Chapter 86: New Training 1

No sooner had they entered the Adventurers’ Guild than Selene continued walking, never letting go of Adam’s arm.

A few adventurers watched them.

Others immediately looked away when Selene caught them.

Adam, however, had already decided to completely ignore their reactions.

He had probably attracted enough attention for one day.

Selene crossed the main hall.

But unlike the day before, she didn’t head straight for the underground training room.

She took a different corridor.

Adam noticed.

"Aren’t we going straight to training?"

"Not yet."

"Why does that answer worry me?"

Selene smiled.

"You’ll understand."

They went down a staircase.

Then they passed through several passages reserved for the Guild’s staff and instructors.

Finally, Selene stopped in front of a heavy, reinforced door.

She placed a hand on it.

Several runes glowed.

The door opened.

Adam looked inside.

And remained silent.

"Okay..."

Selene entered.

"Welcome to one of our training depots."

Adam followed her slowly.

The word depot was perfectly apt.

The room was immense.

Rows and rows of shelves stretched before him.

And on each one...

Weapons.

Dozens.

Then hundreds.

Adam approached the first row.

Short swords.

Long swords.

Bastard swords.

Greatswords.

Sabers.

Katanas.

Scimitars.

Rapiers.

Several shapes he didn’t even recognize.

The next row contained shorter weapons.

Daggers.

Knives.

Machetes.

Kukris.

Curved blades.

Triangular daggers.

Then came the blunt weapons.

Hammers.

Maces.

Clubs.

Flaxes.

Staffs.

Warhammers.

Morgensterns.

Further on were the heavy weapons.

Halberds.

Great axes.

Two-handed hammers.

Heavy spears.

Greatswords sometimes exceeding two meters.

Adam continued walking.

"You really have all this just for training?"

"A game."

Adam stopped.

"A game?" "

Selene pointed to the back of the room.

Adam turned his head.

"Ah."

Conventional weapons did indeed occupy only half the warehouse.

The other half was much stranger.

Scythes.

Armored chains.

Chains ending in maces.

Metal whips.

Blades attached to ropes.

Tonfas.

Jointed batons.

Circular weapons.

Several kinds of metal claws.

Weapons that Adam would have had trouble classifying.

Then came the throwing weapons.

Javelins.

Balanced knives.

Axes.

Metal discs.

Darts.

Short spears.

Further still...

Bows.

Dozens of different shapes.

Short.

Long.

Composite.

Recurved.

Light crossbows.

Heavy crossbows.

Some capable of firing multiple projectiles.

Others equipped with magical mechanisms.

Adam even spotted a few ranged weapons he didn’t recognize at all.

A long metal tube covered in runes.

A kind of crossbow without a string.

A device made up of several concentric discs.

And a weapon vaguely resembling a rifle, but whose mechanism clearly relied on magical crystals.

Adam approached immediately.

"What’s this?"

Selene replied:

"Later."

Adam turned his head.

"Why later?"

"Because if you start analyzing every weapon now, we’ll still be here tonight."

Adam looked at the object again.

Then at Selene.

"Valid point."

She gestured around the entire warehouse.

"Take one of each type of weapon."

Adam frowned slightly.

"Each type?"

"Each type." "

"There are over a hundred of them."

"I know."

"And what am I supposed to do with them?"

Selene smiled.

"Learn their names."

Adam remained silent.

Then he looked at the shelves.

Selene added:

"The names are written under each section."

Adam looked down.

Indeed.

Small plaques were attached under the shelves.

Longsword.

Falcon.

Kopis.

Flanged mace.

Flame.

Scythe.

Kusarigama.

Chakram.

Composite bow.

Repeating crossbow.

And so on.

Selene crossed her arms.

"Take one from each category. Look at its name. Observe its shape. Its balance. Its weight. Then put it back." "

Adam understood immediately.

"You want to test Weapon Mastery."

"Obviously."

A smile appeared on her face.

"You told me this morning that you could use practically any weapon as soon as you touched it."

She gestured to the hundreds of weapons.

"So let’s see how far this really goes."

Adam looked around the warehouse again.

Then he sighed.

"Very well."

He began.

A longsword.

The moment he picked it up, the reaction was immediate.

Its weight.

Its center of gravity.

The optimal length for his movements.

The cutting angles.

The correct way to move his wrist.

The distance needed to change direction.

It all seemed obvious.

Adam looked at the plaque.

"Longsword."

He put it down.

Then he moved on to the next one.

"Falcon."

The blade was heavier toward its tip.

His skill immediately adjusted how his body used it.

He continued.

"Kopis."

"Cavalry saber."

"Rapier."

"Thruster."

"Kukri."

"Heavy machete."

Then the blunt weapons.

"Flanged mace."

"Warhammer."

"Reinforced club."

"Flail."

Each time...

The same thing.

He had never used most of these weapons.

And yet, the moment his fingers closed around their handles, they almost immediately ceased to feel foreign.

Adam began to understand the true power of his skill.

It wasn’t simply knowledge.

His body instinctively knew how to hold each weapon.

How to move it.

How to prevent its own weight from working against him.

Even when he came to the unusual weapons, the phenomenon continued.

He picked up a war scythe.

His first instinct would normally have been to use it like the farming tool it resembled.

Weapon Mastery immediately corrected that impression.

The handle.

The distances.

The hook.

The changes in angle.

The disarming possibilities.

"War scythe."

He put it down.

Then a long chain ending in a metal weight.

The mastery was stranger.

This weapon relied heavily on continuous motion.

The weight had to maintain its speed.

The chain had to remain under control at all times.

A mistake could be as dangerous for the user as for their opponent.

Adam gave it a slight twist.

Then he brought it to a clean stop.

Selene raised an eyebrow.

"First time?"

"Yes."

"Impressive."

Adam looked at her.

"You can say that more often."

"Don’t take advantage of it."

He continued.

Throwing weapons.

Bows.

Crossbows.

As soon as he picked up a bow, Adam felt his breathing change instinctively.

Foot position.

Shoulder alignment.

Back tension.

Finger placement.

Aiming.

Relaxing.

Then the crossbow.

A completely different mechanism.

But still understandable.

Finally, he came to the more unusual magical weapons.

Selene allowed him to touch them this time, but without activating them.

Adam took the long runic tube.

Information immediately flashed into his mind.

He didn’t know how to make it.

He didn’t know the origin of the runes.

But he grasped the basic logic.

Concentrate mana in the crystal.

Stabilize.

Aim.

Trigger.

The projectile wasn’t physical.

It was a pulse of condensed mana.

Adam remained silent.

Then he put the weapon down.

Selene watched him.

"Well?"

"It works."

"You knew how to use it?"

"Yes."

"Without an explanation?" "

"Yes."

His expression became more serious.

"That’s why the others want to bring in the antique weapons."

Adam nodded.

"I’m beginning to understand their reaction."

He resumed his task.

In total, it took him about half an hour to go through the entire warehouse.

A little over a hundred primary weapons.

And when he got to the last one...

Selene suddenly asked him:

"The sixty-third?"

Adam thought for less than a second.

"Chakram."

"Eighty-second?"

"Double-lever crossbow."

"Seventeenth?"

"Heavy cavalry machete."

"Forty-ninth?"

"Three-section flail."

Selene smiled.

"Good."

Adam put down the last weapon.

"Was that just for the names?"

"No."

She turned around.

"Now comes the fun part."

Adam looked at his back.

"For you."

"Obviously."

They left the warehouse.

A few minutes later, they arrived in the same underground room where Adam had trained the day before.

The large, reinforced room.

Sturdy floor.

Enchanted walls.

Repair runes.

Storage areas.

Adam immediately noticed that something had changed.

Humanoid shapes were lined up against the walls.

Many.

He stopped.

"Selene..."

"Yes?"

Adam quickly counted.

Ten.

Twenty.

Thirty.

Then far too many to continue mentally.

"Why are there so many golems?" "

Selene smiled.

"For your training."

Adam looked at her.

"How many?"

"A little over a hundred."

He remained silent.

Each golem possessed a different weapon.

Sword.

Dagger.

Spear.

Mace.

Bow.

Scythe.

Chain.

Hammer.

Crossbow.

And so on.

Practically every weapon Adam had just learned to recognize.

"Don’t tell me..."

"Yes."

Selene stepped to the center of the room.

"Each golem is roughly calibrated to your current level."

Adam blinked.

"My level?"

"Level three."

"So I have to face over a hundred opponents of my own level?"

"Yes." "

" At the same time ? "

"Not exactly."

Selene pointed to several circular runes on the floor.

"The system maintains constant pressure. The first group activates. Every time you eliminate a golem, the next one takes its place."

Adam understood.

"So the slower I am, the more they’re likely to accumulate."

"Exactly."

"And if I lose?"

Selene smiled.

Adam didn’t like that smile.

"You start from the very beginning."

Silence.

"All from the start?"

"All of it."

Adam looked at the hundreds of golems.

Then at Selene.

"You created this just to torture new adventurers?"

"No. New adventurers don’t have access to this room."

"That doesn’t reassure me."

Selene threw several training weapons at him.

Adam automatically placed them in his inventory.

Sword.

Dagger.

Mace.

Bow.

Javelin.

Scythe.

Hammer.

Crossbow.

And several others.

Selene then raised a finger.

"Second condition."

Adam sighed.

"Of course there’s a second one."

"Mana compression."

He froze.

"Throughout the entire exercise?"

"Throughout the entire exercise."

Adam stared at the ceiling.

"Vespera really asked you to continue this?"

"Yes."

"You two communicate way too much."

"It’s convenient."