Chapter 11

Once the boys had finished with their celebration at Roddrick’s offer for training, he led them through a gate of mist onto what he told them was another floor.

Unlike actual floors, dungeon floors were not separated by stairs or ladders but by obscure gates like the one they just traveled through.

Roddrick ordered them to sleep as the first lesson in his training regimen. He chuckled to himself. The boys knew he had a surprise in store for them but they believed he would attack them in their sleep.

As Axel and Rayner took out their odd sleeping blankets, they both had one eye open for a perceived attack. Roddrick simply closed his eyes to rest. They would find out soon enough what this training entailed.

Not too long after the rhythm of their breaths changed from alert to rest, Axel shouted for Rayner to wake. The two boys were sinking back into the moss dungeon floor.

“I said to sleep,” Roddrick said, still laying comfortable on the ground.

The boys were sharp and understood the training right away. They were to learn how to sleep in a dangerous environment.

How they would do this Roddrick had little idea. He’d made up the training on the spot.

The goal is what mattered, let the students figure out the rest. Surviving in dangerous environments was the skill needed and so he told them to learn it.

Again, he chuckled to himself. If only other worshipers knew the money they wasted on special tutors and training could be saved by simply knowing their goals and setting realistic steps toward it.

Roddrick wouldn’t mind telling them if they could stand his presence.

Licking his lips, Roddrick tasted Axel’s mana in the air. Axel was using the same trick from before.

This was not the answer and Rayner picked up on it before Axel could waste any more of mana. “You can’t do that and sleep.”

Roddrick could feel Rayner’s eyes on his back. Roddrick planned to continue resting his eyes while the boys figured this out. They were close enough for him to taste their mana, so if anything went seriously wrong, he could step in.

For now, let them struggle.

And struggle they did.

Oddly, Rayner tried to smash the ground with his hammer. Quite a bit of power for one so young. The skill Rayner used tasted good, too.

Axel tried the same thing, stabbing his dagger at the earth. His skill tasted bitter; he was hauling up a feeling of pain as he used his mana. Not good.

Even if these attacks worked, they could not do so while they slept. He now understood what the boys were trying to do.

If the dungeon or the moss floor of the dungeon were attacking them, then it must be alive. Living things could feel pain and be hurt. Thusly, they tried to attack it directly.

Creative but silly. If true, then they would have to attack the entire floor. A plan doomed from its inception.

The answer was right before them. All they needed to do is watch how he slept. All that was needed was to shift the body every couple seconds slightly to distribute their weight in a way that would not agitate the moss.

Tired of monitoring them, Roddrick really did fall asleep. When he woke and checked on the boys, they were holding hands.

Ha! They used a combination skill. Axel had blanketed them in mana and Rayner used the basics of his Force Hammer skill to levitate them above the moss. Thus, they slept in a floating oval structure. Fragile but effective for this purpose.

This was the result of not leading students by the nose: true innovation.

They must have sensed him hovering over them because their eyes snapped open and they shuffled out of those strange sock sleeping items.

Each held a smirk of accomplishment on their expressions.

Rayner looked the proudest. “So, sensei, how long does it usually take your students to complete this training?”

What’s a sensei? He supposed it was a word for teacher or some other title. Well now, he could tell them that he’d made the training up and that the number of students in his life was minimal, but they needed a lie. “The fastest I can remember.”

Rayner’s broad chest puffed out and Axel looked to have grown another inch. This was saying something as Axel was quite tall already.

“It is good you two are so full of energy. You’ll need it.”

“Of course, we are full of energy, the only training we got was from this chick named Kevia. She’s all about the physical training, not the cool stuff,” Axel said and Rayner nodded along with his every word with arms folded.

Chick? Cool? Cultural terms Roddrick failed to recognize. “Most worshipers dislike such training. The benefits are dubious to them.”

Rayner unfolded his muscular arms. “We would like to hear more about that.”

Again, another oddity. The two were strong enough that even if they are from a backward land, they should encounter some worshipers. “You see, worshipers go through strict and extremely well-planned training. At least, the wealthy worshipers from the Coalition do. Training involves the practicing of unique stances, the refinement of skills, and the earning of special items. Even the less fortunate worshipers focus on hunting monsters that are known to raise experience.”

“Monsters like...”

“Treasure chests that try to eat you, called mimics, is one.”

Axel’s eyes brightened. “Cool, they have those here.”

“Yes, mostly in dungeons or ruins.” The boys whipped their heads around. “I don’t believe any are in this dungeon, it’s too green for that.” He held back a chuckle at their now glum faces. “Now, beat those monsters behind you.”

To their credit, the boys got weapons ready instead of asking him for clarification.

A group of four moss balls attacked them, tentacles reaching for their limbs. Axel cut the offending tentacles with a deft blade. Rayner used his hammer like a club and knocked back a moss ball into another one, taking both of them out of the fight.

The remaining two moss balls, now without their tentacle limbs, were stabbed to death. Axel never even used his skills.

A short fight, but enough for Roddrick to get a grasp of how the two fought. This Kevia woman did them a service by hammering the basics into them. No high jump kicks or fancy roundhouses from these two. Practical survival was the best survival.

Their teamwork was excellent in that no pause was needed to relay who would do what in the violent exchange. Rather, they both went to their own tasks without need for instruction.

However, their personalities showed in how they fought. Rayner was more hopeful but had a surging taste for violence in him while Axel’s blade seemed conflicted, unsure of his purpose. That was not the image he wished others to see.

Roddrick clapped so they boys would face him. They were still looking for more threats. “A good fight. But I have suggestions.”

“We await your instructions sensei!” they both shouted.

That word again. “Your teamwork is above average but can use some work.” This seemed to shock them. “You two trust each other and the way you used your skills together shows this but more than trust is needed to take part in an effective team.”

“Do we need more combinations skills?” Axel said.

“It’s not about skills, not yet. Honestly it is a bit too early in your development to be mixing skills like that. Unallied gods don’t like it and you two have very different skills. It may cause damage to your body’s mana. One mistake and Axel’s pain-inducing skill could be amplified then concentrated at a single organ of Rayner’s body. Thus, killing him.”

“Oh shit!” Rayner said.

“That’s one way of putting it, yes. Team-building exercises like what I put you through earlier can be done naturally but many are needed. Time is the best trainer. So instead, I will have you use your classes and attributes with greater effectiveness.”

Axel scratched his head, sheepish. “I already know how attributes can be used better. It’s by controlling our mana, right? Because everything is based around mana. But our classes, doesn’t that just determine the bent of our attributes and our type of skills?”

“A common misconception. Terms for this vary by culture and nation so it’s understandable that you think that way. But throughout my travels, the definition I have settled on is consistent across them all. First, attributes. Practical use of them can be understood through two words: weight and focus. All worshipers’ attributes are weighted and then they focus that or another attribute for use in battle or a skill.”

“So, a speed weighted worshiper needs to focus it to use that mana to its full potential,” said Rayner.

“To use mana weighted to that attribute to its full potential, yes.”

“Sounds like we are saying the same thing.”

“He’s not,” Axel said. “I think I got it. The difference between yours and Rayner’s explanations is that an attribute by itself is nothing special. But with mana it is greater. Mana is the key.”

“Correct.”

“OK,” Rayner said. “Where does class come into this?”

“That will be explained another time. Let’s have you two put what I have just talked about into practice first.” Roddrick pointed to a far-off part of the dungeon floor. “That’s an ideal place for this training. It tastes like it will serve our needs.”

They followed him, confused by what he meant by taste. Did they already forget he was a corpseeater?

Roddrick pushed Rayner into a room that hastily closed behind him, the walls of green morphing to trap him.

This wasn’t a cause for fear for Rayner. He had seen such training on his favorite shows. But looking around, he could tell this was no sensory deprivation training meaning he would face an attack.

With a sharp eye, Rayner inspected the room for threats. Vines hung from the ceiling like thick grass. If he ran from wall to wall, it would only take him a minute.

Taking careful steps, he went to where a light seemed to indicate another exit. His steps weren’t careful enough. Balls of moss formed out the ground and bounced toward him.

A simple flicker of green and several swings of his hammer dispatched the weak enemies but more came. Again, the force of his hammer sent them to death. Still more came.

As Rayner charged at a cluster of the monster moss balls at his right, he was tripped by one of the tentacles protruding from the ground. Then as if sensing his weakness, the cluster of moss ball monsters attacked.

Tugging at his tentacle tied foot, he used Roar to fend off his enemies. It pushed them back but didn’t keep them away for long.

These things felt no fear of him. The intimidation effect of his skill meant nothing.

He continued to use Roar regardless, needing to buy time to free himself.

When he finally accomplished the freeing of his leg, another vine wrapped around his arm, then another.

All the vines attacked him.

He debated using Rampage before decided against it. The skill would force him to fight until all enemies were defeated. How could he be sure how many enemies there were when the very walls attacked him?

Rayner’s predicament got worse.

The vines from the ceiling stretched down to tug him upwards. Combined with the vines on the ground they had him held aloft in the air; his limbs spread so that his body formed an X.

The moss balls felt no fear of him but they approached with caution. They bounced around him, lashing him with their tentacle arms. He would be whipped to death in this room.

Not wanting to cry out, Rayner gritted his teeth and steeled his body. The tentacles pulled at his limbs. His muscles strained, stretched, tore. Still, he bit his lip.

As if sensing his defiance, the vines pulled at his limbs, tearing at the sockets that held him together.

What was the point of this training? Then he asked himself that question again. No way Roddrick sent him in this room to die. The man must believe Rayner could get out of this.

The training lesson was how to better use his attributes. But he was weighted toward charisma. A charisma that already proved useless against the unfeeling balls of moss.

Unless he wasn’t using it right. That was why he was training after all. What he needed to do was use his charisma in an effective way. But how?

Searching his memories since coming to this world, Rayner went through each of his many battles. He remembered the feeling of his charisma.

It felt like a rush of life. It felt like standing tall as hands tried to drag him down. It felt like boundless confidence.

Did he lack this? He was one of the most competent students in school, an excellent organizer, a gifted student, a—a failure.

His organized protests meant nothing; his studies would go nowhere as his corporate sponsors determined his future.

No, he had little confidence. That was why using his skills to defeat monsters felt so good.

How did Rayner intimidate anyone with such insecurities? Did his barbarian class make up for it?

Again, he knew this couldn’t be the answer. The answer would have to come quickly because the vines tugged painfully at his legs and arms, stretching them past their capacity.

What made a barbarian? How was he a barbarian with such little confidence? But, then again, what if he were wrong?

He looked at the moss balls, still circling him, whipping him from a distance but not attacking directly. They were not afraid of him, yet still kept their distance from him. Him who hung in the air ensnared by vines.

Suddenly, Rayner understood.

Intimidation didn’t make the barbarian, confidence did. When he used Roar or even Battle Cry, it was confidence that gave him and others strength. Confidence is why monsters shrank in fear of him. They compared themselves to him and found themselves wanting.

This world saw something in him that he felt he lacked. He took comfort in that. Most importantly, he took confidence in it.

Rayner focused his mana on that feeling, the attribute of charisma. Focusing his charisma on himself, Rayner’s eyes shot open as strength filled his muscles. It flooded into his every tendon.