So you summoned me here Why Randidly asked slightly annoyed He had prepared himself for spending a month or two training with Mrs Hamilton pushing the limits of his skills in order to gain power It was already almost impossibly difficult to continue and every day found Randidly collapsed on the ground needing to rest before he could even brew a potion to recover but the improvement was definite His degree of control over his spear and footwork were miles ahead of what they had been when he had started
In addition his continued use of Root Manipulation Summon Pestilence and Circle of Flame had vastly increased the power of those spells Especially Root Manipulation Even more intimidating was his slowly growing ability to Flex his mana to create slightly more power in the spell And with his Intelligence nearing 100 a slight extra boost meant a lot
His time spent alone training his use of the spear also had another benefit he was greatly benefiting from this time in terms of getting a more vivid picture of what the spear could do Randidly somehow knew that if he used the first move of his created skill the Spear Advances Ash Trails the powerful image he had gained both from his Phantom Thrust training and also from the root avatar time would result in a drastically increased power and skill level
But now he had been pulled to somewhere interrupting that time
Still Randidly comforted himself at least Shal’s presence likely meant he would receive additional pointers on his spear work Perhaps now he could learn some more techniques to raise his skill even further
Shal simply chuckled I already say it is for the honor of our Style Come I’ll tell you more when we arrive
Miffed Randidly followed after Shal moving along the path through the forest They were winding along through a heavily forested area so much so that only the occasional sun beam could break through the foliage to illuminate the path Shal calmly strode forward apparently content to remain silent the entire way Randidly sighed accepting this outcome
This was the Nexus he assumed A real part of the Nexus And he would be damned if he didn’t gain some information while he was here
How did you summon me here Randidly asked
Shal waved a hand Once you are connected to the Nexus and have access to the friends list you may pay for the privilege to ascend to other worlds connected to the Nexus as long as those worlds aren’t in a Cohort below your own
So this isn’t the Nexus Randidly asked
Apparently his comment was so amusing that Shal turned to him and flashed a smile Ha No pupil this is not the Nexus The Nexus does not exist or at least if it does it is far beyond our ability to reach This is simply my homeworld which is a member of the 5th Cohort of the Nexus Now be still you will want to see this
They walked around a bend in the path and Randidly was shocked to discover that they were at the edge of a cliff To their left and right a sheer rock face dropped down to the crash of strange reddish water A rather dangerous seeming rope bridge led downwards connecting to dozens of other ropes until it resembled a strange spider web
But floating before them taking up most of the area below were boats hundreds and hundreds of boats They all flew sails of orange red yellow and light blue But only rarely were there blues popping out of the surrounding boats
The boats appeared to be tightly lashed together in places and bobbed up and down All around people came and went hopping from boat to boat Shal beckoned to Randidly
Come come we must hurry All will be explained in my quarters Welcome to Qtal the Floating City
After being rushed through a press of bodies as they swung down the ropes to the boat city and rushing across several wooden decks Randidly was led belowdecks on a small old looking boat An old man sitting on the boat spared them a glance as they went below but quickly closed his eyes once more appearing to be in meditation
When they reached the area Randidly was surprised to find that the boat was even bigger down here than he had thought It was a square 5 meter by 5 meter room The only problem in Randidly’s mind was the strange swaying of the location due to being on the water
Shal took his spear off his back turning to face Randidly Now first let us see how rusty you have become
Randidly almost rolled his eyes but obligingly removed his spear from his spatial ring It was not the weighted training spear nor was it simply a wooden pole Instead it was a simple thing of shaped bone made for him by Sam It did not have the weight or size of his previous spear but it was still the spear he was becoming most accustomed to
Shal’s eyes critically scanned the weapon then he nodded At least you have not been dirtying your hands with unnecessary trash A simple spear is best Come
But unlike Shal’s invitation Shal was the one who rushed forward spear raised Gritting his teeth Randidly started using Footwork of the Spear Phantom crossing the distance to Shal and shifting around to his side
Just as he was in position and planted his feet Randidly’s eyes widened Shal all but disappeared reappearing in a position ready to attack Randidly in his blindspot Almost instinctively he moved again dodging to the side
But again Shal was quicker appearing right where Randidly was attempting to move to thrusting towards him Gritting his teeth Randidly swept his spear up blocking the blow It was a close thing too because Shal’s attack was quick but not so quick it couldn’t be caught However when their spears crossed there was only one word to describe Shal’s attack
Heavy
Heavy like a blow from Dozer would be
Randidly spun to the side then activated Haste and Empower using Phantom Thrust But with just a slight body sway Shal was able to avoid the strike and before Randidly could react another thrust rumbled heavily towards him
Changing his grip on his spear Randidly switched to a Ghastly Slash bringing his spear down on the oncoming attack knocking it to the side But in that moment Shal stepped quickly forward twisting and raising his spear again more quickly than Randidly could believe
Randidly used Phantom Half Step directly backwards creating a small amount of distance but when he attempted to reset his stance he bumped into the back wall
Shal attacked viciously aiming for that small hesitation Randidly’s spear flashed forward to meet it and he was able to deflect it slightly Seeing his chance Randidly went for another Phantom Thrust but the ship swayed abruptly making the attack falter
Slightly pissed off Randidly used Footwork of the Spear Phantom and circled around to the side attempting to open up some more space for himself But again and again those heavy thrusts came smashing him back until he found himself cornered desperately lashing out to keep the blows from reaching him
Right when Randidly thought he was going to have to do something drastic to escape Shal stopped stepping backwards Hmph If nothing else you have earned yourself some callouses while you were lazing about Your grip is childish but firm And you have become passable at fleeing Congratulations Come sit we must speak of your mission
Feeling strangely disappointed that the fight hadn’t escalated Randidly moved to the space that Shal indicated After clearing his throat Shal began to speak
On my world you are known by two things Primarily your School which is important for distasteful reasons but most importantly by your Style We are of course the Spear Phantom Style of the Spearman School Our Style emphasized speed and control of distance In this regard you can be considered passably talented due to your skills and fleeing ability
Every 5 years a member of the youngest generation of each Style must accomplish one of many certain tasks in order to maintain the honor of the Style Only then will their Style remain upon the great list for their respective School in our case the Spearman School Shal grimaced Unfortunately the Schools have a very generous definition on who is counted and they use tools granted to them by the System in order to select You have been selected As the youngest in our Style you must accomplish these tasks Now you may ask questions