This chapter will still follow Ruka.

Chapter 4- A new World

Scanning user...

Unknown user… Do you wish to register?

Seeing the message, Ruka replied yes.

Welcome to Otherworlds

Select your avatar name

“Yuki”

Select your gender

“Male”

Select your race

“…Human”

Select your element

“......Water.”

You may alter your avatar’s appearance.

“Um...Looks like me, but with blue hair...and less sharp eyes….ahh…yes that’s it.”

Your account has been registered. Welcome to Initium City in Aquarius.

With a flash, Yuki appeared in the city of Initium. Yuki looked around in amazement. He was awestruck by how realistic the VRMMO was. The noise of the marketplace, the refreshing sour smell of lemons grown on the trees and the feel of the solid ground below his feet. The market looked exactly like the morning market in Greece which he visited years ago. The NPCs looked and acted exactly like a human, with the exception of their title above their heads. If their title was not there, Yuki would have mistaken them for real players. The caress of the wind was blowing gently and the sun was shining brightly. The heat of the sun touches Yuki’s face, as the sunlight cast onto Yuki made his light blue hair shine, making him seem like an angel.

Some players merely glanced at him while some other players walked by conversing with each other.

“Is he an angel?”

“Wow, he looks so handsome! Do you think he also looks similar in real life?”

“He looks so cool, I wish my boyfriend looks like that!”

“I should have modify my character to be more handsome than that guy!”

Oblivious to all their chatter and looks of envy and admiration, Yuki opened his stats window by saying “status”

STATUS WINDOWNameYukiElementWaterRaceHumanLevel1ClassNoneTitleNoneHealth100Mana100Vitality1Hunger0%Strenght10Agility20Attractiveness10Intelligence15Leadership0Luck0Magic ResistanceWater5%Fire0%Wind0%Earth0%Dark0%

Looking at his pitiful stats, Ruka decided to find a dojo to train first.

Ceilia's point of view...

“Who is that guy? He looks like Ruka.” Ceilia thought, as she subconsciously followed Yuki through the streets.

Eyes followed her as she walked through the streets. The “Aqua Berserker” was a famous player known for her beauty and swordsmanship. Her long blue hair flowed past her waist, swaying in the wind. Her pale skin and pointy ears gave her an ethereal look. Ceilia was the very epitome of grace, as she walked through the streets. Ceilia was like a celestial being that has descended from the heavens. It was truly an enchanting sight to behold, similar to herself in the real world.

Ceilia, or rather Yui has been in love with Ruka since the start of high school unknown to Ruka.. The kindness that he shows to the people and animals around him. The sweet but gentle side that he shows at times. The rare beautiful smile he shows that makes her swoon secretly. Despite being a veteran in swordsmanship, Ruka has never looked down on others but has gone out of his way to help and coach his fellow kendo club members. Thus, despite being alienated at the start due to being misunderstood as a troublemaker, through his gentle and kind nature, the boy’s kendo club members began to look up to him. Thought he can be difficult to approach at times and very bad in holding a conversation, it was all these little quirks about Ruka that made her fall in love with him.

However, due to the fact that Ruka is so painfully shy and can hardly hold a decent conversation, Yui could not find a good opportunity to confess her feelings for Ruka. It does not help that Ruka is also secretly very popular with girls, however or maybe thankfully he has been too dense to realise this. Yui has worried what is the best method to confess to him, so that he will understand her feeling for him. She has tried hinting to him many times through the course of these two years in High school to no avail. Thus, Yui has often sought after advice from Hikaru on how to confess to Ruka and also gain some favour (aka get rid of all her rivals in love). In turn, Hikaru has often teased her about it, making her blush. Hikaru has also often request her to do difficult or unreasonable task or favours in return too. In order to please the hard-core bro-con, she had to do all these task in order to gain his favour. Heavens know she tried very hard to get Hikaru’s approval to be Ruka’s girlfriend. It was a known fact that anyone who want to be Ruka’s girlfriend has to first pass Hikaru’s test. And passed it she did! Now all that she had to do was to confess to Ruka...

Back to the search for the dojo( training centre)...

Where is the Dojo? Yuki thought aloud, as he wander around the streets in Initium.

From 500m away he spotted a dojo. This was a normal feat for him, as his eyesight was on par with a hawk.

As he neared the dojo, He eyes fell upon a handsome guy with jet-black long hair tied up like a samurai’s, which he thought was probably the NPC Dojo master. The guy fit Yuki’s ideal look as a swordsman, cool as a cucumber and suave enough to make girls fall at his feet. The NPC look strikingly similar to his uncle, which was his sensei in kendo and swordsmanship. Yuki could not help but feel a sense of deep respect, admiration and familial feeling when he looked at the NPC.

“Sen..Sensei! Will you please let me train at your dojo?” Yuki asked with deep respect after mustering up his courage.

“Son. This is not a dojo, but a Basic training centre. I am no sensei, but an instructor at this training centre. You may call me Sendou-san. The Basic training is 10 hours long. This is a wooden sword for you. You may start immediately.” The NPC replied coolly.

“Sendou-san, please give me another sword! I..I wish to learn the erm.. dual blade skill. I am dual blade swordsman in real life. Please grant my..eh..selfish request.” Yuki pleaded, as he stumbled on many words due to his nervousness from speaking to a new person.

“Calm down, son. This is the first time I am hearing such a request, but I know you are not lying. I will grant you your request, son.” The instructor replied, worried by how frantic Yuki is.

Two wooden sword materialised in front of Yuki.

“Sendou-san, eh... which scarecrow in the dojo may I use?” Yuki asked politely.

“Like I said before, this is not a dojo, but a training centre! You may use any scarecrow you want.” Sendou-san said with a deep sigh, for some reason, he felt like correcting Yuki was going to be an uphill feat.

To Yuki, not calling the training centre a dojo was what he felt a disrespect to the architect or rather the game designers. After all, everything about the training centre screamed “Dojo”. The japanese paper door panels to the cedar roof of the building and even the wooden flooring of the training centre was modelled after a traditional japanese dojo.

“Thank you…. Sendou-san.” Yuki smiled as he thanked the NPC. Yuki’s smile made him seem even more angelic if that was possible.

The NPC instructor could not help but smile at the angelic youth. The boy seem like an angel and the perfect student to him, despite his unwelcomed shyness and stubbornness. The instructor watched Yuki move through the training centre like a proud father looking upon his son.

As Yuki moved through the training centre, people made way for him. With both swords in hand, Yuki’s swordsman aura very tangible in the air, making people unconsciously step away from him in fear despite his angelic appearance. Yuki moved through the training centre with the grace of a veteran swordsman. Ruka had trained in the ways of the sword since he was old enough to walk and he was the next-in-line to succeed his family’s dojo.

Yuki picked the scarecrow in the corner at the back furthest from the entrance. He began to lift his two swords in a fighting stance, as he breathe slowly, concentrating on the scarecrow.

The people around him sucked in a breath as they watched in anticipation for what is to come. Deep in the hearts, they knew if they looked away they would have missed something incredible.

Yuki launched into a series of continuous sword arts that were foreign to the players. Each was executed with precision, speed and grace. Onlookers felt like they were seeing a dance rather than a sword training. They watched Yuki slash at the scarecrow in awe. His blade was getting faster and faster each time he did so, till they could no longer see his blades. All they could see was the afterimage of his sword. The sight of his blade dance was beautiful to the onlookers, masking the sheer strength, experience and precision needed to execute these moves.

“Angelic swordsman” that was what the people who saw his sword dance nicknamed him.

Players whispered among each other.

“That guy is so fast!”

“Such a beautiful technique!!Just like a Samurai!”

“I want to be killed by his swords in a PvP!”

“Are you nuts!?”

At this point, multiple messages appeared in front of Yuki.

You have gained a new skill

Skill nameDual BladeSkill RankBeginnerSkill Experience24.6%Skill Level1DescriptionDeals double to your enemies, however this skill can only be used when equipped with dual blades and a shield cannot be equipped.EffectsAllows 2 blades to be used at the same time

Attack power increase by 120%

Agility increase by 1

Strength increase by 1

Agility increase by 1

Strength increase by 1

Agility increase by 1

Strength increase by 1

Stamina increase by 1

Agility increase by 1

Agility increase by 1

Fame increase by 10

“Fame? Why did I gained fame?” Yuki thought as his swords came to a stop. Unknown to him there are many ways to gain fame in Otherworlds, it can be through completing quest, making a widely known craft, or through player recognition. As a crowd has gathered to see his sword dance, Yuki has gained fame.

“Oh well… Never mind, a little fame never hurts anyway.” Yuki thought as he resumed his fighting stance, unaware that he is being watched by a crowd.

Ceilia’s point of view….

“That player looks like Ruka-kun and Hikaru… Could it be Hikaru? However, the way he swings his sword with such grace and agility it cannot be Hikaru who always swings his sword with such fury. Could it be Ruka-kun? That’s impossible! He is too shy to hold a such a long conversation with a stranger, even if it was a NPC. Oh how I wish he was Ruka thought…that way we could share more interests besides Kendo and Swordsmanship…”thought the blue- haired swordswoman, Ceilia as she stared longingly at Yuki slashing at the scarecrow.