[Ding!]
[The system is currently undergoing a software update]
[Completion rate: 99%]
....
'What? This probably occurred whilst I slept...'
Baldur had just woken up, the blue screen of the system greeting him before he sent it away.
'I wonder when it's going to finish, meh, rather not stress too much about it.' He stretched lazily across the bed before groaning and getting up, his eyes still adjusting to the bright light that slipped through the window.
After washing up and changing, Baldur headed out of the inn, he decided to go with a light breakfast, some bread and a mug of milk to wash it down.
His slightly loose leather armor from before was now fitting him perfectly, his training from the past few days had yielded gains for him.
It made him in a particularly happy mood, getting leaner meant more strength which could translate to an increase in stamina in the long run.
[Ding!]
[System software update complete, all panels ready to view]
[Please brace as you receive the relevant information about the update.]
"Finally," He muttered as he swallowed bit of bread he was chewing, "let's take a look then".
[Skills Page]
[Swordsmanship: 16 (360/800)
Axemanship: 4 (22/100)
Archery: 12 (0/400)
Battle instinct: 1 (0/100)
[NEW SKILL: Senses: 8 (48/200)
Athletics: 22 (137/1200)
Boxing: 9 (53/200)
Acting: 13 (232/400)
Speech: 11 (45/400)]
'Your telling me this system can send information to my brain but can't make it painless?' Baldur thought to himself as he took numerous deep breaths, the air cold morning air making it visible.
The system had went through a whole qualitative update. New features were included now, only the skills section was affected unfortunately.
The addition brought many things such as the XP counter and the knowledge that was transferred to his brain.
As we all know, the skills come in levels, from level 1 to level 25 but the difference between every 5 level-ups became more pronounced as the skill level went up.
A person with level 4 swordsmanship would be bested by a person with level 5 swordsmanship, so on with level 14 and 15.
Only after 5 levels would the effects of the skill increase, for example, a level 23 and level 24 would have no difference in pure skill other than the one is level 24.
Obviously this was not how skills actually worked in real life, for other people. This feature was exclusively for Baldur who owned the system. In other words, the reason why the difference was so apparent was to separate the novices from the apprentices, the apprentices from the adepts etc.
Baldur was an adept in swordsmanship according to the system, if he were to showcase his swordsmanship to an evaluator, they would classify him as an expert level in the real world, where no one had a system except him.
This was the true power of the system, it might not be as pronounced in the early stages but once he reached master status in any of his skills, perhaps 'mere mortals' would never match him, ever.
The absence of a few skills was also a calculated move, 'whoever gave the system an update clearly didn't see these skills as valuable enough to be recorded.
Skills that weren't considered valuable were not recorded so they would progress normally, no 'i can fight 5 levels above my current rank' for those.
The new skill, 'senses' was an unexpected but unwelcome gain.
'I'm sure this governs perception and the ability to notice things, maybe even future sight or danger sense one the level increases?'
As to why the system did not log it earlier? Who knows...
(A/N: I forgot lol)
Baldur, who had been sitting on a stone palisade for the past few minutes finally got up and looked at the area around him.
It was a similar sight to what the marketplace of Whiterun was in the game, if only a whole lot larger.
Belethor's shop and Arcadia's cauldron are still the predominant shops in the area. The rest seem to be smaller and less known.
You also had the stalls that popped up very day, Whiterun had all the same people from in-game but now it had new, almost better alternatives.
'I need a source of money.. A permanent one if I have a choice.' Baldur, now walking about the market, thought to himself.
The object that was money was weighing heavily on his mind. He did quite well for himself in his past life but it was not always so, he grew up poor and now that he felt like he was back in that old place, money became a small obsession of his.
The obvious choice was The Companions, he could work with them certain days a week and approach Arcadia to be her assistant on the others.
Or, he could become a hunter and make the Drunken Huntsman sponsor him, then he'd have a quota and once that was fulfilled, he'd work part time with Arcadia.
He could also become a soldier. Everyone knew about the civil war happening in Skyrim, it's been a few years since it first started and both sides wanted soldiers the same as they did when they started out.
.....
'Fuck it, Companions it is.'
Baldur eventually decided on The Companions purely for the amount of freedom they gave out and for the residence they provided, sure you'd have to share a room with 11 other people but it was better than squatting.
He also valued the freedom they gave out. He had wanted to approach Arcadia to check if she needed an assistant of any kind purely so she could pay him by teaching him alchemy, if Baldur convinced her.
Alchemy was a powerful tool to be used, it could also prove a deadly weapon.
Baldur could imagine whipping out a alchemy table from his inventory in the middle of a war-zone to craft some deadly poison and the likes, the thought almost made him smile.
Making up his mind, he turned to look at the Gildergreen, 'It's still growing strong, even if the leaves are browning and priests of Mara have been doing rituals for it or whatever.'
Eventually, he got up to the small area that housed the massive tree, a few stone benches placed around it's trunk.
To his left was the Wind district, where majority of the wealthy merchants, rich adventurers and nobles lived. It also housed the temple of Mara, the healers there were unlike any other in Skyrim.
To his right was the big mead hall known as Jorrvaskr was situated. The grounds of the property were also quite big, Baldur was sure the back of the building housed a training and recreational area much bigger than the in-game version.
The building itself was huge, the roof seemed to be an overturned and over sized boat that was fitted on and probably reinforced.
'To think that Whiterun was built around this and the skyforge,' he gave a look at the Skyforge from the steps leading to Jorrvaskr.
He couldn't see Eourlund Greymane working the forge but he could certainly hear it.
He also noticed the massive stone eagle statue that was situated on top of the forge, it was a sight to behold for Baldur, he had never seen anything like it in person.
Taking a breath, he walked up the stairs, one at a time. each one of them further solidifying him and the the potential he would have to show if he wanted to make a good living here.
Walking through the front door, he was greeted by majority of the circle members and a few normal companions that sat at the long table just a few feet away from him.
The circle, hearing his footsteps, all turned back before Aela and Farkas broke out into smiles.
"Baldur! How nice of you to drop by, come, come, take a seat!"
Farkas, happy to see his new friend drop by, woke up and ushered to an empty seat at the table, the rest of them gazing in confusion and Vilkas, Farkas' brother, narrowed his eyes in suspicion before looking at Kodlak then back at Farkas and Baldur.
"Farkas, mind introducing your friend here?"
"Mhm? Oh, right.." Farkas mumbled "This here is the lad that helped us with the Giant! Remember Aella and Ria telling all of you about it?
"Is that so? Well, what do you need, friend of The Companions?" The harbringer, Kodlak said after noticing Vilkas about to go into a rant about how the young nord was to young to help kill a Giant.
"Well," Baldur scratched the back of his head, "I came here because I wanted to join The Companions."
"Finally came around to it, huh?" Said Aella, shooting the boy a teasing grin, she knew the true reason why he was here, she could see it in his eyes.
Vilkas, this time intent on saying his share, stood up and turned towards the rest of the people seated at the table.
"Well, I'd be happy to test the newcomer, if we accept him into our ranks.."
"I would like to see how he fares up in combat, facing a Giant is a big deal, even if all he used was a bow and a sword."
One of the other, non-circle member said to the person sitting next to them, said person nodding their head.
"Well, it seems like there is no objections, lets all go out and see what the boy is made of, mhm?"
Kodlak, even in his old age, enjoyed watching the younglings fight against each other, it reminded him of how spry he was before age caught up to him.
...
Soon enough, the majority of those who had been seated at the long table stood underneath the shelter, just before the training grounds.
"Well, are you ready boy? We're just going to have a small spar."
Vilkas motioned for Baldur to get into stance, his hands already gripping in a steel longsword, similar to the one Farkas used.
Baldur stood motionless, watching the man circle around him slowly. He wanted to test the true extents of his acrobatics skill.
A skill so close to mastery must be nothing short of miraculous right?
Which is why he surprised himself when he dodged so gracefully when Vilkas decided to strike, his longsword was positioned to strike down at his back but Baldur, with what seemed to be reflexes and a small amount of perception allowing him to dodge cleanly and effortlessly.
"Good reflexes boy, but how long can you hold up?"
Vilkas smiled as he rushed at Baldur, he knew slow attacks wouldn't get him anywhere but tiring himself so he decided to end it with fast and precise piercing attacks.
Baldur, sensing the shift in the air, narrowed his eyebrows as he parried blow after blow.
'Can't keep doing this forever, my arms will fall off soon if I don't do something to keep him at bay..'
Baldur grinned at the man, wanting to put on a falso show of bravado that would hopefully irritate his furry enemy.
"Smile all you want friend, the outcomes already decided."
Vilkas laughed as he rained down blows with his longsword, careful to control how much of momentum he was allowing to pass.
Baldur was locked down, he might have been an adept(expert) in swordsmanship but Vilkas had technique, he had none, Vilkas himself was probably an expert in swordsmanship too.
Baldur however, refused to give up that easily, after dodging another attack, Baldur swing his sword against Vilkas' own, trying to disarm him or potentially force him to recuperate.
Vilkas, unprepared for such an unorthodox attack, had his blade lodged in the ground.
Baldur, sensing a moment of glory, tried bashing Vilkas with his shoulder, he wanted him to fall to the ground where he could claim a victory.
Unfortunately for Baldur, Vilkas' instinct operated his body before rational thought could, he abandoned his weapon, choosing to switch to unarmed combat whilst his opponent over extended into the bash.
Ever the opportunist, Vilkas thrust his right hand forward, his hip and right foot simultaneously pivoting to give the punch that was about to connect with Baldurs shoulder that extra 'oomph'
'Fuck, that pains.. Thank the divines for the pain reduction.'
Baldur could already taste the dirt as he fell, the punch from Vilkas had transferred way too much momentum for him to use his skills effectively.
Thud!
Baldurs body had stirred up the nearby dust, causing him to cough a few times before attempting to get up, vilkas had already retrieved his sword and sheathed it.
Baldur had lost.
----------
(A/N: Some of you might think that Baldur should have recovered from that fall, maybe not even fall at all but I'll be honest, I used it as a plot device to somewhat humble him for the future.
It's not truly unbelievable either, with Vilkas using his vastly superior strength and instincts topped off with his techniques, I think its completely normal for Baldur to lose this spar.
Chapter 2's status page has been updated, I had forgotten to add the Warrior Stone's medium stamina boost to the status. you'll see it there now.)