Chapter 02

After a brief moment of silence, I was showered in applause. Only my opponent’s closest confidants remained silent. The rest of the spectators erupted in cheers. The loudest of whom came from my fellow players.

“Oh my god! Bro just wiped the floor with that turd.”

“Wow! Did you hear that bone crack? Fuck, man’s definitely in a world of pain right now.”

“Dude, that was absolutely awesome! Where did you learn how to fight like that?”

Ignoring the questions for now, I instead focused on the new prompt that had appeared after the fight.

[“By successfully defeating an armed opponent in a bout of swordplay, you have unlocked the proficiency “Swordsmanship”. You can check the progress of your proficiencies under the proficiency tab.”]

Surprised, I opened the tab which I had hitherto not known about.

[Proficiencies]

[“Swordsmanship” - Beginner Lv.1]

“Cool.” I muttered beneath my breath. The tab was spartan, but would without doubt prove useful once I started accruing more proficiencies.

Turning, I looked at the senior swordsman who surprisingly nodded at me respectfully.

“Well done, young man.” The man congratulated me on my victory while his friends took care of my moaning opponent. “It’s been a while since I last saw someone as young and skillful with the sword as you.”

The serious look on the man’s face faded as he smiled before joking.

“I cannot help but think that you remind me a bit of myself!”

The rest of the swordsmen groaned in unison.

…

The senior swordsman introduced himself as Hou Wen and he was apparently the leader of a small guard detail working for one of the more affluent guests of the caravan. While he was a bit secretive concerning his employer, Hou Wen loudly expressed how glad he was that quote “not all caravan guards were a useless waste of space” end of quote.

The eavesdropping players had not appreciated that comment.

Surprisingly, I didn’t have to badger any of them to uphold their end of the wager as before five minutes had passed, I was handed a sturdy sword kept in a scabbard. Immediately, I recognized the scabbard as the one which previously had been tied to my opponent’s waist.

“This is definitely worth more than a silver.” I thought with a satisfied smile, the weight of the sword reassured me.

When the guard detail retreated to lick their wounds and laugh at the poor sod who’d lost against me, three players approached.

“Man, that fight was epic.” The first teenager said dreamily; he was a young man sporting black curly hair and bright yellow eyes. The yellow eyes easily distinguished him as a player.

“Yeah, you wiped the floor with that guy. Well done.” Another player said; a young woman with purple hair. Moreover, she seemed awfully fixated on the sword that I had now tied to my belt.

The third player remained quiet, but, like his peer, he looked at me in admiration. The boy looked like he had chosen the youngest age option when he’d created his character but otherwise looked quite natural with blonde hair and blue eyes.

“Thanks.” I answered before realizing I didn’t know their names. “You are?”

“Oh right!” The curly, black-haired boy laughed. “The name’s DarkKnight, but you can call me Dark.”

“I am not calling him Dark.” I immediately decided.

“And this is my younger brother Li-*cough*, I mean Atom.” The black-haired teenager gestured at the blonde boy who liked like he was thirteen. “He’s not actually thirteen, of course, but at least now, his appearance actually matches his introvertness.” Dark laughed.

Meanwhile, Atom glared at his older brother.

“You suck.” He simply said.

“And I am Luna.” The young woman introduced herself with a handshake, not afraid of eye-contact.

“Nice to meet you all.” I returned smilingly. “My name’s Bishop.”

“Great, now that that’s out of the way.” Dark smiled what he probably thought was an endearing smile. “You don’t think you can teach us how to do that?”

“Fight, you mean?” I raised an eyebrow.

Before Dark could respond, however, Luna interjected.

“That was a skill, right?” She said, referring to something I had done during the fight. “That parry, I mean. I searched in the city, but there weren’t any skill instructors.” Her eyes narrowed.

Shaking my head I answered honestly.

“No skill involved I’m afraid.” I said before realizing I was, in fact, lying. “At least no Skill-skill. I was merely doing what I have learnt in the real world.”

“Arrrgghhhh!” Dark exclaimed in exaggerated dejection. “Of course! God forbid the game should be user friendly!” He complained about how spartan the game was.

After a brief hesitation, I decided to share my discovery with them.

“Although I haven’t found any skills yet,” I emphasized. “I did unlock a proficiency called “swordsmanship”.”

Seeing the teenager perk up at my words, I continued. “I’m pretty sure you can unlock it too if you start fighting with a sword. In fact, I bet there are loads of different proficiencies out there.”

“Proficiencies? Maybe I can be an archer after all.” The young boy, Atom, muttered to himself.

“But those require weapons, don’t they?” Luna was quick to point out the issue. “And there is no way you could be persuaded to sell your sword, is there?”

I didn’t even have to answer, it seemed.

“Maybe I can do what you did.” Dark mused out loud. “Maybe I just need to challenge one of the guards?”

Observing him, it was like a light bulb had been turned on in his head. Opening my mouth to warn him, I hesitated before ultimately deciding to close it again.

“If he wants to try it, it’s his choice.” Suddenly, I remembered what Guard Yang had said.

“It’s your life.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

…

As I expected, Dark didn’t unlock any proficiency. Yet, his time wasn’t entirely wasted as he did become more proficient at taking a punch. Watching his endeavors, there were multiple factors that contributed to his failure.

Firstly, the remaining guards had learnt their lesson and they took their challenger seriously from the get go; no more overconfident overhead swings to take advantage of. Secondly, albeit quick on his feet, Dark fumbled whilst handling his sword which, to his evident surprise, was a lot heavier than he had thought. Thirdly, and finally, after losing his few remaining copper coins, there weren’t many who were willing to accept his little gauntlet anymore.

At least the guards got a good laugh when Dark addressed one of them as grandpa. I reckoned it did much to alleviate some of the harsher feelings induced by my victory.

Unlike their travel companion, Luna didn’t challenge any of the guards, instead, like me, she patiently observed Dark’s efforts and took note of what worked and didn’t work.

Finally, Atom seemed like the kind of person who would rather opt out of a fight whenever he could.

Caressing my new sword, I smiled as I helped Quan Zan pack up camp.

Apparently, we still had three more hours until nightfall, and the caravan leader wasn’t willing to waste it.

Now that I was properly acquainted with three of the players in the caravan, we naturally chose to travel together.

“Do you think the sect recruitment will be difficult?” Dark asked as we walked side by side. Next to Dark, Atom fiddled with a twig he’d found on the side of the road. Luna was half a step behind me.

“There will most likely be some kind of test.” I said, not afraid to offer my thoughts on the issue. “But I can’t say how difficult it’ll be.”

“You’ll probably pass it easily…” Dark muttered quietly; his eyes glancing at the sword hanging from my waist.

“Maybe.” I said. “But without knowing what the test assesses, I’m not taking anything for granted. And I doubt combat ability is the only thing they will look at.”

“Why?” Luna asked.

Turning around to look at her, I hesitated before answering.

“How familiar are you guys with the Xianxia genre?” I answered her question with one of my own.

“I know a bit.” Dark revealed. “When they announced the release of Cultivation Online, I studied it of course. Xianxia is about attaining immortality, right?”

“Yes and no.” I responded. “It’s more of a mix of different philosophies. Inspired by Chinese religion, martial arts, traditions, mythology, and Daoism, xianxia is about cultivating qi to strengthen the body, mind, and spirit. In doing so, you basically “level up” and become stronger. In some cases, you even unlock supernatural powers.”

“Yeah I read about that.” Dark added. “I heard we can fly and get telekinetic powers.”

“Cultivators can, yes.” I corrected. “At this point of the game, everyone is still mortal.”

“Except Fishbones.” Luna pointed out.

“Maybe.” I assuaged. I doubted he’d progressed far without support.

“I don’t get how any of this has to do with the test though?”

“Right,” I took a deep breath. “So, in most Xianxia stories, one must be talented enough to be accepted into a sect. Naturally, it differs in different stories, but basically, talent dictates your innate ability to absorb, refine, and cultivate qi.”

“So the test will assess our talent?” Dark asked.

“That’s my conjecture.” I nodded. Ultimately, however, it was all guesswork. The playerbase would flip if something as arbitrary as chance or fate decided who gets to be an omnipotent immortal and who is destined to remain as powerless as an insect.

“Shit, I’m feeling kinda nervous all of a sudden.” Dark laughed awkwardly. “It kinda reminds me of tests back in high-school hahah..”

“We’ll see.” I said. “In the end, all any of us can do is our best.”

Unfortunately, my words did little to assuage their worries.

Or my own.

…

When dusk approached, the caravan stopped for the night. Apparently, traversing the road at night was a fool’s errand. Though we had yet to see any, the guards claimed there were monsters - and worse - lurking behind the treelines, waiting anticipatingly for foolish travelers to wander into the woods.

For some reason, when I looked into the ancient forest, I didn’t doubt their words the slightest.

Unlike the last pitstop we’d made, a proper camp with tents was set up. The horses had to be groomed and a parameter had to be established. Like last time, I helped out and earned a copper coin for my efforts.

“Slowly I’m becoming the richest player out there.” I thought as I nibbled the stale bread I had bought.

Around camp, I noticed that the remaining players had formed several cliques, with mine being one of them.

Surprisingly, some players had wandered off, leaving the safety of the caravan to fend for themselves. I both respected and derided the decision. Yet, like the wise guard had said, it was their lives.

According to Quan Zan, we’d made good ground today and would most likely arrive at Durnatel sometime tomorrow evening.

I didn’t necessarily look forward to another day of travelling on foot but I was excited about our destination.

Unwilling to sleep on the forest floor, I didn’t hesitate to log out for the night.

…

Silently, I looked at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. In it, a middle-aged man with way too many gray hairs stared back at me. Compared to my youthful character in Cultivation Online, my real body seemingly had much to make up for.

Sighing, I brushed my teeth, sent a couple of text messages to my children, and went to bed.

…

The next morning was starkly different compared to my normal morning routine. I basically inhaled my morning coffee, forwent scrolling on my phone entirely, and dipped in and out of my long shower with a toothbrush in my mouth.

Then, before I had even said so much as a word, I logged in to Cultivation Online again.

Back at the camp, I took a deep breath, savoring the fresh, woody smell of pine and the earthy smell of moss. Looking around, I quickly discovered that I might have rushed a bit too much. Most NPCs were still fast asleep.

Impatient to get started, I walked off to do some morning exercises.

Holding the heavy one-handed sword in both hands, I frowned as I recalled my old kendo drills.

“Relax your shoulders.” I thought as I repositioned my feet. After a few breaths, I started.

“Was it always this difficult?” I complained as my arms began to ache. Nevertheless, I stubbornly continued. I had once been able to do all these drills without stopping, as such, I wouldn’t need to rest now either.

Nearly an hour later, I had gone through three different drills and was positively leaking sweat.

“This is going to smell later…”

Still, I wouldn’t stop smiling as I read the new prompt.

[“You have invented a new ‘Basic Swordsmanship Training’ exercise. As the creator of this exercise, please name it.”]

After thinking for a bit, I decided.

“Bishop’s Kendo Drills.”

[“Bishop’s Kendo Drills executed. Performance rating 31%.”]

[“Results: +1 Swordsmanship Lv. (Beginner 1 > 2); upper body strength, breathing, and endurance have improved marginally.”]

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