“Focus on your guard!” I lift my spear, my shoulders and wrists already feeling tired. The trainer’s spear clangs against mine and pushes me back. “Keep your footing secure!”

  I grimly lower my centre of gravity, lift my arms again, and strengthen my leg position despite the screaming of my muscles, resisting the urge to pulse Flesh-Shaping through my body to heal away some of the strain. Apparently I shouldn’t do that during training so as to benefit fully from the conditioning. I suppose I should be grateful that my trainer said he’ll let me use it at the end of the training session – though since I have another trainer who will take over at that point, maybe not.

  It’s been a while since I’ve been pushed this far, but I know what Mathis will say if I complain – ‘You’re not tired; you’re just not using your stats correctly!’ It’s the same thing he’s said multiple times already this morning. We’ve been training since Nicholas and Sarran left and I’ve little chance to worry about what might be happening in the Green Chamber – that’s probably the point. My four companions who came with me are off to the other side of the training hall, interspersing sparring with watching me and relaxing – lucky them.

  The next time Mathis lunges at me, I manage to deflect his spear away without being knocked off balance at the same time.

  “Good! That’s it. Again!”

  We keep going. Lunging, deflecting, blocking, stabbing…. Mathis told me that when I get good enough, I’ll be able to learn a few more advanced movements like spear-binding or bringing the butt end into play. But for now, learning those first four movements is taking all of my concentration, especially when he slowly increases the speed of them and the force with which I’m supposed to move.

  By the time we’ve finished the round, I’m covered in sweat, and my limbs are shaking.

  “Take a flare,” Mathis tells me, not unkindly, throwing a canteen at me. I don’t even manage to catch it – the canteen rebounds off my left hand as I lift it to intercept. I lean down to pick it up, grimacing as my legs threaten to buckle under me, then trudge off to the side of the hall to sit on the low bench provided for that purpose – only the second break we’ve had in the last hour or so since we started.

  According to Loran when I asked him about how time is measured here, ‘flare’ is the equivalent of about five to ten minutes for me, so I don’t have much time. It seems like this world hasn’t got past using candles as measurements of time so I’m getting used to hearing ‘flare’, ‘candlemark’, ‘flame’, and ‘flicker’. Flame seems to be something like one or two minutes and flicker is apparently a few seconds by my standards.

  If this is what I have to look forward to in weapons training, I’m not sure I’m going to survive very long. Mathis explained that Nicholas had asked him and the other two guards to train me on all four of my main weapons Skills for the next few days so that we can all get a feel for which might be the best one or two for me to focus on. They all have different advantages, after all.

  The spear keeps attackers at arm’s length which reduces danger to me, and is one of those I’ve had the most practice with. It’s also a good vector for my particular brand of poison-aided fighting, especially if I can improve my Metal-Shaping Skill so I can control the head of the spear at a distance. I’ve already been able to integrate Flesh-Shaping with spears made of bone. And, in a pinch, spears can be used as ranged weapons too, since they can be thrown and still be effective, though they’re not as good as specialised javelins, of course. But if I plan to use a spear that way, I’d better make sure I have a few duplicates in my Inventory since otherwise I risk being weaponless at the wrong moment.

  The mace is more of a close-range weapon, and is definitely a blunt instrument, but against men and beasts with armour that works out pretty well. On the other hand, it’s hard to introduce poison with it, unless it’s contact poison, but most of what I have to work with isn’t. It’s also something I’ve been using since my first days in the other world and is a Skill which is relatively simple to become competent in.

  The bow is another weapon I’ve been using since early on in my time in the other world. It’s the best ranged weapon I have, and is a good vector for delivering poison. However, unlike the spear, if someone gets too close, there aren’t many options for using it to win a fight. Yes, I could use the bow itself as a staff if necessary, but that’s likely to ruin the bow for one thing, and would require me to be competent in staff fighting too. And while I could use the arrows like daggers, they’ll always be far inferior to the real thing.

  Which brings me to my last weapon: daggers. The most close-range of all of the weapons, they still have some facility as ranged weapons if they’re weighted correctly. An excellent weapon for stealthy kills, where the others are much less so, knives are something I’ve become practised in wielding, even if not usually in fights. They are good at delivering poison and bleeding my opponent dry, but might fail lamentably against an armoured or too big enemy since they might just not be able to pierce deeply enough. Though, again, if I’m using a weapon made of metal or bone that I can shape with magic, I might be able to overcome that limitation when necessary.

  Between all of them, it’s a hard choice – hopefully Nicholas is right and actually training with them will reveal which I’m more talented with because right now, there aren’t any I want to ditch to make space for other general Skills. They’re all useful in their own contexts.

  “Lord Markus?” Mathis’ voice interrupts my contemplations.

  “I’m coming,” I sigh, pushing myself to my feet and taking a drink out of the canteen. At least I only need to survive until lunch time – also according to Nicholas, I’m only doing weapons training this morning. I’ll have the afternoon to explore the city and learn more about the culture in a hands-on sort of way.

  I toss the water canteen back to my trainer and then stride back to the middle of the training hall – it’s remarkably big for something that’s part of a set of rooms inside a palace; I wonder what the palace’s official training areas look like since there have to be some. “So what are we doing now?” I ask Mathis.

  “It’s time for some sequences,” he answers and then goes on to explain and demonstrate. He starts going through a series of positions that kind of reminds me of kata in karate – a choreographed sequence of moves where the focus is on perfecting the movements involved. I begin to copy, finding that it’s harder than Mathis is making it look – unsurprisingly. Mathis is patient with me, correcting me whenever I make a mistake, but not getting frustrated with me for making them. I do try not to make the same mistake twice, and slowly find my movements becoming more fluid.

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  It’s almost like a dance, and I begin to feel a rhythm in the movements which I try to keep consistent, however fast or slowly I’m actually doing them. If Mathis’ noises of approval are anything to go by, I’m doing the right thing.

  It doesn’t take me long to realise that I actually quite like this part of the lesson, for all that it’s just as hard as the earlier learning. A brainwave makes me engage Light Meditation as soon as I think I’ve learned the sequence enough to be able to operate partially on auto-pilot – I certainly find that learning new things comes more easily now than it used to be, both in my mind and in my body. Even my body is no longer protesting quite as much as it was at the beginning of the lesson. Thank goodness for Constitution, is all I can say.

  The use of Light Meditation immediately shows its impact – it gives me a surprisingly clear mind and a heightened awareness of the Energy moving through my body – Energy that doesn’t seem to come from any external source, but from somewhere deeper within me. In fact, as I pay increasing amounts of attention to the Energy and less to the movements themselves, I notice that the Energy isn’t the same as what I’m used to seeing enter through my channels when I’m meditating; instead, it looks more like the Energy that rushes around my internal matrix during a level up – calmer and more fluid.

  As I continue working through the sequence, a theory begins to come together in my mind. What if that’s the difference between someone with a Class and someone without? What if the Energy rushing through my body, faster and more fluidly every time I repeat the sequence, is the reason why I’ve been able to magically continue improving my physical body even after reaching twenty in each stat – the natural human maximum in Nicholas’ world?

  What if the Energy that rushes through my internal matrix and body during level ups doesn’t actually dissipate as it appears to? Perhaps, at least with the physical stats, it remains and…imbues my body and allows it to push far past physical limits?

  But it can't be doing that all the time. If so, I wouldn’t be able to hold an egg without cracking it, with my superhuman strength. I saw Sarran accidentally break off a solid chunk of wood from Nicholas’ chair, but I haven’t seen him have any sort of accident since. So perhaps it’s something that needs to be activated consciously. And maybe that’s what Nicholas and Mathis are talking about when they say I’m not using my stats to their fullest extent. Perhaps I need to learn how to activate them. But if so, my increased awareness of the Energy running through me has to help, surely?

  “Move through the sequence with increasing speed.” Mathis tells me when he sees that I have the movements memorised and he hasn’t had to correct me for several repetitions. “Slow down if you feel you’re losing control.” I nod and start speeding up.

  I start speeding up, repeating the sequence as soon as I get to its end. My spear begins to thrum through the air – we practice with live steel which surprised me at the beginning of the lesson. But Mathis’ explanation made sense – I have the strength to handle a live weapon, we’re both adults and therefore understand its danger, and between having healers available in the palace, healing potions in our Inventories, and my Flesh-Shaping, most injuries can be easily dealt with. Indeed, I got the impression from something Mathis said that each of the three guards who have come with us may have some healing abilities of their own.Thus, the advantages of using a live blade far outweigh the disadvantages.

  My surroundings have become a blur. I wonder briefly if I’ve become a blur too, then concentrate again on my task. I feel the Energy pulse through me, spiking like my heartbeat. The moment I feel a hint of instability, I slow down a touch, returning to where I was stable before. Then, once I feel fully in control, I speed up again, pushing the boundary.

  I’m panting, hot, and sweaty. But I barely feel it. All I feel is the movement of my blade and the pulses of Energy through my veins.

  I reach the same speed again, and once more I feel a touch of instability – a foot that doesn’t land in exactly the right place; a jab that’s just a hair slower than it needs to be.

  I slow down once more.

  I repeat this again and again, sensing that there’s a limit there which is keeping me from going further. For a moment, I wonder whether this is as far as I can go. And then, as if he’s read my mind, Mathis’ voice filters through my concentration and responds directly to my thoughts.

  “You can do more than that! Push your limits!”

  I grit my teeth and concentrate anew. I can do this.

  Again and again, I approach the same speed, each time slowing as soon as I feel that moment of instability. I begin to growl. If I dared fix my eyes on my spear, I would glare at it. As it is, I become determined that this is not going to defeat me.

  The next time I reach the speed, I force myself to move just that touch faster. To make sure my foot lands in the right place; to make sure the bladed staff cuts through the air at the exact right speed.

  And it does.

  But that’s not enough. I push harder and harder. I’m certain I’m going faster than my previous top speed. The accuracy of my blade is better than it ever has been before. I feel the Energy running through my body in a way that I never have.

  And then I lose it.

  My spear is a fraction too slow and as I twist into the next move, its butt is out of alignment which puts me off balance. I feel myself fall and almost panic. At the speeds I’m going, an impact with anything will hurt.

  But I mustn’t just let go of my blade either – I have no idea who it might hurt; I’m not alone in this room.

  Instead, I make the split-second decision to stab it into the wooden floor, point first, and let it go, rolling painfully over my own shoulder.

  But I’m clear of the weapon, and it’s not flying off to stab anyone, so I’ll take it as a win.

  I come to a stop a good distance from where I started, ruffled and dizzy. A shadow covers my face and I look up to see Mathis looking down at me, unimpressed.

  “I thought I told you to slow down when you felt unstable.” I shrug, relief running through me that nothing worse happened – his expression tells me that.

  “It happened too fast.”

  Mathis hums and then reaches out with a hand. I clasp his forearm as he clasps mine and helps me to my feet. I brush myself off, though the wooden floorboards are clean enough that I don’t seem to have picked up much dust at all.

  “So?” I ask him nervously. He eyes me with a hint of good-humoured amusement. “How did I do?”

  Mathis keeps me hanging for a moment, and then a smile breaks across his craggy face.

  “I’d say you were using at least thirty-five points’ worth of Dexterity there,” he reveals after making me wait for far too long. “And about thirty-two points’ worth of Strength." I can’t help punching the air and letting out a victorious hiss – since he was telling me at the beginning of the lesson that he wasn’t seeing anything above twenty-two points’ worth of either Dexterity or Strength, this is a significant improvement. The triumph completely eclipses any sense of nervousness about events outside this room. “Yes, yes, well done. But the question is, can you do it again?”

  I’m pretty sure there’s an eager glint in my eyes as I return to the centre of the arena.

  “Let’s find out!” Then, as I pull my spear from the splintered floorboards and realise that its blade has been significantly mangled, as has the surface of the training hall, I grin at Mathis sheepishly. “Maybe once I’ve straightened out this spear and found a way to fix the floor, though.”

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