Chapter 85 – A strategy for training

The rest of the day went about the same, Blonc corrected her form, they reset their stances, then Kori ended up jabbed with a wooden knife. Sure, there were steps in between like Kori trying to do the same to him or to slip inside his guard or any number of other feints, but the pattern mostly held. It also didn’t always end with a jab, sometimes it was a slash and sometimes she ended up on her tail instead.

And like all of his training methods so far, Kori had a hard time complaining about the results. She complained about an awful lot else, but not the results.

The gains weren’t quite as staggering as the first days, but she saw a lot of improvement in Abilities that running around carrying a heavy bag hadn’t improved. It even gave her a point in a pair of her Mental scores, one of which was her highest overall ability, which wasn’t something that happened very often anymore.

<<Ability Score improved. Agility increased 41 -> 43>>
<<Ability Score improved. Finesse increased 31 -> 34>>
<<Ability Score improved. Vitality increased 26 -> 29>>
<<Ability Score improved. Cunning increased 65 -> 66>>
<<Ability Score improved. Perception increased 36 -> 38>>

It also seemed that getting beaten up repeatedly was a much better means of improving Vitality than over exerting yourself. She had even ended up using a bit of her ointment, at Blonc’s advice, before she limped home, otherwise he complained that she’d ‘be useless to me’ the next day.

Upon returning to the brood chamber for the night she was met with the questions she had avoided the evening prior and Kori ended up recounting the entirety of the encounter with the goblins, again, and this time she included the details of the aftermath. She left out any information about the new Title that Aef had received, it wasn’t something anyone should ever go looking to acquire.

By the time she crawled into her den, no assistance needed removing the armour, and laid down on her mat, Kori was asleep before her eyes even finished closing.

As day three dawned up on the surface, Kori rushed through the near empty halls of the caverns, trying to not be late yet again. When she made it to the training hall, she found the crowd of warriors and apprentices milling about much smaller than what had been present for the run the day before so she was hopeful that she’d managed to save herself from the extra running and ever-increasing weight of sand.

The stretching and ‘warming up’ that followed was odd to Kori, the poses that some of the others contorted themselves into seemed liable to cause serious injury should she even attempt. How one of them managed to bring her torso nearly parallel with their legs while still standing, Kori wasn’t sure she even wanted to know. Well… of course, she wanted to know, just for curiosity’s sake, but she definitely wanted no part in whatever it took to reach that point.

It even managed to reward her with a point of Finesse.

<<Ability Score improved. Finesse increased 34 -> 35>>

The thing that she did however find out, wasn’t something she was excited to learn. She had apparently become the subject of numerous rumours. After the Elder being seen personally training her two days in a row and the extra attention that had been heaped on her, people were bound to be curious.

She heard everything from the outlandish, that she was actually Blonc’s offspring that he hatched in secret rather than sending her egg to the hatchery, which ignored the fact that the Elder did not actually have a mate, to the actual truth, or close enough to.

The leading theory was near enough that it was believable, someone had recognized her from her time in the Elder’s Chambers so they had told everyone that she was actually Ortik’s apprentice and he wanted her toughened up a bit. The story had just enough truth to be believable, especially after anyone learned she was from the previous years batch of younglings.

She tried to ignore the whispers, no one as of yet having the courage to ask her directly, and follow along with the stretches that the other apprentices were doing, she found herself startled by Blonc coming up behind her.

“Good morning, Kori!” She nearly fell over when he dropped something near her feet with a thud. “I see you made it on time for once.”

Kori’s attention was drawn to the familiar object of her dejection that now rested at her feet, a very plain backpack who’s contents she could surely guess. “But… but… I was on time!”

Blonc just chuckled. “You were.” He agreed. “So now you’ll only have to run once, so much better this way.”

Kori just stood there, stunned speechless, as Blonc gave her a quick, cheery, “Enjoy your run” and continued onwards chatting with various others as he moved through the crowd.

When she finally gave in to the fact that there was no avoiding his cruelty, or at least that was what she was calling it, and picked up the offending pack she realized there was at least one thing to be thankful for in all of this. Blonc was a kobold of his word, it still only had five bags of sand stowed in it.

Most of the day mirrored the preceding one, the running was followed by more sparring which was interspersed with tactical training when she absolutely needed a break. Though the form of tactics lessons were very different. Blonc had her watch several warriors spar and make note of who won and why, then shuffled around the sparing partners and asked her to predict who would win. Making a guess would have been easy enough, but the Elder insisted that she justify her prediction.

For what she knew should have been a fifty-fifty chance, she got so many wrong the first round that it defied logic. It took nearly an hour for Blonc to explain the incorrect assumptions she had made and why they were wrong, most of it boiled down to a lack of experience, all while pummeling her under the guise of sparring.

The second round, during which she was nursing a nearly broken finger from a poor attempt to break one of her many falls, she did a bit better.  And by the end of the day when they were on their final round, in which teams of five faced off, she managed to get another point in the Skill.

<<Skill proficiency improved. Basic Combat Tactics level 1 -> 2>>

She also managed to get all but one match-up incorrect. It turns out that there was a lot more that went into a battle between groups than one on ones.

Unfortunately, she also learned that being pushed to your limit during a novel experience was one of the better means of growth. Which meant that the explosive gains she’d seen the previous days were not repeated on the third. She still managed to get a few more points, but according to Blonc, she’d have to work harder for more. On the plus side, even her lowest score had moved into the thirties.

<<Ability Score improved. Might increased 33 -> 34>>
<<Ability Score improved. Finesse increased 35 -> 36>>
<<Ability Score improved. Endurance increased 35 -> 36>>
<<Ability Score improved. Vitality increased 29 -> 31>>

With the third day finally, thankfully, over, Kori was looking forward to returning to her den and being able to sleep without needing to be up early. With how exhausted she was, she might even manage to get a few hours. She knew what was coming the next day, she’d finally get to setting up her new workspace and then she could do all the concocting she wanted. As long as it didn’t blow up. Or create some blighted toxic mist. Or any of the other various calamities that were suddenly spinning through her thoughts.

Before she could leave, Blonc apparently had one more lesson for her, and a ‘gift’ that looked suspiciously like the forsaken backpack of sand that she was hoping to never see again. Though she’d expected it to make a resurgence when she returned the following week for her physical training day.

“Kori, I have a few things for you.” Holding out the bag that seemed near weightless held with just one hand. “I want you to try to wear the pack at least two days a week when you travel from your den to the new workshop down by the mines.” Kori groaned audibly when she heard his words.

But I’m supposed to be free of you the rest of the week…

“Yes, yes, I know. But the more you train over the rest of the week, the less intense I need to be when you are here.” When she accepted the pack, she really didn’t see any other choice, it clattered to the ground in her grip. It was definitely heavier than the five bags of sand it had been earlier. “There’s a few extras in there, slowly add one or two a week as you get used to where it’s at until you run out, then we can step up to lead.”

For as bad as it sounded, Kori thought it was reasonable, she’d jumped from none to five in just three days, so adding another once a week didn’t sound too bad. “Fine…” She grudgingly accepted.

“There’s also something else in there for you, something I think you’ll enjoy a great deal more than the sand.” His grin was back again, though this time she could firmly place it on the mischievous side.

When he failed to elaborate any further, Kori dug into the bag to see exactly what he had meant. Inside she found three sacks that looked much different than the sealed bags of sand she was used to seeing. When she extracted them, she found that one was filled with square tiles of some sort and the others, one tied with red twine and the other larger bag tied with green, were filled with small carved stones. She was at a complete loss as to what they were or why the Elder would give them to her.

When Blonc saw the confused look on her upturned face he couldn’t help but chuckle. “It’s a Cavern Defender’s set.” He said it like that was suppose to explain everything. It didn’t.

“Huh?”

He pointed over to a small alcove and told her, “C’mon” before heading to it. When they arrived, he settled himself down to the sandy ground and motioned for her to hand him the game set. What followed was two hours, that Kori totally did not mind spending, of him instructing her how to play and then, as if doing so physically wasn’t enough, trouncing her completely in the miniature wargame.

When they finally finished, Kori very happy with the new leisure activity that was being provided to her but she was still confused as to the why.

When she asked that very question, Blonc once again chuckled at her. That was something he did a lot of. “Don’t think of it as a game. Think of it as planning a real defense of the caverns against real goblins.” He pointed to the pieces one by one. “The tiles create random cave systems, so the game will bring new challenges every time. Then you’ve got traps, trappers, mages, warriors and shaman, each able to lend a different strength to the field and defend our homes.” While his tone was serious, his eyes sparkled with a clear love for the game.

“If you take it seriously, you’ll train your tactical Skill and your mental scores.” He then gave her a wink before adding. “Plus, it’s a lot of fun and a great way to pass the time when you’re laid up after an injury. If you get good enough, we can add in some of the more difficult challenges, like rescuing non-combatants or fending off pesky adventurers.”

As she finally made her way home, Blonc yelled out, “Don’t forget to bring your caverns set next week, we’ll play a match or two at the end of the day.”

Once she was gone, Blonc looked back at the notifications he’d gotten earlier, who knew knives could actually be useful.

<<Skill Acquired, Basic Knife Combat Mastery, Common, Level 1>>
<<Skill Upgraded by Martial Weaponmaster’s Class Ability, Master of Blades>>
<<Skill Tier increased, Basic Knife Combat Mastery (tier 0) has become Knife Combat Mastery (Tier 1)>>
<<Skill Tier increased, Knife Combat Mastery (Tier 1) has become Advanced Knife Combat Mastery (Tier 2)>>
<<Skill Advanced Knife Combat Mastery is eligible to merge with Skill Weaponmaster’s Insight>>
<<Accept Merge?>>
<<Merge Completed, Skill Advanced Knife Combat Mastery has been lost>>
<<Skill proficiency improved. Weaponmaster’s Insight level 26 -> 27>>