Gong! A bell rings out through the hollow. Old Rick stop swinging.
"Good work, rookie! Go get some lunch, and we'll train some more after!" He heads toward the stairs.
I sit on the cavern floor and catch my breath. I understand and agree that the guild should want to train adventurers who come back with their shield instead of on it, but isn't this over the top?
After buying some grilled meat skewers and completing my midday prayers, I return to the training cavern. Old Rick is already there, stretching.
"Took ya long enough!" He gestures toward a rack of training weapons. "Take a weapon!"
"I don't understand. Aren't we training unarmed?"
"Are you planning to stop swords with your hands, rookie?! Take a weapon!"
Old Rick gave me a crash course in defensive maneuvers with common weapons. His philosophy is to use a weapon to tie up the opponent's weapon, then close the distance. This makes "those fancy bits of metal" useless, with the exception of daggers.
[ Skill acquired: Improvised Weapon level 1 ]
"This should be enough for you to get started. There's plenty more to learn, but all things in moderation."
"Thank you, Instructor Eric." I'm grateful for the training, but more so relieved.
"Don't be so formal! I'm Old Rick. Now, one more thing. Unarmed combines really well with certain other skills. For example:" Old Rick's arms grow thick and harden. "This is geomancy. Any geomancer can cast earth spells, but when I mix it into my unarmed skill, I can protect my body with stone. You should try using that holy skill of yours together with your unarmed attacks. It won't come right away, but if you're putting them both to good use, you'll get it sooner or later."
"Thank you, Old Rick."
"Class dismissed! Come back when you've killed a hundred goblins! Don't fight anything bigger than you, you've still got a lot to learn!"