MagnusGrey
patreon
[Skill-Eater] Chapter 109: Trapper
🕑 Added 2024-09-24 17:01:01 +0000 UTCEdge made it to Trapper’s right on time, thrilled by how well the last few days had gone. He had made significant progress with his skills, cycle, conditioning, and credits. He was eager to complete his training and head into the field on his first big game hunt.
He was also curious to learn what the veteran hunter was going to teach him, and to find out what she’d been up to over the last two days. He found the crew’s leader waiting on the front porch, trying to soothe an irate Blue.
“I’m sorry girl, but I said no, and I meant it. You need to stay out front today. It isn’t safe for you to join us in the yard.” She handed the grumbling dino a giant piece of fruit as an apology and then motioned for him to follow her.
Trapper walked with Edge around to the back of the lodge, toward the large field where he had spent the day working with Blue. When he rounded the corner of the building, he caught sight of someone who he hadn’t expected to run into.
Ann was sitting on a bale of hay with her nose buried in a book. Today, she was wearing a broad straw sunhat and a bright yellow dress. When she heard them coming, she dog-eared the page to mark her place, hopped to the ground, and waved.
“Hello, Ann. It’s good to see you. What are you doing here? It’s rare to find you away from your store at this time of day.”
“Edge, always a pleasure. I have one of my employees minding the register. I’ll let Trapper explain the rest.”
“I invited Ann to assist with your training. I figured that you wouldn’t want to show everything that you can do in plain sight of anyone who walks by. Most people prefer to keep part of their skillset to themselves, and Sasha mentioned that Warren has been giving you trouble.”
“That’s fine, and I appreciate the consideration. I trust Ann, but how can she help? I didn’t know that she had a detection or reconnaissance skill.”
“I don’t.” Ann shrugged. “But what I can do... is this.” With that, she ignited her core. Mana came surging out of her body in a growing hemisphere as she cast privacy bubble. When the skill-summoned dome crossed where Edge was standing, all sound from the outside abruptly cut off.
He expected the bubble to stop spreading after ten feet, but it kept right on growing. Soon it was twenty feet in diameter, then fifty. It eventually came to a stop well over a hundred feet across, at which point the entire yard was shielded by her sensory-blocking magic.
Ann laughed when she saw his jaw drop. “You didn’t think that my skills were only good for interacting with customers, did you? I wouldn’t slot anything that didn’t have other uses too. Ord is too dangerous to specialize purely in commerce, unless you belong to one of the factions at any rate.”
Trapper motioned for Edge to join her on the green. “Now that we have the place sealed from prying eyes, let’s get this show on the road. We have a long day ahead of us, and far less time to train you than I would like.”
He followed the lithe hunter through the gate, wondering what all this was about. The instant that he stepped onto the grass, he felt something shift beneath his feet. Accompanied by the creak of a rope drawing taut, an object rose from the ground, which had been concealed by a layer of straw.
Ah, hell. He knew in that instant that he had stepped into one of Trapper’s devices, and that the day’s training had already started.
The old Edge would have been caught in that moment, unable to sense the danger or react fast enough to the evolving situation. But thanks to the rapid progress he had undergone over the last week, the new Edge was far quicker and more perceptive than that.
He sprang to one side, just in time to jump over a rope that went sliding across the ground, preventing the trap from sweeping his feet out from under him. A move that placed him squarely in the path of the net that Trapper had thrown the instant that she knew where he was going to land.
He yelled and threw up his hands, but he wasn’t able to adjust his trajectory in midair. Edge couldn’t do anything other than activate shadow step, which he wasn’t willing to do just yet. When his feet came down, the net spread over him and drew tight, leaving him stuck inside.
He pretended not to hear Ann’s snort of amusement as Trapper walked over to help him out. She tried not to grin at his flushed face, then asked, “Tell me, Edge. What was the point of that exercise?”
He gave it some thought before offering a reply, realizing that the experience had been informative as well as embarrassing.
“Traps aren’t only about luring prey into a device. They can also be used to capture their attention and control their behavior. The real trap wasn’t getting caught by that rope. After springing it, my reaction was far too predictable, making it simple to hit me with a ranged attack. That net could have just as easily been a spell or an arrow.”
Both Ann and Trapper looked impressed by this reasoning. “Very good. An important lesson, and one better leaned through demonstration than words. But that wasn’t the reason why we’re meeting out here today. The real goal of our training is something that you need to experience if you want to survive in the wild. Combat against predators of your own kind.”
While she talked, Trapper walked out to the middle of the yard. She came to a stop where several bales of hay had been arranged in a line. “It’s not just monsters and beasts out there. People will hunt you too. Jailbirds, manslayers, even other tourists will try to kill you on occasion. You need to be ready when it happens, or you’ll be dead before you even know what hit you.
“Fighting for your life against a thinking, skill-using opponent is something else entirely from battling a beast. Tactics, misdirection, deception. You need to know what it’s like to go head-to-head against another core-wielder, using the full range of your powers against theirs.” Trapper reached down to pick up a crossbow, which was resting on a haybale. Thankfully, it was the normal variety, instead of the massive magtech weapon she took into the field.
“Every fight between cored individuals will be different. Your competing skillsets will offer distinct advantages, weaknesses, and opportunities to win or lose the fight in the blink of an eye. You need to be able to analyze in an instant, act without hesitation, and pick the right skill at the right time, combined with traditional attacks and defenses.
“So today, Edge, we’re going at it. You against me, in a worst-case scenario, where your opponent has the home field advantage. Don’t worry about hurting me. If you manage to set up a lethal blow, I’ll counter your skill with Disruption. And I’m tough enough that a hit from that polearm won’t take me down.”
With that, Trapper loaded her crossbow. “Since you have regeneration, I won’t hold back from anything that isn’t a killing strike. I apologize ahead of time, but this is going to hurt.”
At that point, she lowered her sights and fired, and Edge knew that his next lesson had begun.
