“Fine, fine,” the Weaponmaster said with a wave, “What can I help you with?”
“Are you able to teach me new abilities and show me how this combat system works? I’ve stumbled through some of it, but I’d appreciate a professional’s training for this.”
“That depends. It costs money for training. I have a certain number of skills to train and each has an associated cost. I do have the basic Counter I can teach for free, which is an essential skill. It becomes far more important as you learn further abilities to combo with it. I guess you only have the basic Double Slash?” the Weaponmaster asked.
“That’s it. I’d like to take you up on that offer for the Counter ability though.”
“Good. Come over here for a minute.”
Atlas walked toward the instructor and when he was within five feet of the man, a warning popped up in his vision.
You have entered combat!
What the hell, was his thought before he watched the image of his arm moving across his body to intercept an incoming punch. He panicked and swung hard to the side, barely catching up to the movement. His forearm connected with the Weaponmaster’s hand and knocked it away.
“Very good. You’re already picking up the visual commands nicely.”
“Maybe some warning next time!” Atlas complained as he stepped back from the man. “Now, why didn’t I learn the Counter ability? I just countered your punch?”
“No, you didn’t. Do you know why not?”
“If I did, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“What you just did was deflect my attack. There are three methods of physical damage negation that are the most common. One is dodging attacks, the second is parrying or deflecting attacks, and the final one is blocking the attack. None of those amounts to a Counter. Any of those can trigger a Counter, though. A Counter requires a return strike that does damage. For instance, had you knocked my arm to the side and immediately followed with a punch that struck a solid blow that would be considered a Counter.”
Atlas hit himself on the forehead with an open palm. Of course, I need to actually counterattack, not just block it.
“Care to try again?” The Weaponmaster asked.
Atlas only nodded. This time, the image that showed up in his vision differed from anything he’d ever seen. The Weaponmaster had crouched down low and kicked out with a sweeping leg. Atlas’ image showed him spreading the base of his legs and bracing his weight on his left leg to take the hit. Atlas shifted his weight and waited.
The leg struck and his knee buckled, sweeping him off his feet and causing him to fall in a heap.
You failed to block Leg Sweep.
Weaponmaster dealt 1 HP damage to you with Leg Sweep.
“I followed the movement and still fell flat. What was that about?” Atlas asked in confusion as he slowly rose back to his feet and dusted himself off.
“I’m glad you asked. We must teach every one of you Reborn this lesson. The image tracing system will only show you ways to block or deflect. It doesn’t actually show you maneuvers to dodge attacks. You can still dodge any attack that comes your way with enough speed and combat knowledge, though. That attack would’ve been simple for you to leap over and avoid the blow, leaving me in an off-balance position and prime for a Counter.”
“So I can dodge any attack then?” Atlas asked in excitement.
“Yes, and no. Some attacks you must dodge. If your opponent is much stronger than you, it’s possible for them to break your blocks and deflects. That’s what happened on my Leg Sweep. I’m at a higher level and far stronger than you. There was no way you could withstand that attack. As you progress, make sure you remember that. Powerful attacks can break through your defense. I’ve seen many a man take a sword through the skull from an overhand chop they thought they could block.”
“Sound advice. I’ll keep it in mind,” Atlas agreed.
“Also be wary of Area of Effect attacks. Anything made to attack a large space can be very difficult to block or even dodge. Magic can also be very difficult to dodge, but you’ll have to discuss ways to prepare for that with your class trainer.”
“I’ll talk to Master Longstride about it. You mentioned having other abilities you can train? Can I see what they are?”
The Weaponmaster eyed him up and down, “I can tell you have absolutely no coin on you, but I’m sure you’ll be able to find some in the future. Let me teach you the proper form for a Counter and unlock the ability for it and then I’ll show you the list of abilities. You can come back and find me later to learn more.”
“Thank you, sir. Actually, what’s your name?”
“I’m Leo Swiftstrike. Now let’s get to work.”
Leo showed him the movements in slow motion for him to learn the Counter ability. He quickly discovered that he only needed to learn the ability one time with a successful counter and then he could activate it on command. Leo showed him how to counter the punch he originally threw, and after four tries, Atlas finally succeeded.
You have learned the ability: Counter.
You deal 1 HP damage to Leo Swiftstrike with Counter.
“Now that you have the ability, you can counter any type of strike, not just that specific one. Dodge, block, or deflect the attack and the activate Counter. It will show you what to do.”
“I’m still surprised I never learned this before. I’ve dealt damage to creatures before when deflecting attacks,” Atlas said quietly.
“All about the intent young man. Dealing damage to a creature during a deflection because your weapon grazes them is just a byproduct of the deflection itself. Following it with the attack is the true Counter. If you get good with deflection techniques, you can increase your damage, allowing you to hit them during the deflection and then hit them again
