Misho whispered to Maia about the two stages in tier 1.

"Woah! But why isn't it told to everyone?" Maia asked in confusion.

"I think it's a secret or something. Like an easter egg. You know how developers like to put those in their games, right?" Misho replied.

"Right. That makes sense, Misho. So that was why you suddenly meditated out of nowhere," Maia said as she nodded her head in understanding.

"I also found out how we can learn things faster with our intelligence," Misho said.

"Oh?"

…

Misho quickly gave her a summary of how the intelligence stats correlate to the speed of learning.

"I understand. So you want to try wielding two spears at once?" Maia asked.

"Yes. I don't want to waste these weapons because they are worth 100 gold. I had enough experience playing games to know that the selling price for this spear would be below 100 gold. We will only be making a loss to sell it, so why don't I use both?" Misho reasoned to her.

"Makes sense, but you don't know how to wield a spear, let alone two of them."

"Practice makes perfect, right?" Misho replied and smiled at her.

"What about me?"

"You already got a Shattered Fire Crystal. I bet you could use that to craft a staff when we arrive at the city," Misho replied.

Although Misho had no idea how staffs were made in this game, he was confident that it was the same as the other games he was familiar with. After all, a top game company like Veras Corp knew to follow the trend, or it would be hard for their new players to learn the game.

"Oh! You want me to be a spell caster?"

"Yes. I could probably find spell arts to increase my agility. With that, I could thrust and slash my enemies with my spear before they would be able to react."

Misho was quite excited. Thinking about fighting others with real spears in this VR game made him quite excited. He was reminded of the time when Gerald and the other male villagers fought off the goblin invasion.

"Why don't you learn from Uncle Gerald?" Maia asked.

In her opinion, it was better to learn from a master than to fumble on his own. His progress would be faster, and he would be able to use it in battle faster.

"No. I want to create my own spearmanship. I'm not willing to follow in the footsteps of others," Misho said.

His eyes flashed with ambition. He wanted to impress Maia and Aphrodite. The two of them were his source of motivation to do well.

He would prove to Maia that she wasn't wrong for playing this game with him, and he would show Aphrodite that he was exceptional. In other words, he was simping for the two of them.

Of course, it was natural to simp for your girl. As for Aphrodite… she was a rare case.

"Hmmm…"

Maia slowly smiled as she stared at Misho. She could already tell why he was being so ambitious. She didn't reveal it to him since she was familiar with him. He might lose his motivation if she revealed to him that she knew he was simping for her.

"What? Can't I be ambitious?" Misho asked, slightly startled by her stare.

"No~. You need a training buddy if you want to improve," Maia said teasingly.

"Huh. Maybe I should ask Vivien?"

Misho held his chin and thought hard. Maia's words made sense. He needed a training buddy, or his spears would only be working in theory. He would struggle to try them out in actual combat.

"I will be your training buddy, Misho," Maia clarified.

"You know how to use a spear?"

"No, but I want to try," Maia replied.

"Alright. Fine. Let's do it."

Misho nodded his head at her. She was better than nothing. The two of them could learn from each other.

"Okay. Ready?" Misho asked her.

He tightly gripped his spear with his two hands.

"Isn't it too dangerous training with real spears?" Maia asked and walked backward a little.

"I will go get us some wooden rods. Wait for me here," Misho said and left her with the spears.

Misho found Horpa's Axe and chopped two thin and young trees. Their size was almost the same as the spears they would be using. It was light, but it was alright for their first training session.

After a dozen minutes of waiting, Misho finally returned. Maia took the wooden rod from him.

"This will do."

Maia was satisfied. She and Misho positioned themselves in front of each other.

Misho tightly gripped his wooden rod and pointed the tip at her. The duo stared at each other and waited for the other to make a move.

"Hahh!"

Misho thrust his wooden rod at her stomach. In response, Maia struck Misho's wooden rod away from its course. She then directly counterattacked him by thrusting at his stomach.

Misho was taken by surprise. Her sudden aggressiveness didn't match her usual personality. He regained his bearing and jumped out of the way.

"Hmph."

Maia was dissatisfied after seeing him dodge her counterattack. She swung the spear in a horizontal slash. It immediately headed for Misho's left waist.

Misho had just jumped, so he couldn't jump again. But by this time, he finally regained control of his rod. He positioned it vertically to block Maia's swing.

Maia held her rod and applied power with her two hands. As for Misho, he could only hold the upper part of his rod.

*Pwah!*

Misho's wooden rod was thrown off because Maia had the advantage when it came to the fulcrum. If he was able to hold both ends, he might've been able to hold onto the spear.

"Impressive."

Misho didn't feel disheartened at his loss. It only made him more focused. And so, throughout the whole day, the two of them sparred with their wooden rods. Their sparring also attracted some attention from the villagers due to the heated battle.

"10-10. We're tied," Maia said as she rested on the ground.