordsman (40/100)

Staffs

8

Naginata (70/100)

Spears (50)

Unarmed

6

Unarmed (50/100)

The skills list, once I’d dismissed the details for anything not weapons-related, was short and to the point. I read it out to Bane, and he laughed.

“Well, at least you’re close to your first specialization for your weapons, then; one more fight will probably do it. Considering the way you fight with that naginata, I’m surprised you’re so low, still, but we can fix that.”

“When we spar, does that increase the level?” I asked and got an immediate shake of the head.

“No; for whatever reason, the Gods decided that such skills only increase with actual combat, but the act of training does make a difference, and not just to your chance of living through the fight. If you train in a skill, then use that same skill in combat, you will increase the skill much quicker than without training first.”

“So, basically, train my ass off, and it’ll all be worth it later. Gotcha,” I muttered, dismissing the screen.

“Essentially true, Jax; we will work on it together,” Bane said reassuringly, before easing back into stealth and vanishing.

“Fuck it, then,” I muttered, watching Flux and Ame finally leaving the cabin behind me. Oren and Cai walked over, and I waved to them to join us.

“Okay, guys,” I said when we were all standing together, “take care of things here, get our people trained as best as you can, and don’t let the damn Tower collapse while I’m gone. I trust you, so for now, act as a council for me. You deal with any issues you have to, and I’ll check in with Seneschal as often as I can; you can give him messages for me.”

With that, and a round of wrist clasping and nods, I turned and walked up the gangplank, finally ready to go. I could feel Bob somewhere below me; I’d sent him a command to protect the Tower, but it felt weird to not have him by my side. I’d considered taking him to the city; people have seen skeletal constructs, after all, but he’d draw too much attention even then, and I needed to be as stealthy as possible. Lastly, I knew I needed him to protect my people here, so as much as I wanted my buddy with me, he was staying behind.

Oracle flew down to me, full sized, and her arms were full of books, which drew the eye of everyone that saw them. I took them and slipped them into my Bag of Holding,