Chapter 10

  After I woke up and got myself together, I headed downstairs to eat breakfast and then begin the busy day I had before me. As I was eating breakfast father came downstairs and quickly took his place at the table.

  Mother then came over, gave father a quick kiss on the cheek, and placed a plate of breakfast in front of him before turning back to the stove. After taking a few bites of his eggs, father looked up at me and said, “Callum, do you want to have a morning practice session today or do you not feel up to it this morning?”

  I quickly brought my eyes up from my plate to look at father realizing that my mind was in another space entirely. I hurriedly got my thoughts in order and answered, “Yes. I want to have a morning practice session. Sorry… I was just thinking about other things.”

  Father just smiled at me and continued to eat his breakfast seemingly pleased with my response. After I was done with breakfast, I made my way to the storage closet to begin putting on my training gear when Adam spoke up. “Do you think sparing right now is a good idea? The last time you sparred with your father, and before you ask… yes, I did glimpse your memories of last time, your stats were fairly low.”

  “A man of his caliber will surely notice the jump in power your new stats have bestowed.” Adam was not wrong, but I had a plan to hopefully compensate for father’s sharp mind.

  “I know, that is why I will not be wearing the training weights this time around. I will make the excuse that I want to see how I perform without them for a change to see and feel the difference their absence has on me.” I could feel an approval of the plan from Adam, “I guess it is a good a plan as can be until we can come up with a reasonable explanation for your increase in power.”

  After I got my gear in place I quickly made my way to the backyard where father was waiting. True to my assumption he asked about my lack of weighted gear and seemed to accept my logic for going without the weights this time.

  Our sparring session did not last long, as it never tended too, but what had changed was my movements and reactions. With my increased stat values, I was finally able to take a more aggressive stance against father.

  Even though I never forced father to take a two-handed grip on his practice sword, all the combat forms he had taught me were suddenly much easier to execute. I was able to easily shift my weight around when my sword was parried, more readily strike with my enhanced strength, and dodge his counter swings better than before.

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  For the first time ever, I was even able to score a graze against father’s chest. It did not rip his shirt or even leave a mark, but it was still a hit I had landed without the aid of one of my skills. That feeling alone was worth the six years of hardship I had endured with my previous [Basic Swordsmanship] skill.

  Father was both surprised and happy with the progress he saw after our practice bout.

  The expression Father had on his face was one of deep pride. Pride in the progress his son had made with his combat prowess. A fact he openly stated when he said, “Well done Callum. This is proof that all your hard work has had results. Just imagine what will happen if you keep the weights on and continue to increase the amount every time you get use to them.”

  From father’s viewpoint, he was right. He did not know about what had changed for me and his exuberance showed that he was proud but still wanted to advise me not to become complacent with the progress I had made. He wanted me to strive to constantly improve my abilities.

  And I agreed with Father.

  Through our link, I could also tell that Adam also approved of father’s assessment. A feeling he confirmed when he said, “You have a good dad. He truly cares about you and only wants to see you reach the peak of what you are capable of. I guess that is something we have in common as my dad was the same way. Kind when he needed to be and stern with his teachings.”

  Father continued to teach me combat forms for another hour before he had to report for his duties with the City Watch. As he disappeared into the house, I practiced combat forms until I was certain he had left the house and then silently made my way into the house to grab my real gear.

  For what I had planned today, the training gear would not be enough. What I needed was ‘true gear’ that was made to take serious abuse in combat and a weapon that was made to take the life of those it was used on.

  After stripping off the training gear, I quickly began the process of adhering my combat armor to myself. It consisted of sturdy leather boots, metal greaves, leather pants, a simple tight-fitting shirt, a leather chest piece to go over the shirt with segments of metal sewn into it for added protection, and metal bracers that where several pieces of metal layered on top of each other in an articulating fashion that allowed my arms more freedom of movement.

  To finish it all off I grabbed a short sword sheathed in a simple leather scabbard that father had commissioned for me. It was a basic style short sword with a leather wrapped grip, small circular pommel on the bottom, a simple rectangular cross guard, and a double-bladed edge with a fuller running down the middle that allowed me the freedom to attack in a multitude of ways.

  After all my gear was on and I grabbed a small carrying pack, I quietly made my way out of the house. Being extra careful not to alert mother of my exit to go train in secret. If she saw me with this gear on, she would no doubt have questions for me, questions I did not want to answer.

  As I carefully closed the door to back of the house I rapidly looked around and once I was sure that no one was watching, I made a furious sprint towards the forest to find a monster to practice Adam’s and mines new skills and spells on.