234 The Decision
Benny headed over and met up with the party, first making a quick stop at the weapons rack and depositing the training sword and shield. However, when he got close, he was full-on tackled by an overly excited Gabby, who wouldn’t stop praising him, causing the boy to blush bright red when he noticed all eyes focusing on him.
“You were so cool out there, brother, you were all like swoosh, HIYA, pew pew pew, and that move at the end, you totally pulled a Big Bro Ivar out there, you were AWESOME.” Chirping like a bird, Gabby wouldn’t stop with her praise and even added sound effects as she swung around a fake sword, emulating Benny’s attacks.
Speechless, Benny just smiled sheepishly and repeated the word “Uh-huh” until Cynrik stepped up and clasped his shoulder.
“You did well out there, Benny; how do you like using the Estoc and Aspis?”
“They are a little heavy, and I felt a bit clunky with them, but overall it was a pleasant experience. I think I will have to change my request with Mr. Pinhurst and have him make me some.”
Cynrik nodded at Benny’s reply and stepped back from the group, allowing Brance and Selene a chance to speak.
“Your deflections slowly got better the more you got used to using an Aspis, and at the end, your strategy was up there with something Big Brother would come up with. So I give you full marks.” Brance smiled and patted Benny on the shoulder as Cynrik had.
Selene simply gave him a thumbs up and rushed to be beside Cynrik.
“Hey, hey, brother, did you hear us cheering you on?” Gabby asked with twinkling eyes.
“Yep, especially you, Gabby; you were a great cheerleader. And Big Bro Ivar, your words near the end there snapped me out of my frustration; without your help, I would have tasted dirt until the referee took pity on me.” Then, looking Cynrik in the eyes, Benny earnestly thanked him and explained what was running through his head at the moment Cynrik shouted.
“I kept repeatedly trying to just ACT and not think, but no matter what I did, all I could do was think about my every movement and how nothing was working. Each swing of my sword was quickly blocked, and it was all I could do not to get hit. But when I heard you yell that I couldn’t win in a contest of strength, something clicked into place, and I remembered all the times you scolded us when BOOM, I started moving without thinking.”
“We know; it was honestly one of the defining factors to your victory. There was a definite difference when you stopped over-analyzing and fought off survival and instinct. Your moves became more fluid, and the combination attacks came more naturally. To top it off, everything you were doing didn’t fall into a pattern making it very difficult for the Instructor to counter.” Brance spoke first and gave his observations to Benny, whose face lit up when receiving the high-level praise.
“That trap you set at the end was clever; I picked up on how you scattered all the excess water into the dirt early on. If Björn and I didn’t have our [Mana Sight] turned on, we could have easily missed it until it was too late, just like Instructor Garrison did. Although, to be honest, aside from sinking into the shadow realm with [Shadow Leap], im not so sure I had a way out once the trap was sprung.”
“Enough of the praise, though, Benny. I believe this fight taught you what shortcomings you currently have. Thanks to your rapid growth from the Tier Advancement, things need to change. You are at a crossroads right now, and a decision needs to be made as soon as possible. If you are sure you want to stay as the Off Tank, then I won’t stop you, and you will have my and Björn’s full support. The two of us have MORE than enough experience to work out the kinks with your new fighting style. But if there is any doubt in your mind about becoming a DPS, you need to tell us. I don’t want you to regret your decision later on. For now, I want you to put some serious contemplation into what role you want to fill in as I’m sure this fight was a valuable learning experience for you.” Wearing a stern expression, Cynrik laid his cards on the table, pressuring Benny to make a choice.
Brance and Selene were stunned by how easily Cynrik was forcing Benny into making a choice that would affect the rest of his life. But at the same time, they knew that if they were in Cynrik’s shoes, it would be impossible to be so straightforward.
[[Cyn, are you sure now is the time and place for this discussion?]] Concerned for Benny, who went from excited to being lost in thought instantly, Brance spoke up.
[[Yeah, I’m with Brancie on this one, hun, you need to remember Benny is only 11, not oldtimers like the three of us. Aren’t you applying too much pressure on the kid?]] Even Selene was worried about how Benny would deal with this level of stress.
[[It’s now or never, guys. You saw the same fight as I did, it’s one thing to pick a side, DPS or Tank, but he was out there trying to merge the roles, which is too unrealistic. It would be like me grabbing Brance’s shield and trying to receive every hard hit. With my stat build, it’s unrealistic. We finally have a wider ceiling to work with, so builds will become more and more critical. That is why he needs to choose now because if he wants to keep being able to move like me, he needs to start adding DEX and AGI; if not, it’s all STR and VIT.]]
[[Cyn…]]
[[No, Brancie, you know I am right; you saw how his first instinct is to dodge away instead of meeting the strike head-on as you do. His style is becoming more like mine day after day. That tells me he is stuck between wanting to stay in the role we set for him as a little kid and what he CLEARLY intends to do. By picking up the Estoc, he showed his resolve in making up for the damage you can’t necessarily do with two shields. Although you can mitigate your damage output by compensating with a high STR stat, Benny doesn’t have the same luxury, don’t forget, he gets the least amount of stats and stat points out of all of us. If he doesn’t make this choice now, we will start pulling ahead until we are so far away that he can’t keep up.]]
As Cynrik conversed with Selene and Brance in the mind link, Gabby stood quietly looking back and forth between her brother and Cynrik. She couldn’t understand why he would drop such a topic on her brother as he was riding the high from victory and honestly was pretty angry.
Concerned for her brother, who seemed lost in thought and wearing a worried expression, Gabby tried to comfort him with words. However, when she realized Benny was ignoring her, Gabby quickly fell silent and played with her skirt nervously.
It was never a good idea to go against Cynrik; this was a tried and proven fact. Over the years, there were many times everyone in the party had butted heads with him on random topics, yet, for some reason, Gabby felt this was one of the times that it was either shut up and listen or get beat up and be forced to listen. But, unfortunately, there was no other option; that’s just how stubborn the boy was.
“I understand, Big Bro Ivar, and you are right; this fight did teach me a lot. After experimenting with my movement speed and blocking abilities, I learned quite a bit about what I need to do to create my own fighting style. I will review my battle several times over and come to you with a proposal soon.” Straightening his back, Benny gave what he felt to be a satisfactory answer to Cynrik’s concerns.
“Good, I look forward to it, oh by the way,” just as Cynrik turned away to walk back to the bleachers, he remembered something and looked back at Benny over his shoulder.
“Nice idea going with micro [Water Spear’s] at the end there; I almost thought you were about to try forming a giant one, but your quick thinking did us proud; keep it up.” With that said, Cynrik walked back towards the bleachers with Selene hot on his heels.
“Hehe, good ol Ivar, always the one to get jealous when someone outshines him.” Brance chuckled before clapping Benny on the shoulder again.
“Good work out there, I agree with Big Brother to an extent when it comes to roles, but personally, I would have waited until we got back to the dorm. Don’t let it bother you too much; the two of us will support whatever you decide, but between you and me, Tanks are WAYYYY cooler than those lame DPSs.” Laughing at how much of a Tsundere Cynrik was, Brance wrapped his arm around Benny’s shoulder and dragged him off after Cynrik and Selene.
“C’mon, Gabby, you are up next, so you need to start getting ready; I am sure the Instructors will call you up any minute.” Then, waving his hand at Gabby, who was lost in thought, Brance shouted to get her attention.
Hearing Brance’s voice pulled Gabby out of her head, and after looking around and noticing everyone had already started walking away, she yelped loudly and chased after them.
However, just as she was about to leave the battlefield, Instructor Garrison appeared a few meters away, blocking her from progressing forward.
“Nope, it’s your turn to go up for your evaluation; I can’t have you running off to join your party.” Instructor Garrison, who would be acting as the referee for her battle with Instructor Alistar, said firmly while making a twirl with his fingers to say, “turn around and head for the weapons racks.”
“But, but, Instructor Garrison, I need to ask for some advice from my roommate Selene.” Clutching at the hem of her skirt and giving the man fluttery puppy eyes, Gabby pleaded her case.
“Eh?” He glanced down at Gabby, confused about what to say to the girl, before sighing and waving her off. As it turns out, Garrison was a sucker for the puppy-eye treatment, as his young daughter would win every argument back at home with the same technique.
“Make it quick; you have an extra five minutes, don’t waste them.” Then, coughing into his hand and acting like nothing was wrong, the Instructor retreated to his position on the field.
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