I looked up at the sign above the door: Nebulous Skill Readings.
“This is the place?” I asked.
“Yep,” said Katelen.
I pushed the door open and stepped inside. Inside looked like a cluttered office. Bookshelves lined the walls surrounding a desk littered with papers. In a leather chair a man with a massive beard was sitting in front of a fireplace. He looked up as we entered. “Welcome, I see you’ve brought some friends, Katelen,” he said. “How can I be of service?”
“Tim here would like to know his skills,” said Katelen.
“I can do that,” said the man as he stood up. “Let’s have a look.”
He peered at me keenly. “Your passive ability appears to be called One vs. One. Only the enemy you’re fighting can damage you. Unless someone shoots you with a ranged weapon.” He paused for a second. “Quite a rare ability. According to the records we skill readers keep and share only two other people have this ability.”
I nodded. It explained the sword in my back at least.
“What about his other ability?” Asked Katelen.
“What other ability?” I asked.
“Everyone has two abilities,” explained the man as he took a book off a bookshelf. “A passive ability, which is active at all times. And another ability that you have to unlock through an action of will related to it. Yours hasn’t been activated yet. But its name is Nor Sight.” He flipped through the book. “Once you unlock it come visit me so I can catalog its ability as no other player on record has this ability.”
“I might,” I said. “Once I figure it out.”
The man nodded. “That’s fair enough. Or you could visit another one of the men in my trade we’re in most other large cities. We share records so we’ll all be kept up to date.”
We thanked the man and left. I looked up at the sky.
“It’s about one o’clock,” I said as I judged the time by the suns position in the sky.
“let’s see what our party members are made of,” suggested Matt. “After all no one can die in a city unless your killer is an enforcer or an assassin.”
“In that case we’d better do an actual game city duel,” I said. “I’m an assassin. If we do that Osmond won’t die by my blade.”
Matt nodded. “You’re right Tim.”
I nodded and drew my swordstaff off my back. “You’re up Osmond.” I said as I sent the duel request.
“Are you kidding me?” Asked Osmond. “You have the lowest defense stat of almost all the classes available.”
“If you’re so sure of yourself I’ll make it easier on you,” I said as I tossed my weapon to the side and sprung my hidden blade.
Osmond laughed and drew his sword. “Your funeral.”
I merely smiled and held my arm loosely at my side. One thing I had going for me was speed. Osmond’s sword could do extreme damage if it could hit me. But my attack stats were even higher. But since this was a friendly round I just needed to prove a point.
Osmond charged me. I stepped aside as his sword came down, moving so fast I was just a blur. I used my hidden blade to add momentum to his swing so that his sword buried itself in the ground. I leapt up and kicked him in the chest with both feet. Rolling as I landed and coming up on my feet.
Osmond wasn’t so lucky. He let go of his weapon and fell heavily on his back. I approached my winded opponent and poised my hidden blade over his throat.
“One more round,” I said. “But this time I’ll use my weapon and not my agility to beat you. After all, a sword against a quick man with a knife is one thing, but sword to sword we may be more equal.”
I retracted my hidden blade as I helped Osmond up. He looked at me. “Where did you learn to do that?” He asked. “I’ve never seen that move before.”
“I just kinda did it,” I said. “I’ve been doing combat training with all kinds of weapons and without since I was ten.”
“Instinct,” said Osmond. “Let’s see how it stacks up against my class stats with a sword.”
“We’ll see,” I said as I bent to pick up my swordstaff. “We’ll see.”
I adopted a pose with the swordstaff held so that it pointed straight up on my left side.
Osmond charged again and swung his sword. I shifted my stance and moved my arms. Easily blocking his blow. I disengaged my blade and moved my arms again. Twisting my wrists as well to bring a blade in at an unexpected angle. Osmond barely blocked the blow before I spun and brought the other blade around just above waist height.
Osmond’s chainmail armor blocked the blow but it sent him staggering. I quickly followed up by bringing the other blade around. Osmond blocked the blow but unable to keep his footing against the force of it stumbled and fell.
I lowered my swordstaff. “You’ve got the basics but you’re using the in-game moves. All of which are based on the most basic structure of real-life fighting styles from what I’ve seen. And I’ve spent seven years studying and learning how to counter them.” I slung my swordstaff over my back and helped Osmond up. “But you’ve got what it takes to be a fighter.”
“Wait, how old are you?” asked Osmond as he regained his feet. “You don’t look that old.”
“Seventeen,” I replied. “I’ve been training in a lot of forms of combat and self defense styles since I was eight.” I tapped my swordstaff. “I actually use one of the seven forms of lightsaber combat with this weapon for defense. Throw in a couple of attacks at the right time and it’s pretty good.”
“Just from looking at you ya kinda don’t look that dangerous,” said Osmond as he shook his head. “I took a few lessons with broadswords when I had a chance, but I never got past the very basics.”
“I figured,” I said. “Your stance was meant to absorb blows from one angle with your sword and give you time to recover before the next hit. I didn’t give you the time, so you lost.”
I turned to look at the sun. “Against your average player that would work fairly well. But I am not your average player.”
“I told you that you wouldn’t be able to beat him,” said Matt. “I used to take fencing lessons with him. First to five points wins. He never lost to me.”
“Well if he’s as formidable a warrior as he seems he would be an excellent addition to any party,” said Osmon as he sheathed his sword.
“Actually, after we get Matt a decent party so that he can actually do stuff I might start my own party,” I said. “That way Matt can hire me to carry out assassinations without having me in his party.”
Matt nodded. “That could work. But first let’s do some stuff.” Matt looked at the sun. “We still have most of the day before us. Let’s look for a quest to do.”
I coughed as Katelen slid off the low wall she’d been sitting on. “Actually, I know of one. I read a quest board in the bar.”
“What is it?” asked Matt.
“Castle with a horde of goblinkind in it,” I said. “There’s around a hundred goblins in there but no one has been able to take the castle because of the bugbear lord.”
“Sounds interesting,” said Matt. “But how are four adventurers going to take on a bugbear lord?”
I dug in my pocket and produced my fire periapt. I raised my swordstaff and showed them the handle. Set at the base of each blade on the handle were four circular slots. I inserted the periapt and the blade it was inserted under immediately glowed with a bright orange light before settling down to a dim orange glow.
“How come the other blade isn’t glowing?” asked Katelen. “A periapt affects the entire weapon.”
I smiled. “It’s not one weapon.” I put my other hand on the grip and twisted the hilt. The hilt popped apart at the middle and I was holding two swords.
“That’s unique,” said Katelen. “And it means if your swordstaff isn’t working that well you can instantly switch weapon type and number of weapons in use.”
I shook my head. “The number doesn’t change just how I use it.”
“Still the surprise could give you a brief advantage,” said Osmond. “If you’re quick enough to act on it.”
“I probably am,” I admitted. “But that’s only a last resort. Usually an enemy can’t quite understand the swordstaff enough to be very effective against it.”
“Well I’ve never seen a weapon like it,” said Katelen. “And something unfamiliar can be deadly.”
I nodded. “About that castle,”
“What the heck,” said Matt. “Why not?”
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