Arcanum - Chapter 113

Chapter 113






"So Helen you're up next I suppose . " Ashley invited her into the arena .

"Umm Mr Ashley is there any advice you can give me . . ? . . . " Helen hesitantly asked .

"Well he's still young when it comes to artificing . . . . currently he focuses on potions . . . that means you wouldn't need to worry about golems, gadgets and gizmos . " Ashley explained .

"Potions??? . . . . " Helen asked .

"Yes alchemy although different to artificing is the first step in the study of artificing . . . . it's the most basic method of imbuing properties into things and the meticulous understanding of what produces certain properties . " Ashley explained .

"What sort of potions should I expect to come across??? . . " Helen asked .

"Well from what I discovered is he doesnt normally engage in close combat but his knowledge in potions are vast . . . he also very intelligent in his recorded duels he has shown ample ability in countering and negating his targets offensive capabilities . . . being a alchemists there is no way he can produce potions on the fly . . . . . So most probably he has researched you and have the correct potions to counter you . " Ashley explained .

"So what advise can you give me to beat him??? . . . . " Helen asked looking and sounding more worried .

"So from my opinion you have two options . . . . do the unexpected . . . or blow past his stock of potions thus leaving him defenceless . . . " Ashley advised .

"So don't use druidic spells?? . . . . " Helen asked .

"Well . . . . as you may know druids are also known to use normal spells as well . . . so he's probably anticipating that as well . " Ashley replied .

"So what should I do then?? . . . " Helen asked .

"Well I'd suggest you to fight him in close combat with a weapon . . . . . He hasn't shown to be adept with a weapon so . . . how good are you with a weapon??? . . . . close combat fighting?? . . . . That's would defiantly surprise him . " Ashley smiled .

"Do casters often forgo close combat training??? . . . " I whispered to Jay .

"Yes . . . . . We casters normally focus on spells over relying on close combat . " Ashley replied

"Ohhh I see . . . . " I nodded in understanding .





"Ummmm I don't excel in close combat . . . . . But I have received said training in an elven long sword . . . " Helen answered .

"We have a couple of those spare right?? . . . " Ashley asked Scarlet .

"Yeah we do . " Scarlet smiled quickly walking to the sword displays picking up a sword and walking back with a very elegant sword, it had a slightly curved edge with the brown leather handle curving the opposite direction . The wrist guard was almost non-existent compared to normal swords and my daggers . On the base of the blade and the bottom of the handle brandished a symbol of some sort .

"Wow!!! A Blade from house Lylith . . . . " Grace said in awe looking in shock at the blade .

"What's Lylith? . . " I asked .

"It's a special Elven house that breed the best Elven swordsman . . . . their swords are crafted from a secret blend of mithril and adamantium . Their blades are almost unbreakable second to Scarlets unique sword . . . and as light as a feather" Grace explained to me .


"Would this sword be adequate? . . " Ashley asked as Scarlet handed her the sword .

"Ohhh no . . . . I can't . . . . . I'm not allowed to wield a blade like that . . . " Helen refused politely .

"I mean . . . . . A lot of the weapons we have here on display are gifts from friends and family . . . " Ashley replied .

"Don't worry about it . . . . it's only us in this place . . . " Scarlet smiled .

"I . . . can't . . . . . Only a swordsman of Lylith may wield such a blade . . . . " She insisted .

"Okay Okay . . . . I deem you worthy . " Scarlet said holding it out to her .

"No . . . . I can't really . . !" Helen insisted .

"Okay okay Scarlet fetch us a . . . . . " Ashley asked pondering .

"I'll get a Mithril long sword . . . they are different in shape but at least comparable in weight . " Scarlet said walking back to the weapon stands .





"So so sorry . . . . . " Helen apologized profusely .

"No No . . . . it's our fault . . . . sorry we don't stock ordinary weapons here . " Ashley apologized feeling bad that she feels the need to apologize .

"Okay try this . . . . " Scarlet said handing the sword to her .

"Okay . . . sorry again . " She apologized accepting the sword from scarlet .

"Don't worry about it, Do your best!" Scarlet smiled and exited the arena .

"Okay . . . . so you're gonna take out advise and do the unexpected? . . " Jay asked .

"Well so far all your advice hasn't led us astray . " Helen smiled as she tied the blade to her hip .

"Well when you're ready then . " Ashley said with a giant smile on his face .

"Okay!" Helen said nodding to herself .

"Okay!" Ashley replied waving in the Artificer hologram . The hologram walked into the arena standing opposite to Helen .

"You got this Helen!!!" We all yelled as she stood there looking nervous her sword already drawn nodding up and down .

"Wow she's really gonna try fighting without spells . . . " Jay whispered surprised at Helens decision .

"Don't worry . . . . . She's had some training with swords and other weapons . " Grace said confident with Helens skill .

"Ready? . . . " Ashely asked smiling .

"Let's go!" Helen yelled looking pumped .

"Begin countdown!" Ashely yelled .





The moment the countdown hit zero Helen went morphed into a wolf rapidly closing the distance between the hologram, before the hologram could even react Helen pounced on it knocking it down to the floor . Morphing out of her wolf form without warning stabbed her sword down into the holograms shoulder .

The hologram began thrashing as Helen pulled out the sword for another strike, with a loud pop purple smog began spraying out the holograms hip expanding rapidly creating a dense thick fog making it impossible see inside .

Helen came out coughing quickly falling to her knees heaving . The hologram walked out totally unaffected by the fog . It confidently walked slowly towards Helen pulling out a small dagger and cloth rubbing the blade in the cloth . Lifting Helen up by the hair it pulled its dagger back ready to stab her .

Grace quickly drew her bow ready to fire at it, when suddenly Helen morphed into a huge grizzly bear knocking the hologram to the ground . Without giving it a second to recover Helen savagely mauled its arms and legs and went for a huge bite on the shoulder . Grace lowered her bow noticing that Helen was okay .

" . . . So she can morph into an animal to make her better in close combat??? . . . " I asked analysing the duel .

"Seems like it . . . " Jay answered .

"That's so cool!!!! What else can she transform into? . . " I asked curiously imagining what It'd be if I could morph into animals .

"Not sure . . . . I'm sure Grace would know . . . . but there has been myths of some individuals shifting into a dragon . " Jay answered .

"No way!" I gasped looking at him in shock .

"Well it's only a myth . . . but apparently it's possible . . . " he replied .

"Hey grace what sort of things can Helen transform into? . . " I asked .

"I've only seen her transform into animals . " Grace answered still fixated on the fight .

Helen quickly dispatched her opponent savagely attacking the hologram, unable to withstand the raw strength of a grizzly bear . "Anddddd that's a wrap . " Ashley clapped smiling .

"Well done!" Scarlet congratulated her .

"So it looks like each of you are formidable students despite being freshman, which is amazing . " Ashley smiled issuing us all to come in together .

"Yup you all are quite impressive . " Scarlet smiled .

"Thanks for the sword . " Helen said returning it to Ashley .

"No problem, but to be honest you didn't really need it . " Ashley replied taking it off her .

"Sorry . . . . . I didn't mention I could animal shape . " Helen replied .

"No no . . . . it's a great skill!" Ashley smiled .

"So as you can see . . . . . The hologram had one strong counter for Helen . . . . . Its poison cloud obscured Helen's vision as well as choke her stopping her from casting spells . If it was able to set up on her, it would have been over before it even started, but Helen's unrelenting offense forced it to dispense its poison cloud defensively . " Ashley explained .

"Yes . . . . your ability to animal shape really surprised the hologram . " Scarlet agreed .

"Are animal shapeshifters rare? . . " I asked Helen .

"The ability to shape shift is common among druids . . . . . But there is a chance that the shifter won't be able to shift back and remain as an animal forever . . . . . So it's not really practiced . " Helen answered .

"Aren't you afraid of the risks? . . . " I asked Helen quietly .

"Not really . . . my family are renowned shifters . . . . . So it kind of runs in the family . " She smiled .

"You know . . . . I would have loved to learn to animal shift . . . . but after you mentioned the chance of never being able to shift back . . . I think I'll pass . " I chuckled .

"Yeah . . . . that's why shifters are rather rare . . " Helen smiled .

"So now you'll have had a taste of your opponents, Ashley and I are extremely confident you guys will have a good duel . " Scarlet smiled speaking to everyone .

"Ummm . . . . can we still train with you in the mornings? . . " Helen hesitantly asked .

"Of course . . . . meet me here the same time every morning . . . . we'll get some training done . " Scarlet smiled .

"Yes . . . . if you all need I can also tweak the holograms to make the more difficult if you all want a challenge . " Ashley added .

"So . . . . as always we have some spare time of resting before you guys need to head off to class . " Scarlet smiled .

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