The next several days passed by in a blur, Kyle spending time with his newfound friends as they travelled. They kept a reasonable pace, Garth keeping track to ensure that the weakest among the group could keep up without risking getting overstrained. It was on the fourth day that they encountered trouble on the road.
[DR. MAYHEW AND RESIDENT, THERE ARE SIGNATURES CONSISTENT WITH THE LARGE BEETLE VARIETALS ALONG THE ROAD AHEAD, APPEARS TO BE FIVE IN THE VICINITY.] Kyle looked at Garth, who returned a blank look back.
“So… are we going to try to go around?” Kyle offered, not entirely sure what the plan would be.
“There’s only five of the things if C.H.A.D.D. is correct, and with them all ahead of us we have an opportunity to get things cleared up. I’d rather kill them now than have them on our flanks or join up with a larger group.” Kyle looked ahead with apprehension. He wasn’t relishing the idea of being back in combat again, but Garth chuckled as he clapped his hand on Kyle’s shoulder. “Besides, your shirt could use a few more shells.”
The two men approached the group of beetles, five reflective dog-sized shapes scuttling slowly across the cracked asphalt of the road. There were no trees here, the sides of the road likely kept clear to improve the view of the rolling green hills. Garth drew his broadsword, holding it in a relaxed grip in his right hand. If the beetles noticed, they gave no indication until Garth put on a sudden burst of speed, halving the distance between them in the blink of an eye.
Kyle jumped at the sudden burst of speed, quickly running to try to catch up. Four of the beetles managed to scatter away from Garth’s charge, but the fifth wasn’t so lucky as Garth’s blade caught its right side, cleanly slicing off two of the legs and biting deep into the chitin beneath. Garth spun, maintaining his momentum as he took a two-handed grip on his blade, raising it to his head level parallel with the ground.
He exploded into a blur of motion again, this time bisecting one of the beetles entirely as he blew past. Unfortunately for him, this put him in the middle of the three remaining uninjured creatures. They began to swarm towards him, but one was knocked off course as a rock smashed into it, Kyle having caught up enough to toss a large stone in the air and hit it with his rebar staff. The blow wasn’t lethal by any means, but it did give Garth a window to retreat back to Kyle’s side.
“What the hell, man?” Kyle asked, exasperation evident in his voice. “I thought we were going to scout it out, I didn’t expect you to charge them!” Garth tossed Kyle a quick look over his shoulder before turning back to face the oncoming beetles, a fierce grin on his face.
“Nothing wrong with enjoying some light exercise! You take the one on the left, I’ve got the other two.”
[OTHER THREE, RESIDENT. THE ONE YOU HIT EARLIER IS STILL TECHNICALLY ALIVE.] The drone wasn’t wrong, the most heavily injured beetle was still alive, if barely. With its injuries and lack of limbs on one side it was certainly not a threat. Kyle did his best to refocus as the beetles closed, Garth already in motion as he darted around to flank them, drawing them all towards him. Kyle began to move towards the beetle Garth had assigned to him, but the beetle seemed to ignore him in favor of pursuing Garth. Picking up another piece of rubble as he ran, he tossed it in the air and once again used his rebar staff as a makeshift baseball bat.
He struck the beetle in the side with the chunk of asphalt which crumbled against the beetle carapace as it connected. The beetle was rocked back by the impact, but quickly recovered, this time with Kyle in its sights. Unfortunately for the poor creature, by this point a lone beetle simply wasn’t a threat to Kyle. He deftly sidestepped as the beetle lunged for him, landing a strike against its legs as it passed him by. With its movement hampered, Kyle pivoted quickly and finished the beetle with a heavy downward strike, which had become his finishing move of choice against these creatures. He looked up to see Garth watching him appraisingly, both of the beetles that had pursued him lie in pieces near his feet. He walked over to finish the wounded beetle, then turned back to Kyle.
“You’re either a phenomenal actor or you really have no idea how to fight.” That definitely wasn’t something Kyle had expected to hear.
“Unfortunately for me it’s the latter. I’m still getting this figured out, before all this the only fighting I did was arguing with my patients and their families.” Garth nodded, putting his sword back in its sheath before slinging it over his shoulder once again.
“I had you figured for a soldier who picked up a healing skill, maybe a Field Medic with martial specialization based on your ability to survive out here. But an honest to goodness Healer with formal Central Health training – that I’m still having a hard time with.”
“What’s so hard to believe about that?” Kyle asked. This could get bad. Kyle thought, understanding with perfect clarity just how outmatched he’d be if Garth decided that he was a risk.
“Honestly Kyle, it’s hard to believe because the Healer that was traveling with our group could scarcely do better than the rest of the people here. He had to burn most of his mana just to try and stay upright when the mana sickness got to him, and he had the benefit of the Guard Array. Then we see you running up, and if you’re to be believed, having lived in it for several weeks.”
Garth started circling Kyle, not taking his eyes off the younger man. “But after watching you help the people I’ve been protecting, and seeing your display against these beetles, there’s just no way a trained fighter would move the way you do. Your stance is weak, reactions are slow, and frankly you don’t seem to have much of a killer instinct.”
Ouch. Kyle didn’t like hearing it, the feedback was waaaaay more direct than he would have expected from this already strange conversation, but he had to admit that Garth wasn’t far off the mark. Kyle wasn’t a fighter. While he was proud of the steps he’d taken in developing his method of self-defense, he couldn’t by any stretch of the imagination call himself a warrior.
“What I’m trying to say is that I don’t think you’re running some kind of con on us. There are still things here that don’t add up, and I’m not going to try to dance around that. But I don’t think you’re out here with any intentions to cause us harm. For now, we’re good.” Kyle decided that’s something he could work with, his worry giving way to a genuine smile.
An idea coming to him, he met Garth’s eyes. “Would you be willing to teach me how to fight? I’ve honestly been on the back foot ever since this whole thing started, and it would be really nice to feel like I knew what I was doing, even just a little bit.”
Garth considered a moment before shaking his head. “I can show you some basics, but honestly the way that martial classes learn to fight has a lot to do with our attribute growth and having skills to help cover us. Without access to a boosting skill and the durability that comes from our attribute growths I’m afraid that mimicking my style would just be a good way to wind up dead.”
Kyle tried to keep a neutral expression, but inwardly he was trembling with excitement. With HASTE still ripe for testing and rock solid Vitality and Endurance attributes, Kyle felt like there was real hope to learn. Still though, he didn’t want to tip his hand prematurely.
“Even just learning the basics would give me a lot to build on. Hopefully these are skills that I won’t have to use much once we make it to Nierburg.”
Garth gave him a sad smile, one that showed Kyle that he understood the situation as well as anybody – Kyle was clearly deviant in some capacity, and would have a lot of fights both within and outside the bureaucracy once things got back to normal. Garth clapped him on the shoulder again as he walked past, moving past the moment. “I truly hope that’s the case.”
~~~
Thank you all for reading! Please take time to share a review, and if you'd like to support the work please check out the Starsworn Saga on Patreon for advanced access to chapters and other upcoming bonus content!
Starsworn Saga | The official page for early access to the Starsworn Saga! | Patreon
The next several days passed by in a blur, Kyle spending time with his newfound friends as they travelled. They kept a reasonable pace, Garth keeping track to ensure that the weakest among the group could keep up without risking getting overstrained. It was on the fourth day that they encountered trouble on the road.
[DR. MAYHEW AND RESIDENT, THERE ARE SIGNATURES CONSISTENT WITH THE LARGE BEETLE VARIETALS ALONG THE ROAD AHEAD, APPEARS TO BE FIVE IN THE VICINITY.] Kyle looked at Garth, who returned a blank look back.
“So… are we going to try to go around?” Kyle offered, not entirely sure what the plan would be.
“There’s only five of the things if C.H.A.D.D. is correct, and with them all ahead of us we have an opportunity to get things cleared up. I’d rather kill them now than have them on our flanks or join up with a larger group.” Kyle looked ahead with apprehension. He wasn’t relishing the idea of being back in combat again, but Garth chuckled as he clapped his hand on Kyle’s shoulder. “Besides, your shirt could use a few more shells.”
The two men approached the group of beetles, five reflective dog-sized shapes scuttling slowly across the cracked asphalt of the road. There were no trees here, the sides of the road likely kept clear to improve the view of the rolling green hills. Garth drew his broadsword, holding it in a relaxed grip in his right hand. If the beetles noticed, they gave no indication until Garth put on a sudden burst of speed, halving the distance between them in the blink of an eye.
Kyle jumped at the sudden burst of speed, quickly running to try to catch up. Four of the beetles managed to scatter away from Garth’s charge, but the fifth wasn’t so lucky as Garth’s blade caught its right side, cleanly slicing off two of the legs and biting deep into the chitin beneath. Garth spun, maintaining his momentum as he took a two-handed grip on his blade, raising it to his head level parallel with the ground.
He exploded into a blur of motion again, this time bisecting one of the beetles entirely as he blew past. Unfortunately for him, this put him in the middle of the three remaining uninjured creatures. They began to swarm towards him, but one was knocked off course as a rock smashed into it, Kyle having caught up enough to toss a large stone in the air and hit it with his rebar staff. The blow wasn’t lethal by any means, but it did give Garth a window to retreat back to Kyle’s side.
“What the hell, man?” Kyle asked, exasperation evident in his voice. “I thought we were going to scout it out, I didn’t expect you to charge them!” Garth tossed Kyle a quick look over his shoulder before turning back to face the oncoming beetles, a fierce grin on his face.
“Nothing wrong with enjoying some light exercise! You take the one on the left, I’ve got the other two.”
[OTHER THREE, RESIDENT. THE ONE YOU HIT EARLIER IS STILL TECHNICALLY ALIVE.] The drone wasn’t wrong, the most heavily injured beetle was still alive, if barely. With its injuries and lack of limbs on one side it was certainly not a threat. Kyle did his best to refocus as the beetles closed, Garth already in motion as he darted around to flank them, drawing them all towards him. Kyle began to move towards the beetle Garth had assigned to him, but the beetle seemed to ignore him in favor of pursuing Garth. Picking up another piece of rubble as he ran, he tossed it in the air and once again used his rebar staff as a makeshift baseball bat.
He struck the beetle in the side with the chunk of asphalt which crumbled against the beetle carapace as it connected. The beetle was rocked back by the impact, but quickly recovered, this time with Kyle in its sights. Unfortunately for the poor creature, by this point a lone beetle simply wasn’t a threat to Kyle. He deftly sidestepped as the beetle lunged for him, landing a strike against its legs as it passed him by. With its movement hampered, Kyle pivoted quickly and finished the beetle with a heavy downward strike, which had become his finishing move of choice against these creatures. He looked up to see Garth watching him appraisingly, both of the beetles that had pursued him lie in pieces near his feet. He walked over to finish the wounded beetle, then turned back to Kyle.
“You’re either a phenomenal actor or you really have no idea how to fight.” That definitely wasn’t something Kyle had expected to hear.
“Unfortunately for me it’s the latter. I’m still getting this figured out, before all this the only fighting I did was arguing with my patients and their families.” Garth nodded, putting his sword back in its sheath before slinging it over his shoulder once again.
“I had you figured for a soldier who picked up a healing skill, maybe a Field Medic with martial specialization based on your ability to survive out here. But an honest to goodness Healer with formal Central Health training – that I’m still having a hard time with.”
“What’s so hard to believe about that?” Kyle asked. This could get bad. Kyle thought, understanding with perfect clarity just how outmatched he’d be if Garth decided that he was a risk.
“Honestly Kyle, it’s hard to believe because the Healer that was traveling with our group could scarcely do better than the rest of the people here. He had to burn most of his mana just to try and stay upright when the mana sickness got to him, and he had the benefit of the Guard Array. Then we see you running up, and if you’re to be believed, having lived in it for several weeks.”
Garth started circling Kyle, not taking his eyes off the younger man. “But after watching you help the people I’ve been protecting, and seeing your display against these beetles, there’s just no way a trained fighter would move the way you do. Your stance is weak, reactions are slow, and frankly you don’t seem to have much of a killer instinct.”
Ouch. Kyle didn’t like hearing it, the feedback was waaaaay more direct than he would have expected from this already strange conversation, but he had to admit that Garth wasn’t far off the mark. Kyle wasn’t a fighter. While he was proud of the steps he’d taken in developing his method of self-defense, he couldn’t by any stretch of the imagination call himself a warrior.
“What I’m trying to say is that I don’t think you’re running some kind of con on us. There are still things here that don’t add up, and I’m not going to try to dance around that. But I don’t think you’re out here with any intentions to cause us harm. For now, we’re good.” Kyle decided that’s something he could work with, his worry giving way to a genuine smile.
An idea coming to him, he met Garth’s eyes. “Would you be willing to teach me how to fight? I’ve honestly been on the back foot ever since this whole thing started, and it would be really nice to feel like I knew what I was doing, even just a little bit.”
Garth considered a moment before shaking his head. “I can show you some basics, but honestly the way that martial classes learn to fight has a lot to do with our attribute growth and having skills to help cover us. Without access to a boosting skill and the durability that comes from our attribute growths I’m afraid that mimicking my style would just be a good way to wind up dead.”
Kyle tried to keep a neutral expression, but inwardly he was trembling with excitement. With HASTE still ripe for testing and rock solid Vitality and Endurance attributes, Kyle felt like there was real hope to learn. Still though, he didn’t want to tip his hand prematurely.
“Even just learning the basics would give me a lot to build on. Hopefully these are skills that I won’t have to use much once we make it to Nierburg.”
Garth gave him a sad smile, one that showed Kyle that he understood the situation as well as anybody – Kyle was clearly deviant in some capacity, and would have a lot of fights both within and outside the bureaucracy once things got back to normal. Garth clapped him on the shoulder again as he walked past, moving past the moment. “I truly hope that’s the case.”
~~~
Thank you all for reading! Please take time to share a review, and if you'd like to support the work please check out the Starsworn Saga on Patreon for advanced access to chapters and other upcoming bonus content!
Starsworn Saga | The official page for early access to the Starsworn Saga! | Patreon
