The Strongest Spellblade

“Your Tutor Damian talked with me. I also know how you want to train your more combat oriented skills. Your mother is great at many things, but planning ahead for your training isn’t one of them. She left abruptly, so I am making some changes,” my father told me over breakfast one morning.

“What kind of changes?” I asked with curiosity.

“Specialized weapons trainers. They are fairly common, even in Burnstock City if their level is only in the sixties. I will hire one a week and you can train heavily in the mornings with them starting tomorrow. While they won’t be as good as your mother’s Squires or someone at the elite or legendary level, they will provide different insights. Most lower level trainers give a stronger boost during their initial training session and then their impact tapers off after that,” my father explained.

“Thank you, father,” I said, and he nodded.

“I am also looking to hire a trap specialist as well. That will take a bit more time, since they aren’t as common. I will have to probably put in a hefty payment through the Adventurer’s Guild. Finally, I will be taking up your Speech and Social Resistance training myself,” he said.

“What? Really? Don’t you have other duties? You said you had some major plans?” I asked.

“Dereck is taking over more and more, since he will soon be named Duke. I am stepping back and need something to do. We have had a couple of heated discussions and it is best I spend time doing something else. As for my plans, things are in motion, and spending time with you isn’t a waste. Helping with your training will be useful for your future. Also Dancing and Eldarin Etiquette. You are barely working on them is my understanding?”

“Well…they don’t seem that important,” I replied.

“Dancing is a movement skill, don’t underestimate its use in combat when combined with other movement skills. And while your mother would scoff at the etiquette type skills, she does understand the importance of not coming across as rude when she wants to.”

“You are saying she chooses to act the way she does,” I replied.

“Yes. You don’t reach her level without being precisely who you want to be. She chooses to trample over other people by choice. But she also knows how to be polite when needed. Don’t just take what you have seen of her as the only aspect of her personality. She can be quite charming when she chooses to be,” my father explained. I doubted him a bit, but he would know better than me.

“What about your guards? Will they help with my training?” I asked.

“They will be offered the chance if they have the right skills, but most of them are geared for protection and fighting with their builds. Trainers have specialized teaching skills which help boost your level gain by spotting mistakes more easily,” my father explained. I nodded at that, since it made sense. While his guard captain was alright, there was a big difference between his teacher and other people teaching me.

“Aren’t I supposed to focus on mental skills?” I asked.

“I discussed that with Healer Castelle. He had no issues with changing up your training as long as you don’t get new any new skills, which shouldn’t be a problem. He understands the value of mixing up training as well,” my father explained.

“It sounds like everyone is trying to rush to teach me things,” I said.

“You aren’t entirely wrong. It is likely that your mother will take you away once she returns. While I will be leaving you with a sizable amount of money, I don’t have much else to offer right now. Many social skills that nobles use aren’t something you will be focusing on,” my father explained.

That was true. The direction of my build of spell blade was set in my mind. “Any idea on other skills that would be useful or skill chains?” I asked my father. He smiled at me and shook his head.

“Your mother has the right idea with what she has you learning and I know you aren’t supposed to get more skills. We can brainstorm a bit though. But there are many other niche weapon skills that would contribute to Weapons Mastery. Things like Whip Skills, Club Skills, for example. Then there is Throwing Skills. I am sure you know about the other runic systems out there,” he said, and I nodded at this.

“No other foundational skills? Like for magic?” I asked.

“Mana Sense is the cornerstone of magic related skills followed by Mana Manipulation. You are already working on Mana Sense, so that is fine. You are doing math skills as well. If you wanted to become a crafter of some kind or use more social skills like a noble, then I would have other recommendations. But weapons and runes are very solid choices for a spell blade. The only thing left would be movement skills, but you are already working on some of them,” he explained.

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I didn’t know how to put it in words. I wanted to follow my mother’s path, but I also wanted to do my own thing. No one became a legend by completely copying someone else. If they weren’t invested in their skills, then it was hard to progress them beyond a certain point.

My mother was amazing, but if I ever wanted to surpass her, then I couldn’t just copy her. “What about getting a lot of resistances?” I asked.

“Hard and dangerous. People try, but it isn’t easy unless there is an actual threat. I don’t think I will be able to level up your Social Resistance that easily. As tier 3 skills they are hard to level in the first place and with being resistances that is another level of difficulty. A lot of what you are thinking will come in time. There are certain weapon skills that use Mana like Slice for example. A favorite of your mother’s. A tier 3 skill, but once you get Mana Sense maxed out and then start learning Mana Manipulation you can look into skills like these,” he explained.

“Not more tier 1 skills?” I asked.

“You have enough with all the weapon skills and languages you will have to learn. They are foundational, but most people use tier 3 skills as their main skills. They use a bit of Mana making them stronger, and aren’t impossible to level. I do suppose there are more tier 2 sensory skills, but again, that will come in time.”

“Oh,” I said, not really knowing what else to say.

“It is nice to be young. All that energy and motivation. If I had half as much as you do at your age, I would be much further with my skills,” my father said.

“Can’t you still work on them?” I asked.

“I am, but it is difficult as you get older. You never stop working on skills, but right now I am will be focused on teaching you. As for levels and more stats, that is much more difficult,” he replied.

“Even if you can get stronger?” I asked.

“Some people do when they get older, hoping to extend their life. But what is life if you are in the dungeon all the time? I would like to see my grandchildren grow up. To see you grow up. While you inherited your drive to excel from your mother, I like to think of the future. I plan ahead and she lives in the moment,” he said.

Well, everyone was laid back compared to my mother. That really wasn’t a proper comparison. But I just didn’t get the lack of wanting to get stronger, to raise up one’s stats higher and higher. It just seemed so weird to me.

“What you need to do is work on the skills you have, which is what I plan to help you with,” he explained.

“What about training up stats specifically?” I asked.

“That comes when you work on skills that are most associated with a stat. Trying to specifically train a stat is not worthwhile. Especially when you get free stat points when you level that you can apply to yourself,” he explained.

“Well, I don’t know how long my mother wants me to stay level one,” I replied and held up my wrist with my bracelet.

“Hmm, that is a good question. It really does come down to skills I would say. Certain skills are associated with specific stats. The more a skill levels up, the more a specific stat is improved. It isn’t worth overly focusing on just one’s stats.” I nodded at this explanation.

“What about social skills?” I asked.

“Speech is the most basic. After that is Rhetoric. Then you have others like Appearance Skills, Social Awareness, Insight, Social Sense and so on. Letting you understand people better. It’s how I am aware of your frustrations,” my father explained.

“What, really, that does sound useful,” I said.

“For a noble. Not for an adventurer in the dungeon. Since you have Speech, raising it up is fine, but learning the rest of those skills won’t make you a better fighter, at least against monsters,” he explained.

“Is there anything that will beyond what I am learning?” I asked.

“Not for a while. You need to build up your foundation. Weapons Mastery and Runes Mastery are incredibly powerful tier 4 skills if you have maxed out the previous skills. Not all skills are created equal and those two are some of the best a person can get for both fighting and magic.”

Since tiers were based on Mana use, I had to wait on magic skills until I got Mana Sense and then Mana Manipulation. “Thanks for explaining. Damian doesn’t like to talk about other skills after Healer Castelle has yelled at him.”

“It is fine as long as you don’t try and get them. I know you want to get back to the dungeon and enjoy fighting. Truly, you inherited that from your mother not me. I prefer dialogue over violence, even though each has their time and place. But for now, the best I can do is a rotating list of Tutors.”

“Master Ertor Ten was really good,” I said with a smile hoping to convince my father to let him train me long term.

“That will never happen. Even if I piled up gold chests three times his height. Higher level people have a specific amount of pride. Training foundational skills is something they dislike doing.”

“Even if it pays well?” I asked.

“They can make money easily enough. It is more about legacy or favors. I did him a great favor and got half a day’s training for you.”

“That doesn’t seem fair,” I replied.

“Then you can sell your services cheaply once you become famous and reach a high level. At that point you will probably turn down most requests as well,” my father said as he smiled at me. I could tell he was amused by how naïve I was being, but I wanted the best tutors to keep pushing myself.

I saw how much progress I had made from that one session and wanted to go back. “What about Alchemy?” I asked.

“Complicated and a long path requiring foundational skills like you are doing for Weapons Mastery and Runes Mastery. Complete those first then we can talk about going after another skill like that,” my father said with a smile. He was right, I was looking too far ahead. But I just couldn’t help myself.