Overall training

Lyn looked at Reed across the field, witnessing him shatter a rock with his fists. 

A chill went down her spine.

'Thankfully he knows how to hold back. If he punched me like that during our spar...'

She shuddered, remembering the brutal punches that he had landed on her.

She was sitting on top of a rock pillar, having just finished her parkour practice.

'But seriously, how tough is he? My sword couldn't even leave a mark on him.' She pondered his durability, recalling how her sword had simply bounced off of his skin.

'How did he bleed before? Is that a skill that he just didn't use?' 

She watched for him as her breathing slowed and her body cooled down.

Two minutes later, Reed walked up to her.

"Rested?" He asked and received a nod in response.

"Ready for your first magic lesson?"

Another nod, with a 'hm'.

Reed raised his hands, and a part of the earth was raised from the ground.

Mana flew from his hands and attached to the wall, which then changed to become a large board.

He summoned chalk into his hand and started drawing on it.

"I have summarised some of the elements in the book I gave you, but I've had new discoveries since then, so I'll go over it again."

"Get your book out and write my descriptions."

"First off: Fire."

A symbol of a flame was drawn on the board.

"Very common, every mage knows a fire spell or two. Good at taking out both single and multiple targets. Best at exploding and burning. Not a good choice for defense but it can work. Most creatures fear fire, so that can work to your advantage."

"Second: Water."

The outline of a teardrop was drawn.

"Also very common, but not as much as fire. Good at nothing, but also bad at nothing. Many healers use it for their healing purposes."

"Third: Earth. Or rock"

A square on its corner, with an inverted triangle inside it with a circle on top.

"Very common. Good at blunt damage, bad at nothing. Best for defensive purposes, unless against lightning."

Lyn raised her hand, but Reed waved it down and continued his explanation.

"Fourth: Ice."

The vague outline of a snowflake.

"Common. Good for crowd control and concentrated attacks. Best against unarmoured targets. Bad at defense."

"Fifth: Wind."

Three identical wavy lines.

"Very common. Good for widespread damage, best for slashing. Bad at nothing. Can be used for mobility."

"Sixth: Lightning."

A jagged bolt.

"Somewhat rare. Best for penetration damage, good against single targets, and bad at defense."

At this point, Lyn raised her arm again, only to put it down when Reed continued.

"Seventh: Light."

A circle with rays around it, as if emanating from it.

"Rare magic. Good at purifications and healing, best at countering shadow magic. Bad at defense, unless against shadow magic."

"Eighth: Shadow."

A half-filled circle.

"Even rarer. Best against single targets and movement, and bad at defense. I read that it can devour mana but I don't have certainty."

"Ninth: Blood."

A filled-in teardrop.

"Usually only used by vampires. Best against cannon fodder, bad at defense, and against equal opponents."

"Tenth: Nature."

The outline of a tree without leaves.

"Extremely rare. I know very little about it, but supposedly Nature mages can steal mana from living beings."

"And finally: Physical magic."

The outline of a body.

"Somewhat rare. Physical magic is all magic that works on your own body to boost it ability."

Reed summoned a bottle and took a sip of water.

"That's every element I know enough of to mention this way."

He took another sip, then put the bottle away.

"Those were the common descriptions I found in books. I'll start speaking in detail in a moment."

Reed sat down on the ground, brought out a book, and flipped through it, opening a page, and started reading it.

Lyn finished writing down Reed's words and looked up to mimic the symbols he had drawn into her book.

A moment later, Reed stood back up and stood next to the board.

"So! Which element do want to learn in detail first?" He asked.

"Hmm..." Lyn pondered for a moment before coming to her decision.

"The earth element please."

Reed conjured some water and wiped the board clean, before drawing the symbol for the earth again.

"So let's start from the basic spells, I trust you know them, but do demonstrate them to me."

***

For the next few days, Reed taught Lyn all that he had learned about magic during the three months that he had been in this world, while also taking some time to make a multitude of items that he thought may come in use.

Once magic training was complete, Reed added actual combat training to her schedule, making Lyn practice against a puppet that he controlled using mana strings.

Over the course of seven weeks, Reed trained her accuracy, evasion, pain resistance, and, of course, close-combat capabilities, turning her from an inexperienced novice to a somewhat acceptable fighter.

He also incorporated lessons on survival in the wild, in case they were ever stranded.

"Five months." Reed said out of nowhere while having breakfast.

"Hm?" Lyn looked up from her plate. "Did you say something?"

"Today marks the end of the fifth month since our arrival in this world."

Hearing that, Lyn put her spoon down.

"Really?"

A 'hm' was the only response she got as Reed finished his meal and waited for Lyn to finish hers.

A few minutes later, as they were walking towards their training ground, Lyn asked Reed a question.

"Do you miss anything? From our old world." She asked.

"A lot of things. Especially since I didn't have to prepare for inevitable fights to the death."

Reed was calm, but Lyn wasn't.

"I miss my dad."

"Rule no.1"

"Hm?" Lyn seemed confused by that.

"Don't form deep emotional attachments." Reed clarified, but Lyn seemed even more confused.

"What about it?" She asked, wanting to know what he meant by bringing that up.

"Revealing your sadness to another human means that you trust them and feel safe around them. I don't care if you do that to me, but don't expect me to do the same."

After explaining what he meant, Lyn clicked her tongue.

"I know, but I was just trying to make small talk."

Reed seemed unconvinced.

"Uh-huh, sure. Just keep it in your mind."

"Hey!"

"I believe you."

They walked with Lyn slightly angry at Reed.

They warmed up and began their training.

At noon, Lyn was sparring with an iron puppet and Reed manipulated it with his strings.

Suddenly, Lyn was distracted and a sword pierced her shoulder.

"Ughmp!" She grunted and jumped back.

The puppet stopped, and Reed jumped down from his position on a branch.

A sound he knew had sounded in his ear at the same time that Lyn had gotten distracted.

"You can't get distracted by anything during battle."

"But-" She started to explain why she had gotten distracted but was cut off.

"No buts, if there was another player nearby they would have seen what happened and marked you as a player as well."

He moved over to Lyn and healed her shoulder before pulling up the notification for both of them to see.

[The second 'Player-only' event is about to begin!]

[Will you participate?]

[Yes] [00:29:11] [No]

"Gather your tools." He told Lyn as he began to bring out some items from his storage and sort them out.

Once he was done he called for Lyn to come closer.

"Take all of these." He gestured to a part of the items he had selected. "And put these on." He brought out armor similar to the one he had worn before, and a black hooded cloak.

Lyn put the armor on with his help and put away the items one by one as he explained what they were for and where they could be used.

Once they both were equipped, they entered the second event.