Sword and Shield

The weapon combat training has begun.

The first half-day of the second week is spent on regular fitness training. After the break, Jaka began combat training. He first explained to us what each basic weapon types boons and drawbacks.

"Listen up rookies! We have 5 basic weapon types in this training hall. You will mostly be using one of these basic weapons as your starting equipment during your early hunting. Later on, you can upgrade your weapons with specific materials, or even modify or create a unique weapon of your own, but for now, you gotta stick with these." Jaka explained.

"Now, the first type, the sword and shield. This is the most commonly used weapon by rookie hunters. Sword and shield have a perfect balance for offense and defense but lacks reach. The greatsword is favored by strength type hunters due to its' burst damage. The reach of this weapon is wide as well, yet slow, making it quite difficult to master. One must carefully plan their attacks to successfully hit the enemy, otherwise, it will leave them open. Twin blades allow you to deliver high-speed attacks but offer zero protection. Besides, in terms of damage, this weapon type has low damage output, the same as the sword and shield. You need to have high agility to fully utilizes this weapon type. Hammer is a weapon with high damage output, quite heavy, and lack of reach. However, due to its short reach, one can utilize its' momentum to deliver continuous-high damage strikes. The risk of not getting a hit is also low since the balance recovery interval is quite short for this weapon. Lastly, we have the spear. It's a weapon with the longest reach of all, and the damage output is moderate. Those who want to keep a safe distance is better suited for this weapon. However, this weapon is unstable and susceptible bouncing which will leave you open when you hit the hardest part of the enemy. You need to have a high accuracy to master this weapon. That's all. Any questions?"

"How do we know that we're best suited for any weapon types?" Ask one of the rookies.

"For now? Hmph... Well, you don't. You can look up your stats, acknowledge your combat behavior, and choose what suits you best for now. You can always train for other weapon types later, but It won't come for free. Any other questions?" Jaka explains, sneering.

The crowd silent, thus Jaka continues his briefing.

"You can't go back if you already choose your weapon. Just to remind you, the guild will later provide you with your starting weapon referring to your chosen weapon now. So, you better choose wisely."

Guhhhh... This guy is an absolute pain in the ass. Just hearing him speak is already pissed me off.

"Now, choose your weapon. We'll begin the training."

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"Hahhh.. Hahhh… Aaaaaarrgghhhhhhh!!"

After the sparring, I felt more vigorous to do the training. Not because I'm getting more excited, but I know that I would probably do the hunt alone. I lost my friend, and it seems that getting any new friend here would be quite difficult since the incident.

Days after days I spent overworking myself. I put extra effort into both fitness training and weapon combat training. I chose sword and shield since it seems easier to master this weapon since it fits my fighting style of counter-attacking. The sword is a plain single-edged steel sword with no ornamental feature, but with a round guard between the blade and the grip. The shield is a round steel shield with a circle-linings on the outer side, and on the inside, a leather strap is added for attachment in my left arm.

Jaka drills me the basic move set for sword and shield. The basic stance seems more solid for this weapon than it is for unarmed combat, with left leg forward and right leg backward, left arms holding the shield forward, right hand holding the sword behind, with the edge pointing up above. This gives me maximum protection since it will be easier for me to block, the same as unarmed combat. The difference here is that the gap between the legs is wider, making the stance is lower than the unarmed stance, which gives me more solid standing.

Slash, thrust, shield bash, basic attacks for the sword and shield. Along with the other rookies, we follow the pattern of training Jaka instructs us. After drilling basic move sets, we pair with each other to practice offense and defense.

Time passed until it finally came the day of the sparring.

"You, get to the arena. You too, get in." Jaka points at me and another rookie wielding a spear.

From what I know, spear users are difficult to get close to since they will keep distance with his footwork. However, my style of counter-attacking is effective in dealing with them since their weapon is unstable, making it easy to stagger them. All I have to do is parry his attacks with my shield before launching a counterattack.

Just as before, Jaka put on the special sticker on our backs to show our health before we enter the arena. We then unsheathed our weapons and put on our fighting stance.

"Combatants, ready? Fight!"

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"Hmphhh.. Hmpphh.." the other rookie thrusts his spear, with two and a half meters wooden handle and a diamond-shaped edge made of steel, upon my head rapidly. It's way faster than I imagined. He thrust it to my head, and again, and again.

I weave to the left, right, and on his final attack, a sweep on my head, I duck while charging upon him and releasing a counterattack. I aim my thrust to his chest.

"Hyaaahhhh!!"

((Bwoghhh))

((Swoop))

The sound of my sword impact on his chest. Due to the attributes point, lethal attack damage can be reduced, leaving only a scratch or tiny cut. The same thing happens here, even though I feel like I penetrate him, but something holds my blade from thrusting further, protecting him from instant death.

"Guhhh…"

Blood spurt out from his chest the moment my attack connects, but it seems that the bleeding stops instantly.

He got knocked back when I hit him, and now we're circling each other. He's faster than me, dodging his attacks put more strain on my body. I need to focus on blocking his attacks to save my stamina.

He steps backward, then charges on me. I charge on him to break his momentum and stagger him. Fatal mistake. He then swayed to my right, releasing a body sweep on me.

"Gahhh!!"

His spear cut my back. He then followed by multiple stabs on my back. I rolled to the right on his final thrust and launch a sweeping slash. He steps backward to dodge my attack, then impales my chest.

((Brakkkk))

I blocked on the last second. As I thought, he got staggered, and I follow up with a flurry counterattack upon him. Diagonally, horizontally, I slash him over, and over again. On my final vertical slash, he dodged backward, but I'm not gonna let him escape. So, I follow his jump and about to impale him, then suddenly...

"STOPP!!" Jaka shouts.

I stopped midway. The other rookie health has been dropped down below 30%. This time, I managed to stop.

My opponent shows a face of disdain. I give no fuck about it.

Well, what's wrong now?

I don't think I make any mistake. I stopped right when Jaka shouts, unlike the last time. Even when I sheathed my weapons to shake hands, he refused. Is everyone have resentment towards me right now?

Well, I'm still trying to be nice. It's not like I purposely make that mistake back on the last sparring. So, if they gonna hate me, then hate me all they like. Fucks?

None taken.

We then walk towards the exit, and on my way, I see Juna approaches the arena. It seems that he is chosen to be playing in the next round.

I get out, then watch as my former friend fights in the arena. Juna chooses the twin blade as his main weapon. He matches with another rookie with a hammer. He is quite good with the twin blade. It suits his rushing fighting style. He moves swiftly with the blades on his hand, dancing through the other party.

Slice, slice, and slice.

The damage dealt might not be major, and even though his movement is not all perfect and looks a little bit hasty sometimes, he manages to cut down his opponent's health bar slowly but surely. Perhaps another reason he is good with the twin blades is due to his high skill in athletic. The other rookie that matches with him seems to fail to catch up with his movement, and even though his opponent is good with handling his momentum, he is yet to hit Juna.

"Hyaahhhh!!" Juna's opponent battle cry as he swings his hammer horizontally, followed with a spinning overhead smash, and a rushing punch with his hammer.

Juna dodges his attacks to the side, backward, and then he spins to the side to rush his opponent. Once again, he launches a flurry of cuts, ended with a final kick. With that kick, Jaka stopped the fight. The two of them sheathed their weapons and shake hands. Perhaps due to Juna supple demeanor, he manages to cool down the ill atmosphere between them and leave no hard feelings to each other. I wonder, does Juna really hates me for my past mistake?

Absolutely. Damn, what the hell am I thinking?

Yet, does he hate me completely?

Perhaps he's just shocked before. If I think about it, I haven't even asked a proper apology to him.

Well then, I've decided.

I'm going to apologize to him, and hope that we can start over again.

The sparring session has ended, thus Jaka called us for a final briefing before the training ends.

"Rookies, you've reached the end of the training. I'll show you the final results of your training and rankings. You may now proceed to the guild to receive your official hunter badge. From there onwards, Enggar will guide you. You're now dismissed."

After that final brief, we're all headed to the guild.

On the way, I see Juna who's chatting with her sister. With heavy steps, I approach them.

"You fight well," I said to him.

"Ahahaa... You fight even better than me." He replied. An awkward moment of silence then struck us for a while.

"Hey... Uhh... I'm sorry about before. You know, I don't mean to do that. It's just my adrenaline took over me back then, and I don't realize my surroundings. I'm so sorry." I bow to him to give him a deep apology.

We stop walking and just stand idly for a moment there.

"It's okay Rama, I forgive you. I'm just shocked before, and I'm sorry for avoiding you as well." Juna replied as he taps on my shoulder.

I raise back my posture, my head still looking down.

"Hey, how about we party up together on our first quest?" Juna ask me enthusiastically.

"Yeah Rama, with you, we'll sure we'll be fine. Right, Jun?" Jani adds up.

"Yeah, you're strong. Besides, with the sword and shield, you can play the role of a tanker. Hahaha.." replied him.

"Okay, let's team up together. Besides, it will be saver if we move as a group rather than soloing on the surface. I'll be the tanker as you wish." I replied enthusiastically as well.

After that, we go back on our way to the guild. We chatted along the way. It seems that the atmosphere has been loosened up.

"Okay folks, listen up!" A gentle heavy voice suddenly interrupts us as we arrived in the guildhall. It's Enggar. Different from Jaka, even though he's putting up a serious face now, his tone is still friendly. "Congratulations on your completion of the training. You will receive your E-rank Hunter badge after this, but now, I'm gonna brief you about the surface."