Dokeshi March: Chapter 49 (Patreon)

Chapter 49

Grant placed second out of all the contestants, due to his table having the least number of exposed cheaters.  For some reason, that meant his win counted for more of their imaginary points than the others.  Grant was escorted from the gambling hall to a much better wing of the casino, where the seven winners from the different tables were all staying.

The manager of the casino had dropped off a large purse of Time, a finalist token, and escorted him personally to his new room.  He told Grant that the final game would be played in two days, and Grant was supposed to stay inside the casino the entire time.  Which he was perfectly okay with.  His rooms were large enough to train in without worrying about bumping into anything, and they would be bringing meals straight to his room.  Hopefully he could finally get some pancakes.

After getting settled, Grant immediately pulled out the spell book.  He was dying to see what the new spell could do.  What would ‘Apprentice Repair’ allow him to improve?  Could he disable an enemy’s armor in the middle of a battle?  Could he build a house from nothing but sticks and stones?  His brain was running with ideas.

<Why don’t you learn the spell and find out?>  Grant could only grin, and sat down at a table near the door to read.  He was absorbed by the words, and it took almost an hour for him to feel the knowledge settle into his brain.

Congratulations!  You have learned the Utility spell ‘Apprentice Repair.”  It can be used on everything from increasing an item’s durability, to lubricating hinges.  Experiment to find out more!

Grant was both happy and disappointed at the description.  He checked his full stat sheet to see if there was any further information.

Name: Grant Monday

Rank: Lord of The Month (January, February)

Class: Foundation Cultivator

Cultivation Achievement Level: 20

Cultivation Stage: Late Summer

Inherent Abilities: Swirling Seasons Cultivation

Health: 449/449

Mana: 23/23

Physical: 266

Mental: 92

Armor Proficiency: 141

Weapon Proficiency: 174

Late Spring Medium Ornate Banded Mail armor. Full set: Head, Torso, Legs.

Total Physical Damage Decrease per set item (Includes Cultivation bonus): 61

Total Magical Damage Decrease per set item (Includes Cultivation bonus): 61

February Twenty Nine (Considered as a Late Spring Medium weapon due to Weapon/Armor synergy)

Total Damage increase: 73. (Base weapon increase: 14. Weapon Cultivation increase: 59.)

Critical hit maximum damage: 110

Weapon Inherent abilities:

1) Weapon Absorption: This sword has the ability to absorb another Wielded Weapon’s power, taking its ability into itself. Restriction: Only one weapon per Monthly series.

2) Weapon/Armor Synergy: When the Wielder is equipped with armor, this sword increases in potency and gains power. Increase is capped at the Welder's cultivation stage, or average armor stage, whichever is lower. February 29 is currently considered a Mid Spring Light’ sword. Current maximum damage is: 73 (59 from weapon cultivation, 14 from base weapon weapon stage damage, rounded up.) Damage type is ‘piercing’, ‘slashing’, or ‘blunt’ depending on how February 29 is used.

3) Time is Space: you now have access to any of the powers of February Twenty Nine, no matter where the Weapon is. You may also call your Weapon to you so long as you touch upon a place in the world where it once was while bound to you. Cost: 25% of mana pool.

4) Locked

Weapon Absorbed abilities:

1) Sword Grandmastery: Imbue your weapon with a Sword Spirit that creates a model that allows for enhanced physical, mental, and weapon cultivation. Restriction: the training plan must be followed, else the ability locks for 24 hours. There is only one warning given per day.

2) Live by the Sword: Pause and meditate on the failures of your combat ability, healing up to 40% of all damage taken within the last 10 minutes, over one full minute. This ability will increase with physical cultivation.

3) Double Tap: After four consecutive hits on the same target, the fifth attack will be perfectly duplicated by an intangible copy of the Wielded Weapon.  Damage is unblockable by all forms and types of armor, and is randomized between slashing, piercing, and blunt types.  Certain spell effects can potentially mitigate damage.

Skills:

Plant Insight(1/5) Skill tier 1: It is 10% easier to spot plants with medicinal effects within a ten-yard radius.

Kenjutsu (2/10) Skill tier 1: All damage dealt when wielding a sword is increased by 10%.

Skill tier 2: your sword will never betray you. When a sword is wielded by you, the blade will always land exactly where you intend.

Iaijutsu (2/5) Skill tier 1: When prepared to attack, sword instantly leaves a sheath and slashes or penetrates target, increasing on-hit damage by 10%.

Skill tier 2: Perfect Aim. If you can use any sense to see something coming for you, your sword will be there.

Reflective Skin (1/10) Knowing your enemy is half the battle, and you’ve found a way to make it harder for other people to understand you! As this skill is self-created, it will increase significantly faster than other skills.

Lightning attunement (1/10) Skill tier 1: Increases damage of all lightning-attuned spells by 10%.

Bodily awareness (1/3) Your mind has learned what is real, and what is not. Now you will always know for sure. Skill tier 1: the pain of all real damage taken is increased by 10%.

Spells:

Elemental Spell: Thundering Step

Prerequisites: 65 Mind. Two feet. Metal weapon.

Active Mode: Create a static field in a five foot radius around you that damages others when they move through the area. Does not move from the point it was set. Lasts five seconds.

Mana cost: 10 per use.

Damage(Self): 0% Mental cultivation.

Damage(Other): 100% Mental cultivation per second.

Training Mode: Increase movement speed by 50% while out of combat. Combat is defined as not dealing or taking damage from an opponent for five seconds.

Mana cost: 10% per second. Mana regen halted while active.

Utility Spell: Apprentice Repair

Prerequisites: 80 Mind. Two hands. The ability to see or sense the targeted object.

Active Mode: Improve, combine, or repair the object or objects targeted by the spell.  More complicated items require a higher-tier spell.

Mana cost: 7 per use.

Training Mode: If used when disassembling, reassembling, or cleaning an item, 50% chance of the user gaining a deeper understanding of how an item works.

Mana cost: 7 per use.

Well, that was a little better at least.  He would have to experiment to see if he could use it when fighting, but for now he could at least patch up the few spots his armor was starting to show some wear and tear.

After learning the spell, Grant decided to do some training with Sarge.  The sword spirit had him focus on feints and counters, as well as using Time is Space to swap his sword from one hand to another in order to surprise his imaginary opponents.

<I think this new trick will come in handy.>  Grant started to smile with pride, before Sarge brought his head out of the clouds.  <Instead of you just using the skill at random, now you can start to think about using it tactically.>

“Yeah, I have been kind of random with it.”  Grant got undressed so he could take a bath before his dinner arrived.  Climbing into the tub, he felt muscles he didn’t even know were tense starting to relax.  He lost track of time, and didn’t climb out of the tub until after the water started to get cold.  Then, he spent the next hour going over his armor, using his new spell to repair any dents and dings.  And a few outright holes.

“I think the best thing about this new spell is that it doesn’t just repair items, it also cleans them a little more every time you use it.”  He sniffed the leather vambraces that had started to smell a little ripe, and was happy to see that now they didn’t smell like anything at all.  “It would have really come in handy when I was doing all that sweating in February.”  He even found a better place to put his chess piece, using a dent on his backplate to hold it against the small of his back.  After finishing with his repairs, he left the bathroom to see if room service had left him any food.

<I think they might have forgotten to bring you a meal.>  Grant made sure to check the other rooms, but he didn’t find anything.  <Looks like you are going to have to go find someone to remind them.>

“I better get dressed.  I don’t want someone to see me by myself and think it would be easy to capture me.”  As Grant was going through the arduous process of strapping his armor back on by himself, he suddenly stood up straight.  “Sarge, where is Suki?”

<Abyss!  I haven’t seen her since they picked you up and carried you to the winner’s circle.  She was in the crowd watching you the last time I caught a glimpse through your eyes.>

“I need to find her.”  Grant strapped on his Uchigatana, grabbed all of his stuff, and headed for the door.  “She should have made it here by now, no matter who was standing in her way.”

<I have to agree with you.  There isn’t many things that would keep her from helping us bring down the Dokeshi.>

As Grant opened the door, he was surprised to see the shocked face of Beans with a fist raised to knock on his door.  Grant immediately took a half-step back and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to use Iaijutsu to remove the head of the Vassal the moment he activated the turn system.  At this range, there was no way he could miss.

“Oh my, did I come at a bad time?”  Beans obviously knew that he was within Grant’s reach, but he was oddly confident.  “I just came by to see if you had lost something recently.”  He put a finger to the lips of his mask.  “Or, should I say, you lost someone.

<Well, it looks like we know what happened to her.  The true horror of the universe.  Clowns.>