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Data & Magic Chapter 39: Know Thy Enemy (and Thyself, Preferably)
🕑 Added 2025-05-12 11:56:18 +0000 UTC“Know thy enemy and know thyself; in a hundred battles, you will not be defeated.” William dredged the quote up from the recesses of his Earth-bound memory. Sun Tzu probably would have advised against volunteering for a high-risk mission with the combat proficiency of a startled badger, but the core principle remained immutable. Information was leverage. Especially when the 'enemy' was Yegun Fastblade, and survival was measured in seconds.
Borin’s trial, ten minutes against the B-Rank speed specialist, felt less like an evaluation and more like a statistically rigorous method for demonstrating inadequacy. William harboured no illusions. He ran a quick predictive model on Borin’s and Julia’s likely expectations. Baseline Forecast: Rapid, decisive failure by William. Confidence Interval: High. This trial wasn't primarily about his success. It was likely a necessary, if brutal, filter. A way to validate rejecting the F-Rank liability without appearing entirely unreasonable, thus satisfying Julia’s vouching while ensuring mission integrity. Standard risk mitigation protocol when dealing with unproven, high-variance assets.
But William wasn't operating on their assumptions. This trial was his validation test, his proof-of-concept for the entire premise that information, analysis, and EMMA could bridge the chasm between his F-rank reality and the B-rank whirlwind. It was peer review under extreme duress. Failure meant invalidating his hypothesis, staying behind, and remaining… data deficient regarding Lumenar. Failure wasn't an acceptable outcome in his current project plan.
He had twenty-four hours. A single day to upgrade himself from ‘startled goose’ (Borin’s memorable assessment) to something resembling ‘survivable obstacle’. Strategy: Leverage the only asset where he wasn't catastrophically outclassed, analysis.
He became a fixture at the edge of the Guild's main training yard, a dusty, sprawling arena alive with the clang of steel, rhythmic grunts, and the occasional eloquently phrased curse. His focus, Yegun Fastblade. Fortunately, the man seemed to enjoy practicing. William found an unobtrusive vantage point near a stack of battered spare shields, notebook and charcoal stick procured from somewhere, old habits, comforting tactile feedback loop even when EMMA does the heavy lifting, and initiated data acquisition.
Yegun lived up to the name. Against a variety of opponents, a charging berserker with a great-axe, a nimble duellist with a rapier, even twin dagger wielding trainees, he was a blur of controlled motion. He didn’t meet force with force, he flowed around it. Sidesteps precise to the inch, weaves that left attacks slicing empty air, deflections using his twin shortswords that seemed to expend minimal energy while turning an opponent’s momentum against them. His own attacks were blindingly fast, economical, snapping thrusts targeting wrists, knees, shoulders, designed to disable, disrupt, create openings. High frequency, low impact strikes, prioritize speed and precision over power, William noted, sketching Yegun's relaxed, ready stance.
He activated EMMA, dedicating a thin slice of his awareness, keeping the mana bar visual simple to conserve resources. Focus external sensors. Target: Yegun Fastblade. Request: Trajectory analysis, movement pattern recognition, timing metrics, predictive overlay.
Faint, shimmering lines began tracing Yegun’s movements within William’s EMMA display, arcs predicting the sweep of his blades, highlighted clusters showing repeated footwork patterns, micro-timers calculating recovery speeds. Raw data began spooling into his awareness. Attack Frequency: Avg 4.1 attacks / 15 sec interval (vs C-Rank Axe). Footwork: Predominantly circular perimeter control, maintains optimal striking distance (~1.5m), utilizes rapid lateral bursts (<0.2s) for evasion/repositioning.
It was inevitable Yegun noticed the intense F-Rank lurking ringside. He’d clocked the newcomer after the Guildmaster’s unusual summons. A trial? For this guy? Looked like he might trip over his own feet in a stiff wind. But the way William watched… it wasn't awe or fear. It was… dissecting. Focused. Like a scholar examining a particularly complex beetle. During a brief lull, Yegun’s sharp gaze met William’s across the dusty yard. William didn't flinch, just gave a slight, almost formal nod before his eyes immediately flicked back down, tracking the angle of Yegun's left foot. Odd bird, Yegun thought, a spark of curiosity momentarily displacing professional indifference before his sparring partner pressed the attack again.
William pushed EMMA harder, refining the analysis. Lead Hand Bias (Right): 68% +/- 4% initiation frequency. Defensive Pattern: Favors leftward evasion rotation against direct thrusts; slight tendency (75% observed) to fractionally over-rotate, creating momentary (<0.25s) exposure on right flank. Post-Parry Recovery Lag: Mean 0.31s; outlier instances up to 0.5s observed when deflecting heavy attacks. Pre-Feint Indicator: Rapid eye blink sequence (triple blink <0.5s) correlates (82% +/- 5%) with feint initiation within subsequent 1.5 seconds. These weren't glaring weaknesses. They were micro-tells, fractional openings measured in milliseconds, exploitable only with predictive insight and impossible reflexes. Or… predictive insight provided by EMMA, coupled with just enough reaction time. Windows. Tiny, flickering, statistically significant windows.
He compiled the observations into a rough EMMA profile, assigning estimated values based on comparison to known Guild ranks and observed performance. Caveat: Observation-based extrapolation. Confidence: Moderate-Low. Significant error margins inherent.
Yegun Fastblade (EMMA Est. Profile v0.1)
· Class: Swift Blade / Speed Combatant
· Rank: B
· Attributes (Normalized Scale 1-100):
o Strength: 35 (Est.)
o Agility: 70 (Est.) [Recalibrated based on observed speed vs multiple opponents]
o Stamina/Vitality: 60 (Est.) [Sustained high output during drills]
o Mana Pool: ~200 (Est.) [Minimal observed magical aptitude, likely standard warrior pool]
· Skills: Twin Sword Mastery (Expert+), Enhanced Reflexes (Passive?), Acrobatic Evasion (High).
· Tactical Notes: Extreme speed/precision. Prefers disarming/disabling strikes. Relies on overwhelming agility. Potential Tells: Pre-feint blink sequence, fractional over-rotation on left dodge, minor recovery lag post-heavy parry. Threat Level vs F-Rank (William): Critical.
The numbers were stark. The agility differential was a chasm. Direct confrontation wasn't just suicide, it was computationally inefficient suicide. Trading blows? Impossible. Plan A (Hit Hard): Non-viable. Plan B (Hit Fast): Non-viable due to extreme skill differential. Plan C: Execute evasive manoeuvres continuously for 600 seconds while avoiding catastrophic system failure (i.e., getting stabbed).
His only viable path lay in pure defence, predictive evasion, and stamina management. Use EMMA not for offense, but for trajectory prediction, threat prioritization, and optimizing his own movements for energy conservation. Objective: Maximize survival duration to >= 600s. Strategy: Maintain defensive shell, predictive evasion leveraging EMMA analysis, minimize energy expenditure, force opponent resource depletion (stamina/focus).
The remainder of the day dissolved into a gruelling cycle of solo practice. Not flashy sword swings, but mind-numbing drills of basic defensive forms, repeated until muscles screamed in protest and his tunic was plastered to his back with sweat. Block high-left. Parry low-right. Sidestep left, pivot. Parry cross-body. Dodge back. He visualized Yegun’s attacks, the blur of silver, the snapping thrusts, running simulations in his mind. He activated EMMA, overlaying trajectory lines onto his own movements, analyzing, correcting. Left parry, elbow angle 4 degrees too high, creates 0.1s recovery lag. Inefficient. Adjust. He felt like a coder debugging his own physical subroutines, optimizing for latency reduction, aiming for peak survival efficiency.
He pushed his mana reserves too, practicing holding the EMMA analysis overlay for longer periods, testing the drain, flirting with the dizziness, the headache, pulling back just before the red line. He may need EMMA running constantly during the trial, feeding him predictive data. He couldn't afford for it to crash mid-fight.
The relentless repetition taxed his surprisingly capable muscles, a testament perhaps to nervous energy or the subtle physical demands of using EMMA, sending signals of strain through his system. He paused, leaning on his practice sword, sweat dripping, chest heaving. Need baseline assessment. He focused inward, commanding EMMA to display his current status. Shimmering text overlaid his vision:
William Shard - Status
Level: 1
XP: 400 / 1000 (+200 XP gained from practice in prep against Yegun)
Title: [Novice Magic Analyst]
Effect: +5% Mana Regeneration Rate
Class: Magic Analyst
Stats:
Strength: 15
Agility: 18
Magical Power: 20
Vitality: 12
HP (Vitality *10): 120
Mana (Magic / 2 * 10): 100
Unallocated Stat Points: 3
Three points unallocated. A small edge. His base Agility was higher than he'd assumed, but still pitiful compared to Yegun's estimated 70. His strategy hinged entirely on survival, on enduring. Boosting Vitality seemed the only logical play to increase his survivability buffer, however marginally. Optimize for primary objective: Survival Duration. With focused intent, he directed EMMA: Allocate 3 points to Vitality. The number flickered: Vitality: 15. His HP shimmered, recalculating to 150 / 150. It wasn’t a game-changer, more like upgrading flimsy body armour to slightly less flimsy body armour before facing artillery. But fractions mattered. The slight boost to mana regeneration from his Title was also welcome, though likely insufficient to counter heavy EMMA use. Marginal gains across the board, but better than baseline.
Feeling marginally more resilient, though still comprehensively outclassed, he returned to his drills, focusing now on integrating his slightly improved (theoretically) endurance into his evasive patterns.
As the sun dipped below the capital's rooftops, painting the sky in hues of orange and blood red, William stood alone in the now-empty training yard. He felt exhausted, every muscle aching, his head throbbing from mana strain. But beneath the fatigue was a cold, sharp clarity. He'd done the analysis. He'd identified the variables. He'd formulated a strategy with the highest probability of success, however low that probability might be. He'd even min-maxed his available stat points for survivability.
He gripped his sword, the worn leather of the hilt familiar against his palm. He took a slow, steadying breath, picturing the EMMA overlay, the bar graph of his mana (currently hovering near 95%, the Title bonus helping slightly), the potential trajectory lines.
Ten minutes. An eternity under a B-Rank assault. He thought of Julia's worried face, Borin's sceptical gaze. He thought of the Lumenar mission, the stakes involved. He thought of EMMA, his impossible edge.
Okay, Yegun Fastblade, he thought, a spark of grim, almost detached, analytical determination igniting in the fatigue. Let's generate some data.
William Shard - Character Sheet
Level: 1
XP: 400 / 1000 (+200 XP gained from recent EMMA diagnostic/analysis practice)
Title: [Novice Magic Analyst]
Effect: +5% Mana Regeneration Rate
Class: Magic Analyst
Stats:
Strength: 15
Agility: 18
Magical Power: 20
Vitality: 15
HP (Vitality *10): 150
Mana (Magic / 2 * 10): 100
Unallocated Stat Points: 0
Skills:
Swordsmanship: Basic
Magic (Conventional): Basic
EMMA System: Basic
Language (Averian Common): Basic
Healing / Regeneration: ??? (Unknown - Nature Undefined)
