Myth3: A Whole New World

*Flash*

With a flash of light he appeared in Four Swords City. The bright light caused him to close his eyes for a while and as he opened them he slowly got use to the sunlight coming in from the top of him. He looked around and saw that the buildings had a western european feel to them.

Akaro stood in amazement as took in his surroundings. He then started to move around his fingers then his arms and then outright jumping just to see how it would feel.

‘I feel so much weaker here. Looks like those stats that Gaia was talking about will be important. I guess the first thing to do after finding eomma is to start training although I do want to read more about the city I’m in. So a library will be nice.’

Although he was lost in thought his actions seemed to have garnered the attentions of people passing by.

“Must be a newbie.”

“He's pretty good looking!”

“He probably changed his avatar to look like that. He's probably an old fat guy.”

A woman wearing an apron approached him. “Feels strange doesn't it?”

Akaro looked up and he knew right away that this was his eomma. Nodding silently he agreed with her.

Her username was Cooking Queen. Watching her son look amazed put a smile on her face. “I'm going to teach some of the basics you need to learn. Open your status window.”

Following her instructions he opened his status window.

[tbody]

Status Window

NameAkaroAlignmentNeutralRaceMartial HumanLevel1

Reputation0Faith0

Health200Mana100Stamina200

Vitality20Strength20Agility10Dexterity10

Wisdom10Intelligence10Charisma10Luck10

Tenacity20Focus10Spirit10Toughness10

Endurance20OpenOpenOpen

Resistances

None

Classes

CategoryTypeNameLevel

Main???NoneNone

Sub???NoneNone

Titles

TitleAttribute

Seeing his stats he frowned at how weak his stats looked. Although he did pick the best race type to go with his goal for a ninja class, he saw for the first time in a long while that he was really weak. As it was his base stats he frowned as he pondered on what to level up first.

‘Should I first get my strength up to a certain degree or maybe focus on stamina...’

Seeing his frown, Juhee followed up with, “You are level one right now. You'll get more stat boosts the more you do things. Think of it as if you are a baby relearning everything from the beginning. Didn’t you meet Gaia for the tutorial?”

Akaro nodded as he did remember as it just happened not too long ago. Although he did remember it did not mean he could feel a little disgruntled at the feeling of weakness.

“You can get stats from training, fighting monsters and animals and other npc's. Like she said.” Cooking Queen Continued, “Even some quests will help you with your stats and offer experience as well. So there is a lot of things to do in this world but you don’t have to do them all. Just do what you want to do, as long as it doesn’t embarrass us as a family.”

The word NPC stuck in Akaro's mind. He then asked, “Non-player characters right? I still don’t really understand when Gaia was talking about it. To me she just looked like any other woman.”

“Non-player characters.” She replied. “A lot of the people in this city who owned the various stores and even the guards are digital artificial intelligence. Characters that were created with the game and followed programmed algorithms.”

He stared blankly at her as she started to speak jargon to him. In his attempt to understand he said, “So they are not real people although they seem to act like it” He was watching them interact and made a mental note that he'll treat them like regular people for now as did not have the experience of playing games similar to this. The NPCs he was familiar with repeated the same lines over and over until you did something in your quest.

She nodded her head slightly embarrassed as she started going off in technical terms already knowing that he did not know what she was saying. Juhee then continued, “Think of it this way. This is a new world and it is up to you to experience it. Follow me for a bit.”

Following his mother he noticed that his movement as well seemed to be just like how he would act in the real world. He made a mental note that he'll just train and act like he usually does in the real world for now. As they reached their destination it was a restaurant not too far from the training grounds. She ushered him in and he saw a group of NPCs in the back greeting his adopted mother.

“Cooking Queen. Nice of you to join us at work. Roping in a young lover I see.”

The oldest chef started to speak first.

“No no. I'm just an ajumma now. This is my son.”

Juhee clarified while smiling proudly.

Whistles from all the NPC started. They gathered in the front and started shaking Akaro's hand.

“Such a handsome young man. Welcome to Hunter’s Delight. Since your mother works here, whenever you are hungry come here. We'll fix you up some food at no cost to you. Little brother.” The head chef toothily grinned at the young man.

Bowing he paid respect to all of them. “Thank you for your assistance.” Then a pop up message showed up.

You have made friends with the chefs at a prestigious restaurant. Their relationship with you has improved immediately.

Being the son of one of their famous chefs has increased your reputation by 20.

You have gained a new title!

Hunter’s Delight’s Little Brother

Luck has increased by 10.

He was amazed as simple things like making friends could assist with his stats. He made another mental note. What surprised him the most is that he got a title for just being the son. All the chefs welcomed him warmly as well.

'There is a good reason for being friendly with NPCs.'

Akaro then looked at his mother, “Can I explore this city now?” Asking for permission before leaving.

Cooking Queen smiled, “In this game you do not need to get my permission. You are free to do what you want. I want you to socialize and make friends with some real people too you know. Here I'll be your first friend in the game.”

Cooking Queen wants to be your friend.

YesNo

Of course Akaro said yes without any hesitation as it was his own mother. The feeling of a mother was still foreign to him and he did not understand completely as he lived most of his life without one. He had no good memories associated with his mother’s name so far other than death and the hatred or apathetic looks coming from his father faces. He mentally scowled as the negative aspect of photographic memory came into play.

‘Don’t want to think about him right now.’

He then left the restaurant with a bento he put into his inventory. The younger chefs prepared a lunch for him for when he got hungry. Looking into his inventory he had the a rusty knife as his starter weapon, beginner training armor for his torso, legs and feet and three loaves of rye that newbies started out with. He did not know that because of the bento and access to free food caused him to have an advantage over all the other beginners. He did not need to scrape and do quests to earn money for food. He saw the training grounds but decided not to head there just yet. He wanted to find the library and learn more about the Gods of this world and why the city was called four swords.

Passing by many NPCs and players he finally found what he was looking for. It was not too far from the training grounds and it looked a little lonely. Walking into the library he saw the attendant there smile at him.

“Hello friend. Welcome to the Four Swords Second Library.” The elder scholar started to speak, “Is there anything you wish to read? I can help you with your selection.” He spoke quite a bit.

This was the second other player he has seen all month. Most beginners would go to the more well known first library which was closer to where the guildhall, market, and the castle was. The main difference of the two other than location is the kind of books that can be read. The first library had many intelligent boosting and magic knowledge orientated books while the second had more of the history and lore type of books housed in it. The forums of many gaming sites have informed players to just go to the first library to begin with as it helped a lot more at the beginning.

This in turn dropped the turnout rate of many adventurers for the library and the old man had very few visitors. Technically just one who sits at the library and just reads books. Doesn’t interact with him at all no matter how friendly he was. After a few weeks of the same treatment the old man just sat and did his work. He was quite surprised when the new visitor decided to speak to him.

Akaro already learning that being friendly is a good way to get some stats replied, “Can you help me get books about this kingdom and other cities as well?”

The older gentleman beamed as he had no one to talk to for a while. “Of course. Follow me. Since you we have a lot of private rooms you can take one for yourself. There is only one other person who comes here and he likes to not be disturbed. I will be the only other one who can enter this room being as I am the owner of this establishment. By the way my name is Joshua. Feel free to call for me if you need any other assistance.”

Another message popped up.

You have befriended Joshua the scholar and he has given you a private room.

Luck +10

Guiding Akaro to the room it was a small room with a large table and a comfortable looking chair to sit in. “If you wait here I will bring you your books.” He left Akaro as he looked like he was skipping towards the book aisles.

'Must have been a lonely guy. I’ll be sure to be friendly with him.'

After seeing the reaction of Joshua and how he skipped away, Akaro sat on the chair and waited for the older man to come back.

Joshua returned with about fifty large hard covered books and various scrolls. He was a bit zealous in his selection and seemed to have brought the whole shelf and other materials he thought would help. Looking at what he brought he berated himself inwardly as his action may make his only visitor want to leave.

“Thank you.”

Akaro gave a small smile. In truth he was elated. Here was information, history, and stories he has never read before. He loved reading and was happy whenever he had a birthday because his grandfather would bring him books about various subjects and history.

Seeing the smile Joshua nodded and went back to his desk at the front. He did not want to bother Akaro when he read and he knew as a scholar that anyone reading a book would prefer peace and quiet. He was a librarian of course so silence was important to him.

Akaro dove into the books. First starting with the history of Four Swords Kingdom. With the help of his photographic memory he only need to read through it once but since it was new information he decided to take his time and read through the books carefully.

One book explained how the first disciple of the Hero God Demascus trained three of his own disciples. Being human it was unorthodox that he would have an elf, a dwarf, and an orc as disciples but they ended up saving of what was originally a town from a dragon. With them being the town’s heroes it was renamed to four swords.

After a long period of time it became a major city. It also explained that it had it’s own separate ruling system that is based off the central city government. Albeit the main difference is the ruler is still a human king but they were very tolerant of the other races and free travel was allowed within this portion of the human territory. The actual capital city for the humans was called Demascus City and was set on an island heavily fortified and also ruled by a king. There were no other races allowed other than humans within that portion of land.

Due to conflicting views there have been civil wars between the two cities which are mostly instigated by the ruler of Demascus city. A majority of the reason why they failed to take over is that the Four Swords city focused on defending and having the Central city so close also prevented any siege tactics being used.

Even though the territory boasts its neutrality against other races some prejudices against certain races still occur. Currently only people who have official permits of being from Four Swords city can enter other territories using one of the hero gates which are named by the hero trained by the first disciple, Roderick Kane. The northern gate of the dwarves was called Stonebeard gate, the south to the elves was called Willowstrider gate, and the one leading to central city was called Horanth gate.

The human territory is the only territory that has two cities that have different kings. The dwarven capital was call Black Anvil city, the elven was called Moonleaf city, and the orcs had Burning Stone city. The other two territories belonged to a different group of races that are somewhat still looked down upon as their territory was considerably smaller. They went by the Darkness Coalition and Feral Alliance. They both were Island Nations and had three main races connected to them. Darkness Coalition’s capital city was Bloodmoon city and for the Feral Alliance they had Suntail city.

Although they were both mention not much information can be found in the books he had available. Akaro made a mental note that he would have to try and head to both areas in the future to learn more about them. Being an avid reader, one of the genre’s he liked were history. As the game had its own history he was fascinated by it. He had read the history of his country, Korea, China, and other Asian countries as Japan did participate in wars involving them. The spark of interest also coincided with his grandfather’s experiences as the stories he would tell of island countries he was posted in.

He closed the last book and was surprised on how quickly he read through them as it was barely three hours since he started. A message window popped up on his screen once more.

You have gained the title Quick Reader.

INT + 5.

WIS + 5.

Focus + 5.

With shock he saw that he gained another title and had an increase in his stats.

'So you can even get titles like this. It also increased my stats.’'

As the books Akaro were reading were focused on history and not really on learning magical information the stat gaining was slower than compared to reading books in the main library. But the system still rewarded him with how quickly he read through the books and bestowed a title in response.

As he already finished the last book in front of him, he then started to take a look at the scrolls that Joshua brought. Unlike the books, they needed even more special care as they were quite a bit older. Upon opening the scrolls he would carefully look at the first few sentences.

‘These are pretty old and I don’t quite understand what these symbols mean. I might have to note this but I don’t have anything to copy it over to a new page. It would be highly disrespectful to write on these scrolls.’

His thoughts were interrupted when his stomach started growling. Surprised as the system even mimicked these functions as well. He saw that his stamina was gradually dropping in level as he got hungrier and hungrier.

‘Eating is very important.’

He took out the bento and opened it. It was filled with some fried rice and honey garlic chicken. The smell alone was enough to make anybody’s mouth start to water. As he was about to dig in the door knocked.

Joshua’s head popped in and a drooling mouth was plastered on the old man’s face.

Akaro seeing the man decided to put a bit of it on the lid and said, “I don't have extra utensils but you can use the spoon. I'll make do with the fork.”

“You mean...?” Joshua verified.

“Would you like to share?' Akaro answered.

Joshua sat down grab the lid that had half the food on it and started eating with the spoon he could only tear up as the taste was phenomenal.

Akaro finally taking a bite received a message.

You have eaten Honey Garlic chicken and fried rice.

All stats raise by 10 for the next hour. Stamina restored 100%.

Noting that food can give special attributes depending on how it was made he continued to eat the rest of the food.

Finishing up the portion that was given to him, Joshua returned the lid and with the utmost sincerity in his voice stated, “Thank you so much for sharing such a wonderful meal. Please let me know if you need anything else. I’ll be sure to try and accommodate you.”

Akaro immediately responded, “Not a problem. Now that you have mentioned it do you have paper and something to write with. These scrolls seem to not be in the best of shape. It would be better to preserve them and I would feel better if I made a copy just in case.”

“I can bring you paper and an inkwell and a pen. Not a problem.”

Joshua who was about to leave was stopped by Akaro.

“You can also take the books back. I'm done with them.”

Akaro motioned to the stack of books he had on the side of the table.

Joshua looked at the young man with astonishment and disbelief.

“Did you read all of them? It has only been four hours since you have been in here.”

Rubbing the back of his head while smiling slightly Akaro replied,

“I read pretty quickly. I just need to look on the page and I would have memorized it. Although the scrolls are a bit harder to read so that's why I haven't finished going through them yet.”

The older man had to take a few steps back.

“Incredible. To be able to read this quickly would mean… you read about fifteen books per hour. Sure some of them didn’t have a lot of pages on them but still that is quite a feat.” Joshua amazed by the youth in front of him. The other person in the library that had a private room, only read about ten books in an hour’s time. He estimated this by being a bit of a snoop and watched to see when the other male would go and grab more books to read.

Before he finished a thought came to him

'If it's him maybe he can do it.'

“You’re quite amazing. I have a favour to ask of you, is that alright?”

Akaro stared back and asked, “Since you have treated me so kindly I'll be happy to help.”

“Tomorrow please come back again! I have to leave now to get the item and I should be back by tomorrow.”

Joshua excitedly informed the young man.

“I need to close up so would you be able to continue this tomorrow?”

Akaro got up and put the empty bento case back into his inventory.

“I see no problem with that. I'll return tomorrow to hear your request.” Akaro replied.

As he got up to leave he heard Joshua knock at the room beside him. “Hyun-Ki, I have to close the library early today and will be busy tomorrow. How about I’ll lend you as many books as you want and just return them when you are done.”

He saw the door open and another young man was there with black hair that seemed like a bowl was placed on his head. He had large spectacles and if someone were to see him they would assume he was a book worm. Normally disregarded by most people but Akaro’s instincts told him otherwise.

‘I don’t know why… but he seems strong.’

With that last thought he left the library. Walking around just outside the library, he pondered on his next sort of action. He really wanted to read those scrolls but when he saw how Joshua reacted he could tell that he’ll have his chance the following day.

'I need to exercise as well. Since I got here I can’t really tell what kind of strength I have. Grandfather would always say the way to a healthy life is to balance body, mind, and soul.'

Seeing the instructor in front of the training grounds he decided to try and sneak past him. His grandfather usually did that to him when he first started training and would usually startle him. He stopped walking and closed his eyes. Akaro needed to control his breathing and to start focusing on his surroundings. He needed to make himself invisible in plain sight. He needed to diminish his presence. After about two minutes he started walking again. Walking with the crowd of people his movement kept him in pace with them but did not alert them of his presence. Using them as camouflage he weaved through them and quietly went behind the instructor.

Earned the title Sneaky.

Earned a new stat known as Stealth.

Stealth +10

Smiling as he manage to pass through, Akaro decided to head towards the furthest part of the training grounds which had a fewer scarecrows and training equipment but had only one other person there who was kicking the scarecrow thoroughly.

He looked at the equipment that was freely given to players while in this area and quickly obtained two wooden swords. Upon grabbing them it felt to him it was too light. Even with his strength only at twenty, the weapons he was holding only needed a strength of one.

'Way too light. I'll just work on my form first then.'

Getting into a regular stance with both swords in each hand pointing downwards he started to attack the scarecrow one strike at a time. He needed to feel the strikes on the scarecrow before doing anything advance. As it was a stationary object it did not take long for him memorize each and every part of it. He then started attacking with simultaneous strikes. This continued on for about two hours as he got various messages.

STR up by 1

VIT up by 1

AGI up by 1

DEX up by 1

This form of training felt the most familiar to him and triggered the most fondest memories of his grandfather. The bonus of his base stat points increasing while doing his training also gave him a bit more incentive to concentrate on the training. But one can only train so much as stamina was not a constant in the game. He was soon experiencing the drop of recovery for his stamina bar and understood he would need to stop soon. So he decided to see if he can use the same sword forms in the game.

Taking the two wooden swords he got into a different stance the before. He brought the blades together and spun extremely fast. It was a strike using two swords as if they moved as one.

This was the first sword form his grandfather taught him which was called Amaterasu. It was a technique that Hanzou developed using the base of Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryu. The Goddess of the sun for the Shinto religion is what he named this technique after as she represented the sun and this technique used circular motions to strike one part with both swords. The need for equal timing, speed, and power would determine the damage that would ensue. The more flawless the execution the more devastating the damage. It was meant to slice through the defense of an opponent.

Akaro brought the two wooden blades down on the chest area of the scarecrow. The swords already losing a bit of their durability earlier splintered and disappeared but not before half of the scarecrow fell slightly as it cracked the wooden rod keeping it up. Pieces of straw flying everywhere before the scarecrow spawned once more. Even if they were with wooden swords if it was a person standing in front of him their collarbone would have been broken and a large gash would be found on their chest as the friction alone would burn them. He also dropped down as he it used up a lot of his stamina and noticed that some of his mana was used as well.

STR up by 2

VIT up by 2

AGI up by 2.

You have earned the title Dual Wielding Swordsman.

Sword Proficiency Experience + 5%.

You have acquired the passive skill Sword Mastery (Beginner Lv 1):

Attack Damage increased (10%) when wielding sword class weapon.

Attack Speed increased (3%) when wielding sword class weapons

You have acquired the passive skill Dual Wielding (Beginner Lv 1):

Attack Damage increased (5%) when wielding a weapon with off hand.

Attack Speed increases (3%) when wielding a weapon with off hand.

[The system recognizes the attack used as combat skill. Please name this combat skill.

With this new message screen he was surprised with the new title and skills but he quickly composed himself and answered.

“Ameterasu.”

Ameterasu

Rank [A] Dual sword technique.

Using the pinnacle of speed, power, and centrifugal force simultaneously in a well placed strike unleashes a devastating attack.

Consumes 300 Ki.

Damage increases by 300%

20% chance to cause bleed

20% chance to stun

20% chance to ignore defense

If user has not yet acquired the Ki points system or still does not have enough to Ki points, the cost will be taken out from stamina points and mana points.

‘Ki points. Another point system that I can learn in the game. That’s surprising. I wonder if I can learn it like how ojiisan taught me. If I don’t learn it soon, using this skill will literally wipe out my stamina and a good amount of my mana. This is really dangerous with the current me.’

Akaro felt his body tensing at the heavy loss of stamina has was nearly completely drained. He quickly ate a piece of bread to increase it quickly and got into a lotus position. He needed to learn the ki system so he decided to do what he would do in reality. He started to meditate to not only to rest his body but to also focus his mind. Meditation was the key action to use when using ki or chi energy. In Asian society this was a normal thing to hear about. Feats that could only be described as superhuman in reality is explained by this energy. People more attuned to their bodies in both mental and physical realms can learn to utilize this energy. Some martial artists in the past that are quite famous were known to use this superhuman skills.

As he concentrated on meditation he ignored his surrounding but it did not mean that they ignored him.

“Did he just break a scarecrow?!”

“Is he a player?”

“Isn't he just a beginner? Did he pick up a sword technique skill book?”

“What class is he?”

His demonstration of Ameterasu has caused a lot more commotion than he knew about. Two pair of eyes were now fixated on him. One was the instructor he eluded at the beginning and the other was the young man who was kicking the scarecrow not too long ago.

Akaro could feel the stares but decided to proceed with his meditation. As a few minutes passed his body began to lighten as he could start to feel an energy around him starting to emanate from within the center of his body. Soon it started to flow throughout his body and he could feel this energy starting to strengthen him.

You have acquired the Ki point system.

Due to the allowance of only four systems you may choose to remove either the Faith Point system or Mana Point system.

Please choose which system you will like to lose.

Thinking of the situation that he had. He still did not understand either of them too well but went with removing his Faith point system. He chose the corresponding system he wished to lose.

Faith system has been removed.

Ki points will increase as vitality, intelligence, and spirit increases.

You have gained the title Faithless.

As you have given up the Faith system you will not be able to join any of the six religious orders and receive their blessings.

Damage received from faith based attacks will damage +10%

Akaro did not know either to frown or to be happy. He obtained the new point system of Ki but then given a drawback title which caused him to take more damage from faith based attacks. Before he can ponder further the young man who was near him decided to interrupt his thoughts.

“You are really strong. I want to fight you. No. I need to fight you. A man cannot let this opportunity go!”

The redhead stared at the young man in front of him. They were about the same age and his body showed that he also trained as a martial artist. He had spiky black hair that grew long enough to give him bangs. He was wearing a white gi with a black belt fastened around his waist. He seemed to be slightly a higher level than him in the game but something told him he also had increased his base stats with training. His black opal eyes seemed to burn with a fighting spirit that only belonged to other martial artists. To most people he would be considered to be a rugged handsome face but compared to Akaro it was quite lacking. Akaro of course wouldn’t have thought that as he didn’t even think he was really that handsome although people have said otherwise.

“Why?” Akaro replied.

“Don’t you feel it. We were meant to be rivals! Two men fighting it out to become stronger. COME MY RIVAL LET US DUEL!” The black haired youth declared.

“...” Akaro was stunned by the declaration.

He had a nostalgic feeling and memories of another young boy popped up into his head.

‘Another annoying type.’

Akaro was not really fond with high energetic people and they tend to give him a headache. But he considered the offer for a duel. It was a good way for him to practice his skills as a scarecrow can only do so much. Nodding to the young man he got up from his lotus position.

“This is going to be a fight to remember. My name is Chul-Moo. Hangul (Taekwando) sixth dan.”

“My name is Akaro. Reikenjutsu (zero sword form). Original style.”

Chul-moo was caught off guard as Akaro went into a fighting stance without picking up a new set of swords.

“My strength is not to be underestimated. You should get new swords.” Chul-Moo felt a little bit offended.

Akaro simply replied, “I don’t underestimate anyone. It is only fair that I face you weaponless.”

Smirking the moment that Akaro replied, Chul-moo answered back, “I apologize. It looks like you are really worthy to be my rival. Now let us talk with our fists.”

You have been challenged to a duel by Chul-Moo.

Will you accept?

YesNo

The message popped up the moment he saw Chul-moo get into a fighting stance as well. Akaro accepted it and immediately a set of rules popped up right after.

Dueling Rules:

1. While in a safe zone like training grounds or city limits, duels end when one party has reached one hp left.

2. Opponents that have higher levels will have their health points reduced to match the lower leveled opponent. Stat points will remain the same.

3. Duels within the safe zone cannot be interrupted by outside interference.

4. Duels outside of safe zones will end upon death. Interference from other players are allowed.

5. Experience points will be given to the winner of the duel. The higher level the opponent the higher amount of experience can be gained.

6.All duels can end when another player concedes.

7.At the end of the duel 50% of a player’s HP will return. Any other point system will not replenish.

The countdown began right after the rules were displayed. They both did not move as their eyes locked in at each other. The battle already began the moment that Akaro accepted. As fighting between accomplished martial artists usually began with mental pressure. The one who can make the best move usually won. Like in old samurai movies, the first move could also be the last in some cases.

As the timer hit zero they still stood there. The pressure they were emitting was intense. From the perspective of the audience they stood still but everyone still held their breath as the tension increased.

The instructor was also watching and waiting as to who would move first. He did not have to wait long as he watched the black haired young man burst forward and went for a straight kick. Any normal person would have been caught off guard but the other person was not normal. Immediately after the kick came the other young man avoided it and immediately went for a counter attack with an open palm strike towards the chest. This was in turned blocked immediately and they backed off. They now had a feel for each others strength.

‘Chul-Moo’s power is strong. That kick could have done a lot of damage.’

Akaro eyed his opponent after having his strike blocked.

‘He moves so silently and quickly, without hesitation. What a worthy rival!’

Chul-Moo couldn’t help but smirk as his blood was beginning to boil.

No words were needed as they began again. This time it was Akaro who decided to strike first. Using an open palm he once more aimed at the chest expecting Chul-Moo to block. As it was blocked he immediately went for a quick low kick towards Chul-Moo’s legs to try and reduce his kicking power. Chul-Moo didn’t have time to move back so instead moved towards the kick to shorten the distance and reduce some of the damage. With the reduced damage then returned the kick with his own low kick and aimed for Akaro’s arms. Akaro could only brace for the impact and was pushed back due to the force of the kick.

Chul-Moo this time won the exchange in moves as he didn’t take as much damage as Akaro. They both can see that with the health bars above their head. The system’s pain sensors made it seem real as Akaro was having trouble moving his left arm.

‘Very powerful kicks. I can’t keep taking them so I’ll have to aim for his joints.’

Akaro focused his mind as he prepared for the next assault. Chul-Moo however saw an opportunity as he managed to land an effective hit and was already dashing towards Akaro and prepared to do a high to medium kick chain. He was then caught off guard by Akaro’s sudden dash the moment he struck out the high kick. Akaro ducked and immediately attacked the knee joint of his other leg and forced Chul-Moo to bend down. Now that Chul-Moo had lost his balance, Akaro decided to hit as many times as he could, at the joints and back of the thighs of Chul-Moo. He hit them with a fist where the index and pointing finger joints were slightly extended so that it can effectively focus the damage.

It was effective as Akaro watched other young man’s health bar went lower than his own. His arm strength could not be compared to Chul-Moo’s leg strength but was still very effective due to it being able to strike faster and more abundantly.

Chul-Moo grimaced as he felt his legs scream out in pain. Although he thoroughly trains his kicks, the damage done by Akaro was perfectly aimed at the weaker portions of his legs. The numbness of feeling like getting hit by a charlie horse with the added bonus of pain behind his knees. He had trouble getting back into a horse stance. His kicking power was reduced greatly.

Although Akaro knew his attack did damage he couldn’t help but wonder why Chul-Moo was grinning. The fierce look in his opponent's eyes still showed that he still had more to give. Although he did say his style at the beginning of the match, he still hadn’t used anything he created himself.

Currently he used attacks from various chinese kenpo that he manage to learn from some of his ojiisan’s disciples. His style was bits and pieces of styles he fought before which included aikido, karate, various chinese kenpo, tai chi, and of course kenjutsu. The strongest of these is his swordsmanship but as a rule in his grandfather’s ninjutsu training he had to be prepared to fight without his main weapon. So he developed a style which included what he learned and created his own mix of hand to hand combat.

Chul-Moo already could feel that Akaro’s style cannot be pinpointed to one specific style. As a user of pure hangul he had masteries of advanced techniques meant to fight various other forms of martial arts. Although Akaro had flexibility in moves to choose from, he himself had moves practiced ever since he can remember. Akaro was still at a disadvantage as he wasn’t using his strongest form of martial arts and Chul-Moo was about to show him the difference between their martial arts style.

The instructor continued to observe and he could see that the red headed one was currently at an advantage. The next move though immediately turned the tables once again. He watched as the black haired boy threw defense out the window and decided to go with fast and heavy blows from above. First moving closer while keeping one leg up prepared to kick for a counter attack. The strange movements were meant to confuse an opponent while also helped closing the distance. The moment he got close enough, Chul-Moo launched an aerial offensive. The speed of his kicks dramatically increased despite the pain he was feeling.

Akaro had no choice but to block and parry the best he could but the sudden increase of speed caught him off guard and the damage was heavy. He had immediately lost half of his remaining HP. He manage to take a few steps back but found himself now backed against the wall and very little options of escape.

This was going to be the last move for either of them. Advantage was still with Chul-Moo as he had just a bit more health than Akaro but one can see that they both are wary of each other still.

If one could see the aura they were emitting, Chul-Moo was giving off a fiery orange aura ready to explode with bursting power while Akaro was an icy blue that felt like it can pierce the soul.

‘I guess I have no choice...’

Akaro’s thought as he watched Chul-Moo preparing to dash towards him once more. He had to strike at the right time or else he would lose this duel.

The audience held their breath as the tension once more was incredible. By now they have attracted all the attention of anyone in the training grounds. The instructor himself was standing in front of the crowd to keep them from getting too close. He watched as the final moves of the two were now taking place.

Again with a dash the hangul user quickly tried to land a fierce kick towards the stomach. Akaro on the defensive, evaded a effectively as he could with his current body. At a certain point Chul-Moo was able to get past Akaro during one of the exchanges and he then prepared his last move. He quickly jumped backwards onto a scarecrow and jumped off it. This increased the height as he raised his right leg over his head in preparation from an axe kick from five feet in the air.

‘Haneul Naeryeo Chagi! (Heavenly Axe Kick)’

Chul-Moo shouted in his head.

‘Reiken no issatsu. Tenheki. (Zerosword first kill. Sky piercer)’

Akaro cooly thought as he prepared his counter. The moment he saw that Chul-Moo was going to attack in the air he had the one chance to counter. Many martial arts started in Japan reflected the era of samurai as a way to kill an opponent effectively in times of war. Akaro’s was no different in that retrospect as his original style is meant for killing his opponents. He would always avoid using his original moves and fight with burrowed techniques but with the opponent in front of him he had no choice.

With one fluid motion he jumped towards Chul-Moo’s attack and using his one good arm he struck out with his right hand, like a blade, and aimed directly at the throat. He knew he would get damaged as well but who would do greater damage would determine the outcome. Using his opponents momentum and inability to dodge in the air he struck hard against the Hangul user’s throat.

In reality Akaro would have pierced through his throat and killed him then and there but as this was a friendly duel within the training grounds death and blood was not displayed. Instead spit came out of Chul-Moo’s mouth as the sudden shock of the attack and the amount of pain received caused him to lose consciousness slightly as they both landed ungracefully on the floor.

Normally one would think they would both land and one person would fall but in reality they both took quite a bit of damage. Akaro was not free from the pain from Chul-Moo’s attack as he was also hit slightly as he struck his counter. The HP counter of both Akaro and Chul-Moo had only a difference of one HP.

Akaro with two HP was declared the winner of the duel. Their HP was replenished to half but the fatigue of the fight was still there. The fight itself only lasted a couple of minutes but the crowd cheered once the winner was announced.

Congratulations you have won your first duel.

You are now Level 2

You have earned these titles.

Duelist

All stats increase by +1 when fighting duels.

Chul-Moo’s Rival

Experience and stats increase the more you and your rival duel

Instant Kill Red Head

This is a title given by the crowd. Reputation increased by 10

The last title made him slightly frown as his reputation with people of the city increased in a strange direction. He was also surprised that titles can be given if more than enough people state it. Then a familiar window came up again.

You have created a new combat skill. Name was already given.

Reiken no issatsu: Tenheki

Rank (B) Hand to Hand combat technique

A counter that relies on an opponent's own momentum and striking at the neck with great speed to pierce and subdue them.

Consumes 200 Ki.

Damage increases by 100% + Opponent Momentum Speed

Backlash damage 40% of damage given

20% chance to cause bleed

20% chance to cause death

[table]

Akaro pondered at the skill information. He understood the game gave values to certain skills but he couldn’t help feel a bit perturbed that a certain kill move he created was only a rank B. He was soon taken out of his thoughts.

“Excuse me young man. I’m sorry to interrupt but I don’t remember seeing you enter my training grounds.” The instructor was the first person to approach the two since the end of the duel.

Looking back at the instructor Akaro replied, “Through the front door.”

The instructor smiled before continuing his line of questioning, “I would have remembered letting you in but that doesn’t matter. You are quite skilled. That one over there has been dueling any opponent that accepts. He has been here for a while now but you are the first to have fought him and won. Albeit no one higher level than him has accepted his challenge. You also broke one of the scarecrows with a skill I see. Very surprising for someone who has entered here for the first time.”

Akaro nodded in response still wary if this man was about to attack him for sneaking in. He could sense that the person in front of him was strong. There was no status bar above him so he couldn’t tell what level the instructor was but something told him he was not weak either.

“I will not let you get by me next time. I'll remember you. What is your name?”

Asked the instructor.

“Akaro.” He replied before continuing, “You will not catch me.”

Akaro had great pride in his ninjutsu training. He did not believe this man had the ability to detect him.

Laughing the instructor stuck out his hand and shook Akaro’s hand.

“It's a deal. My name is Ezekiel the instructor for this location. I help fledgling adventurers like you all the time but because you were able to sneak past me you cannot train here unless you can repeat that once more.” Ezekiel gave a broad smile before looking at the other player who finally regained consciousness.

It did not take long for Chul-Moo to understand what happen. Since he woke up he already felt that he lost the duel. Grasping his neck just to make sure there wasn’t any holes in it he looked at Akaro with a beaming smile.

“Finally! You beat me and you were just level 1!! I found a worthy rival that even the game has made us rivals!!! I can’t wait until our next fight!” Chul-Moo exclaimed.

‘So loud. I think I’m going to get a headache.’

Akaro didn’t respond and closed his eyes to meditate and regain some of the Ki he lost. Unlike the other system points, Ki regeneration was solely dependent on rest and did not regenerate like the others.

Although ignored Chul-Moo took it as Akaro being shy. “Don’t need to be shy. Here I’ll give the request to befriend you.”

[table][tbody]

Chul-Moo requested to be your friend. Will you accept?

YesNo

The redhead seriously wanted to say no as he felt that Chul-Moo was the type he couldn’t get along with but because his mother asked him to try to make friends in the game he accepted.

“Haha. I knew you would accept my friend. Come let us go eat. I know a place where they have a very pretty chef! Instructor Ezekiel, we will come again!” Chul-Moo grabbed Akaro from his meditation and started dragging him outside the training grounds.

Ezekiel smiled as he watched the two as he was started to expect great things from the two of them.

Akaro finally was able to slip out of Chul-Moo’s iron grip scowled at the other young man. He wanted to say something but decided to stay quiet so he didn’t instigate any reason for the other to talk.

The two looked ragged and remnants of their fight was apparent as they both looked a lot scruffier than before. They entered the Hunter’s Delight which Akaro was already familiar with as he was there earlier that day.

“Hello older brothers. Is the pretty Noona around?” Chul-Moo asked as soon as he entered.

“You’re back again you flatterer. You’re still not getting a dis… AKARO?!” Cooking Queen exclaimed as she saw how scruffy he looked.

She rushed to him immediately and checked to see if he was injured anywhere. Even though it was a game her motherly tendencies seemed to have slipped out.

“What happened to you? Why are you with him? Did you do this? What do you have to say for yourself?” Her head darted back and forth between the two young males as she rapidly shot questions at them.

“Eomma. It’s alright. We had a duel. I won.” Akaro smiled slightly at the last part. He of course had pride in his skills.

“WAIT! This pretty noona is your mother. Then I have been rude to my rivals mother. Auntie please accept my apology. But you are still very pretty. Can I have some free food?” Chul-Moo bowed but as his hunger was his main focus he couldn’t help but at that last part.

This time the head chef Gaspar entered the scene. “Cooking Queen. You should let the boys be boys. It’s good that he already made a rival. Young brother come and eat. Of course no charge for you but the other one you still have to pay.”

The two boys sat at a table while Akaro’s mother started preparing their meals.

“Such a pretty woman as your mother. I guess it would make sense that a pretty mother would make a good looking child. I unfortunately got all my looks from my father.” Chul-Moo attempted a conversation with the stoic redhead.

“...” Akaro didn’t respond as he went back to his interrupted meditating.

Not taking that as a signal to stop talking Chul-Moo continued.

“You see this game is fun. Father saved enough for me to play it as he wanted me to find a rival best suited for me. He always said that I won’t be able to find a rival while fishing with him out at sea. We’re fisherman. The classes I chose in the game is first Martial Artist as you can tell already and my subclass is fisherman…”

Akaro was trying tune him out as he just kept going on and on while the food was still being prepared. As his ki replenished his mother came with their order. For Chul-Moo he got noodles in a pork broth and various garnishes and while Akaro got marinated grilled beef sirloin, a full vegetable platter and seaweed fried rice.

Chul-Moo’s mouth watered at the grilled meat and grabbed his chopsticks.

“Brother Akaro, you won’t mind me taking a small piece of meat right?” Chul-Moo had to suck up a bit of the drool as he was saying this.

Just as he was about to grab a piece of meat a flash of chopsticks blocked. The hangul user was shocked and then understood as he saw the glint in Akaro’s eyes. It showed that he wouldn’t just let him have his meat.

“It’s a match then!” Chul-Moo exclaimed as the two started fighting each other with chopsticks.

While Akaro defended the meat with his left he used his right to eat at the same time. Chul-Moo was no slouch as he used his free hand to grab his bowl and drink back broth and noodles in between strikes with his chopsticks.

Other customers couldn’t help but watch as these two was having a battle for food. Just as Chul-Moo was able to evade and placed his chopsticks on meat however, Cooking Queen came and slammed frying pans on both their heads.

“Enough fighting for food. Chul-Moo you didn’t pay for it so you should have asked politely. Akaro it’s not good to be greedy.” She scolded the both of them.

They both started rubbing their heads as if a big bump would appear.

“Fufu, such energetic boys. I overheard that you fish Chul-Moo. If you bring us anything you catch we can trade it for beef dishes like our younger brother’s there.” Gaspar chimed in.

“Really?! Then after this I will go do some fishing. What will you do after Akaro?” Chul-Moo asked as he skillfully taken a piece of meat off of Akaro’s plate and into his mouth immediately.

Scowling at the boy for sneaking a piece while he was being scolded Akaro sat in thought. “Probably train some more.”

“Well I can’t wait until you get stronger. I can’t believe you beat a level ten at level one. I chose a good rival.” Chul-Moo proud for his decision.

The remainder of the meal wasn’t as eventful as Akaro reluctantly shared some of his meat with Chul-Moo as he was getting glares from his mother informing him not to make another embarrassing scene. Chul-Moo left soon after to go fishing and waved goodbye to the chefs.

“Akaro we heard you were going to train again after. Here are some snacks for you from your older brothers.” The group of young chefs came and gave him a container with dried meats and breads.

He thanked his older brothers with a bow before he started to head towards the training grounds. Gaspar and Cooking Queen had left earlier to restock their ingredients and left as the two boys ate their meals.

Again using the same methods as before he manage to sneak in a second time, eluding Ezekiel’s line of sight. He continued to walk quietly past everyone still in the training grounds which seemed to have lessened quite a bit as it was getting closer to sundown. As most players had already left for inns or went outside to farm the mobs that are more lively in the evening, Akaro was soon spotted by Ezekiel. The instructor had already started walking towards him with a smile on his face.

“Snuck by me once more. You are very skillful. Alright you can train whenever you want. But if I can ask, can you continue trying to sneak by me? As after meeting you I’ve felt I’m becoming a bit rusty in my detection skills. A former Four Swords Knight, I do have some pride left.” Ezekiel asked in earnest.

“I planned to do so from the beginning.” Akaro returned the smile. Then he thought of asking the instructor of one of his main goals, “ Ezekiel, do you know the process to obtain the ninja class?”

“Hmm… no unfortunately. You can always ask the adventurers guild headquarters as they usually information like that but you have to be level ten before you can enter that building. You can start fighting some of the creatures outside to level up or do quests. But if you want to hear my opinion, I would suggest to train here and raise your stats. I can see you just started so you’re techniques aren’t as strong as they could be. I can also look into stealth like classes for you so you don’t have to worry about going there just yet. As an instructor it would pain me to see such potential be rushed by excessive leveling. The lower level you are the easier your stats can increase from training.” Ezekiel answered.

“Thank you for the information and for the help. Please let me know if you figured out anything.” Akaro smiled as he felt he was going to get closer on getting the ninja class with the help of the instructor.

As the instructor left Akaro started to continue his training and eating the food his older brother chefs have given him. His stats continued to grow but the length of time increased between pop up messages and he only went up ten points in different categories. As it was a good time as any he decided to inspect his new stats and titles.

[tbody]

Status Window

NameAkaroAlignmentNeutralRaceMartial HumanLevel2

Reputation30Ki375/375

Health270/270Mana200/200Stamina200/350

Vitality27Strength33Agility21Dexterity19

Wisdom15 (20)Intelligence15 (20)Charisma15Luck25 (35)

Tenacity25Focus15 (20)Spirit20Toughness15

Endurance35Perserverance15Stealth15(25)Open

Resistances

None

Classes

CategoryTypeNameLevel

Main???NoneNone

Sub???NoneNone

Titles

TitleAttribute

Hunter's Delight Little BrotherLuck +10

Quick ReaderInt +5, Focus +5, Wis +5

SneakyStealth +10

Dual Wielding SwordsmanSword profficiency Exp +5%

FaithlessDamage by Faith +10%

DuelistAll stats +1 during duels

Chul-Moo's RivalDuels with player increase Exp and stat growth

Instant Kill Red HeadReputation +10

Akaro saw that the stats in the parenthesis were the ones that were affected by his titles. He made a mental note that acquiring titles really does help him but he needed to make sure he got the ones that matter. Before he can continue training he was interrupted by a message.

Cooking Queen: “Akaro time to log off. We’ll be having dinner soon. You can come back to the game after.”

He then logged off from the game. His body felt rested and he can now understand what his mother meant. This device completely amazed him and he could not believe it could benefit him. He quickly went upstairs to eat as he could not wait to get back into the game. He wanted to do so many more things in the game but he knew he needed to help out the old librarian with a favor.

Logging back into the game Akaro ventured straight towards the library as he was curious at what Joshua would have him do. Although Akaro may not know it yet but soon his life in the game will began to move forward.