In the Presence of Others, Part 2

Lucas had spent much of his walking meditation time the day before attempting to design a training regimen for the two fledgling adventurers. For hours he had juggled ideas, balanced his plans against their available time, and one by one tossed them all away. One might think it a simple task for a grizzled veteran - he already had the experience of real battle, knew the skills that would contribute the most to their survival in this game, and owned ample resources to train them. 

However, a few glaring issues stood between Lucas and his creation of an effective training plan.

Firstly, Joten and Bree were of two different classes that focused on entirely different skills and strategies in battle. Bree was a Mage, focused on the study of magic, offensive DPS, and safe positioning. Much of the technical know-how was unavailable to Lucas, as he had never formally trained as a Mage, and his pitiful Magic skill level just barely allowed him to learn Elementary skills. Training Bree would rely largely on his experience adventuring with Cara, and the knowledge that she had passed onto him unknowingly, like a waterfall that inadvertently gives life to the plants around it. 

On the other hand, Joten was a Ranger, a build specializing in conditions, criticals, and strategic positioning, not to mention their focus on Survivalism outside of combat which enabled them to thrive in the wilds. After his many years alone in the mountains, Lucas had acquired a rather respectable Survivalism skill and could certainly teach Joten some of the finer aspects of woodcraft. But in that time of focusing on Joten in the woods, how would he occupy Bree? The gap between their survivalism skills meant that they would be training entirely different skillsets. She already seemed predisposed to disliking him - it would be a shame to add more fuel to that fire.

Preferred builds aside, Lucas also had to wrangle with the unavoidable fact that Joten and Bree were NPCs, and for all intents and purposes, were merely products of the management AI, Despot. Nobody knew if the NPCs were governed by the same - or even similar - laws of nature that affected players back on Earth. If he focused on improving their physique and eating healthy, would it actually make them faster? Stronger? Would daily stretches make them more limber and flexible? 

To one who had only lived on Earth, that would be the sensible conclusion. But those who had endured nearly a decade in Savior Online knew that the Skills System governed their abilities far more than any natural talent. If that were true of the NPCs as well, Lucas should train them as the Vanguard had trained. Over the years the players in the Vanguard had gleaned information about the experience and leveling system that allowed them to streamline their training and leveling. Several famous players like Icarus and Li Bai had published entire "efficient leveling guides" for free distribution among the player community. If the same laws applied to Joten and Bree, Lucas should eschew all other forms of training and focus only on the efficient methods of raising their skills.

The last impasse he had come across during his mental journey to a proper training regimen was less to do with numbers and strategy, and more to do with the ethical concerns of pedagogy. Lucas was not a good teacher. Scratch that - as far as he knew, Lucas was not a teacher at all. He had never gone further than passing flippant advice to another player, not to mention having never taken another under his wing and training them from the ground up to survive in Alstyn. These two were now his responsibility, for better or for worse. If they died because they were unprepared, their deaths would weigh heavy on his conscience knowing that they had relied on him to teach everything they needed to know, and that he had failed. 

It may not seem especially grave, but to a man who already bore the weight of hundreds of deaths atop his weary back, the addition of two more may as well have been an anvil. 

Yet he knew he had already made his decision in bringing them to Freehold. No, in attending Ben's abridged funeral he had made his decision. No, even earlier, when he left his hermitage, he had decided it was time to stop hiding.

Thus, on the morning after leaving the comforting canopy of the Primordial Forests, a reassuring nook they had known their entire lives, and after tracing a path along the intimidating Gerelda Desert, Joten and Bree began their training.

"The first and most important part of surviving in this world is community and relationships," Lucas began as he stood from his place around the small cooking fire Joten had created for boiling stew for breakfast. The other two remained seated, bowls still in hand. A gentle morning breeze started to roll down the feet of the Primordial Mountains to the north, softly rustling the grass around them and nipping their skin with tiny bites of cold. "Many hands make light work, and light work means efficiency. A solo adventurer who received a Seed of Legend could, after much toil and hardship, grind out 90 Crafting levels in order to create a Legendary-tier weapon. It is not impossible. But at the same time, it is not feasible, and would take a lifetime of work. It is much simpler to seek out a dedicated craftsman and hire him for his work." 

Joten nodded at this and began scribbling notes with a pencil onto a piece of parchment. Lucas hadn't even noticed him removing the stationary from his bag. Bree rolled her eyes at his eagerness. 

"Likewise, one cannot maintain every position in a three-man party. Each individual is responsible for his or her own duties at all times. A Ranger inflicts and removes conditions; a Warrior grabs aggro and defends the back line by interrupting channeled attacks; a Mage concentrates on raw DPS. When everyone plays their part effectively, not only do you significantly raise the chances of surviving an encounter, but you also leave your allies free to concentrate on their own duties rather than watching over their shoulder. All these behaviors lead to further efficiencies. Efficiency is the most important aspect in an MMO," Lucas finished with a finger raised, hoping to emulate a Renaissance painting of a philosopher. It wasn't like they'd understand who he was replicating anyways. 

"Is efficiency the reason you never learned to cook?" Bree asked with a forced innocence in her voice. Lucas stared at her. It was the reason his Cooking skill was so low - she was right - but the mocking nature of the question ground against his sensibilities like sandpaper. 

Before Lucas could think of a sufficiently mocking response, Joten shot his arm straight up in the air like an excited pupil. Lucas raised an eyebrow and paused for a moment before acknowledging the boy. 

"Uh… yes?" Lucas asked, confused by the raised hand. He had never implied they needed permission to speak. 

"That isn't the way you and Ben and Cara fought, right?" he asked curiously, his head cocked to the side like a puppy.

"Ben told you about that, did he?" Lucas asked rhetorically as he rubbed his chin. "It's true; we did not fight in the traditional triad style. Though that was more a consequence of necessity than choice," he admitted with a half-chuckle. 

"You were too dumb to understand it?" Bree asked. Joten shot her a frustrated look, but if she saw she did not acknowledge him.

Lucas barked a laugh at that comment. "You're closer to the truth than you think. We spent a lot of our time running away in the early days. It was a foolproof strategy for survival as we struggled to escape the early levels with our lives intact. Ten HP isn't a lot to live on, so we cheesed enemies whenever possible. Having one person run away just out of the enemy's reach allowed another person to attack it while out of harm's way. We gained as many Agility levels as combat levels in those days. After a few months it just became part of our strategy. Hardly a proud strategy, but hubris is the harbinger of failure. All three of us focused on Agility and dodging and DPS any way possible, even after the triad strategy was established."

"And it worked?" Joten asked, his eyes alight with joy. 

"For a time. It wasn't until we needed the help of the Vanguard to clear World Bosses and more powerful Regional Overseers that we needed to learn to fight in the standard triad," Lucas answered. 

A silence lulled the conversation. Bree looked around absently. Joten sat with mouth agape, awaiting more stories. After a few moments Lucas coughed awkwardly and began their positioning training. 

Lucas set up scenarios for the party and drew an X in the dirt in three areas that each of them should stand, explaining the reasoning as they moved into formation. Bree usually fought at the rear and Lucas in front, with Joten floating somewhere in between. Once they got the hang of it Lucas erased the X's and had them formulate their own formations. They were both quick learners, and to Lucas's surprise they both earned an Agility level after running back and forth between positions for only two hours. 

"Aside from its close range counter attacks, this boss also has a powerful, uninterruptible long range attack," Lucas said as he finished his explanation of another boss simulation. He had based each example on a real encounter in the hopes that the other two would recognize the battle pattern if it ever came up. "Where would you position yourself, Bree?"

The blonde Mage stood off to Lucas's side and stared off into the distance toward the road behind him. Her blank stare surprised Lucas, as this was her first time losing concentration all morning. She seemed to have an uncanny knack for learning, as long as the topic interested her. Even Joten had dozed off during a particularly dry section of lecture. 

"Over there," Bree said, pointing behind Lucas, her eyes still glazed over as they watched into the distance. 

Lucas scratched his head. "Not exactly. If you stood off to that side it would make it difficult for Joten to -" 

"No. Look over there," she repeated, raising a finger to point into the distance toward the edge of the forest. At first Lucas didn't see anything in particular, but then he noticed the black streaks darting across the sky over the treetops, like flies above a corpse.

"Birds?" Lucas asked no one in particular. 

"Something is scaring them. It's coming this way," Bree announced curtly. Joten had already removed his bow from his back and nocked an arrow. 

Lucas bent his knees and readied himself for whatever was rushing through the forest. Closing his eyes allowed him to concentrate his hearing toward the commotion. It was slight, but he definitely heard a rustling in the underbrush. He placed a hand against the pommel of his sword and rubbed it absently as they waited. His muscles felt like they had suddenly been pulled taut, awaiting the signal to bound with all his strength in any direction. Joten and Bree stood in the same tense position. Their breaths came slow and measured as they focused their hearing into the woods, listening to the ever-growing rustling. An unspoken tension filled the air among the trio as they all silently hoped it was a simple beast and nothing mutated. The birds were getting closer and louder now…

A man with shoulder-length, wavy black hair that parted beneath his feathered cap emerged from the forest with wild eyes. A leather case slung across his back flailed violently as he sprinted out of the treeline and into the road.

"Demons in the forest!" the man shouted.