Chapter 14: I Can Do This

Jackson yawned as he left his tent. After investing his points yesterday he didn't actually have the time to train his magic. Instead he went through the usual routine of exercise before going to bed. As he left the tent his mind felt crystal clear and he felt light in the feet. He hadn't realized how much the Mana exhaustion affected him until he woke up. After going through his morning routine, he sat down next to the firepit before he got on with... 

Huh.

What should I do today?

He was genuinely stumped. He decided to halt fire and air magic practice as it wouldn't be usable anytime soon. He didn't know if he should attempt Mana shield. And support wise he didn't know what to do. 

He eventually decided to look for improvements he could make to his  Mana Shield. Almost immediately he noticed how unevenly compressed the Mana was. He casually tried to condense his mana evenly while trying to think of something else to do today as he didn't need to dedicate too much mind power to it.

I can heal, I can buff, and I can sorta shield. What else do I do? Debuff? It would take way to long to learn how to do that. Hmm.

He managed to distribute his mana better, but there were still abnormalities. An unknown air bubble here. A layer with less Mana than another. He continued.

Maybe I should pull away from generalizing. I can heal, but slowly because I try and heal everywhere at once. I can narrow it down but the spell is still designed for everywhere. I can buff, but I buff every physical stat at once. It's not a bad buff, but it's still relatively minor and has to be channeled unless the target is really stressed. Then it's more of a natural buff that I just kick off. Defense wise.... Well I'm working from on it. The only thing I really could practice feasibly would be buffing, but there's no way I'd finish it by tomorrow. Looking at my magical schools... Hmm, why not? Should be quick enough.

Jackson lit a fire and sat down. He pushed a thin film of Mana out of his skin, covering him entirely. He set it so everything could permeate through it. Using his Heat Control, he tried to infuse the film with a certain property. Insulation. He already could make it so the temperature in a certain area would stay the same. In his Climate Control spell he already had some form of insulation, but not the actual spell for insulation. Climate Control was more for changing the temperature anyway, not preserving it. It was already easy pickings for him so might as well go for it.

Jackson stood up and walked closer to the fire.

No problems so far. 

Closer.

My mana is taking a bigger draw now, but it's still fine.

He was already right next to it, but instead of just stepping in he shoved his hand over top of it. 

It's warm, but not burning.

Jackson took this as an opportunity to tweak the spell a bit. He began to look closely at it. Evening out his mana distribution, refining his Heat Control, and things like that. Eventually he got his mastery to a satisfactory level and went back to his seat.

Did I really just touch fire? Yes, yes I did.

…well not really. But I was close!

 

 

"Well now what do I do?"

Jackson hadn't expected learning it so fast, but the more he thought of it, the more he realized it was a rather simple spell.

I can knock these simple spells out of the way but what else can I do? Oh wait, if I'm so dedicated to being an all rounder, I should actually do that. Problem is, what do I even train there? Swordsmanship? Archery? hmm...

as he was wondering, Jackson pulled out his weapons and took a look at them. His bow was cheap, and he only had two arrows left after the encounter with the Enkki. His sword, while professionally made, was not the most extravagant. It was dull, and dirty. Although it was Jackson's fault for it's condition. Jackson beat himself up mentally for that.

Dishonoring my family in more ways than one. Can't believe I forgot to take care of the sword. I even snatched a whetstone and lubrication before I left home.

As Jackson decided how to train, he got on to maintenance with his sword. He hadn't done a lot of maintenance on equipment like this before, but he still remembered the process. 

I can get archery out of the way first, I only have two arrows anyways. picking them up every time is going to be annoying though. after that I can try and work on my swings. I never seem to hit those slashes right. Though I have been getting strangely lucky with them lately...

seems to be sharp enough.

After brushing the metal dust off his legs, he got to work. He had already set up an archery range, but now it was to easy for him. he was definitely nowhere near perfect, but good enough to move on to harder training. Jackson grabbed one of the small logs he had set on the makeshift archery range. Looking over the broken arrows on the ground made him feel a bit annoyed that they broke during his practice. He could definitely use them right about now. He began to lug the log over to the tree he tested his Mana Shield with. 

Pulling his rope from his bag, and tied the small log to it. Next he threw it over the branch like he did the rock. Now he had to find a way to make the target move. 

Huh, I have an idea in mind, but the rope needs to have some tension already built up. Hmm... What about one of those log traps in movies? but just with only one log. I don't think I can remember all the details, but it was a lot of knots. Ok, I do remember needing two logs, four ropes, and a stake or two in the ground. Well that's if its a log trap, so half that. Let's see if I can make it with a bit of guess work.

Starting off, he cut his rope at a margin of around two thirds. Using the bigger rope, he tied one of the ends of the log. now he had to.... wrap it around the tree multiple times. 

Shoot. I haven't climbed a tree in years.

After a strangely strenuous time climbing the tree, Jackson got to wrapping the the branch with the rope. At least he would have if he remembered to bring the rope with him.

Frick.

Instead of climbing back down, Jackson made his own "rope" of mana to grab the one on the floor. he hadn't tended to use mana to grab things because of the difficulties you typically face doing so. You can't control it as easily as you would think, it's very fragile and can't carry much, and typically is harder than grabbing the thing yourself. It was an interesting thing to do though. some people had good enough control over it they could use it to fight.

Anyway, after he managed to pull the rope towards him (which gave him high points of glee), he wrapped it around the branch and jumped down. Using the rope he tied a knot he wasn't familiar with and it took him a few tries. He didn't quite remember it's name, but the knot itself was held up by friction alone, not actually being tied at all.

Now, Jackson tied the smaller rope around the first knot he made with the other one.

Dang it, I have to climb the tree again.

After about fifteen minutes or so of climbing the tree, Jackson managed wrap the rope around the end of the branch. Jumping back down, Jackson realized he had to make a quick rush to camp and dismantle his tent. He had forgotten a stake to hold the rope to the ground with.

By the time I finish this I'm going to need to go back to the city anyway!

Eventually, Jackson hammered the stake into the ground and grabbed the smaller rope that was wrapped around the branch. He pulled it down till it reached the stake, the log subsequently being pulled up. After tying the rope to the stake, the mechanism was complete.

Not so bad if I say so myself. Now to test it.

Using a Mana string while readying his bow, he sloppily managed to loosen the knot on the stake. Eventually, the knot unfurled itself and came loose. The log flew from side to side, Jackson trying to track ahead of the log and shoot in time. Both shots missed of course, but Jackson was smiling anyways. It worked!

"That was so cool! My thingy actually worked! Uh, ahem."

Jackson's cheeks started to feel warm for actually showing all that emotion on his face and in his voice at once. Even though nobody was around he wasn't all that used to it. It was a bit embarrassing but he was still genuinely proud.

"Phew, okay. Now to do it again.

     

Jackson readied his newly sharpened sword, trying to fix his grip, and make sure the cut would go about smoothly. His practice with the arrows wasn't bad, but he missed almost every shot. He still managed to hit a few while the log was slowing down though. Sadly, one of his arrows broke; but he was going to buy more anyways. Back to the matter at hand, Jackson adjusted his grip one last time before slicing down. This time, he managed to go about 1/5 of the way through the small log. Better than his past few cuts had been, but still had plenty of room for improvement.

How did I cut that bears hide then?

Getting his thoughts back on track, Jackson gripped his sword again.

I think I didn't distribute my strength properly that time.

Again and again Jackson swung down on that log, never managing to bisect it; improvement took time obviously. Eventually he had to switch logs, and a few more times after that. Before he had to pack up and go back to the city, he did manage to go about half of the way through one of the logs in one slice. Jackson had no doubt improved somewhat, which was a nice send off before all the stuff coming up in the next week.

Well, it's time to head to the city again. I'll just get to it now. I want to take a shower before it gets to late. God, now I'm going to constantly be self conscious about my smell. 

...I hate cologne but this is the ONE exception.

     

Jackson had no problems packing up or getting to the city, which was nice. He was now in a hotel room, readying for a shower, until he realized he had no clean clothes. 

This is a bad situation. No clean clothes, I'm running low on money, and I've already gotten plenty of strange stares today. I hope they have a laundromat in here. But then I have to wait there being as gross as I am now...

Jackson was plenty embarrassed. He couldn't imagine it was a strange sight seeing a dirty person walk around, there were adventurers aplenty after all. That still didn't help how gross he felt. He kind of mentally blocked out the time from the gate to the hotel because all he could think of was his smell.

Eff it, imma shower twice.

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Jackson took a nice, long shower, be fore he changed into his cleanest pair of clothes, then he took his clothes to the laundromat that was in the hotel, thankfully it was pretty cheap. Jackson wandered around the hotel for a while and to his surprise saw a small gym.

It's empty too! I can just work out while my clothes are washing. I really miss my phone...

Jackson definitely wasn't near another point in a physical stat, but it was nice. He had been doing a lot more exercise lately, so he was getting used to it. Still a bit painful, but less than it used to be. 

I hope tomorrow turns out okay...

     

Jackson was waiting in front of the adventurer's guild now, heart aflutter. 

Do I have everything I need? I bought more arrows, my sword is maintained, I have a notebook on me... yup that's it. I hope everyone is nice. I hope I don't make a fool of myself. But...

Jackson shook his head.

 I'll be good. I can do this.

Jackson walked through, looking around for a little bit before hearing a familiar voice.

"Oh, hey there! Jackson was it?"

It was Barry, the nice guy who helped him out before. Today he had a sword sheathed on his waist.

"Oh, yeah that's me."

"Do you happen to know where the classes are supposed to be? I got here early and I've just been standing around for a while."

"I don't know either, Think we should ask uh, Terry?"

"Who's that? Nevermind, we should probably ask the receptionist."

"Oh, uh, yeah, sure."

Instead of Terry at the front desk there was a woman. She had black hair in blue eyes. She was wearing casual dress with a green apron over top.

Barry walked up to her. 

"Hey there, do you know where the classes are for applicants?"

"Hmm? Oh yes, right down this hallway is the meetup spot. First door to the right." The lady gestured to a hallway on her left.

Barry gestured for Jackson to follow him and the entered into a room full of... 

Perfectly normal people.

Huh. Can't say I expected that.

There were about eight or so people scattered around, excluding Jackson and Barry.

About three people had a sword on their waist, one had a bow on their back. Other than that there weren't many apparent weapons. At the back of the room, behind a podium, was someone who was likely their instructor.

"Hello there, take a seat. There should only be one person left."

There were three seats open, two right next to each other and one alone. Before Jackson could pick, Barry sat at one of the two close seats. 

Do I... Sit next to him? Is that alright? I don't know. I'll just... Go for it.

Jackson sat next to Barry and a tall woman with straight black hair in a bob cut. In the corner of his eye, he noticed a content smile on Barry's face.

Okay good, I don't think I overstepped any boundaries there.

After about five minutes the last person arrived. As she sat down, the instructor started.

"Alright, over the next few days we will be covering some basic things every adventurer should know. We will also be doing a few things out in the field to get a measure of your competence. Don't worry, the tests are simple and will help us divide you into two different groups. Which brings me to my last point, the exam. It will be a short excursion into a nearby dungeon. As long as you contribute to your team properly, you should pass. Before we get into the lesson, I would like to ask for your names, designations, and skills of note. We'll start with this young man and go to the left from there. As you may have noticed Your desks are arranged to make this easier."

The Instructor pointed at Barry, who was directly to the right of Jackson.

Frick.

Barry stood up and the instructor pulled out a clipboard before he began to ask some questions.

"Name?"

"Barry?"

"Designation? As in, what role would you take in a fight?"

"Direct damage dealer."

"Any notable skills or magic? What do you fight with?"

"Well, I mean..." 

He gestured towards his sword. The instructor did not seem amused.

"I use a sword and some motion magic, specifically to help with my sword play."

"Motion magic? Interesting. Alright, now you, name?"

I'm going to hate this... Okay. No tripping over my words.

"Jackson."

"Designation?"

He could feel so many eyes on him.

"S-support."

Damn it! Okay, I can get this done without embarrassing myself, just calm down.

The eyes lingered, they seemed to pierce into him.

"A Support? Don't see many of those. Anyway, notable skills? Magic?"

"Yes, I can do some healing, a general buff, and low level shielding. Skills wise I can also use a bow and sword with some competence."

"Alright, now you. Name?"

"Catherine."

As the lady next to him went on with her introduction, Jackson tried to calm himself down. 

That... Wasn't so bad! I think I can get used to this. I still hate introducing myself though. Phew. I can do this.

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