SK 6

(6: The Road Ahead)

Power?

Everything for Power.

The Answer is always Power.

Power is what built the World.

Go back to Earth and hear an Elder saying those words to a kid and you would call him crazy but if you think about it, this is the simplest common sense in the world. All you need to do is to have the stronger punch and then yours is the right.

Not fair but simple.

"Sigh!"

After Dai Mo, Xiao Yuyan and Doctor Xi left the courtyard when it got dark, Dai Jin was left alone thinking.

A Half Demon, Crippled Meridians, his Parents went away to look for a Cure, this, that, that and all of those ideas that kept making this extreme noise in his head.

He jumped off his seat and inhaled strongly before exhaling once again.

"Nothing is simple or easy, you moron. Stop being a fucking chicken." He beat up his own head and started cracking his joints in order to relax.

What is he going to do now?

He needs to take revenge on Dai Feng and Gong Chu, that's a first. The rest of the Dai Clan and Gong Clan can go to hell as well. This is going to get troublesome. The peak power rank of Tianlong town is Martial Master and he can't afford to face anyone with the little power he has.

Early Martial Novices is no different from a normal person. Hell, a healthy adult can still beat him to a pulp. Also, the Dai Family is not rich and very stingy with resources so he needs his own source of income. Third is the manpower and since he can't face all those enemies head-on, he needs to play it dirty.

"For the Strength problem, I can use the game world to train. For the money problem, I need to know the world around me first before doing anything reckless. As for the enemy size, I have no power over that. Let's not waste time then."

Dai Jin took another deep breath and stood in the middle of his courtyard.

"Equip!"

With this command, he summoned his protective gear from the Game World which manifested itself into the Real World.

How he learned to do that is not a big secret. When Dai Feng assaulted him and sent him unconscious back to the Game World, Dai Jin didn't initiate any task but rather skimmed through the system commands and sittings.

"Profile!"

———————————

« Profile »

Name: Dai Jin

Level: 1

Rank: Early Spirit Novice

Spirit: 1 Year

Mind: 9.1

Energy: 5/5

———————————

Previewing his profile has a little benefit since he can't do anything specific with it other than to keep track of his progress. Name and Rank aside, Level stood for the Game World's unique level system, Spirit stood for Qi and Mind stood for Mental Power. He can imagine what Qi is used for but Mental Power remains mysterious to him.

Still, what he realized to be the most important state is Energy. It stands for how many times can he "Grow" per day. It goes like this, the Game World provides challenges and after winning each challenge or satisfying its conditions, the System would help with Growth. Having 5/5 Energy Points means one can use the Game World challenges 5 times per day which sets a certain limit.

Also, he found many scrolls in the Dojo filled with all manners of knowledge regarding martial arts. It goes without saying that he understood nothing but he found it very promising in the long run.

He opened his eyes after remembering the first lesson he received from Master Sage and took the stance which he learned. It felt awkward doing it at first but he soon realized where he messed up and started retracing the steps of which he was told how to move. After some minutes, he felt like he was ready to advance further with the lessons.

He returned to his room, sealed his door and windows in case Dai Feng returned once again and slept on his bed.

"Log In!"

The world stretched and twisted itself around him and he felt the strange sensation of entering his own consciousness again. Looking left, looking right, he was standing in the middle of the Dojo.

Now that he is here, he headed out for the temple courtyard to see Master Sage only to be greeted with a System Message.

< You have completed the Tutorial! >

< Act 1: Valley of Thieves >

"What the… that's what I hate about this place, it moves on its own fucking pace." Dai Jin almost felt like flipping a table as he sat down waiting for the situation to unfold.

All of a sudden, the skies above started to move rapidly as if a video running forward. In a matter of seconds, the blue sky of the day turned into the dark sky of midnight and the air started becoming colder.

"Yep, definitely in my head." He complained.

"Young Man!"

"WOAH!"

Behind him and without any warning or courtesy, Master Sage appeared with grim expressions on his face.

"What's wron…"

"This night is ominous and full of terror. Soon, your first challenge shall begin." The old man said, "Before that, let me tell you a story."

Master Sage walked to the garden on the left side of the Temple's courtyard where he spends time and sat on a stone garden chair beside a table signaling for Dai Jin to sit as well then he began telling a story.

"Once, I was a great invincible warrior, no one dared to stand in my way. One day, someone sought me out for help for he was in great trouble and his words tempted the warrior within me to face the great challenge he offered. I ended up traveling across our homeland until I reached the Gates of the End. I broke the Laws of the Elders and Unsealed the Gates for Evils of the other realm and beyond them, tearing the land, draining its life, turning everything into… Shadows. And now for eternity, I was cursed to watch the Evils devour the land I once called home. My only hope is to raise an able enough warrior to undo my mistake and fight the Evils I freed!"

"… Oooh!" Dai Jin nodded with an awkward look on his face, "So, I have to fix up the mess you made, old man? Tsk tsk tsk tsk… what a situation we've got ourselves into! Also, this plot seems awfully familiar."

"And as I said, your first challenge has arrived. It is time to test what you are made of." Master Sage said and simply walked past Dai Jin and arrived at the Temple's gate opening it with a wave of his hand. Walking out, Dai Jin followed suit and approached Master Sage who was brooding in the night sky.

"Hehehehe!"

Yet all of another damn sudden, an eerie laugh sounded from behind them and a sinister presence filled the surroundings.

"Who's there?!" Dai Jin turned around himself scared of whatever story progression the Game World is up to.

"So you have finally taken in another pipsqueak, old man." The eerie voice continued talking.

"Fuck you!" Dai Jin didn't like the fact that he was just insulted.

Master Sage turned around and finally spoke.

"If you are that confident, why don't you step into the light, Viper?" He said.

On the benches of the nearby trees started making a sound with the wind and in a safe distance, a shadowy figure appeared. It was something like a Ninja with only its cyan eyes exposed. Still, the difference between his eyes and the rest of the NPCs Dai Jin has come across is that they are fully consumed by the cyan color, not only the pupils like the rest. Actually, it was very similar to a Shadow Fiend.

< Lv.10 - Viper >

"Heh! Master Sage's level is obviously higher. He can play ball with that shithead." Dai Jin felt better now that the enemy's level was visible.

However, when he really thought about it, he faced a Lv.2 Shadow Fiend before and one hit of that monster tore his bones apart. A Lv.10 must be way too terrifying compared to that.

"So this pipsqueak is your choice. Hmph! How disappointing! I'll not waste my time fighting the likes of this lowly worm." Viper said insulting Dai Jin even further, "Why don't you fight the newest apprentice in my Guild?"

The man called Viper pointed to the other side and a young man appeared from behind a tree as well.

"Defeat him if you can, perhaps then you will have the honor of fighting me? Hehehehe!"

The guy with the eerie laugh left and the one remaining was his follower that stood in front of Dai Jin giving an aura of intimidation.

< Lv.1 - Weasel >

Master Sage seemed to be backing away as well as it seemed he is willing to let two members of the younger generation spar against one another.

< Dai Jin vs. Weasel >

< Round 1 >

< Ready! >

< Fight! >

Outside the temple and just like that, a fight was arranged between the temple and whatever ninja cult those guys came from. Dai Jin gave up on protesting and took the stance he learned from Master Sage right away while his opponent, Weasel, took a different stance and unsheathed his Dagger.

"Equip!"

Dai Jin had his armor, headgear and weapon appear in an instant causing him to grin a little. He didn't know what made him so satisfied but this equipping option felt grand.

Weasel didn't back away from the fight and charged at Dai Jin like a rabid animal. He may have looked like a young man with a babyface but in Dai Jin's eyes, he was as dangerous as any of those Shadow Fiends that tormented him. He moved away from the attack and gave himself more space.

Dai Jin didn't have much of a strategy on his mind and didn't know how to attack properly with the dagger.

"Tsk, I should have gone with more lessons first."

He can't really regret what was forced upon him since he was willing to ask for more lessons anyway. Still, there is no better lesson than the one you receive through hardship.

Dai Jin tried to approach weasel a few time whenever the latter runs out of momentum but he would always fail as Weasel would wave his dagger left and right aggressively.

It was then when Dai Jin noticed that during the fight, his opponents movements become sluggish the more time passes. Even though they were unreal NPCs, they had Stamina or whatever function added by this Game World to simulate it.

From that point on, the fight became about how to outlast the opponent ahead of you. Dai Jin used the moves he learned just to gracefully avoid confrontation and faint his opponent into wasting away his stamina until he felt that his opponent was no longer able to take a swing at him.

"Perfect!"

It was a precious lesson and a perfect opportunity. Dai Jin had no much experience on how to attack so simply used whatever brute move came to mind.

Weaken the opponent's stance by kicking their knees, charge in a body ram, tackle the opponent down. He did all that while attacking with his dagger as well.

In the end, he emerged victorious.

< You Won! >

"Fuck yeah!"

< Round 2! >

And in an instant, he was returned to his original spot with no wounds on him with all his fatigue gone and was his opponent.

< Ready! >

"Yeah, come at me, bro." He smiled widely ready to repeat his winning strategy once again. 

< Fight! >

***

< You Won! >

Small victory as it is, Dai Jin felt like he did something grand especially with his opponent vanishing in black smoke.

Out of nowhere, Viper suddenly appeared in front of Dai Jin oppressing him with his murderous presence.

"I am the Leader of the Thieves Guild. With your lousy skills, you are not worthy of my attention, lowly worm." Viper spoke in a haughty tone before turning away and disappearing in the shadows.

"Yeah, eat shit, asshole."

Just a moment there, the place became quieter before the time started advancing once again. In mere seconds, the night sky above returned into the vibrant blue of day with the ways of the sun warming out the cold place.

"Stop doing that."

Dai Jin held his eyes as they were adjusting to the sudden change and growled with annoyance. He looked around him afterward to see the place in front of the temple has no one save for him. The temple's gate was open and so does the stairway down the hill to the jungle of Shadow Fiends.

Dai Jin walked towards the stairway out of curiosity and before he goes down the first step. Something like an invisible force stopped him from advancing further.

< "Survival Mode" is not available now! >

"Survival Mode? This Game World has that as well?"

He didn't know what kind of Survival he has to go through but he already tried the Jungle so it wasn't that hard to imagine what kind of terror it will be.

"Nope, let's turn back. Nothing good will come from that place."

He turned around no questions asked and returned inside the Temple's courtyard, he still has a long way to go before he can challenge that goddamn jungle.

"Junior brother, congratulations on your win." Yet there seemed to be a little room for rest when the beautiful redheaded senior sister came to him.

< Lv.??? - Scarlet >

"Nope, not going to challenge that."

"Listen up, junior brother, I have something good for you."

She held Dai Jin from his arm and forcefully dragged him all the way to the other side of the courtyard where Master Sage usually sits. Unlike her side which was a workshop, this place was more of a small garden with a small bond and a stone table and seats. There was a wooden board that didn't seem like it was there before and it had a few drawings and notes on it.

"Listen up, junior brother, in order to liberate our lands from the influence of the Evils, we have to start planning and working carefully." She said and pointed at the board which was actually a big map, "This is a map for the Valley of Thieves, there exists the Village where the thieves dwell. They terrorize that place with the manpower and extortions while taking at as their headquarters. In order to bring down the First Evil we know of, this guy called Viper, we need to start weakening his so-called Thieves Guild which means we need to hit them where it hurts, their manpower."

She said all that while pointing to the various drawings and notes on the board. It looked like all those investigation boards from police movies which Dai Jin found pretty cool… but there was once thing on his mind.

"Isn't your level so high that you can just fart and that Viper fellow dies, why do you have to exploit this poor old me? Why do…"

"Anyway…" Scarlet's programming completely ignored him as she continued, "I have arranged the first fight for you. Go try it out."

"Holy fuck! Can I just train in peace for a second? At least give me the chance to be better."

< "Arena Fights" are now available on the Fights Board. >

< Advancing on the Fights Board raises your level which by its part raises your level in the Real World. >

< By raising your Level, you can advanced to challenge the Mini-Bosses such as the Lieutenants of the Thieves Guild. Taking them down will advance you further to the Boss, one of the Six Evils, Viper. >

< The only reward for all fights is Experience Points. Some special fights reward with items or consumables. More rewards, secrets and fight modes will be unlocked as you advance your level. >

———————————

« Fights Board »

- Training (Unavailable)

- Arena (0%)

———————————

The System didn't leave anything for chance and perfectly laid down the work which Dai Jin needed to be done. What was more important than any of that was how Dai Jin shall advance in his power level in the Real World the further he advances in the Game World.

In other words, this Game World System is a golden… no, it is a diamond spoon made for him, someone with Crippled Meridians, to advance ahead.

"I am thankful, truly I am. This is… I can do everything with this System. I can trample over this Dai Feng bastard, the Dai Clan and the Gong Clan."

Dai Jin looked at the Fights Board and saw his path open up to the heavens. If he uses this System to its full potential, he will be invincible.

He doesn't have a clue how he acquired the System or why it chose him but whatever the reason, he is willing to do anything if it meant to get his revenge.

No, revenge is beneath him. He will humiliate the Dai Clan and Gong Clan so much so they become the punching bag of the whole world and he will establish himself away with his grandfather. Those ladies Xiao Yuyan and Xi Ming seem powerful and if he has them as his connections, he will surely have a better life where he can repay the kindness they gave him and honor his grandfather.

So many plans and he can't back down from them. He can already understand that this world is a harsh environment for warriors and powerful people. He has to be better.

"Profile!"

———————————

« Profile »

Name: Dai Jin

Level: 1

Rank: Low Tier Spirit Novice

Spirit Qi: 1 Year

Mind: 9.1

Energy: 4/5

———————————

"I see, so after the Fight with that Weasel guy, my Energy went down by 1 and won't recover until the next day. This is a very important chance. I must never lose a fight ever or I would be wasting an Energy Point."

With this determination in mind, Dai Jin turned around and walked away from the Fights Board heading towards the Temple's Dojo. In there, stood against the library filled with scrolls about fighting knowledge and all that. He knew that he can open some of them but the others were sealed tight and never came out of their places.

He didn't mind them as the knowledge he can unlock is leagues beyond him as it is. He looked around and saw Master Sage sitting quietly in the middle of the Dojo.

Dai Jin felt that this is another time to get more lessons from the old man and he wasn't wrong. The moment he came and say opposite to the old man, a different message appeared.

———————————

« Warfare Lessons » (1/30)

- Stance (5%)

- Footwork

- <Locked>

- <Locked>

-.......

———————————

"I have already done the Stance lesson? Why is it 5%?" Dai Jin wondered thus he tapped on the 5% icon.

< [Proficiency] >

A System's Help Message showed up.

"I see… so my proficiency at just standing up and stepping left and right is just 5%? I don't want to sound ungrateful but quite surprisingly I am grateful. I don't think my proficiency will be as good as Master Sage anyway."

Dai Jin understood the reason behind his low proficiency just by observing how the other NPCs walk and move. To them, the stance is not something they switch on or off in order to fight, it is something that is passive and active the whole time.

It seemed he is a long way to go in order to learn how to even walk properly. He must keep his stance at all times then.

"Alright, I will ask for your Guidance with the Stance again, Master Sage. Please, guide me."

He bowed down to the NPC without even thinking twice of it. If an NPC can make him soil himself with just a stare, he doesn't even mind calling him daddy.

He had to break his bow in order to tap on the Stance option though.