Novis was currently in his Grandfathers dojo. Arthur had asked him to gather as many weapons his grandfather owned as possible. His grandfather was an avid collector of weapons it was how he ended up with Arthur's sword in the first place.
On the dojo floor, there were laid out at least thirty different types of weapons from all over the world. Short swords, Scimitars even weapons Novis had never seen before.
"So remind me why I need to do this again?" Novis asked
"Every human being in the world is different. Just because I use a long sword doesn't mean the longsword is best for you. I too went through the same thing and tried many weapons until I had finally found the perfect fit."
"But why don't we just do this in the game?"
"We need to improve your real-life stamina and strength. Remember what Paul said that a pro can even create his own skills. The VR system seems to be very unique. It will give you the base stamina and strength of the character in the game but if your own skills surpass that, then that is also translated into the game."
With the explanation over Novis was left to pick a weapon, after selecting a weapon Arthur would then take control of the Novis's body and demonstrate how to use it. Novis would then attempt to replicate those moves.
They tried a number of different things, daggers, maces, Viking swords and so on but so far nothing felt right to Novis. The only one he felt comfortable with was the long sword the same as the one Arthur used.
"Perhaps it's because you have only used this weapon before, Although I don't think it is a bad choice I still think we can do better."
Then Novis manged spot an odd looking weapon at the back.
"What about this thing?"
The weapon Novis was looking like was similar to a Kusarigama, where it would have a sickle tied to a chain. This one was slightly different, there where two curved blades and they were completely attached by a three-meter chain.
"This is a difficult weapon to use, the chain makes the weapon heavier so you need to swing it to gain momentum but it also allows for long-distance attacking and good for blocking ranged attacks."
Arthur then took over Novis's body and started to demonstrate. Arthur started by swinging the chain side to side and started to show some fancy attacks. Throwing the chain outwards bringing it back in but after about 5 minutes Arthur was covered in sweat and returned the body to Novis.
"Crapping hell my arm's feel like lead what happened," Novis said while panting.
"Your body is currently not strong enough to wield something like that."
After the two of them took a break Novis attempted a few of the simpler moves that Arthur had shown him. In about ten seconds Novis had swung the blade and almost ended up getting his own nose off.
"I think it's best to practice with this in the dream space, this way there will be no damage done."
After going through every weapon, there were a total of four weapon's that Novis liked best. The long sword that Arthur currently used, a set of short swords for duel wielding, A war scythe which was a spear type weapon with a curved blade on the end and finally the Chain sword.
Although the game had characters that used a spear, dual swords and a long sword. There were currently no characters that used the chain sword.
Arthur suggested that Novis practised with all four of these weapons even though the chain sword wasn't in the game. It was a good weapon to use to gain some basic strength and stamina.
For the next four day's the two of them would train with each weapon in the dream world. The dream world was handy for a few reasons. All Novis needed to do was picture the weapon in his mind and it would appear. Because he had already handled each weapon he had a good idea of what it weighed and looked like so it was almost as good as the real thing.
In the dream world, Novis didn't have the fear of getting hurt by the weapon and seriously damaging himself. He could try each weapon without worry. If he was to die in the dream world his body would simply wake him up.
Although he tried to avoid this as much as possible because it would take him a while to fall back asleep again.
For the first week, Arthur only focused on teaching Novis how to block with each weapon. Once Novis got used to a certain speed and intensity, Arthur would up it by a level.
After blocking, Arthur had shown Novis basic skills in how to use each weapon. Once he had learnt these basic skills he could practice them in his grandfather's dojo. Each day repeated with a certain routine. A run in the morning, training in the afternoon and then training in the dream world.
It was tiring at first and there were many times when Novis wanted to give up. But every time he wanted to an image of Lucas popped up in his head.
After one of Novis's afternoon training session were complete Arthur and Novis were currently in his room. This was the period where Novis would usually have his free time and get to rest watch tv shows whatever he wanted to do.
"Hey Arthur, I know you said I couldn't play the game but there's no harm in you playing. Plus that way I can see how you fight."
Arthur thought what Novis had said made sense. Arthur currently hadn't had much desire to fight because he was having fun teaching Novis. Arthur thought about it for a while and decided it would indeed be a good experience for Novis to watch an experienced fighter.
"I think that's a good idea."
Novis went and grabbed the VR headset and went to lie down on his bed.
<Welcome User Pendragon>
<Would you like to start a game?>