Swiishh! Woosh! Wooosh!
Early in the morning, Aeron started practicing his spearmanship. Thrust, slash, and sweep, he has already repeated these actions for an uncountable amount of time since he came to this world.
‘Now let’s try adding a skill’ Aeron thought. The moment his spear was about to thrust, it zipped through the air.
He had tried adding skills to his punches and kicks yesterday, he just felt his strikes sped up. This time, he used a spear, he felt his whole body speed up.
“Hmm, why would this happen though?”
Aeron thought to himself, he had seen the bears use it, even Ursa could use two skills simultaneously, it could only use it on 2 of its limbs. As he had no other skills to compare with, he tested both armed and unarmed application of the skill, after 10 tries he was fully exhausted. After he rested for a bit, he sat up then started analyzing the two situations.
“This should mean that I could effectively use the skill on my attacks but the intent of the attack is taken to account.”
Aeron thought. When he tried punching while using the skill, he had only used his upper body, this was a subconscious action, whilst when he used the spear, he would always utilize his entire body for the thrust.
‘So if I do these’ Aeron thought while launching off a punch while stepping forward. And just as he thought, he felt his entire body speed up. He looked at Ursa who was sleeping beside him.
“Why don’t the bears use their entire body when using the skill then?”
Aeron looked at Ursa while thinking about his entire encounter with the other bears. Every bear he encountered had only used [Accelerated Strike] when using one arm. Ursa with its skill [Unnatural Stance Mastery] could at most use two limbs.
“The difference is…”
Aeron continued thinking out loud, to properly utilize a skill you have to at least know some, if not all its rules or mechanics, if possible. Of course, there were skills that can’t be interpreted by humans like the [Tame] skill, or [Raise Undead] skill, these skills were too unnatural for humans to analyze, and were usually skills pertaining to souls and life that humans are unable to figure out. Magic skills would at least have chants and the way mana circulate when using said skills. Of course, a lot of people would just ignore this, and just use their skills as is, but some of the more skilled Professionals could even change the utilization of the skill. Of course, physical skills weren’t that mysterious as other skills, they were basically skills that utilize your body’s potential, this is also the reason why it only costs you stamina to use. It’s a simple power-up activated by the mana circulating inside your body.
“The only explanation I can think of is the size difference.”
Aeron said aloud, the difference between him and the other bears were their size, this would also explain why he can use the skill on his whole body while also being able to use it on some parts of his body. Skills would usually be customized for the individual’s body or ability, this meant that skills that were acquired from professions were tailor-made for its user.
But unlike other professions, Tamers get their skills from their pets, which meant that there would be a slight adjustment to the skill but overall, the ability would still be heavily based on the original owner of the skill. This time the adjustment was based on the size of the skills affected area, the bears could use [Accelerated Strike] on their limbs, he hadn’t seen bears using bite attacks with the skill but it should be possible. But in comparison to the affected area when bears use the skill, Aeron was even smaller than their arms, which meant that the skill should have been the same with the bears, and could only be used by Aeron on his limbs if it was a skill he got from his profession. But it was taken from the bear, Ursa’s arms were twice the size of Aeron, thus, the skill was adjusted to Aeron based on Ursa’s capacity, which made it possible for Aeron to use the skill on his whole body instead of just a limb.
This change basically made the skill [Accelerated Strike] comparable to the Warrior’s skill [Dash] which allowed Warriors to dash with incredible speed, just as Jason showed when he tried to attack Aeron, if a normal Warrior were to use the skill then they would first use [Dash] then ready a strike after the skill ended. But the more skilled Warriors could ready their strike while dashing, this was because the normal mechanics of the skill [Dash] was a simple run plus speed.
The skill would normally cancel itself when you try to strike while dashing, same as Aeron not being able to use the [Accelerated Strike] without attacking, but if Aeron were to master the skill then he would be able to manipulate his body into thinking he was going to strike even though he wasn’t. If a warrior were able to hide their intent to strike while dashing then they could use the skill as an attack skill instead of a normal movement skill. But these types of actions were no easy feat, even Aeron had no thoughts in being able to use the skill without actually attacking. Of course, he could use attacks while traveling but the stamina consumed while doing so was not economical, though it should be usable in emergencies.
“Those types of people should be nerfed, being able to will their bodies the way they want it to, too unfair.”
Aeron thought, this feat was truly only possible for those dubbed as geniuses, and even some geniuses can’t achieve such actions. But unbeknownst to Aeron, the slumbering beast beside him was one of those that could do such a feat, Aeron had only thought Ursa struck the ground to propel itself forward as he could always hear the ground boom when Ursa uses the skill, but this was only a normal consequence when a huge beast uses the skill.
After eating and resting for an hour, Aeron stood up then continued practicing the skill with his attacks, which were mainly using thrusts, sweeps, and slashes. He could already feel himself change little by little as he practiced every day, and now his newly acquired skills reinforced that feeling. This was also the reason he canceled the exploration today, he felt that he was about to level u. He still hadn’t mastered the body of a level 2 Professional, albeit Tamers were far weaker in comparison to professions like Warriors, the type of strength he now had was far-flung from the normal body strength of a human being.
After exhausting his body again with training, Aeron rested for a bit before going to the monkey training area beside the fields.
“ki!” “Kiii!” “Ki” “kiii!” “ki” “Kii!” “kiki” “kii!” “Kii!” “ki!” “Ki!” “kii”
The whole area was ripe with monkey calls, as each monkey found another as sparring partners, they were only using wood essence as staffs. The noticeably bigger brown monkey, Alexander was facing another brown monkey which was slightly smaller but a bit more agile than him. Aeron watched as each monkey struck while the other would counter after deflecting, almost all the monkeys were equal, unlike what he had seen in most anime or movies, the attacks used by these monkeys were not flashy but more efficient. But Aeron also understood that it was because their opponents were of the same caliber and size, but just like how Richie handled the brown bear, their style could change depending on their opponents. In truth, he had taught these monkeys the basics but they had all surpassed him when it came to technique and finesse, which made him a bit depressed but at the same time happy.
This was the same as being a bit jealous of someone you know thinking you both worked hard, but at the same time being happy for them. In this case, these monkeys would listen to Aeron, so in a way, these monkeys were his strength.
But of course, there was also a reason for their huge improvement and not just because they were more skilled or talented than Aeron. It was all because of Arthur, when Arthur subdued its subordinates, it had bestowed some of its memories, these memories were about skills or fighting techniques, all this time these monkeys had yet to truly assimilate with these skills. Memory Inheritance would usually be possible when a beast gives birth to its offspring. But to beast kings, it was something they can bestow instead.
Beast kings were in truth an unexplored area for Humanity, there was a huge secret pertaining to these beasts which were very useful to those on the top echelons of humanity, but it was a different matter altogether, a Tamer taming a beast king was still unheard of. This was not just because a beast king was strong, but the requirements for taming one was almost impossible, the first requirement was that the beast king had to be an infant beast, second, the Tamer must not be stronger than the beast king in level, the third requirement was that the Tamer must fight fair and square.
These requirements were unknown to humans, and many had died attempting to or killed the beast while attempting to. Beast kings were very prideful and only a handful of humans could garner their respect, but most of these humans were not Tamers, or even if they were, the beast kings would rather die than surrender. The hardest requirement was the second and third, to be the same level as a beast king and taming them was suicide, if not for original’s soul exhausting Arthur then fusing with Aeron’s soul, causing the illusion of hiding his strength then striking with a powerful blow, Arthur would have never accepted Aeron as its master.
“Arthur, have Gwaine and Lancelot spar, stop them if it gets too dangerous,” Aeron said, he had wanted to see to what extent the difference was for the silver monkeys.
“Kii! Ki ki kii kiki,” Arthur nodded to Aeron as it ordered Gwaine and Lancelot to spar.
“Kii!” “Ki!” both silver monkeys bowed to Arthur before activating their skills. It was always a sight to behold when the Arthur and the silver monkeys used their armament skill, their fur would sway for a moment before turning into a metallic liquid then hardening into an armor fit for themselves.
The two monkeys squared off as mana agglomerated on their hands turning into a mana staff before silver liquid covered it transforming it into a silver staff. Lancelot suddenly charged at Gwaine raising its staff high before smashing it on Gwaine.
Boom!
“No mercy huh, that strike should have also utilized [Empowered Strike].”
Aeron blurted out, if Gwaine wasn’t able to dodge or parry the strike then it would’ve done a lot of damage, but as it were, Gwaine wasn’t one bit inferior to Lancelot. Aeron had forgotten that these monkeys were vying for Arthur’s favor, the same way as human king’s subjects would. The difference was that the monkeys under Arthur would never have other thoughts like usurping the crown, but if they were ordered to compete against another subject monkey then they would try their best to defeat the opposition and gain the favor of the king.
“Kiiii!”
Before the dust completely settled, a silver staff appeared from the receding dust, Lancelot parried but Gwaine had also used the [Empowered Strike] this time.
Clang!
The result pushed Lancelot 2 meters away.
Swooosh! Clang!
Gwaine threw his staff on Lancelot which Lancelot parried, but before Lancelot could recover Gwaine had already neared it, Gwaine punched Lancelot in the stomach.
“Ki!”
Lancelot endures the pain as its tail wrapped around Gwaine’s arm. Lancelot swept its staff as Gwaine used its free arm to block.
Clang!
The armor and staff met, had there been more space between them, then Lancelot’s strike would’ve broken Gwaine’s arm, but Lancelot’s counterattack hadn’t ended yet. Aeron saw a bizarre sight as Lancelot got dragged by Gwaine in the air because Lancelot’s tail was still wrapped around Gwaine’s hand, Lancelot pierced the earth with its staff as it used the inertia to spin on the staff dragging Gwaine with it before slamming Gwaine on the ground.
Boooom!
Before Gwaine could recover Lancelot had already launched itself from the staff readying another attack.
“Kii!”
Arthur stopped the fight. After hearing Arthur, Lancelot kneeled on 1 foot clutching its stomach while Gwaine slowly raised itself from the rubbles.
‘It seems like both of them weren’t injured too badly.’ Aeron thought, both injuries weren’t as severe as he first thought, this was also thanks to their armors. But it would’ve been another story had the fight continued.
“Good!”
Aeron said, the fight didn’t even last a minute, each strike had even utilized the [Empowered Strike] skill. A quick-paced battle that showed both their skills, this had also been an eye-opener to Aeron, earlier he had thought he caught up a bit with his newly learned skill, but his speed wasn’t much compared to a silver monkey’s speed when they fought seriously.
“Continue training the other monkeys.”
Aeron ordered, he had to go get Spirit to train his equestrian skills, right now if the wolves attacked and with his subpar horsemanship then he wouldn’t even be able to try and escape once a chase happened.
The only pets that could surpass Spirit in speed, the silver wolves, still needed about 3 weeks to recover. Aeron didn’t really consider the wolves as his mounts, he already had Spirit, but that wasn’t to say that he wouldn’t try to ride them if needed. The wolves were probably better left for the silver monkeys and Arthur, Arthur and the silver monkeys were fast, but the wolves were much faster on land.
“Spirit let’s train.”
Aeron arrived outside the stables where Spirit was grazing, the stables were actually open for both Spirit and Ursa to go in and out if they wanted.
Neigh!
Spirit rubbed its head on Aeron as Aeron approached it, it looked at Aeron as if waiting for something.
“Hahahaha here.”
Aeron gave Spirit a fruit, it had always done this when Aeron visited, which was every day. Aeron waited for a bit as Spirit munched on the fruit. Aeron put the saddles on Spirit as he mounted, ready for another day of mounted training.
Aeron had realized that there were too many things he needed to train in, leveling up too fast would only make him unaccustomed to his strength. It was like wielding a sword but not knowing how to use it, his strength would be greater than before if he leveled up, but his usage of it would be too mediocre. It was already something great that he only needed to get used to his strength by training and had no need to take the time to consolidate his level further.
