11 — The First Ride and the Anxiety Cure-All

11 — The First Ride and the Anxiety Cure-All

Yanbath and I returned to the empty training ground with a dark black horse.

“Are you sure you’re okay with leaving the stables to teach me?”

“We don’t have many horses to tend to. Only the Valkyries’ and a few carriage horses for people of note.”

“Oh, okay. So who’s this here? Could you introduce us?” I gestured at the horse.

“This is Forêt Noire.” Wasn’t that a kind of cake? Well, it was French for “black forest,” that much I knew.

Horses, I’d heard, were pretty smart, so I couldn’t forget my manners. “It’s nice to meet you, Forêt Noire. I’m Luciel. You’re my first horse, so go easy on me.” I bowed.

“Mister Luciel, what are you doing?!” the stablemaster shouted.

“What am I doing? Aren’t horses smart enough to understand people?”

“Yes, but lowering your head to one is like swearing fealty to it!”

“Uh, really?”

“Really! Forêt here’s particularly sharp, so I think you’re safe, but please do be careful in the future.”

“Sorry. I know I have a lot to learn.”

I had blown it right from the get-go, and my ignorance was, yet again, all too apparent. From now on, Yanbath’s word was going to be law.

“First, stand in front of it and move to its side. Slowly,” he instructed. “Be gentle. Soothe it, stroke it. You’ll spook the poor beast if you’re too sudden.”

I did as I was told, moving along Forêt’s side, then resting my hand on his flank.

“It’s so warm.”

“Warmer than any man. Now, before you hop on, press on its back. That’s the sign that you’re about to mount.” I obeyed and the horse offered no reaction. “Good. His temper seems well enough. You should be safe to slide onto the saddle.”

“Uh, just like that? I jump right on?”

“Yes, that is what we’ve been leading up to.”

“All right, then.”

I kicked off the ground and onto the horse’s back. The lack of stirrups made it a little wobbly, but I managed without issue.

“Well done. Now adjust your posture. Keep your back as straight as possible and your legs apart,” Yanbath coached without waiting for me to steady myself.

“Y-Yeah, um, Yanbath? This is pretty high up.” Much higher and a little scarier than I’d been expecting.

“All beginners feel that way. You’ll get used to it in time.”

“Do you not have any stirrups?”

“Stirrups? I’m afraid I don’t know what those are.”

“You know, those things you rest your feet in.”

“I can’t say I’ve heard of such a device. Is it perhaps regional?”

“Er, no, I’ve just heard about them in passing. I figured I would ask.”

I didn’t want to think about how exhausting long journeys would be without stirrups. I made a mental note to build some for myself later.

“Forgive me for not being any help. Anyhow, let’s get you moving. Squeeze your thighs down. You want to keep your center of balance steady or both you and the horse will be in for a rough ride.”

This reminded me of an old hobby from my past life. While riding motorbikes, you had to keep your balance and posture with knee grips in a similar way. But motorbikes weren’t this high up, nor did they hurt my crotch so much.

“Flicking the reins means ‘go.’ Pulling back means ‘stop.’ Pulling to either side means you’ll turn in that direction.”

“Got it.” I gave the reins a flick and Forêt started to trot.

“Good, good. Give the field a go-around.”

“Will do.”

Forêt carried me along at a pleasant, rhythmic canter. When we approached the edge of the field, I nudged the reins right and Forêt obeyed.

“Thanks, pal.”

We reached another boundary and turned again. Eventually, we made it back to Yanbath, where I gently tugged on the reins and brought us to a stop.

“Splendid job. I can hardly believe this is your first time riding.”

“I think I have Forêt to thank for that. I will say, though, I could see this being killer on your legs and butt after a while.”

“Oh, it certainly is. Your buttocks will chafe and your legs will burn like you’ve never experienced before. Riding uses muscles you might normally neglect. I suppose that will be less of a problem for you, though, healer sir.”

I replied with a dry smile. “Do you mind if I keep going?”

“Please, I’m sure Forêt could use the exercise. Just be careful not to go too fast.”

“Right, of course.” The field was barely large enough to trot around, much less shoot through at a full gallop. Yeah, no thank you.

Some time later, the Valkyries returned during one of my laps.

“The saddle suits you, Luciel,” Lumina called out.

I brought Forêt Noire to a stop. “You think so? Personally, I’d say my partner’s just smart and easy to work with. I’m convinced I’d have been bucked off by any other horse with half the patience.”

“Your confidence arises in strange places,” she chuckled. “Regardless, we have concluded today’s training. I hope you will join us again next week.”

“I’d love to, if I’m not too much of a bother.”

On that pleasant note, our first joint training session, and my first ride on a horse, came to an end.

I liked to believe that I was a considerate man, one who could read the room. So when the Valkyries invited me to dinner, I declined. That was my convenient excuse, anyway. The real reason was that I had actually done very little real training today and was feeling the itch. Assess Mastery showed that my Riding skill had increased, to be sure, but nothing else. It felt as if my entire day with the paladins had been a waste. How could I have progressed so little? I was filled with anxiety.

Was this slow skill growth the norm? Would I just have to live with it? No. I wasn’t done yet. Brod had warned me about chasing numbers and I certainly hadn’t done all I could. There was more for me to do here. I couldn’t let stats entirely define my satisfaction. As things stood now, any one of the paladins could have killed me in a real fight, regardless of my skill levels. Time spent worrying was time I could spend putting in the work instead.

So I passed my evening down in the tenth-floor boss room, using mobs of undead as my sparring partners until I felt content with the day’s efforts.

The next morning, I dove back into the labyrinth. From floors one to ten, only floors six and below had traps. Likewise, from floors eleven to twenty, the first five had none. By that logic, floor sixteen would reintroduce traps.

So here I was, scouring the floor, filling in my map, and beating the snot out of monsters with Aura Coat and both barriers up, because I wasn’t about to let myself get caught unaware.

“Having this magic bag for all these stones sure makes my life easier. The pope really came through.”

I even discovered that I didn’t have to be touching an item directly to retrieve it. Merely tapping it with my shoe was enough, and that alone saved me heaps of time. If magic bags had existed on Earth, well... There would have been a whole lot more magicians.

Suddenly, I spotted a noticeable protuberance in the ground. A neon sign flashing “this is a trap” couldn’t have been more obvious. I cautiously pressed it with my foot and a shrill alarm rang out. I was instantly surrounded by monsters on all sides.

“Huh, well, this is a new one.” I nodded to myself then cast Purification into one of the four hallways to clear a path. Once I’d made it a ways down the corridor and the monsters had funneled in, I held up my shield to block their claws and slashed them one by one.

Elizabeth had come to me this morning during breakfast to tell me that she was going to teach me how to fight properly (under the pretense that Lumina had asked her to).

“I would advise you to stop fighting in ways you haven’t been trained in,” she’d instructed me. “You’ll only develop bad habits.”

She and Ripnear were both dual-wielders, so they were to become my teachers. And until I properly learned the style, I figured it would be better to stick with what Brod had taught me.

“I assure you, I am only acting on Lady Lumina’s orders. But you still owe me one, understand?”

I silently hoped that being in debt to Elizabeth didn’t come with an interest rate.

I made quick work of the undead. They went down almost too easily, like they were nothing but fodder for the next boss fight placed there to lull me into a false sense of security.

Soon after, I completed my map of the sixteenth floor.

“This is a good enough spot for a break. Think I’ll have lunch now.”

As I drank my Substance X, I started to wonder, just how effective a monster repellent was it? How strong did a creature have to be for it to stop working? Had anyone ever bothered to test that?

While these thoughts swirled around my head, I resumed my work and cleared floor seventeen before feeling I should head on out. But the traps had slowed me down considerably and I wasn’t totally satisfied with the day’s training, so I wiped the tenth-floor boss room three more times before finally going back.

The next day, I explored floors eighteen and nineteen, and then twenty the day after that.

“Another boss room. I’ve got a bad feeling about this one.”

The thought of heading straight inside crossed my mind, but I had to be more prepared. I wanted to gather some information first, so I went straight back to the surface. Cattleya was waiting for me at the shop.

“Cattleya, do you know anything about the...what was it called? The main room with the big door on the twentieth floor,” I asked.

“I’m sorry, but no. I’ve never been into the labyrinth,” she replied. “I suspect you might find the remnants of another member of the guild who lost their life there, though.”

Her expression darkened, but that had to have been an act. Sure, the pain I felt while fighting those things was real, but come on, I hadn’t leveled up even once, and according to a book I’d read, undead (or real ones, at least) were sufficient enemies to use for leveling up. In any other world, Cattleya’s looks, charm, and acting skills would have made her a real movie star.

“Maybe so. Thanks for the help. Do you know anything I should bring that might be useful?”

“If you insist on going, I won’t stop you, but I hope you’ll think twice about it. We have no idea what traps you’ll find down there.”

“I’m not jumping in just yet. I need to polish my fundamentals a little bit more.”

“If you say so. I would recommend you carry around some healing and magic potions, and not only for the labyrinth. Recovery items are always essential, and from what I’ve heard about other dungeons, bringing food with you would be a smart idea too.”

She was right about the potions. I had run out of MP during my last boss fight, and as long as I had food with me I’d never have to rush home to refuel. With this magic bag, I could be well-stocked for extended stays. I got the feeling these hints Cattleya was dropping would be vital to fully clearing the labyrinth.

“Okay, then I’ll take some of the strongest potions you have.”

For the next two days, I went back and forth to the tenth-floor boss room, spawning and respawning the mob to do some basic grinding. In between breaks, I vaporized the undead with Purification, cut them apart, and honed my swordsmanship skills while hammering down my style and fortifying myself mentally against the fear of being outnumbered.

Then the day of my second session with the Valkyries arrived.