บท 7: Getting the Ball Rolling

Continuing to watch the man attack the dummy in front of him with his spear, Valyr gradually grew more certain of the first impression he had of the man.

Unlike other people, who would repeatedly utilize their skills or do a string of basic attacks against their dummies, the man Damian pointed at instead looked at the dummy in front of him with an eerie calm, muttering something under his breath as the grip over his spear changed from time to time. After a moment of silence, the man would then step back, strike once with the spear, then nod in satisfaction before repeating the cycle all over again.

Watching the man repeat the cycle for a few times, Valyr eventually looked at Damian, who nodded at him as he knew what the former was thinking. With that in mind, Damian told him, "Well, with that, the tour has been concluded. If you have any other questions, you could always head to my office if I'm there. If I'm not there, just ask around."

Nodding in response to Damian's words, Valyr gave him a few words of gratitude, prompting a light smile to appear on Damian's face as the latter turned around, gradually making his way back to his office. However, before he had even taken a single step, his head turned around to look back at Valyr. "Thankfully, I remembered this time around. Are you going to join the night patrol later, or are you going to join the day patrol tomorrow?"

"Hmm…" Now that he had the time to ponder over it for a bit, Valyr finally gave him an answer. "I'll probably join the night patrol. However, is it fine if I change my mind later?"

"Sure." Damian nodded. "Just head to my office and inform me beforehand."

"Will do." With Valyr nodding in response, the two finally went their separate ways, leaving Valyr to his own devices.

Taking in a deep breath, Valyr eventually let out a long sigh of relief as he headed to another part of the barracks, specifically the cafeteria to grab a bite. 'Now that I'm officially part of the village guards, I can finally start making progress towards the goal of having my Rank 1 Class be a Blacksmith.'

'System, show me my status screen,' he inwardly commanded not long after, causing a small screen to appear in front of his field of vision.

Ding!

————

[Valyr Zeihardt]

Class: Civilian (Rank 0)

Species: Human

Level: 1

Power Level: 9 (C)

————

HP: 10/10

MP: 10/10

Stats: 1 VIT, 1 STR, 1 AGI, 1 DEX, 1 INT, 1 WIS, 1 PER, 1 LUK (1 unassigned point)

Remarks: Nothing stands out. Incredibly normal.

————

Looking at his status screen, which hadn't really changed, Valyr gradually focused his attention on the upper portion of his status screen. 'Once I reach Level 10, I'll be able to ascend to a Rank 1 Class, as well as evolve my species.'

In Greater Beyond, there were certain levels that acted as watersheds that one would have to pass through if they wanted to increase their power even further. The first watershed any player and NPC would come face-to-face with was the Level 10 watershed, being the crossroads that would mark the path of a being's specialization.

As all beings had the same Rank 0 Class at the beginning, the Civilian class, it went without saying that one's Rank 1 Class would have the greatest level of importance in terms of choices a being would make. Because of that, Valyr was going to make sure that he would be able to have the Blacksmith class as an option in his ascension.

However, that was only his baseline.

With the memories he had carried from his previous life, he knew that there were variants to the Blacksmith class, with most of them being far better choices. Considering the feasibility of some of them with his current capabilities, he had narrowed his choices down to a couple variant classes, all of which he felt he would be able to achieve before the beta version began.

As for his species, which would change once he had ascended to a Rank 1 Class, there wasn't really much he could do to obtain a better choice. Instead, he already knew what species he would choose once he had ascended to Rank 1. 'With that species and with one of the Rank 1 Classes I'm thinking of, my strength will definitely snowball in the long run.'

'In any case, I should start increasing my combat power first,' he thought as he placed everything else at the back of his head, arriving at the cafeteria. After grabbing some food, he sat on one of the free tables in the area before munching on the food he chose. 'I wouldn't be able to get the skills I need if I don't have the strength to back it up. Plus, if I want to make sure our side gets a fighting chance at the final battle, I'll have to increase my strength either way.'

As he chowed down on his food, he continued to think about the things he could do right now. Specifically, things he could do to bolster his combat power before the night patrol later.

Feeling revitalized from the meal he ate, he then left the cafeteria as he looked out one of the windows, noticing that the sun had already gone past its peak. With that in mind, he hastened his steps slightly, eventually arriving at the training field once more sometime later.

Entering the place, he noticed that the odd man with the spear was still there, making Valyr wonder for a bit as to whether the man had eaten yet. However, he placed the thought at the back of his head as he headed to one of the many unoccupied training dummies in the space, eventually choosing one that was somewhat far away from the other occupied dummies.

Looking at the odd man for a bit more, Valyr unfurled the fabric affixing the wooden spear to his back before tightly gripping onto the latter. Getting a feel of the wooden spear he had chosen for a bit, he then took a few steps back as he focused on the training dummy in front of him. 'Well, everyone has their own way of improving. If that's what works for him, then there's no reason for me to change his ways.'

'Then again, my method for improvement is pretty weird.' Chuckling at his inner thoughts, he then charged forward before thrusting out with his spear, landing a clean strike on the training dummy. After a few seconds, he then retrieved the spear before gripping it with his other hand. Then, with no hesitation, he thrust his spear out once more, landing yet another strike on the dummy.

With the cycle in place, Valyr went ahead and repeated the same thing over and over again, feeling a hint of pain coursing through his arms by the time each arm had struck against the dummy around 20 times. Nevertheless, he gritted his teeth and ignored it, allowing his muscle memory to take over as he continued to strike against the dummy.

At first glance, one would think that he was training himself to become ambidextrous with the spear, allowing him to fight against the enemy even if one of his arms were unusable. However, in reality, the reason why Valyr was doing this seemingly monotonous cycle was not for that exact reason. Instead, it was for an entirely different reason.

Ding!

[You have gained a hint on how to wield the spear better.]

Seeing the notification, a light grin appeared on Valyr's face as he continued attacking the dummy.

"Bingo."