Chapter 24: The choices we make IV
Following Renold in silence, Jacob went down a hall he's never been to before. The estate was already explored by him days ago, but a few doors were locked and he could not get in. Yet, he somehow missed this hall.
It was not even hidden, just underneath the stairs. Might have been due to the shadows overlooking it which is why he missed the place.
Renold opened the wooden door at the end of the hall. With it, he stepped on the first steps and began to descend down the stairs.
'A basement? I should have known, all mansions have some sort of cellar.'
A thought emerged in Jacob's mind as he also began to go down the steps.
There was no light so he had to be careful with his foot placements, making sure he did not misstep and fall. That would not be a pretty sight.
The area was so dark that Jacob could barely make out what was in front of him. He knew he had stepped on the ground, but he could not even see the floor below him. As for Renold, Jacob could hear a few sounds coming from his direction.
After a few seconds passed, a torch was lit giving the room a bit of light. Renold grabbed the torch out of its holder and walked around the room lighting up the five other torches.
In front of him was a hard brown floor, wooden crates that were sealed and stacked against the wall, along with one straw dummy. The room did not really have walls in a sense, as it seemed unfinished. There were large pillars where the wall would be with every other one holding a torch.
Above him was the ceiling, not much to be said about it except it was far away from him. Jacob was decent at math, but even he was unsure of how far it was away. Renold was at least six feet tall, and even if he stretched his arm he still would not be able to touch it.
Was safe to say it was more than ten feet from ground level.
Jacob noticed the small smile on Renold's face as he stood in the middle of the area in silence. He could be remembering something or thinking up ways to train him.
Renold walked back towards where Jacob was standing as he placed the torch back in its holder.
"Remove that sheet."
Renold told Jacob as he began to take off his armor.
Jacob complied and removed the tan dusty sheet that was covering something.
His eyes grew wide when he realized the sheet was hiding various weapons. Axes, spears, maces, short sword, long sword, bows and even throwing daggers.
The weapons were in decent condition. He was not clear on when was the last time they were polished and sharpened but their body's still had a small charm to them.
Renold sat his armor down on one of the wooden crates that sat against the wall before he reached out to grab one of the two spears.
His motions were elegant and Jacob found no faults with any of his moves. Renold demonstrated his mastery with the spear as it danced around his body in a circular motion. Fancy as it may seem it was used when one was surrounded by enemies.
The spear would create for you a shield of sorts, while also enabling you to attack at the same time. Its range was longer than that of other melee weapons thus you kept your opponent at bay. The speed and force of each twist cut the air in half. If one were to engage on an opponent using this move they would either die or lose a body part in the process.
From where he started, Renold moved a total of four feet, but if Jacob had to count the spear circled around his head, body and even covered his legs a total of three times each.
"I'm a bit rusty, has been years since I've picked up a spear. Let me refresh my body really quickly then we can get started."
Renold's words astonished Jacob.
He was not only adept at using the spear, and sword. All of the weapons on the rack in his hands seemed to come alive.
"Man-at-Arms…"
Jacob mumbled to himself. It was a thought he believed he was saying to himself but ended up saying out loud.
Renold paused in his movements as he glanced at Jacob.
"Yes, how did you come to that conclusion? Better yet, how does a kid like you even know what one is?"
Renold's deep voice struck like thunder as Jacob's small body shook.
Man-at-Arms was a unique class and a hard one to obtain as well. Stat wise, it had a total of eighteen strength, twenty-five agility, ten intelligence, and ten charisma. With a level above thirty, it allowed one to wield any weapon as if it was a part of them. You had four hundred proficiency points for each weapon type, and that was the minimum.
Jacob now had a better understanding of Renold's strength. It also proved to him that just because one had a set role did not mean they were limited by that role's class.
Renold's role was that of a head guard, in-game he would be at least level fifteen. However, here his level was double than it would be in-game. If this was the case, then what of Oswald?
"Stories. Back on those cold nights where many of us gathered together by the fire some of the others told stories of what they have seen or heard. I was told by someone who witnessed a Man-at-Arms before who got into a bar fight. Said it was the most amazing thing he has ever witnessed, using a fork as a throwing weapon and disarming his opponents only to use their weapons against them!"
Jacob came up with a lie, one that Renold would not find too suspicious. He could not find a fault in Jacob's story anyway, as he would need to find people to verify what he said was true. That could take weeks if not months.
It was unlikely Renold would go searching the city just to see if his words were true.
"Well, since you already know what I am that saves me a bit of trouble. Pick any weapon here and I will teach you all about it. From the proper way to hold it, to countering an enemy who has more reach than you. By the end, you will walk out a new person."
Jacob's face beamed with excitement.
As his eyes studied each weapon in the rack, he slowly calmed himself down. This was an important step for him.
Short swords are called that for a reason, they are around ninety centimeters in length but a person can strike swiftly with them. It is the most common type of weapon a person would see, as it was one-handed and used in common with a shield.
Longswords can easily be over a hundred and ten centimeters but are slower to strike with, yet they can deal a ton of damage. They are considered two-handed weapons unless you have a mastery of over four hundred points with it. Then you can use it as a one-handed, but the penalties you'd take would show. Such as less damage being dealt along with a much slower swing.
Frankly, Jacob was not interested in either of these two. Swords were overused, and not difficult to gain experience with. There were a ton of sword forms one could learn and a lot of masters out there. If he really wanted to pick up the sword, then he would seek out someone to teach him.
Archery was deadly, be it crossbow, short bow or even longbow. Give an archer a horse and one could say they may never lose. Unless… they missed every single shot.
Still, his eyes skipped over all the weapons until it landed on a short mace. Dark silver in color, probably no more than fifty centimeters. The design was fairly simple as it was broken down into three parts. The butt, or hilt of it which was just a rounded silver circle. The shaft that was long and was the shape of a cube, instead of the cylinder most weapons like to use. Lastly was the head that had eight silver flangs in the shape of a triangle.
Maces were underestimated. Short but heavy, allowing one to strike down with the heavens fury.
Maces did blunt damage and could crush shields and armor if one had a well made one along with high mastery.
A lot of weapons did either cutting damage or piercing damage, both of which were guarded against by armor or shields. However, maces could ignore both of those in a sense.
The only reason people did not like to use them was due to them being so short. A shortsword was almost double in length, giving one an advantage. As long as they kept a distance it would be difficult for a mace user to strike them.
Jacob picked up the mace which was heavier than he first thought. It was around fifteen pounds, more than he was anticipating.
"How about this?"
Jacob showed the mace to Renold.
Renold was stunned by his choice but said nothing about it. A sword was more ideal for people, but there were over fifty different styles. Teaching that to Jacob could take months, and that was only if he was a quick study.
"Not bad kid, there are not many people who choose a mace as a starting weapon. Do you know why?"
Jacob shook his head.
"Because it looks simple to use, most people believe you only need to swing it but forget that some maces are unbalanced. It is actually one of the more difficult weapons to master because it has a lot of shortcomings."
Renold stretched out his hand that was wielding a longsword. The tip of the blade was aimed at Jacob's wrist.
"See the distance between us. I swing, you block but you are never coming within an area past here."
Renold moved the sword in a crescent arc showing Jacob the boundary he was talking about. It was where the tip of Renold's sword was right above Jacob's wrist. His mace may be inside, but just barely.
"A good warrior will keep you away. You step in, he steps back. You step back, he closes in. Best part is, there is nothing you can do about it."
Renold smirked trying to make Jacob realize how difficult the path he chose was.
"We'll start with basic mace training. Wielding, blocking, closing in the distance. Then move on to attacking, learning where key spots are to do the most damage. Lastly, you will learn how to counter and defend yourself against someone with a longer range."
"After, I will show you two shield skills. Combat with a shield and combat without are different. You will learn without a shield and work your way up."
Renold's blue eyes landed on the mace in Jacob's hands.
"If you take one thing with you from here, just remember a weapon is a part of you. It is your partner and the only thing you can trust on the battlefield. Never drop it, or someone will drop you."
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