Spiteful Healer

Chapter 100: Way of the Fist

“Hi guys!” Lina called out to Rakkan and Darkshot. She’d arrived at the training grounds for her dagger intermediate quest and spotted Sherry, Darkshot and Rakkan training unarmed combat, following the techniques that were taught by Travis for training purposes. They were a week into their training at this time, and despite training nonstop, their unarmed combat skills were only at 15 - gaining experience on the training dummies was extremely slow in comparison to using it against actual enemies. The two were surprised to see Lina and stopped training, but Sherry continued.

“Oh, you’re finally here Lina?” Darkshot asked. “Where’s Aegis?”

“He’s doing a part of his class quest right now. Are you guys practicing unarmed combat?” She asked excitedly. “I learned it too, it’s really useful right? Especially with daggers.” She did a few punches at the air.

“Yeah, a member of the Night Hunter’s showed us some training techniques.” Darkshot replied.

“Those guys are everywhere.” Lina said, then spotted Sherry’s tabard. “Ah, sorry, no offense.”

“None taken.” Sherry shrugged back awkwardly between practicing punches.

“So did you guys finish your other weapon quests? I mean, besides unarmed combat.” She asked them, and Darkshot and Rakkan both looked at each other apprehensively. They didn’t need to say more, Lina could read the answer from their faces. “Oh. Well, starting with unarmed combat is smart. All of the top players recommend mastering it, even if you don’t need it for your class.” Lina said encouragingly.

“We’ve been here for a week now, and we haven’t gotten shit done.” Rakkan sighed at himself angrily.

“That’s not true, we’ve learned a lot.” Sherry stopped what she was doing to look at Rakkan disapprovingly.

“We’ve gained experience in unarmed combat, and punched and kicked a dummy, that’s it.” Rakkan replied to her. “That Travis guy swears it's what we need to do to learn, with the skill disabled… but I'm not feeling like I’m getting any better.” Rakkan added.

“Hm. Do you want to test it out?” Lina suggested. “My unarmed combat skill is level 30. I’m no pro fighter, but my skill assistance is not disabled so... Let’s see how you guys do against a level 30 skill without using the skill yourself!” Lina smiled as she unequipped her daggers to her inventory and sent a duel challenge to all three of them at once.

“You sure? You want us to just attack you?” Darkshot confirmed.

“Yup.” Lina smiled. They all glanced between one another with a hint of excitement in their expressions as they all accepted the three-on-one duel challenge. The duel countdown timer hit 0 and it began, and Lina raised her fists up in anticipation. Rakkan and Darkshot did the same and saw that, even without the skill, they could mimic her stance and had a sense for where her openings were, and where she could strike at them from.

Rakkan initiated, lunging at Lina with a jab which she deflected, but rather than stumble forward with his full weight into the punch, he kept his balance so that when she retaliated with her own jab, he could lean back and deflect it, and when Lina jumped up and side kicked at him, he could see it coming based on watching Lina’s balance shifting in her legs and was able to pre-emptively pull his shin up to block the strike. From there, they exchanged a few more strikes. Blocking the attacks reduced damage but didn’t stop it completely, and as Darkshot and Sherry watched, their jaws dropped.

“Holy shit, you’re actually keeping up with the level 30 skill.” Darkshot commented as Rakkan and Lina hopped back from each other. “Let me try, let me try!” Darkshot said as he stepped in for Rakkan who let him take his place.

“Me next!” Sherry joined in. Rakkan watched as first Darkshot was able to exchange blows with Lina, and then Sherry.

“You’re not messing with us? You holdin’ back or somethin’?” Rakkan asked apprehensively as Lina held her hand up to stop them, clearly out of breath.

“Nope, no, you guys are good.” She said between breaths. “Three on one is tough though, I need a second for stamina.” She pulled a direwolf steak out of her inventory and bit into it, and suddenly Darkshot and Rakkan were both reminded of Aegis.

“See? Travis knows what he’s doing, we just need to trust him.” Sherry said to Darkshot and Rakkan with a big smile.

“Who’s Travis, by the way?” Lina asked as she collected herself.

“The guy teaching us. He’s really weird.” Rakkan replied.

“Ok. Well, you’re a lot better than when we practiced back in Rene. If you don’t need the skill to tell you how to do something, then the level only increases your damage and speed. I’ve heard some players keep the skill assistance turned off all the time, like that big streamer from Lanusk, Feng.” Lina said as she forfeited the duel with them. “I’m going to hurry and do my dagger quest though, so I can be done before Aegis gets here.” She smiled as she started heading towards the Training Hall.

“Ah, right, he’s coming here. He’ll see that we still haven’t even finished one intermediate quest yet.” Darkshot commented, and Sherry watched as all three of them went quietly into deep thought, Lina’s face blushing red.

“Imma log out for now and get some rest.” Rakkan said nervously.

“Yeah, I need a shower. Be back later.” Darkshot said hastily.

“Who’s Aegis?” Sherry asked Lina as she walked away, confused by everyone’s reactions.

“He’s our party leader…” Lina replied before she continued walking away.

“Weird party, why are they all afraid of seeing their leader?” Sherry shrugged to herself before continuing her training alone.

Derrick found himself in his living room after having taken a shower, flipping on the TV and navigating to Shattered World livestreams where he’d manage to locate Aegis’ stream by searching for it by name. It had four viewers including himself at this time, and Aegis was in the enchanting tower working on enchanting Iron weapons. Derrick knew the livestream had a delay and didn’t want to risk logging back in and bumping into Aegis yet, he wasn’t ready to see his friend again, not until he’d proven he was capable enough to get his intermediate quests done by himself.

Instead, as he watched Aegis enchant his iron weapons, he found himself practicing fighting stances and hand and feet motions in his living room. Just like Travis had taught him in the game world, it felt so ingrained into his muscle memory now that he could repeat the motions using his real body, with ease.

“That’s pretty neat. Are you learning kung fu?” Rob, Derrick’s dad, asked him from the doorway of the living room. Derrick hadn’t noticed him standing there watching him, causing him to awkwardly jump out of his fighting pose back into standing in a normal upright position.

“Huh? No, dad, it’s not kung fu.” Derrick replied flustered.

“Well, whatever it is, looks good. Are you doing that for Eli’s big streaming career? He told you to learn that to get more viewers?” Rob asked as he motioned to Aegis’ livestream playing on the TV.

“Nah, he didn’t tell me to learn it. I’m just learning it for myself.” Derrick replied dismissively.

“Oh, hm.” Rob sounded surprised as he turned from the living room towards a shelf lining the hallway, and began searching through one of the drawers for something.

“What’s with that? Oh hm.” Derrick questioned his reaction.

“Nothing.” Rob shrugged. “It’s just, normally you’re following instructions, so, good to hear you taking initiative.”

“I take initiative all the time,” Derrick replied defensively.

“It’s not a bad thing.” Rob sighed back. “I’m backed up on repairs, got a couple of autopods in the garage that need fixing before Monday. You got time to help your old man? Or are you going back in?” Rob motioned to the TV again. Derrick glanced at it to see that Aegis would be awhile, and shrugged.

“I can help you out.” Derrick replied, following his dad into the garage where there were two autopods sitting about, both with their hoods open and engines visible. The autopods were small, egg shaped vehicles with a flattened bottom that featured four small but thick wheels. One was coated in plain white paint, the other dark blue. They had a single door, with only a single seat and minimal controls on the inside. The engines themselves, visible due to the front hoods being opened up to the side like a small door, resembled a computer more than it did engines from the early 21st century.

“How about you take the left one, I’ll take the right one.” Rob suggested as he motioned to his tools on a workbench off to the side of the garage. Derrick looked at the left one, then the right one, and hesitated.

“How about we both take the right one, and then we both take the left one.” Derrick replied with a smirk.

“Heh, fine. So much for taking initiative.” Rob chuckled back.

“What? It’s better to work together.” Derrick shrugged at him as he grabbed a few tools and Rob watched.

“You know exactly what tools to grab, and you know what needs adjusting, right there, right?” Rob asked as he motioned to the engine on the right autopod.

“This part is what needs fixing?” Derrick confirmed as he motioned to a part of the engine. Rob didn't react to this, and instead moved in to help him as he nodded his head towards the left Autopod.

“I’m betting you can also tell what's wrong with that one, too.” Rob said, causing Derrick to glance over to the left autopod’s engine as they started working on the right one together.

“Eh…” Derrick hesitated answering, even though he saw the problem right away.

“You just like having someone giving you clear instructions. I get it.” Rob replied after rolling his eyes at Derrick’s hesitation.

“So what? I want to make sure I don’t mess anything up.” Derrick grumbled back.

“I’m betting it's why you like those RPG games with quests. The NPCs tell you exactly what to do, huh?” Rob teased him.

“That’s not the reason. I’m perfectly fine without instructions, just, why not follow them when someone is there to give them?” Derrick shrugged.

“You mean, why take initiative if I don’t have to?” Rob joked.

“Exactly.” Derrick nodded proudly.

“Well, eventually you’ll get stuck in a situation where there won’t be someone like me or Eli to tell you what to do, then what’ll you do?” Rob asked.

“Duh, start learning kung fu.” Derrick replied sarcastically, causing Rob to chuckle as his ear implant began blinking.

“One sec.” Rob said as he pressed his implant, answering the call. He exchanged words for a few moments before ending the call with a sigh. “Man, can’t even enjoy my weekend. Had a breakdown across town.” Rob said as he started putting the tools away. “Don’t worry about this, I’ll finish it when I get back.” Rob said to Derrick as he waved him away from the autopods.

“You’re not overworking yourself, are you? It’s the weekend.” Derrick asked worriedly as he watched his dad leave the garage through the door to their main hallway in the house and started putting on his shoes.

“I’m fine. If you’re really worried, take some initiative and fix those two autopods for me.” Rob winked at him as he threw his jacket over his shoulders. “Be back in a bit.” He ended as he stepped out of the front door of their house, shutting it behind himself. Derrick found himself standing in the doorway of their garage, looking between the two autopods in the garage.

“Eh, better to wait until he gets back.” Derrick mumbled to himself as he stepped back into the house and shut the garage door.

Darkshot and Rakkan both timed their return into the gameworld after they’d watched Aegis finish his Shield Mastery quest on his first try. Seeing him do it on his first attempt sparked some newfound motivation in their hearts as they followed the training regime Travis had given them over the next few weeks. Every few days Travis sent new instructions to Sherry through the friends list messaging, and she relayed the instructions to Darkshot and Rakkan. Each instruction involved more complicated stances and motions to help them master their own bodies. On the fourth week of their training, Sherry, Rakkan and Darkshot all got the messages within a few hours of one another that each of them had hit level 30 in their unarmed combat skills.

“That’s it! We are done.” Sherry shouted excitedly as she was the last to reach 30. “Travis says that he will be back in about a week to help you guys with the last steps, for your weapons, if you need it. But he thinks we already have everything we need to figure out the rest ourselves.” Sherry said as she read the messages Travis had sent to her outloud, then smiled at the two of them. “I should thank you both. You helped me stay motivated! I’m not very interested in combat, that’s why I took the merchant class, but the Night Hunters don’t like the non-combat class players to be defenseless, so…” Sherry shrugged at them.

“We should be thanking you.” Darkshot smiled at her.

“I want to see just how useful learning fighting like this really was…” Rakkan said as he looked up to the Kordas Training Hall across the way.

“Then we should all do the unarmed combat intermediate quest, right?” Sherry suggested.

“Yeah, let’s start with that.” Rakkan nodded back. The three of them eagerly made their way across the training grounds, up the marble staircase, and into the training hall to see the familiar doorways marked with all of the weapon symbols. It was fairly crowded as usual, but the line for the Unarmed Combat intermediate quest only had one person in front of it. Darkshot recognized who it was and pulled back anxiously at first when he saw her name, [Miranda - Level 30], but he remembered she probably wouldn’t recognize who he was, even though he knew who she was from school. She was waiting anxiously in line, her blonde ponytail shaking back and forth as she hopped in place with her livestream icon turned on, showing a viewership count of 1000.

Sherry got in line behind her, then Rakkan, and lastly Darkshot, and the three went quiet as they listened to Miranda talking to her audience.

“Okay guys, we’ve got it this time, third time's the charm. Everyone place your votes in the chat, do you think I’ll get it this time, the third try? Please cheer for me!” Miranda said enthusiastically. A few moments passed before the doors into the Unarmed Combat quest arena opened, and out stepped a dejected looking level 30 lizardfolk player.

“How did it go?” Miranda asked him with a friendly tone.

“Bad. I’m giving up for today.” He sighed as he walked away with his shoulders slumped.

“Oh no, hearts in the chat for him, he tried his best. Now it’s our turn.” Miranda said excitedly to the intermediate NPC in front of the door who stared at her blankly.

“Ready to go again?” The NPC asked her unenthusiastically.

“I’m ready!” Miranda cheered before heading into the room, doors closing behind her.

“I’m getting a bit nervous. If I fail the first few times, don’t tell Travis, okay?” Sherry whispered back to Darkshot and Rakkan, and they nodded.

“Same.” Darkshot replied. A few more minutes passed before the doors opened, and Miranda stepped out with her shoulders slumped.

“Nope, failed again.” She huffed. “This quest is really hard guys, good luck!” See said encouragingly to them as she got in the line behind the three. Sherry stepped up and had her introduction to the intermediate quest NPC, got the quest, and stepped inside the room, all while Miranda continued to chatter about pointlessly mundane things to her audience. Darkshot and Rakkan did their best to just ignore Miranda’s chatter as they waited patiently for Sherry to come back out.

It took awhile, a good long 10 minutes, before the doors opened up again and Sherry stepped out.

“Congratulations on completing your intermediate Unarmed Combat quest. Despite your lower level, you performed exceptionally well with your fists. You are ready to take your Unarmed Combat to the next stage.” The NPC congratulated her, causing Miranda to look on in awe.

“What!? A level 19 girl just completed the quest on her first try!” Miranda said in disbelief. “What is your secret?” Miranda asked Sherry excitedly.

“Uhm…” She looked awkwardly at Darkshot and Rakkan. “Just lots of training and hard work.” She shrugged.

“Hm. Wow, incredible.” Miranda continued to express her awe, while Rakkan began to get nervous himself, as it was his turn next. Seeing Sherry do it on her first try made him feel more pressure than anything as he stepped forward and exchanged words with the NPC.

“Good luck. It’s tough, but just stay focused!” Sherry encouraged him with a thumbs up. Rakkan gave her a nod, glanced at Darkshot anxiously, then headed into the room and the doors shut behind him. Sherry stood off to the side near one of the many large statues lining the training hall, waiting to see the results, and as she did, Miranda kept asking her for tips and pointers. This noisy exchange eventually drew the attention of a familiar face, Christoph, who approached them from across the training hall.

“Hi there, Miranda, my name is Christoph, I’m the guild leader of the Blades of Kalmoore.” Christoph said politely, while acting as if Sherry and Darkshot didn’t exist.

“Oh, the Blades of Kalmoore, I’ve heard of you guys! You’re the 2nd strongest guild in Kalmoore, right?” She asked excitedly.

“That’s right. I see you are having trouble with your Unarmed Combat quest, are you looking to become an intermediate monk class?” He asked her.

“Mhm. I am. But this quest is so tough.” She pouted.

“I could help you out. I know some great tricks for passing this quest, then you’ll be heading to level 150 in unarmed combat in no time.” Christoph smiled at her.

“Really? You’d do that?” Miranda replied hopefully.

“Of course, but only if you join my guild. The Blades of Kalmoore are always looking for players with potential, and I can see you have a lot of it.” Christoph offered.

“Hmm. What do you guys think? Let’s vote in the chat! Should I join the Blades of Kalmoore, 2nd biggest guild in Kalmoore, and go on adventures with them?” Miranda asked her audience excitedly. “I bet they do crazy dungeon raids, right? And insane PvP?” She asked Christoph excitedly.

“We do everything.” Christoph grinned back.

“Ok ok… the results are in! It looks like my chat wants to go on adventures with your guild! I accept!” Miranda replied excitedly.

“Awesome! Glad to hear! If you come with me, I’ll show you the trick to beating this quest really easily!” He motioned her back towards the training grounds while smirking at Darkshot and Sherry.

“Oh, I’m so excited!” Miranda cheered as she followed him out of the training hall, leaving Darkshot and Sherry in silence for a few seconds until Sherry let out an uncomfortable shiver.

“Disgusting.” Sherry mumbled under her breath, causing Darkshot to chuckle.

“Which one?” Darkshot asked.

“Both. They’re perfect together.” Sherry replied. 5 Minutes after Rakkan had gone in, the doors opened, and he stepped back out. He’d taken half the time that Sherry had taken, and as he came out to greet the NPC, she bowed excitedly towards him.

“Congratulations on completing your intermediate Unarmed Combat quest. You made quick work of the challenge and proved that you are more than capable of learning the intermediate techniques that this skill has to offer. I look forward to seeing great things from you in the future.” The NPC said to Rakkan, and he stepped out with an expression of disbelief on his face as he looked between Darkshot and Sherry.

“I… I did it. I did the intermediate quest.” Rakkan said slowly, looking dumbstruck.

“Congrats!” Sherry cheered as she ran over, holding her hand up for a high five. Rakkan high fived her before turning to Darkshot with his expression of disbelief.

“I’m not just an encyclopedia. I can fight now.” He said with wide eyes.

“Good shit.” Darkshot gave him a high five as well. “Now I guess it’s my turn.” He added as he looked at the NPC nervously. “Gonna suck if I’m the only one who fails it.” He stepped forward, and began the dialogue with the NPC. After accepting the quest, a few moments later he went into the room and the doors shut behind him. He stood on the ledge overlooking the arena. This arena was identical to all the others, with 8 pillars and a doorway on the opposite end for enemies to enter the arena from. As Darkshot stood on the edge, he had memories flooding in of his first few attempts at the Longbow intermediate quest, and how he’d failed it so spectacularly.

He didn’t need his longbow right now though. Or his quiver. He made sure both were unequipped to his inventory before he hopped down into the arena. He had the quest instructions fresh in his memory. He was to fight a number of opponents, and the objective was to land 100 strikes on them before they’d landed 100 strikes on him. It was simple in concept, as most of the intermediate weapon quests were, but the execution was always where the difficulty came from.

As Darkshot hopped down onto the arena floor, he watched as on the opposite end, 5 unarmed Kordas soldiers wearing light leather armor stepped out of the doorway. Each of the five looked very muscular and walked with confidence, their fists clenched. The only variance between the five were the lengths and colors of their hair, and as they stepped onto the tiled floor of the arena, they began to fan out in front of Darkshot.

Looking around at the pillars, Darkshot could already imagine methods and strategies he could employ to cheat this test, but that’d defeat the purpose. In the end, he knew the only thing he’d be cheating would be himself. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he slowly took a fighting stance with his fists clenched. He opened his eyes again and watched the movement of the five NPCs. With it being five versus one, they’d have an easier time landing 100 hits before he did.

Should I focus on being defensive and taking it slow? Should I focus on kiting them and only engaging when I can isolate one of them, using the pillars? Should I just go all out offensive and try to rush 100 strikes before they have time to react? What was the optimal strategy? As he pondered it, a big part of him wished that someone would tell him the optimal strategy. Even when Darkshot knew how to do something well, it always felt so much better to just have someone tell him clearly how to execute. But no one was going to tell him how to beat this quest.

The five soldiers continued to close in on Darkshot, but he hadn’t yet come up with a plan, or a strategy. His mind began to rush over the pros and cons of each method of tackling this quest. Aggressive, defensive, or tactical? The issue now wasn’t Darkshot’s doubt in his ability to perform unarmed combat, it was rather his self-doubt in how to utilize his ability in this particular test.

Three approached him from the front now, while one flanked around to his left and another flanked to his right. They were easily surrounding him, and he was letting it happen. He knew that letting them surround him would put him in a very bad spot, so finally took his first action. He dashed away with a burst of speed, maneuvering around the slow walking NPCs to get behind them and reach the opposite side of the arena, buying him more time before they reached him. The NPCs followed him with their eyes, but didn’t give chase, instead they turned and continued to walk patiently towards him.

This was good, Darkshot thought. It gave him more time to think, and decide on a strategy. But the more time he had to think, the more time he began to doubt every plan he came up with in his mind. There was always so much uncertainty with every plan he came up with, he’d wished more than ever that someone could just tell him the best method. He could do any of them, he knew it. He could probably win if he played it slow and defensively. He could probably win if he went all out offensive. He could probably win if he tactically kited and isolated them. But which method should he use? He began to panic as his heartbeat quickened, watching the 5 NPCs close in on him once again.

Sherry and Rakkan both passed the test easily. He wondered what method they had used. He wondered what they would think of him if he was the only one who couldn’t do the quest. A month of training, all for nothing, because Darkshot couldn’t execute when it mattered. The thought of asking Christoph for help on how to complete the quest started to sound incredibly tempting. A clear outline of exactly what he needed to do to clear the quest - that’s what he needed right now. It wouldn’t really be cheating, would it? Since he took the time to learn the skill. As Darkshot began to reason with himself in this way, a message popped up in the middle of his screen.

[WORLD NOTIFICATION]

The player [Aegis - Level 30] has become the first player in the world to reach intermediate in every crafting skill.

In an instant, Darkshot was reminded of why he was here, trying so hard to be good at this game. Someone aiming for the top didn’t take shortcuts. They didn’t need their hand held. Darkshot took another deep breath, closed his eyes for a moment as he took on his fighting stance once more, then opened his eyes and waited patiently for the 5 NPCs to approach him.