Origin ARS 5 (6 page)

They spent a little time discussing the
situation, proper training methods, and how to advance his skills.
They also spoke of Origin, Ero, and even Herbert. Scott eventually
stretched out on the grass intent on properly resting. He had to
practice his spell and then work on creating new ones. There was a
lot to do and he wanted to do his best to get it done.

Chapter 2

Time did not flow normally in the Field of New
Beginnings. There was no night, only an ever-existent morning.
Scott did not know how much time he might have spent there while he
experimented with his skills. Even though he could technically stay
there for as long as he liked, there was a limit to how far he
could push, how much he could learn while there. Once he reached
that limit he would need to move on. That limit came all too
quickly, and did so in the form of reaching the fifth skill level
in his skills. His temporary experience pools would not empty for a
skill that reached that level while in the tutorial area.

Before he had realized this fact he had
continued to train his skills, his mental state had worsened as a
result. It would periodically become less burdensome, but would
soon degrade once more. There eventually came a time when the
lessening of the mental degradation ceased.

Now he was stuck with a constant, almost
crippling, headache. The bright light of morning and the cheerful
background music were like daggers. They assaulted his eyes and
ears. It was like they made a continual attempt stab their way into
the center of his brain.

"So, this is what you meant about
overtraining." asked Scott while he pressed his hands against his
closed eyes and tried to relieve the pressure in his head.

"Yes. It normally isn't as much of a problem
out in the world proper. Out there you can just sit and rest for a
short time as you absorb the acquired knowledge. At least, to a
point; a point that you have reached." said Mid.

"I think I know what you mean, but what can I
do about it?" he asked.

"Your permanent skill experience pool has no
doubt started to overflow. There is a maximum cap for the number of
skill related class levels you can bank without increasing your
social and combat levels." she said.

Mid tapped her chin for a moment then
continued. "You gain experience at an accelerated rate here. Your
race doesn't slow or improve your progress. You might have gained a
few social levels as well."

"So, the experience that I gained toward
leveling has reached my skill experience pool cap. Can't I do
something, like level up?"

"No childe, not here." she said with a
smile.

"Is it because there is nothing to fight
here?" he asked. He could increase his basic unarmed combat skills
easily enough at the moment just by practice his movements, but
without something to fight he could not gain actual combat
experience.

"Yes. I'm certain that you've already filled
your skill pool to level five. Without combat experience, your mind
is unable to find an outlet."

"Level five is significant?" he asked before
another stab of pain lanced through his head.

"Yes, mostly because the number four is
significant. It is the building block number for all class builds."
she said.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"There is a rule of thumb for advancement.
One is a given. Two is Easy. Three is average. Four is hardcore.
Five is extreme. Six is rare to be seen." she said.

Scott blinked slowly then stared at her.
"What does that
mean
?"

She smiled warmly at him then made a little
circular gesture with her finger. "Those are the numbers related to
how the mechanics of the world are balanced. They relate to
attributes and skills in relation to class level."

"Oh, so that is how many of any given stat or
skill I can have per level?" he asked.

"It's possible to train past six, or not even
gain one stat point or skill level. Those are extreme outliers,
however. Four is the golden number." She made a finger gun and
pointed it at him. She then closed one eye like she was trying to
take aim. "If you increase your stats or class skill levels by at
least four per character level, bang. You did it."

"That makes sense I guess. Am I right in
saying that maintaining a six-to-one ratio for skill or stat
training is hard?" he asked.

She nodded at him. "It is certainly doable,
even ten-to-one is doable. It would just take a lot longer for
little real gain."

"Really? Overtraining isn't useful?" he
asked.

"Depends on who you are. Overtraining certain
skills or stats at one point or another is almost necessary in
order to wield better weapons or armor. You can develop better
spells before facing stronger monsters as well."

"So, then there
is
a reason." Mid was
starting to confuse him a little. Was it possible that she was
prolonging their conversations unnecessarily?

"Dear childe, there's a reason for
everything. The tradeoff is that it takes a lot longer. Unless you
have to overtrain your skills or stats for a specific reason then
you would be better off increasing your class level. At least that
would allow you to train your skills and stats faster."

"I see, then it would be hard for me to train
any of my stats right now?"

"Next to impossible, unless you want to spend
a few centuries with me in this field." said Mid. She bit her lower
lip a little and fluttered her eyelashes playfully.

Scott offered her a grin in response. "Pass.
Somehow, I doubt that I would survive that even with
auto-resurrection."

She chuckled softly then tugged on the brim
of her hat. "Fair enough."

"It's too bad we can't spar or something so I
could level, though." he said.

"We could, but I am required to not hold back
in the least. I would kill you long before you gained even a single
point of combat experience." she said.

"Ah, I remember that you said something
similar last time."

Mid leaned on her staff and cocked her hip to
the side. "Yes, it won't count unless I go all out. If I did go all
out, you would die without gaining experience."

"So, there is no way?" he asked.

"Well, that's not entirely true." She offered
him a seemingly innocent smile. "I can send you off on a tutorial
quest."

"Really? What would I have to do?" he asked
curiously.

Mid's smile became even more friendly and
cheerful. "There is a certain rabbit, a wah-bunny, which likes to
sneak into one of my gardens and eat my carrots. If you can stop it
from stealing my carrots, I will grant you a reward."

"A rabbit, huh? Alright!" Scott nodded then
stretched his limbs. This should be good to relieve his headache.
The first rabbit he had ever fought on the casual server had been a
fairly surprising opponent, but he had reincarnation stats this
time. He had faced down monsters larger than a bus and came out the
victor. It should be simple enough to defeat a furry little carrot
thief.

"Thank you! You have no idea just how much I
need this to happen." Mid raised her staff then made a gentle
rotating gesture. A column of light arose around Scott and soon his
faded from sight.

After he was gone she unleashed a
well-cultivated and feminine smirk. Her staff rotated once and a
window screen appeared before her that allowed her to monitor his
quest progress. She just had to see how things went when he met
the rabbit
.

Scott reappeared in a place that had the look
of an old-timey farm. There was a rundown barn painted red with a
black roof. He could see a small field where the carrots were
planted. The rest of the area showed little more than hard earth
and scraggly bits of grass. It seemed like a terrible place for a
farm, as there was little growth outside of the carrot patch.

"If I were a rabbit living in this I'd
probably steal carrots too." remarked Scott. The pain in his head
increased many times over. Rather, it had lapsed momentarily during
his transport but it was now back in full-effect.

He clutched his head in his hands and
squeezed in an effort to lessen the pain. It was ridiculous that he
would experience such pain, but it felt exactly like his head was
about to burst from all of the knowledge that he had acquired.

Scott staggered forward a few steps then took
a deep breath. He could get through this. All he had to do was
fight a rabbit. He was level one. Surely the rabbit was too.

Speaking of the furry carrot thief, it did
not take long for Scott to locate the very bunny in question. It
was small, overly furry, and surprisingly it wore clothes. Rather,
it wore something that looked like a sleeveless vest. The vest was
cream colored with a little golden fringe at the bottom. It was
strange and a little unsettling. He had seen stranger of course,
but something about the simple fact that the rabbit wore clothes
disturbed his prior feeling of confidence.

He tried to study the little thing for a
moment, but his headache intensified. He could not handle the pain
much longer. He needed to end this as quickly as possible. Scott
called out to the rabbit while he clutched at his left eye. The
pain was particularly intense in that area. "Hey, rabbit! Get away
from there."

The little bunny stopped digging around in
the carrot patch. It pulled a carrot from the ground as though it
were making a point about its purpose. Slowly, it stood up on its
hind legs and turned its head back to peer at Scott over its
shoulder. One ear flopped adorably to the side while its eyes
narrowed ever so slightly. "Wah?"

"Don't
wah
me. Stop stealing those
carrots and get lost." said Scott. He figured that the rabbit could
wear clothes, so it must be intelligent. Maybe it was like Herbert
and could understand humanoid languages. If it was intelligent then
using his words first would be the best method. He only had to stop
the rabbit, not kill it.

The rabbit lifted the carrot up casually and
waved it back and forth. It then cocked its head a little as though
it were asking if Scott meant that particular carrot.

"Look, I've got a headache. If you're not
leaving, I'm kicking your furry ass out of here." said Scott. He
had reached the end of his patience.

The rabbit casually drew the carrot to its
mouth and took a slow, confident, bite. It chewed slowly while
savoring the carroty flavor.

"That's it!" Scott tore his hand from his eye
and ran toward the rabbit. His headache had to stop, and the
mocking bastard needed to go in order to stop it.

The rabbit tossed the carrot aside then
snorted. Before Scott reached the halfway point between himself and
the rabbit the wah-bunny shouted, "Waaaa-aaaaah!" and started
shuffling its feet back and forth. It drew its front paws up like
fists and took on a close fighting stance.

Scott noticed the strange movements of the
wee beastie, but it was hard to concentrate due to his level of
mental degradation. The pain in his skull was so severe that he
might even welcome a kick to the face.

The twilight master leapt upward and then
slammed his feet downward. He had perfectly executed a flying kick
in an attempt to break the little rabbit's stance. His mentality
had slipped, but he was still focused enough to recognize that the
little thief had taken up a fighting stance. It would have to move
out of the way due to the size difference if nothing else. Scott
could capitalize on that by trying to break its balance.

The importance of technique in battles had
been drilled into him in recent weeks while preparing for this new
world. He had been beaten half to death by the love of his life and
her sister on more than one occasion. He had also studied the way
that certain monsters fought, and spent a week at a temple where
master sorcerers trained. Technique was vital for true mastery.

The rabbit, however, had decided that it did
not want to play by Scott's rules. Instead of dodging the incoming
attack, the rabbit performed a strange counter maneuver that
allowed it to hop back slightly and then actually use the air
itself as a springboard for a somersault kick. It both avoided
Scott's attack and countered with a powerful strike to the
sorcerer's chest.

Scott fell back with a startled cry as he
felt tremendous pressure bear down on him. He was sent hurtling to
the ground and hit with enough force that his body actually
bounced.

The rabbit landed on its feet and then
stamped the ground once with its tiny little foot. That action
somehow caused the half-eaten carrot to fly up into the air. The
rabbit caught it almost casually then took another bite from its
ill-gotten gain.

Scott gasped for air, the wind had been
driven from his lungs. The worst part was that the rabbit merely
looked at him and ate the carrot that it had stolen. The damned
thing was taunting him!

It took an effort of will, but Scott rose
again. His head throbbed and his vision had begun to blur due to
the pressure in his skull. Yet, he was not defeated. The rabbit had
to pay! "I said
drop it
."

The rabbit cocked its head to the side and
presented an adorable bunny expression. Its eyelids dropped down so
that its eyes were half-lidded. It tossed the carrot aside then
took up its close fighting stance once more.

This time Scott decided that he would be more
careful. The rabbit was clearly stronger than it looked! Instead of
rushing in, he walked toward it carefully. Each step caused his
head to throb a little, but when he got within fighting range he
took the time to acquire a proper combat stance as well. It was an
open stance to match the close stance of the rabbit.

"Wah?" asked the rabbit curiously. It eyed
Scott for a moment then dashed forward several steps. It stopped
well outside of the sorcerer's physical attack range and then
hopped back a few steps.