Chapter 8: 8 : Father and son
That night Elias and his family ate in silence, not even Nina tried to break the silence with her jokes. The entire family was suddenly thrust with a new reality, a reality where they had to give up their son and brother to the church.
They knew it was a good thing for their family, their lives were about to be changed as the church does not hold back when taking care of the child of light's family but still, they felt a sadness looming in their heart.
Elias lay on his bed, arms supporting his head as he stared at the ceiling.
"Two days till Eldoria, just like the game. I have two days to prepare for Eldoria, I have no time to waste.
I'll have to increase my stats as much as possible before then"
'Stats menu'
And as quickly as Elias willed, the stats menu appeared before him displaying all his stats.
[ FWP: 100/10,000,000,000
Name: Elias Ashdown
Class: Swordsman, Farmer
Title: Farmer, One blessed by Fate, swordsman, Child of light, Child of Destiny, Mage, loved by mana.
————————–————————–
Health: 2000
Mana: 400,000
————————–————————–
Strength: 23
Agility: 18
Speed: 20
Stamina: 78
Intelligence: 43
]
"Hmm these stats are too high for a beginner, it probably has to do with Moera and me being the 'child of light'
What is that mana capacity though? It's ridiculous! It was abnormally high before, but it even increased.
I feel like I'm hacking right now, well I'm not complaining, it just means I have good luck"
Elias closed the status menu and soon fell asleep.
The songs of the morning bird as well as the cold touch of steel woke Elias up. He groggily stood up from his bed and wiped his eyes clean, trying to see who woke him up.
"Come with me" Godfrey instructed, he was carrying an object wrapped up in leather, Elias could make out that Godfrey was carrying a sword based on the outline of the object, "Be careful not to wake the others up" he added as he walked out of the room
Elias navigated the room, trying his best not to make any noise that could wake Eleanor and Nina. He made his way outside and walked over to Godfrey.
Godfrey motioned for him to follow closely and they walked for a while, climbing hills and passing through thick bushes.
Finally, Godfrey stopped when they arrived at a small lake.
"Why are we here father?" Elias asked, knowing fully well why they were there. As a matter of fact, according to Arcane Days' progression, he had just walked into a quest.
Godfrey set down his leather wrap, he unwrapped it, revealing two swords, one a gleaming silver longsword and the other a basic steel sword.
The silver sword was beautiful, the blade looked like it had been crafted by a masterful blacksmith, and the hilt held detailed and beautiful regal patterns that added to the sword's unusual beauty.
He picked up the silver sword and slid it to Elias whilst he held on to the regular sword, "Soon, you will be going to Eldoria where you will meet all kinds of people, especially warriors.
They come in different forms, Mages, swordsmen, magic swordsmen, and archers that can shoot you ten times over before you can even think of drawing your sword.
The priest that conducted your ritual yesterday was a 'Caster', you don't need to be a mage to tell you that he was strong. He could have probably taken you forcefully from us if he wanted to. Eldoria is a place that is teeming with such types of people.
I know the church would provide training to you, but what kind of father would I be to send you to such a place without teaching you how to protect yourself? Pick up your sword Elias!" He ordered
Elias immediately picked up the sword, the intensity of his father's words got to him. He had played the game a thousand times but he wasn't playing a game this time, he was living it.
The sword was slightly heavier than the normal swords that he used whenever he trained with Godfrey, but he could still manage it.
"Good, you can hold up the sword. I was worried you wouldn't be able to lift it. Since you can carry it, you can wield it. Come"
Elias tightened his grip on the sword and charged at Godfrey, he swung the sword with all his might but Godfrey parried his attack easily. Elias was pushed back, Godfrey took advantage of Elias' open defense and closed in.
"This cannot be the result of our training, fight like your life depends on it because from now on it does! Come!" He said pointing the tip of his sword at Elias' throat
Elias gritted his teeth and gripped his sword even harder, he pushed Godfrey's sword away and put some distance between them.
[
「Skils」
–Passive Skills: Blessing of the Goddess of Light, Advanced Farming arts, Mana regeneration(Basic), Elemental Affinity(Basic).
–Active Skills: Stab(Basic), Slash(Basic), Irrigation(Intermediate), Planting(Intermediate), Weed control(Advanced), Fertilisation(Intermediate), Pest Control(Advanced) ]
Based on pure instinct, Elias planted one foot in front of the other firmly on the ground, he hardened his core and held his sword as firmly as he could.
A pleased look appeared on Godfrey's face "Excellent form" He remarked
Elias dashed forward, closing the distance with such ferocious speed that caught Godfrey off guard.
"Skill menu" he muttered
"[Use skill : Stab]"
Godfrey narrowly avoided the attack by sidestepping away from Elias' blade, "Such speed, have you been training secretly?"
Not breaking his momentum, Elias put his weight behind his next attack as he swung his sword with all his might.
"[Use skill : Slash]"
Once again Godfrey was caught off guard, and he watched wide-eyed as Elias' blade came for his life
"Shit, I went too far! But I can't stop my sword now. Please dodge this, I'm begging you!" Elias desperately cried as he felt his sword clash with his father's
Elias' attack landed with a thunderous sound, the impact and shockwave of his swing caused a large amount of dust to rise.
Elias stared at the space where Godfrey once stood wide-eyed, desperately hoping to see Godfrey still standing.
In Arcane Days, this did not happen, he was not even supposed to be able to land a hit, let alone beat Godfrey. He began to panic, as he knew not what to expect.
The dust cleared but instead of seeing Godfrey or at worst Godfrey's decapitated body, Elias saw an empty space. No one was there
"You are still a hundred years too early for me to be wary of your attack " Godfrey's voice shot from behind Elias.
Elias immediately turned around, and a feeling of relief washed over him as he saw Godfrey, alive and unscathed. He dropped to his knees, he had almost killed the family he swore to protect, such a thing would cause anybody to panic.
"Good form, and you certainly have the strength to maximize the effect of your skill. Just look at those poor trees"
Elias turned around to see what Godfrey was talking about, and he saw tens of trees sliced in half, the ones at the far edge that weren't cleanly sliced were broken apart and disfigured
He looked at his hands and wondered if it was really his strength that did that, it was yet another occurrence that never happened in the game.
"Must be a perk of being the child of light. I'm almost discouraged to teach you what I am about to" Godfrey said
He paused before continuing, "Although your swordsmanship isn't bad, it is basic and crude…unrefined, and that is my fault.
I only taught you the basics and look what you can do with it, I am almost scared to imagine what you would be capable of when we are done here."
Elias stood up and dusted his knee off, "Done here?"
"I am going to teach you some sword moves that should at least give you an edge in Eldoria. It is a set of ten but because we are short on time, you will only be learning two" Godfrey declared
Elias squeezed his brows together and raised his hand, "Three, I'll learn three of the ten" he confidently declared
[+50 fwp]
In the game, Elias successfully learned two of the ten moves but since he had been constantly reminded that this was real life, not a game, he decided not to follow the game's storyline.
Godfrey smirked, "Very well then, raise your blade. Let's begin"
Elias nodded and attempted to reach for his sword, but there was nothing, his silver sword was nowhere to be found.
"That is right, you cannot hold your sword, because I took it," Godfrey said, swinging the silver blade around
"Never lose your weapon in battle. You lose your weapon, you lose your life" he said as he tossed the sword to Elias
"H-How?" Elias was puzzled, he had no idea when or how Godfrey took the blade away from him
"You are about to learn son, now come"