The next day was much the same for Mike, and the day after. Some kind of physical training in the morning, weapons training after lunch, then lessons with Aric. Haliard had him switching up the base grip and stance for his spear to integrate more attacks and guards into it, and Mike watched his familiarity with the weapon creep up on his Quest screen.

  He could almost taste his Inventory.

  The training with Aric was going well, with Mike absorbing information like a sponge. He was able to surprise the wizard by keeping ahead of his classes using the Skills and talents he developed, but kept the biggest secrets revealed. By the third day, he had learned most of the spells in Aric’s spell book and only felt an irritating headache whenever he hit it with Identify now.

  Focusing on emptied his stamina and mana during training saw them expand slightly, but not enough. Conjuring Bandit locked away less than half of his bar now, but he wanted more.

  His next major breakthrough came during the fourth day after he started training with Aric, during the morning calisthenics. They were doing repeated short sprints, touching lines ten yards apart then turning back and touching the starting line. Keep that pace until they collapsed, rest for two minutes, then get back in it. Even Sum was floating as fast as he could.

  When Mike was turning back towards the starting line, panting heavily and watching his stamina drop, he felt a shock. It was like a massive cramp, covering his full body. He fell with a shout as a new screen appeared in front of him.

  Dexterity Upgraded!

  Stamina Regeneration Increased, Stamina Increased

  By the time the other gladiators ran to check on Mike, he was sitting up and laughing. His body was tingling, like he had gone to sleep from the neck down. It passed in seconds, and when it did, he felt like he had had an hour’s nap. It wasn’t just the changes rejuvenating him.

  It was a whole new path of development that had opened up before him.

  “Is that part of your… thing?” Bradiac asked.

  “It sounded like it hurt,” Karl said as he offered his hand to help Mike up. Mike gripped his wrist and they got him to his feet while he got his laughter under control.

  “It is, it did, and damn, do I want it to happen again.”

  “Then we need to get back to it, that break is long enough,” Haliard told them in a stern voice. Everyone else groaned but started running again, moving as fast as they could. Haliard fell in step beside Mike. “What happened?” he continued in a whisper.

  Between heavy breaths, Mike explained his Stats page, what they each meant, and what had happened when he increased them with Free Points. It took several minutes, as Mike was focusing on moving as fast as he could to see if another upgrade happened. He didn’t think it would, not really, since this one took several days of concentrated effort.

  Maybe tonight or tomorrow, my training under Aric will see a bump to my Intelligence. Now how do I get the others to go up?

  Haliard had some ideas for some of the Stats, but Mike had to veto getting beaten with sticks to see if his Constitution went up. Haliard promised to fold weightlifting into the training plan more often to see if that would help with Mike’s Strength, but the rest were beyond him. The old man had difficulty grasping how the social aspect of Mike’s Stats worked.

  Though to be fair, Mike didn’t understand them either.

  After the morning’s sprint exhausted the gladiators, they all sprawled across the steps, panting. Even Sum had worked enough that he had reduced the height he floated above the ground, resting the bottom facet of his body flat. Mike had conjured an Idun berry for each man to help them recover and used Conjure Water to fill their cups with colder, more refreshing water than the spring by the steps.

  “You are a handy guy to have around,” Aaron told Mike as he leaned over to fill his stone cup. It took barely one mana to refill it, and with his upgrades, Mike was refilling that one mana in just three seconds. “Though I am wondering when you can provide a nice steak instead of a single, measly berry.”

  “That berry takes a lot out of me,” Mike replied. With his current mana, he could conjure it twice before he needed to wait for it to fill up. Though that didn’t count the fact that he had mana locked away to summon Bandit.

  The rest of the gladiators insisted on it, and the badger had become a spoiled pet of the whole group. If Haliard thought someone wasn’t giving their all, he made them pick up and carry the rotund animal, who delighted in the sensation of speed. Even with that punishment, all the gladiators stopped to give him pets and scratches.

  Right now, Bandit was chewing on an Idun berry of his own. Mike didn’t know if the magical animal needed to eat, but he begged so well that Mike had to pull one out of nothingness to give to him. Mike leaned over and scratched the animal’s belly, who wiggled at the attention.

  “I have to tell you boys; this is the life.” Mike held his hand over his head and conjured water directly onto him. It was so cool and refreshing that he didn’t care that he soaked his shirt. “If I could have done this back home, I would have been delighted to stay.”

  With his eyes closed to keep the water out, Mike missed the glances the others shared.

  “It is not always like this,” Julian started, but Haliard interrupted him.

  “None of that now. Let the kid have a few days of peace.” Haliard stood and walked to where the weapons were stored. “I’ll talk to him about it. The rest of you get ready. Sum, you are on defense. Everyone else, try to touch him.”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Sum floated to one end of the training field and started forming floating shields out of the sand. The others grabbed their training weapons and headed towards him. They split up as they approached, trying to come at him from different angles. Sum started moving and shifting the shields to block them, keeping them moving.

  “That looks like fun.” Mike grabbed the spear Haliard handed him and went into some warm-up exercises with it.

  “It is,” Haliard said as he strapped on his shield. He also picked up his training weapon, a wooden hammer balanced with a thick pick. He spun it a few times to prepare himself. “The winner gets bragging rights.”

  “Nice.” Mike got into one of his newer stances, where he held the spear with both hands. One low, near his hip, with the other extended out. He started sweeping it back and forth as Haliard assumed a stance of his own.

  “Let’s work on your defenses. I’ll go about half-speed. Don’t let me hit you.” With that, Haliard stepped in, swinging the hammer. Mike barely got his spear in the way and jabbed with it, creating distance. He started circling to Haliard’s shielded side, trying to avoid the hammer.

  “Good instincts on that,” Haliard said. A smile flashed across his face, but dropped as he twisted, flowing forward and swinging. Mike’s instincts caused him to step back, crossing his ankles and sending him flat on his back.

  “Bragging rights are some of them have,” Haliard said as he leaned in to help Mike up. “You have to remember, these men are slaves.”

  “I know, but this life…”

  “There is no but to this.” Haliard stepped back as Mike stood, both of them assuming a fighting stance. “You have been with us barely a week. A week. Consider what these men have seen and been through.”

  Haliard threw more probing attacks as he spoke, trying to cause Mike to trip himself. Focusing on his footwork, balance, and positioning kept Mike up, but Haliard was able to swing in after a quick exchange of blows, tapping Mike on the chest with the hammer.

  “Not too long ago, these men had to watch their friends die. Ripped apart in the dark, to further the aims of the people who own them. We’ve had to fight, to kill, because those damn wizards are in our heads. Those men seem jovial and fun, but…”

  “It is forced,” Mike finished as they both returned to starting positions.

  “Sometimes, it is real.” Haliard nodded towards where Bandit was playing with a spare arrow. “That guy helps. And they do like you. You’re part of the team, but you haven’t been blooded yet.”

  “I had to fight those zombies.” Mike tried to attack before Haliard could pull back on a strike, slapping the older man’s bicep with the shaft of the spear. Another smile flashed across his bearded face as he acknowledged the touch.

  “True,” Haliard said. “But it will get worse. And next time you go out, look at the other servants. Watch how they react. We have a reasonably cushy life, but that’s because they need us healthy and strong. You don’t need your accountant well fed. Or your bed slave.”

  They lapsed into silence aside from the grunts of exertion. Mike was able to defend himself, for the most part. He even retaliated a few times, though only one got through to touch Haliard. They trained in silence for minutes before Mike spoke again.

  “I’m sorry. I am, I didn’t think of it like that. It’s just…” Haliard took his opportunity to launch a blistering series of attacks, pushing Mike back until he tripped over his feet again. “Hey, that wasn’t half speed!”

  “It was.” Haliard helped him up again. “Now, what you were saying? Without getting distracted this time.”

  “I have this power. This display. And for the first time ever, I am seeing that my hard work is paying off.” The clack of wooden weapons ticked away like a metronome as Mike tried to think of how to word what he was thinking. “All my life before I came here, I was told that if I worked hard, I would succeed.

  “Well, that was a damn lie,” Mike said with more venom than he had expected. His strikes against Haliard became more forceful. “I worked hard, and the economy died. I worked hard, and my company downsized. I worked hard, my parents worked hard, we all worked hard. Nothing got better except for the people at the top. The ones telling us to work hard.”

  Mike was pushing Haliard back now. Or the older man was intentionally giving ground, allowing Mike to vent his frustrations and anger with the world.

  “My parents believed in that mantra. They thought they were just the victims of circumstance and bad luck. But me? Oh no, I didn’t work hard enough! If I had, of course they would see results. But since I wasn’t getting anywhere, I must have been too! Damn! Lazy!”

  Mike shouted each of the last words, meeting each with a thrust at Haliard. For the first time, he wasn’t thinking about the fight. He didn’t need to focus on footwork, on parrying, on movement. Mike was just moving with the flow, blocking, attacking, moving, without thinking of how to do it.

  “Now I have this thing in me. This power. And I can see my hard work paying off. Every swing of my spear, every step of a run, I get better. My hard work rewards me. And everyone can see it.”

  As Mike finished speaking, something clicked inside him. His body aligned perfectly with his will for just a moment, and he struck. His spear rocketed forward faster than it ever had before as he stepped in. A straight shot, aiming directly at Haliard’s heart, with the full force of Mike’s body behind it.

  The skill of the older man was enough that he was never in danger during Mike’s rant. Even his last, almost perfect attack was unable to get through with Haliard moving at full speed. His shield flew up and blocked the tip of the training spear. Still, there was enough force that the wooden point penetrated almost an inch past the shield. Haliard raised his bushy eyebrows as he examined it.

  “That definitely wasn’t half speed.”

  Mike ignored him, panting as he held the pose he was in. His body tingled beyond any of the feelings his new powers had granted him, and a screen had popped up. He was examining it, thinking through the implications.

  Ability Discovered!

  Piercing Lunge

  Ability, 10 Stamina, 10 Second Cool Down, Melee Weapon Required

  Strike with enhanced armor penetration.

  Mike started to laugh, the tension of the last several minutes falling away. He released the spear, which was still stuck in Haliard’s shield. He stepped back and wiped his face, feeling tears flowing as he caught his breath between chuckles. Over half his stamina was drained away by the move, but it was already refilling.

  “What happened here?” Aaron asked, coming up towards them. The rest of the men followed behind, having halted their training when Mike started shouting.

  “That was a pretty good attack, but why did you almost kill Haliard?” Julian said as Mike started to calm down. He glanced over at Haliard, who was trying to leverage the spear out of the wooden shield. Embarrassed a little at the audience for his outburst, Mike moved to help him.

  “I didn’t think I would kill him.”

  “Just for the record…” Haliard said, gripping the shield as Mike pulled on the spear. They both leaned back, pulling hard. “He couldn’t have killed me. I’m just that—”

  He was interrupted by the spear finally separating from the shield, sending both Mike and Haliard falling backwards. Bradiac was close enough to catch Mike, but Haliard landed flat on his back.

  “Good,” he gasped as the air rushed out of his lungs. The rest of the men fell over themselves laughing, even Sum visibly vibrating as he chuckled. Mike stepped forward and helped Haliard up.

  “Was that part of your power?” Haliard whispered as Mike pulled him close. “I saw your stamina drop sharply on the screen.”

  “Yes, it was.” Mike pulled the old man to his feet, smiling and looking to the far horizon. “I got better.”