The Guildmaster typically delegates most of the Guild’s day-to-day operations to their subordinates, freeing their time up for dealing with the most pressing needs of the Guild. These can be anything from politics to powerful monsters. The Guildmaster is not necessarily the highest-Level person in the Guild, but they are always one of the most powerful. Sometimes, they are referred to as the Guild’s Right Hand.
-
It actually wasn’t as bad as I feared, once we got started, even if JJ was as loud as PAST. We rotated around different instructors for a couple rounds, then they split us into groups based on what type of weapon we were using. Most of the Mages chose to use their staffs or scepters as their melee weapons so they wouldn’t have to carry a backup on their belt. Having your backup in your Inventory was a big no-no. According to JJ, you’d be dead before you could get it out, and I believed him.
There were quite a few of us with shortswords, since it was a good choice for Archers, Arbalists, and Pistoleers alike. The lightweight blades were relatively easy to carry and didn’t get in the way too often. They were also the longest-reach weapons that worked with the Short Blades Skill. That left me working with Alex, the two Arbalists, Arlo, and the other Archer – who was Clarice’s obnoxious relative Marta.
In addition to the six of us, there were two Rangers, which I learned were a hybrid Class. They had both selected bows as their first Class Weapon, but they could also gain the Longsword Skill. None of us had shields though, since they were too bulky to carry around while using our primary weapons. Looking around, I counted twelve students in the staff group, and seven with scepter and shield combinations.
Among my group, I quickly learned that I was one of the three best with a blade. Sadly, the other good shortsword user was Marta, and I had to admit she was better than me. If she hadn’t been such a jerk yesterday, I would have liked to ask her about her training. The third was one of the rangers, a trainee who was even better than Marta.
Interestingly, Arlo – the last trainee in our group of mostly recruits – was just average with the blade. I remembered he’d grown up in a family known for selling guns, and he was clearly more fluid and skilled with his pistols than I was with my shotgun. He must have been shooting regularly for years before getting his Class, while only learning basic swordsmanship.
The rest of the class was mostly basic drills and fundamentals, but I was assured that we’d also be doing sparring in the future. The class went by quickly, and then it was time for our first Sprint. For that, we headed back to the range.
The instructors had us line up, with several people in each of the wide lanes and two in most of the narrower lanes, and we were instructed to simply shoot off our Spells or Skills as fast as possible. The idea was to just get reps in, in the hope that it would contribute to our Skill Levels. Better than having us go to lunch and then another lecture class with full mana.
I was assigned to one of the last rows, by myself, since my gun sent the expended shells flying off to my right every time I racked in a new one. It was a ton of fun to just blast away at the targets, mixing up my shots between my BB and 4BK rounds. I also varied my choke setting, but stayed away from using my infusion mod. It would just burn more mana without helping train any of my Skills very much.
After that, it was lunchtime, where I enjoyed my daily Jet Cola thanks to my buddy Mage Zaire. Then, freshly energized, I set off to the classrooms again.
When Tara, Jayce, and I arrived at the Leadership class, we found it was quite a small group. I was very happy to see Yuri or anyone I recognized as one of his friends there. The instructor for the class was someone I hadn’t talked to yet, though I remembered him from when all the Squads had assembled in the square.
Name: Westin Hargrave
Class: Fighter
Tier: 3
Westin was a broad-shouldered blonde man with patches of scales running up the outside of one arm. I wondered if they extended under his clothes, but the shape of his limbs was normal. He was enthusiastic, though I wasn’t sure about the material he was covering. There seemed to be a lot of cliches involved.
I had certainly noticed the way he looked at me – and the very different way he looked at Tara – whenever we dared get too close to him.
After Leadership it was time for Physical Training II, which I was dreading. I assumed it would be more of what had happened in the morning. While my legs had recovered, I was quite sure I didn’t want to spend another ninety minutes lifting weights twice a week. I was very wrong about the nature of the class. It was worse than weightlifting.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Leon was the instructor for PT2, as he called it, and he had us gather around the school’s tall watchtower with its weird exterior staircase. I noticed that there was a heavy, reinforced door at the base of the tower as well, making the wall of stairs even stranger. Lydia, the Healer who fixed us up after our evaluation fights, was leaning against the wall in the shade. Too bad it was Wasted hot in the afternoon sun where Leon had us standing.
“PT2 is a class where we’re going to get hands-on with a bunch of different topics throughout the semester, and the first one is barriers! How many of you know exactly what your barrier is?”
Clarice stepped forward confidently. “Sir, a barrier is like an invisible Shield Spell that is always active and recharges on its own when you don’t take damage for approximately fifteen seconds!”
“Partially correct! That is what a barrier , but it doesn’t explain what it The truth is, no one knows exactly a barrier exists, other than the obvious – your barrier value is equal to your Barrier Stat plus one-half of your Power. Why does it recharge only after a delay? Why does it recharge so much faster than your mana points? How does it ‘know’ when to activate? The best answer I’ve ever heard boils down to two words – System fuckery.
“Barriers exist because the System wants them to, and they behave according to its rules. In some ways, those rules have some resemblance to the way a physical barrier works, and in other cases, they don’t. One of the many weird things about barriers is that they can absorb momentum in a way no ordinary shield can!
“For example, what would happen if you strapped a physical shield to your feet before, say, jumping off this tower behind me?”
“Obviously,” Leon continued, “the physical shield wouldn’t do shit to protect you from hitting the ground! Your barrier, on the other hand, will! However! It will not stop you instantly, because when a barrier is struck by a hard object, it actually a little bit before it either stops the blow or breaks.
“You may not have noticed this yet, because it can be fairly subtle, especially if you’re in the middle of a fight. It gets obvious when you’re hit by a single powerful strike. Or, as another example, when you hit the ground after a long fall! Any ideas why that might be important?”
I complained to my Squad.
Everyone was shifting around uncomfortably, no one daring to answer the Brawler’s question.
“It’s ,” he emphasized, “because when you fall or jump from a height, your barrier will trigger as soon as it touches the ground – and that's about an inch away from your body. The instant your barrier triggers, you’ll start to slow down until you’re falling at a speed where you can land safely – assuming your barrier is strong enough. If it isn’t, it’ll shatter, and you’ll drop the last bit at whatever speed it able to slow you down to.
“If that sounds complicated and weird, you’re right! So, we’re going to make it less weird – no, that’s a lie – we’re just going to make you with the weirdness. Follow me!”
With that, he led us along the wall formed by the long, exposed staircase leading up to the top of the watchtower, and I groaned. I wasn’t the only one, either. When we reached the end of the stairs, I realized they were quite wide – about ten feet across, and pointedly had no railings on either side.
“You will jog – not walk! – up the stairs to the first platform, which is ten feet high, and then you will JUMP off the platform, aiming to land with your legs slightly bent, like this!”
He dashed up the steps, barely pausing at the first platform before hopping casually off of it, landing easily without even a flare of his barrier. I guess for a Tier 3, a mere ten foot fall wasn’t enough to hurt him anymore.
“As soon as you hit the ground, you will immediately move directly away from the wall, clearing the space for your next classmate! We will have two lines, one jumping from each side of the wall. You will NOT start back up the stairs until your barrier is fully recharged, and once it is, you will NOT hesitate! I don’t care if you’re scared of heights, this drill is not optional!
“If you refuse to climb on your own, I will personally carry you up and throw you off as many times as it takes before you change your mind! AM I CLEAR?!”
There was a ragged chorus of “yes, sir!” from maybe half the group.
“Good! Everyone will jump from the first platform ten times. Your goal is to feel your barrier slowing you down, and learn to land gracefully despite it. We’ll do another ten jumps from the second platform, so you’ll be moving faster when you hit. Then, we’ll start going higher, until you find the first platform where your barrier breaks.
“That point will be different depending on your Stats, your weight, your armor, and so on. You’ll then do another twenty jumps from that height, working on landing the barrier break. If at any point you are injured, stay where you are and Healer Lydia will come to you!
“Jumpers, make sure to LOOK before you leap! You need to be sure your classmate has cleared the landing zone. No falling on anyone whose barrier is broken and severely injuring them! Now, are there any questions?”
There were none, unless you counted the girl who was slowly backing away from the group, her face tight with fear. Leon wasted no time in blurring past us to catch her with an iron grip, casually hefting her struggling form onto his shoulder. He walked up the steps as if the girl didn’t weigh a thing.
She screamed shrilly as he easily tossed her off the platform, and landed in a heap with her barrier flaring brightly. He leaped down gracefully beside her and hauled her to her feet.
“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it? Didn’t even break your barrier!” he added with a feral grin.
Leon, Brawler