"There are many skilled players who managed to become legendary figures for their martial prowess in Dynasties Online."
"But there is one who will always be above the rest, a legend that was made from the blood spilt in the fires of war."
"The universally acknowledged strongest player in the world, as far as personal combat strength was concerned anyway."
"The Sword Of The Morning."
"Harrison Palmer, the head of House Palmyrion."
Lee Smith, CEO of Emart and head of House Erendis
….
16 September 4009 ASA (After Species Awakening) Nartook Fortress Courtyard.
Railius was waiting for his match of the second round to begin. Once again, the young fallen noble was leaning against a corner of the Melee's ground because, apart from having to deal with Lucan, who, for some reason, got jealous of him and wanted to use numbers to put him in his place by joining together with his friends, staying out of the way in the corner helped Railius to avoid the most chaotic first stage of a melees round which was the main reason why he even managed to get to the second round in the first place.
He allowed everyone else to fight and exhaust themselves before coming in and stealing the victory.
Was it honourable to do so?
Certainly not!
Was it effective?
Very much so, as beating a tired or exhausted opponent was easy!
Well, that and the fact that he finally reached the expert rank with his main weapon, but compared to others at the expert level with years of experience under their belts, Railius, who had just ascended to the expert rank, was at a disadvantage.
It just was not as obvious as it would be if he stayed as an adept swordsman, as the high damage bonus is a key reason why experts and masters have an easier time defeating armoured foes.
But even so, Railius still gazed at the new upgraded Calculated Swordsmanship skill, pleased with his progress in the game, which was above 99.5% of the player population if you included all of his skills, his house's military power and his financial assets together.
…..
Calculated Swordsmanship (Expert) (Passive) (Specialised Skill)
Unique Requirements: Intelligence and Wisdom stats at 10 or higher.
Must be awakened or gained when the player has a swordsmanship rank lower than the master rank.
Description: A special kind of swordsmanship that is favoured by strategists. It uses intelligence, calculation, perception and prediction to win fights. Unlike other fighting styles that rely on experience, physical attributes or instincts of the user, this type of swordsmanship is much more logical in nature, with practitioners being very proficient at defending themselves until an opportunity presents itself to be exploited.
Because it needs to analyse an opponent's fighting style to attack, this style's main weakness is that it is easy for the practitioner to be overwhelmed by attacks from an unfamiliar opponent, so it is common for people to kill them quickly before they get the chance to analyse an opponent's style too much.
Effect: Increase the damage of attacks done by swords by 50%.
It is not limited by the level that can be attained.
Fighting style will become very logical, analytical and efficient.
You can now collect data on various fighting styles, and once you have enough experience and knowledge of them, you will be able to predict the attacks of any opponent who uses that fighting style.
Allows the creation of active skills that rely primarily on mental stats rather than physical ones.
Percentage of Fighting Styles Known:
Basic Swordsmanship: 80%
Nathian Royal Army Style: 30%
Chavarian Royal Army Style: 50%
Pelican Guard Style: 50%
Please note that all previous experience you have with different fighting styles has been included.
….
The upgrades that Railius got for upgrading Calculated Swordsmanship to the expert rank were rather underwhelming.
He got an extra 10% damage with sword-type weapons compared to the adept level, bringing the damage bonus up to 50%; however, this was no different from the damage bonus that basic fighting skills or expert rank combatants would have.
He also gained the ability to study fighting styles in depth, which will help him make better calculations during combat, but otherwise, the skill was no different from before.
The only good thing was that, because it was a specialised skill that Railius himself created, his Calculated Swordmanship is not bound to level caps like other, more basic skills, which would become a major stumbling block for players to advance their combat skills above the expert rank.
This was why many soldiers, both player and NPC, despite decades of combat experience, never reached the master rank.
Considering the exemplary social status that masters of any profession have in Dynasties Online, it was not surprising that the game system would make it exceedingly hard to become one.
After all, having millions or hundreds of millions of master-level existences appearing within a few decades would completely break the balance of the game, especially when they were players.
As a result, it was exceedingly difficult to become a master at anything in Dynasties Online, especially as players, unlike NPCs, can quickly make any new character they play up to the same level as their old one.
This was an advantage that would not go away, and is why players, despite having a massive disadvantage in the early periods of the game, as the game goes on for longer start to gain a massive advantage the ability to have your descendants inherit the skills of their parents almost in their entirety in a short amount of time will become a key reason why player realms and kingdoms are so stable and powerful compared to their NPC counterparts.
NPCs may have genius or incompetent rulers, but a player who can inhabit their heir when they die ensures their nation will never have to suffer an incompetent ruler as long as the primary line is not broken.
Especially if the player was a grandmaster strategist or politician, as having either as the ruler of a player's nation will almost guarantee it will never go into decline, as every king will at some point inherit the skills of their ancestors.
At best, it will just take some time for their new character or king to level up their skills back to where they were in their previous character's prime, so only in the first few years after a new ruler has taken the throne will there be any possibility to have any kind of advantage even if it is only in stat points and damage bonuses.
This is the benefit of making players work hard for each skill upgrade, as they will likely remember all the pain and steps they went through to become a master or grandmaster, making it easier for them to gain that level again, especially if they were true grandmasters or masters who made their own skills or interpretation of a skill.
So, over time, they will outcompete their NPC counterparts, who will only be able to compete with players properly if they happen to be a genius.
But how many heaven-defying NPC geniuses like Ranier Lantier, Amulius Lunaris, Archtorius Shadowspire or the current crown prince of Nathia Kodjis Kendari can there be in the world?
And how many wouldn't already be sworn to one of the players, like Leon Mantalon was to Railius?
The answer was very simple.
Very few.
So few that it was not likely to matter much in the grand scheme of things.
A blaring horn took Railius out of his musing and, with a thought, closed the window that showed his Calculated Swordsmanship's skill information.
As it indicated that this particular bout of the second round was about to begin.
Weapons clanged, and men grunted, some in pain, some shouting to rally themselves and show their spirit to the world as a mass of 50 men began to fight each other for fame, fortune, and glory.
'What a bunch of morons.'
Railius sneered internally, not that he was in any position to mock them, as to the wider world, he was fighting for the same reason they were, even if, in the fallen noble's mind, he was only taking part in this poor imitation of a battle because he needed to improve his personal combat abilities and gain experience.
While keeping one eye on the idiots charging forward recklessly, Railius scanned the edge of the melee grounds for those who had more than one brain cell.
And out of 50 men, only 10 appeared to have a brain larger than an acorn.
Such a shame, but it did make things easier for him.
Over the next half an hour, whether it was because they were bored or because they had found a partner worth fighting, only Railius and one person remained uninvolved as Railius yawned.
He yawned because he was bored.
Dreadfully bored, even if watching other people bash each other's heads in was amusing over time, it just got repetitive.
'There was one good thing that came out of it, though.'
Railius, seeing a little blue system notification, thought.
[Congratulations to player Rising Pelican Of Loyalty, your understanding of the Nathian Royal Army fighting style has risen to 53%]
Watching all these fights and all the differing ways people won allowed Railius to slowly increase his understanding of the Nathian fighting style.
This was a new aspect of his skill that he had no experience with, but Railius imagined in the future, especially if he could raise Calculated Swordsmanship to the master rank, that this new aspect would become a key in improving his personal combat skill.
As it was then, when someone was a master, their fighting style truly starts to come into its own and show off its unique features more glaringly, though true masters will be able to see the signs even in a novice, not that many novices are lucky enough to have a specialised skill, as most get them at the intermediate level or higher.
Then the one remaining man who was not busy fighting casually began to walk towards him with his sword resting on his shoulder; however, unlike the other fighters, this one wore a gambeson with a noble house's colours and sigil emblazoned on it and not that of the royal family.
The gambeson was purple, and at its centre, it was emblazoned with a golden sword point facing downwards.
It meant that he was either a noble or the retainer of one; he could potentially be a man-at-arms, as the lords of Croxx had more than enough money to outfit their soldiers with such ostentatious gear.
"Tell me, do you sit on your ass out of caution or cowardice?"
The man asked as he approached Railius with interest.
"Cowards do not seek fame and fortune on the battlefield."
"They gain it by staying behind the scenes."
Railius replied coldly.
"How aloof."
The man jested with a smile.
"Your name?"
"Harmon Hestime, third son of a knight you wouldn't know."
Railius said that, as this was not privileged information, even if his true identity was, this name was, luckily, legitimate as far as the law was concerned, since neither the king nor the crown prince would give an identity that was not legitimate if they wanted him to be mostly above suspicion.
"Oh, the son of a knight, eh?"
"Landed or household?"
"Household."
Railius said succinctly before continuing, as he had never been much for small talk.
Not when he had work to do anyway, and doing his best in this melee counted as work.
"My father taught me my manners, how to read, write and how to fight with a sword."
"Not the best education, but it will serve me well enough."
Railius finished as a man was tackled to the ground before his attacker drew a dagger and pointed the tip at his throat, making him yield.
"Seems things are livening up."
Railius said in an upbeat tone as the man who yielded limped away, and his attacker took a deep breath, obviously trying to gain back some of the energy he had spent in the fight.
"And yet you still watch."
The man in a purple gambeson said, though with no hint of disrespect.
"So, do you. I never caught your name."
"Viscount Titus Palmyrion."
Railius' eyes widened in shock, he expected this man to be a man-at-arms or a household night not a Viscount.
Especially as he looked nearly as young as he was, and seeing Railius' shocked reaction and a single muttered apology, Viscount Titius sighed.
It was always like this.
There were many things Titus liked about his status as a landed noble, even if he was not a powerful one.
The money, power, and influence, but with that came a respect and distance from those perceived to be below his status.
They say it's lonely at the top, and Titus agreed with them, as there were far too few people outside of a few players that he trusted and had brought under his command, both in the virtual and real world, with whom he could talk as friends.
A grunt of pain made both young men turn their attention back to the ongoing competition, which over the course of their conversation had gone from 50 competitors to 10.
Now that the participants have been halved, the second-round matches took far less time to conclude than the first-round matches did.
"I think it's about time we get started."
Titus said as he put his sword into a guard position as he came to Railius' front, it was clear that he wanted to have an honourable duel, and Railius was happy to oblige him.
"As you wish, my lord."
Railius replied as he prepared himself for the battle to come, a battle that he didn't know if he could win, as a Viscount was likely to have training as good as his, so he would have less chance against him than others.
And the man's first swing, which used a fighting style that he had never seen before and was so fast that he almost lost to one blow aimed at his neck, only served to prove this conjecture.
The second blow was just as fast, and Railius even had to activate Combat Concentration for half a second to be able to block it.
It was then, not 2 seconds after the fight had started, that Railius knew that he was outmatched.
That he was going to lose.
It was perhaps the most frustrating part of his specialised skill, the part where he can see his defeat.
The battle continued as Railius did his best to defend himself, but the way that the Viscount fought seemed otherworldly.
Parry, dodge strike.
Railius seemed to go into a trance as he fought with everything he had. His mind was like a train as it tried its best to predict Titus' next move, but his moves never repeated.
The young landed noble was like a shooting star flying through the sky that you could barely keep up with.
Railius felt like he was fighting a master fighter, and considering that he was facing someone at the expert level, it only made him more thankful that he was on his side.
It also made it clear to Railius that this man had a specialised form of swordsmanship, just like he did.
"I never expected the son of a nameless household knight to have such a unique swordsmanship style."
Titus commented as the two entered into a brief sword bind before continuing his eyes now looking at Railius differently.
With much more caution than before.
It appeared that Titus did not expect a fight he would actually have to work at, as until now most of his opponents had been defeated within the first 10 seconds.
They did not hold on for nearly a minute as Railius did, but by the sweat and visible exhaustion on Railius' face, it was taking everything the young man had to stay in the fight.
"The world can be full of surprises."
Railius replied with a strained smile despite being completely dominated by his opponent he was happy that he could gain experience against talented nobles as not everyone he faces in the coming war will be common soldiers some will come from old and powerful families known for producing generals and for their martial talent as they pass down fighting styles and techniques that are even at the grandmaster level.
Railius knows this best, as the training manual of his own Pelican Guards can allow talented recruits to eventually become grandmasters, as it includes all of Leon's skills and insights that he had gained in his journey to becoming a grandmaster.
So if his noble house, which is very new without too much history despite the renown of its founder, has access to such resources, then these old noble families who have been around for hundreds if not thousands of years were likely to have access to something similar, with their foundations being far sturdier and stronger than House Aurellion's own.
"Unfortunately, the outcome of our duel will not."
Titus said his eyes hardened as he activated an active skill.
Titus' sword descended like a lightning bolt, clashing so hard with Railius' sword, which barely managed to block the strike aimed at his wrist, that the hidden fallen noble's sword flew out of his hand and clattered to the ground.
And with a speed and grace that Railius hardly caught, brought his blunted blade to Railius' throat.
"Do you yield?"
The young Viscount asked amicably, as he was impressed that his opponent could last so long and who showed himself to be an intelligent man who was worth getting to know.
Who knows, maybe they would work together in the future.
"I yield, well struck, my lord."
Railius replied absentmindedly as he walked out of the melee grounds, surprising Titus as his recent opponent seemed distracted by something, but the young Viscount quickly put it to the back of his mind as he waited for his next opponent, not able to think about it too deeply lest he get ambushed.
It was not surprising that in the end, Viscount Titus Palmyrion won Railius' match in the second round.
Nor was it surprising that he eventually became the Champion of the Melee the next day, though his fight with Jordis Mantalon, who also managed to make it to the final, was something that would be remembered for a long time to come.
But the peace and celebration did not last long.
Because on the 20th September 4009 ASA, the Chavarian vanguard reached the gates of Nartook Fortress.
The Siege of Nartook fortress had begun, and with it the first chapter of a legend was written.