Sarah's Story Chapter 029 - Challenge

The air outside was crisp, and the back yard was still nearly totally covered in shadow as the early morning sun rose higher. Dawn was coming later and dusk was coming earlier these days as the seasons finished changing and it was definitively Autumn.

I hope Dad’s okay with the harvest, Sarah idly thought as she walked towards Mr. Tenns, who was carrying an armful of wooden practice weapons out of the shed. Under Mr. Tenns’ direction, she lined up the practice weapons, all the swords in one area, then the spears, then the staves, and the practice knives – why were there so many, anyway? – piled up on top of a large box.

For the next hour, Mr. Tenns had her hold each weapon the ‘correct’ way, and then he would slowly demonstrate how to make someone let go of their weapon. Sarah, though, found the exercise a little overwhelming, because almost as soon as she had each weapon in hand and held the ‘correct’ way–

Brawler Class Skill [Knife Wielding] has been acquired.

Brawler Class Skill [Staff Wielding] has been acquired.

Brawler Class Skill [Sword Wielding] has been acquired.

Brawler Class Skill [Spear Wielding] has been acquired.

Brawler Class Skill [Shielding] has been acquired.

Then, Mr. Tenns took up the weapons himself and had Sarah try to use the techniques he had demonstrated to disarm him.

Brawler Class Skill [Disarm] has been acquired.

And when she twisted the spear out of his hands and twirled it around herself into the ‘correct’ way to hold it–

Brawler Class Skill [Reave] has been acquired.

Mr. Tenns just stared at her with a look of awe.

“Shoot, kinda wish I’d known about the Brawler class before my Choosing Day,” he muttered. “If you don’t mind my asking, what boosts did you get from that class?”

“Dexterity and Speed,” Sarah replied.

“Ah, never mind then, I wouldnae taken it anyway.” A bit of an accent came through in his speech.

“Why not? The course said that Dexterity and Speed were the optamil–”

“Optimal,” he corrected.

“Ahem, optimal boosts for combat,” Sarah finished.

Mr. Tenns nodded. “That’s what everyone thinks, and yet every week I go out to low level Dungeons and rescue parties full of ‘optimal’ Classed Adventurers who took one bad hit and then they’re down for the count.” He smacked his broad chest. “Since you were so kind as to share your boosts, I’ll share mine from Survivalist: Endurance and Vitality. Vitality makes me tougher in general, so I can take harder hits, and Endurance keeps me in the fight longer.”

Sarah tilted her head, considering what Mr. Tenns had shared.

“Well, it’s really a matter of personal taste and aspiration what Classes people choose, so there’s not much point thinking about it after Choosing Day. You got what you got, and you just have to make the best of it.” He turned and started tidying up the practice weapons, and Sarah could sense a few people walking around the buildings toward the training yard.

The sun poked up above the neighboring buildings, shining in her eyes. She blinked, and bit her lip.

James was stuck with what he got, and had to make the best of it.

[Brawler] Class chosen. 1/2 Classes chosen. Please select a Class.

The pressure in the back of her mind that she was growing more and more accustomed to spiked for a moment, and she pushed back against it, clenching her fists at her side.

Now was not the time.

It was sparring time now.

She took a couple deep breaths, and forced her eyes open, letting them adjust to the brighter, direct sunlight.

Brawler Class Skill [Visual Acuity] has been acquired.

Sarah dismissed the intrusive thought and chuckled. Her parents hadn’t been kidding. She’d been focused on making money and studying this week, but man, the Brawler Class really did pick up Skills fast. Her father had warned her that advancing the skills was harder, but she had seen her mother roll her eyes behind her father’s back.

With the latest skill, the bright sunlight was less glaring and the shadows around her less dim. Distant details were easier to make out, and she found it faster to refocus between looking at things near and far.

A handful of boys and a couple girls her age turned the corner and entered the yard. Over the next couple minutes, even more entered, until about twenty young men and women were grouped up in front of Mr. Tenns.

He waved her over, and she jogged up next to him, facing the crowd.

“Good morning everyone! I’d like to introduce you all to Brawler Sarah! She’s kindly agreed to help me out with your sparring training when she has the time.”

The younger trainees looked at her quizzically, while the older ones seemed to look down on her a bit. And not just because they were generally taller than her.

She raised her chin higher, and looked back at them. Her [Danger Sense] was only minimally active, even surrounded by them all, and the biggest Threat she could detect was still Mr. Tenns by a mile.

The sparring training turned out to be more orderly than Sarah expected. Mr. Tenns himself wasn’t an expert in combat, nor in training. Rather, he was an expert in safety. He was able to monitor over a dozen spars happening all at once and intervene when things got too heated. Mainly he just paired up people, assigned one side to offense or defense, and let them practice their moves against each other.

Sarah watched Mr. Tenns pairing people up and felt her shoulders sag. Just a little. But this wasn’t what she had thought ‘sparring training’ was going to be like…

Soon, all the younger trainees were paired up, except for a few who were just doing practice swings. Of the older trainees, four had already paired up, all young women. A Staff Wielder and a Knife Wielder were practicing knife throws and blocking said throws in a corner of the yard somewhat separate from the rest of the spars. The other pair were both Staff Wielders practicing their moves in slow motion. Sarah approved. That was how you got a good sense for how to move in a fight, and built up your reactions.

It had been over a year before her father let her spar at full speed.

“Sarah,” Mr. Tenns called her over. He gestured at the handful of young men in front of him. “Here’s where I want your help. These Adventurers are close to D Rank and their spars are getting a little too heated for me to break up safely. Remember everyone–” he turned to address everyone now, “the last thing we want is more injuries and having to spend money on potions or healing at the Temple.”

A few of the men grimaced at that.

“And the best way to avoid that is to stop when I call a stop! Or, when Sarah here calls a stop.”

“When she calls a stop? You’re joking, right, Mr. Tenns?” One of the more arrogant looking boys spoke up, resting a wooden broadsword up on his shoulder. “Hey, Sarah, what rank are you again?”

“Eh, I mean, E Rank,” she replied.

“You almost said F Rank, didn’t you? What business does a girl still wet behind the ears have telling us how to spar, anyway?” he sneered.

Mr. Tenns frowned. “Nathan, watch it. She took me down in her entrance exam, and she’s rated B Rank in interpersonal combat.”

Sarah saw a few of the young men gape at Mr. Tenns, and one even took a step back. But the first boy, Nathan, scoffed.

“I’ll believe that when I see it.”

Mr. Tenns sighed, then turned to Sarah. “Do you mind jumping straight into a spar? Show ‘em what you can do?”

She nodded. “Yeah, that’s fine.”

She reached in her pocket, fingering a throwing stone, and Mr. Tenns panicked.

“Stop! Stop, Sarah, hold on, none of that!”

She froze, and the rest of the young men looked at Mr. Tenns like he’d grown a second head. All except Nathan, who scoffed again.

“See, this is why I didn’t want to bother coming to these training sessions anymore. I’m nearly D Rank, I don’t need training from someone scared of a few bruises.”

Mr. Tenns ignored him. “Sarah, let me explain the rules first, okay?” She nodded, and he breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to the young men.

“Who didn’t feel that?”

“Feel what?” Nathan retorted, and a few of the other young men tilted their heads as well. The sensitive young man in the back, who had taken a step back earlier, gulped.

“Rather, who did feel that, then? You all should have some kind of Skill like [Threat Detection] or [Threat Awareness], right?

About half the young men raised their hands.

“The rest of you, this is exactly why I’m holding back your promotions.” Sarah turned to him, shocked. Mr. Tenns could withhold promotions?

“No, you’re just mad I got that hit in on you last week,” Nathan retorted. Sarah turned her wide-eyed gaze on him now.

“No, Nathan, I’m mad that I called a stop to the spar and you. Didn’t. Stop.” Sarah’s head snapped back. This was the first time she’d ever seen Mr. Tenns start getting mad.

But he took a deep breath and calmed himself. “Nathan, get ready to spar. Everyone else, clear a space, give them fifteen, no, twenty-five yards space. Sarah, start from ten yards out. I want you to focus on just dodging his attacks until I tell you to disarm him. If you have trouble disarming him, just take him to the ground. And Nathan!” Mr. Tenns glowered at him. “If I call a stop, know that it’s for your safety! If I call a stop, and Sarah stops, and you continue anyway, what happens next is on your head.” He turned back to Sarah. “If this blockhead fails to listen to a stop, prioritize your own safety, then the safety of everyone around you. Do you think you can spar with Nathan while keeping in mind the safety of everyone else in the yard?”

With a twenty-five yard separation, that basically covered the entire training yard, including almost everyone doing their own spars and practice swings.

Sarah tilted her head. “Uhm, probably?” Her [Battlefield Awareness] Skill had improved in her fight last night, but there were more people fighting here, and it was a much larger area, and there were other people throwing things, too.

“Probably’s not good enough, but that’s okay.” Mr. Tenns smiled reassuringly, then bellowed. “Stop, stop! All stop!”

Everyone froze and then turned to face Mr. Tenns, except for the Staff Wielding young woman who deflected two practice knives that were already in the air, and only stopped after making sure that her partner had stopped.

“Twenty-five yards separation!” he shouted, “Sarah will be demonstrating what a Brawler can do!”

“Hey!” Nathan protested, “I didn’t agree to a demonstration! I agreed to a spar!”

Mr. Tenns looked at him over his shoulder. “Yes. Sarah will be demonstrating. You can spar all you like.”