CH3.1

Red tightened the belt on his saddle before mounting a massive warhorse tied with three others. The man wore an impressive set of spurs on his armor, the trademark of a knight, after checking the animals and giving me a map showing my destination along with several roads and hand-marked dungeons.

New Boston was our destination, a coastal city south of here through what remained of the Van Raven Kingdom; as a serf living on land managed by the mayor of our village under a yeoman Clide, an adventurer, sworn under fealty to baroness Fredrica Philistine unseen or heard from for the better part of a decade. Leaving wasn't allowed; normally a knight would come to corral any fleeing serf back to the land to be executed as a lesson for the other sharecroppers. For the first time in my life, the prospect of facing a knight wasn't so scary. With my wand, I could easily blast them with lightning.

Red took me from my thoughts with one of his classy metaphors. "Kid, you're like a class virgin. Leveling will only take you so far. What you need to do is find a nice slutty MILF to teach you what being a Lightning Elementalist is all about? Open your map screen and search for a little forest southeast of here, just a little in front of the yellow line." Red said.

I opened it up to see a patch of forest labeled Red Forest. It bordered on a mountain range called the Red Mountains. My Teacher's shit-eating grin couldn't be any less wide and imposing if the man tried.

"Are we making a detour?"

"Only if you can't keep up. We're going to train you right. Here, take this ring; it will help with health regeneration." I slipped the ring on, but the regen parameters were low. "Don't make that face. I can tell what you're thinking: what an awful gift. Well, it's a training tool. With greater health regeneration, you'll get stronger." Red said.

I knew steps were missing; there always were. Red loaded me down with training weights with more in my inventory, ready to be added in layers to improve my gains further when I could handle it. The problem was Red.

"Here me out. I want you to walk on your hands the entire way from here to New Boston." I opened my mouth and closed it. "No, really, I thought about it, and the system doesn't differentiate leg strength from arm strength; it's all the same to the system. The only way to gain vitality is to shore up a weakness. Your hands are far less tough than your feet. Walking on them not only tests your balance but the toughness of your hands. It will be great if you'll gain the stats to basically be a knight class without being in a knight class. Think about the opportunity." Red said.

The more he spoke, the more I was starting to believe he was full of shit. Still, if it worked, maybe the pain would be worth it. I've done handstands before; they weren't too difficult, but it would be difficult.

I clenched and unclenched my hands to get a feel for the strength in them. Recovering from my training little by little helped. Maybe Red had a point, and this wasn't some joke he was using to not really teach me a lesson but more entertain himself.

The road out of town was filled with stones peaking out of the ground from rain, the occasional rusty nail, animal bones, and heaps of shit. This was going to be a messy, horrible experience, no matter how I looked at it. The only light at the end of this dark asshole of a tunnel was far on the other end.

My Tactile Telekinesis skill was new and painful. Sometimes, my body moved before thoughts entered my waking mind. When I focused on a movement, it was far more powerful than I expected. I took a step, feeling the heavy weight of my gear bear its weight on my legs, heavy and unyielding. Every step was a struggle, and my muscles burned from the effort. The system may not care about what muscle groups I used, but my body did.

How much of the system really affected my body? Did it only record what I gained, or was it responsible for it? Was my body even comparable to Red's? He was an adventurer, and I was not? To him, this task might seem simple and effective, but it could leave me severely unbalanced. His earlier advice had been to find the power in my stomach when it had been in my mind instead. Red was clearly giving me lessons from the perspective of an adventurer.

The fabric of my gear sat heavily on my shoulders, clinging to me tightly enough to be extra skin and growths. Flipping upside down wouldn't dislodge anything; it only set me to experience some trying times.

"Why can't I ride you have four horses?" I asked.

"Riding is a skill unfound in the Lightning Elementalist class. Your training gear would only weigh the animals down, and you wouldn't want that. I've cursed your gear to lock into place so you can't take it off. Sometimes, a little force is needed to really help a student along." Red said.

The man chuckled good-naturedly, like he was doing me a favor.

"What happens when I need to piss?" I asked.

"The gear is self-cleaning and drying," Red said.

I gripped my head, which was a heavy piece of equipment used to not only protect the top of my head and temples but soften blows. A tug felt like I was trying to rip my head from my shoulders.

"What in all the frosted hells have you done?" I asked.

"Don't take that tone with me; you need a kick in the pants to get stronger, and this is the best way. Spoil the rod and spare the child; you get it." How did I find two insane mentors? "Your class can develop an electric-based tracking skill given enough time, so I'm going to get you that skill. All you have to do is try and follow me on your hands. Don't use your feet, or the armor will triple in weight." Red said.

The man hopped on his warhorse and promptly kicked it without looking back.