As they were walking down the streets again Eldrian tried to call up a list of his training. After trying and failing a few times he finally succeeded when he called, ‘Weapon Proficiencies’

‘They really should update this system soon. It is so hard to use.’ Eldrian complained in his heart as he looked over the results of his training.

[Weapons Proficiencies]

One-handed swords style; Rank 0

Level 2 [24/40]

-Empty off hand:

Rank 0 – Level 1 [16/20]

-Small shield in off hand:

Rank 0 – Level 1 [18/20]

Duel Wielding style; Rank 0

Level 2 [24/40]

-One-handed sword and dagger:

Rank 0 – Level 2 [24/40]

Two-handed swords style; Rank 0

Level 2 [7/40]

-Greatsword:

Rank 0 – Level 1 [2/20]

-Longsword:

Rank 0 – Level 1 [15/20]

Dagger style; Rank 0:

<Special case, only vital attacks increase level>

Level 1 [15/20]

-Main hand dagger:

Rank 0 – Level 1 [5/20]

-Dual Dagger:

Rank 0 – Level 1 [0/20]

Polearm style; Rank 0

Level 3 [41/80]

-Spear:

Rank 0 – Level 2 [25/40]

-Double-headed spear:

Rank 0 – Level 2 [12/40]

-Poleaxe:

Rank 0 – Level 1 [4/20]

Axe style; Rank 0

Level 2 [13/40]

-One-handed axe:

Rank 0 – Level 1 [17/20]

-Two-handed axe:

Rank 0 – Level 1 [6/20]

Hammer style; Rank 0

Level 1 [4/20]

-One-handed warhammer:

Rank 0 – Level 1 [4/20]

Bow style; rank 0 – Level 1 [6/20]

<Attacks must land from a certain distance, determined by rank level>

-Short Bow:

Rank 0 – Level 1 [6/20]

‘Holy moly! Does every weapon have a proficiency?’ Eldrian exclaimed internally when he saw the list, but soon he calmed down and took note of the grouping, ‘No, it seems like every weapon is given an umbrella under which it falls, since I practiced with a few more variations of swords.’

‘It also seems that just attacking correctly isn’t the only factor. I wonder why my proficiency gain is so little. In the start I did almost a hundred attacks each time.’ Confused, Eldrian started pondering again.

Still, in a daze, Eldrian was finally brought out of it when Old Sword decided to say something.

“I am not sure why you are so deep in thought, but leave that for later. We are here, so let’s go surprise my wife.” Old Sword said as he started walking towards a modest house.

The house was pleasing to the eye, but not something magnificent or majestic. It looked like any other, except for the well-tended rose garden on the left side and the chaotic training field on the right.

The house occupied a larger plot of land than those nearby, almost as if two plots were part of this one. Eldrian took note of this because the training side really took up the extra space. At the far right, almost against the yards’ fence, was a number of straw training dummies. Some of them even had plate or mail armor thrown over them.

On the far end of the yard were target dummies with a solid wood cage behind them. Eldrian was bewildered by the contrast the training side and the garden side gave this house.

The house itself wasn’t anything special, just another two-story stone house, with wooden windows. A path led to the front door, constructed out of a reddish stone. Old Sword was walking on this path. Eldrian followed his example.

By now the sun had set and the last rays of lights were slowly dying out. As Eldrian entered the house after Old Sword he was shocked at how dark it was inside.

Confused Eldrian looked around. As he looked, he saw that the house, or rather the guest room they were in, was only lit by two candles on opposite sides of the room. This room had two doors, other than the one they used, by which you could access the rest of the house.

While Eldrian was still looking around the room he heard one of the other doors open. Turning towards the sound he saw a gentle, friendly-looking lady. She looked to be in her thirties.

The lady turned to him surprise clear in her eyes.

“I heard someone coming home, but I never expected that you would bring a guest. And he is a guy at that. Dear, have you finally decided that Vivian should start courting?” The lady asked, hope seeming to surface in her eyes.

“Ah, no definitely not! How can I let anyone court Vivian? She is my Valkyrie and anyone who wants to win her heart will have to go through me first.” Old Sword declared aggressively.

“Then why did you bring a young man to our house?” Questioned the lady as she turned to look at Eldrian.

“He is the newest recruit I took on. A Chosen if you believe what the priests say. Certainly, he is diligent, so I decided to offer him a room until he finishes the challenge I gave him.”

“And what should I call him?” When the lady asked this Eldrian felt as if the room was becoming cold.

“He, well he, is, Haru.” Old Sword answered, stuttering as he tried to recall Eldrian’s name.

“Oh, how impressive. You even remembered his name. Are you sure you didn’t bring him to court Vivian? I can’t remember the last time you remembered a recruit’s name.” As the lady said this the temperature seemed to drop even more.

“No, certainly not. Well maybe later if he proves he is worth it.” As Old Sword said this Eldrian started complaining internally. ‘I didn’t ask to be involved in this. Just say no, Old Sword. You can’t just say I will court someone I don’t know.’

At this time the lady turned to Eldrian and ignored the conflicted Old Sword, to himself.

“My name is Diane, nice to meet you Haru. Come let me show you around. Dear, you should go and fetch Vivian. She hasn’t come back yet, which means she is too absorbed in her training to notice that it is dark.” The lady, Diane said as she walked back through the door she entered from.

Eldrian followed Diane as she showed him around the house. Their final stop was the kitchen.

“Haru, would you mind helping me prepare dinner?” She asked as Eldrian was looking around the room.

The kitchen was very strange to Eldrian. In the middle of the room was a big table, seeming to prepare food on. Under this table, vegetables were stored in woven baskets. On the wall, opposite the side they entered from, there was a long low-hung shelf/table. On this were some meat and freshly baked loaves of bread, the smell of which made Eldrian salivate. The meat seemed to have been smoked as Eldrian couldn’t see any blood typical with raw meats.

At Eldrian’s left side was a door leading somewhere, and next to that door were stacks of wood, presumably for making fire. Looking to the right Eldrian saw a fireplace or stove. Eldrian had never seen such a setup before. The fireplace was like modern ones, with metals at the side and a door at the front. What made this fireplace weird was the fact that the top was removed. Eldrian had no idea why the top wouldn’t be fixed to the rest of the fireplace.

“Miss Diane, I will try to help. But I feel I should warn you that my cooking skills leave something to be desired.” Eldrian answered after taking in the room.

“That is no problem. Would you mind helping me prepare the ingredients, like chopping up some carrots, then peeling…”

Eldrian followed her instructions, doing basic stuff to help a bit.

‘This way, at least it feels like I contributed for staying here.’ He thought as he chopped, peeled, cut, and grated what needed to be chopped, peeled, cut, and grated.

After 10 minutes Eldrian finally finished with all the stuff Diane asked him to do. Mentally tired he leaned against a wall looking at how she was now cooking.

The stove/fireplace worked very well. Previously Eldrian didn’t take a very good look but now he could. Right behind the fireplace was a window that Diane had opened. She had left the top off, and placed a pot over the fire. Surprisingly the smoke didn’t spread into the room but just flew out of the window.

She seemed to be making a stew for dinner.

…

Eldrian was amazed, and a bit irritated about how much time and effort cooking took. It was just like in real life. No game interface or options. ‘Seems like buying food is going to be one of my major expenses’ Eldrian thought to himself. The food was smelling good, but Diane said it wasn’t ready yet. It has been thirty minutes.

The fact that there was no game option to just finish the meal scared Eldrian a bit. Since this was common wouldn’t it mean that all side occupations like fishing, gathering, blacksmithing, and apothecary would also be this time-consuming and in-depth?