Dragon’s Road
Chapter 2
Ki Conditioning in Royal Road
An hour before the sun rose, Ryuu walked down the streets of Varhales carrying four stacked crates of milk. The weight of the milk and the heavy training gi caused his stamina to drop while walking at the same rate it dropped for others while long distance sprinting. Stamina doesn’t drop at all unless one performs strenuous activities, but using it up constantly had benefits.
Endurance rises by 1 point (+1 END)
After walking around with the weighed clothes for a few days, Ryuu gained a new stat, Endurance. The new stat decreased the amount of stamina his actions used up, prolonging how long he could work, fight, or run before having to rest.
About five hours after Ryuu equipped the gi, he received a message that stated that his Strength stat had increased, something that made it slightly easier to move around. Since then, every once in a while he would receive a message saying that either strength or agility had increased, and after gaining Endurance, that stat increased every once in a while as well. But his stats only increased while doing activities, faster so with physically harsh ones, so to maximize the training he got several physically demanding jobs.
His job as a milk delivery man was that at the porch to each house along his route, he had to put down the crates, set a single bottle of milk on the porch, and and replace it with an empty bottle that was left out. The whole of the delivery of every milk bottle had to be completed before morning and the crates of empty bottles returned to the dairy.
Besides greatly increasing the speed in which he received bonus stats, the jobs gave him enough money to buy food for when his avatar got hungry. Although it was a game, when satiety, hunger got to critical levels, health would decrease over time . And since having a meal increased the rate at which stamina and health recovered for a while, eating a bit before training increased its effectiveness and could prolong its duration.
After another half hour Ryuu returned to the dairy with four crates of empty milk bottles.
The boss said, “Ah, Ryuu, you’ve return so early. Here is your pay, see you tomorrow?”
Ryuu took the single silver piece and said, “Yes of course. I can take five crates tomorrow if needed.”
The boss smiled and said, “Ah, if I had five more like you I’d be able to retire. We’ll talk more tomorrow morning.”
Ryuu thanked the man again and went to the outer ring of the city. They paid people to plow the land for crops. Of course since they charged a small fee to rent a plow, Ryuu used his hands alone to dig for the whole of the morning.
After finishing a pack lunch he would assist construction workers in the inner city with material delivery. He stacked wheelbarrows of brick and mortar and moved them where they needed to go. That would not have been difficult but the wheelbarrows were flimsy and tended to tip over if not balanced perfectly. The arm strength required to keep it stable when fully loaded was well above average, more so when the sleeves of his gi weighed at least 25 lbs a piece.
The progress was slow and painstaking, but over time he did grow more and more use to the weight of the clothes thanks to the added stats.
After the construction job he would go to a small restaurant that had good, cheap food. One day, a person in what Ryuu recognized to be a mage’s robe sat down next to him at his table and said, “Hey, I’ve seen you here before.”
Ryuu nodded, “Good food here.”
The mage nodded. He seemed to be late twenties, early thirties, only a few years younger than Ryuu. He said, “You’re new to Versailles right? Still stuck in the city?”
“Another three weeks.”
“Got a class yet?”
“Not yet.”
“Looking for something strong?”
Ryuu stopped eating, looked the mage right in the eye and said, “The strongest.”
The man nodded and said, “Well, you look like you’re the type to go for a physical class. Am I right?”
Ryuu nodded.
“Well, sorry to break it to you, but in this game, magic beats might.”
Ryuu had talked to many people over his life, enough to know the difference between disrespect and honest criticism. The mage spoke for the latter. He was not insulting him, just saying aloud his honest opinion that Ryuu’s path was wrong.
Ryuu didn’t take it personally, he replied, “I think I’ll still choose might. After all, I know nothing about magic in Royal Road.”
“Not that much to know. To get a mage class doesn’t require prior skill, only money. You pay the mage guild who then gives you the class after you choose a discipline.”
“Discipline?” In martial arts, that referred to the branch of martial arts one chose, such as Muay Thai, or Krav Maga.
The mage continued, “Yea, for example I choose lightning. Then I got the Mage class, two skills, and a spell; those being Magic mastery, Lightning Affinity, and Lightning bolt. To get more spells I need to buy the spell books from a magic guild. Of course I can only learn the spells if I meet the required Magic Mastery skill level. I can learn spells from disciplines other than my chosen one, but they won’t be as strong unless I learn the affinity skill for their element and train it up as well. Doing so is time consuming and difficult. Mages who learn multiple disciplines and affinities like shamans exist, but they are always weaker than purists for their respective elements since they have to split their time training them.”
Plenty of what the mage said could be related certain aspects of martial arts, so Ryuu followed the whole explanation with ease. Ryuu said, “I see. And why tell me this?”
The man smiled. “Simple. I’m offering to sponsor you. I’ll pay for the fees to get you the class and two spells of your choice.”
“Why?”
“It is what my guild does. I’m apart of the Red Valkyries. The offer is only good if you join the guild. Five months ago I started Royal Road, and while I was still trapped in the city, a guild member recruited and sponsored me. They helped me when I was weak and got me all the way up to level 100. The same offer has been extended to you. The only thing the guild asks in return is to come when the guild requires you.”
Ryuu said, “Thanks but no thanks. The strength I need is strength of body. Though I appreciate the offer.”
The mage shrugged. “Alright, suit yourself.”
Ryuu finished his food and left for the city’s quest board. After milk delivery, field work, construction, and dinner, he would go to the board to see what quests were available and which of them could be done by someone low level who couldn’t leave the city.
Today however there were only quests to find items or kill monsters. Unless he suddenly discovered a source of mithril ore within the city he wouldn’t be able to find it for an alchemist, and until he left the city he wouldn’t be able to track bounties or kill monsters.
So instead he found a secluded spot to practice his forms away from prying eyes. First as always, he sat down and focused on his body. He thought back to what the cocky newscaster said to him about fanciful concepts of moving faster than the eye could see and shooting energy out of one’s hand. Such things however were not entirely just in the world of television.
Energy is moved through the body through blood vessels and nerves in the form of nutrients, oxygen, and electric pulses sending information. The efficiency nerves move information through the body can be increased through practice, this is the source of muscle memory. The strength of the signals sent from the brain through the nerves to move the body can be increased by using a second source to command movement other than the motor control center of the brain. This secondary source is visualization. The act of visualizing something happening in the body has an effect on the body. Visualizing energy moving through the body can strengthen it, imagining a punch or kick moving faster while punching or kicking can make it faster. The strength of the signals being sent by the nerve cells can be increased to a point where they can have certain effects one won’t find in a medical textbook. Using such effects, there are masters who can put a candle out from the other side of a room with a punch, cause a man to faint from a distance without warning or prior knowledge, and do things that can’t be truly explained through words other than ‘Mind over Matter.’
Outside of Royal Road, he could feel his energy move through his body when he imagined it moving. He could direct his blood to deliver more nutrients to his muscles to make him stronger for a few minutes or direct it to his wounds to heal them faster. However when he started Royal Road, he could not feel it move in his body. Still, imagining his body moving faster in Royal Road did move it faster. So it was not that it did not work, the ability to do so had just been reset to zero for his avatar within the game. He had to build it up again as he once did for his body many years ago.
To start off he imagined moving nutrients to his muscles. He visualized his intestines, the organs that took nutrients from food and imagined energy traveling from them, through his bloodstream to his heart, and then to his muscles (This was most effective if done after eating). He also imagined doing the same for oxygen, flow from his lungs, to his heart, then to his muscles after each breath.
Ding*
New skill acquired: Ki Circulation.
“Oh? Open skill window, Ki Circulation.”
Ki Circulation [1] 0%
Move ki throughout the body to increase health
Health and stamina regeneration increased by 10% during circulation
+3% STR, AGI, and VIT for 5min after performing Ki Circulation.
Requires Ki
Ryuu had become proficient enough in game terms over the past week to understand that the skill seemed to do in the game what it really did in real life. It made him wonder what other things he could do in real life that could be turned to skills in game.
In any case the stamina regeneration would be useful during his training.
Two weeks after putting on the weighted gi, Ryuu could move as well in it as he was able to without it before starting. He returned to Kame’s house and knocked on the door. After a few minutes, it opened revealing the old hermit.
“Hello, who are you?”
“... I’m Ryuu, I asked for your training two weeks ago and you lent me this gi...”
“Huh? Oh yes, that gi does seem familiar. You seem to be moving quite well in it.”
“Yes, you said to return once I could.”
“Did I? Alright, follow me to the back.”
The hermit slowly lead him to the back of his house where his yard met the wall.
He said, “Alright, you can return that gi now.”
Ryuu had not unequipped it since he received it, but now he could remove it. After re-equipping his starter clothes, every inch of his body felt weightless.
The hermit handed Ryuu a piece of chalk and said, “Run up the wall as high as you can and mark that spot.”
Ryuu felt confident, the stone wall had plenty of traction to grip. He backed up a few feet before running straight into the wall and leaping. His momentum carried him six steps, almost fifteen feet high before he marked the wall and flipped off.
The hermit looked impressed. Then he went to a shed near the back of his house and opened it. It had a dozen hammers, each with a larger sledge than the previous.
“Choose the heaviest one you feel you can use.”
Ryuu had no intention of overestimating himself, so he picked one he could swing a few times without losing his balance, it was the third heaviest.
Kame nodded again. “Alright, the next part of your training, wear these.”
The old man had four rings in his hand, which Ryuu took.
You have obtained Atlas Ring of restraint [4]
After he saw Ryuu equipall four to his hand, the hermit backed away a step and Ryuu followed, but on taking a step, he collapsed from his own weight.
Physical weight increased by 200%
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Stamina consumption rate has increased.
Movement speed decreased by 80%
The hermit said, “Each ring has a gravity type curse on it that increases the wearer’s original weight by 50% You can start off wearing one or two, but train until you can wear all four. Then, train until you can run up the wall to the point you marked while wearing all four.”
He was about to leave, but from his prone position Ryuu asked, “Wait, what about the hammer?”
“Hmm? Ah, yes. At night there are some annoying crickets that keep me awake. Use the hammer to smash them. When you can smash a cricket with that hammer and run up to that marked point while wearing all four rings, you can move onto the next training.” And with that he returned to his home.
Ryuu tried to get up but his body that had weighed 210 lbs, now weighed 630 lbs. The previous training allowed him to handle half that, but now he was back to square one.
It took ten minutes to get up without falling over. It wasn’t that it was impossible, but balancing is exponentially more difficult when every part of the body carries more weight than one is use it. Ryuu wondered on whether or not to take off a few rings, but decided against it. He would build back up to 4 eventually, so no point in going backwards. That being said, moving around and doing the jobs he had been up to would be much harder, if not impossible without taking the rings off.
Ryuu put everything he had into running. He decided he would simply run laps around the outer ring until he got the hang of balancing, no matter how many times he fell. It took about fifteen minutes for his stamina to run dry, but that in itself was an opportunity to use Ki circulation to regenerate it faster. Since skills in Royal Road increased in strength with use, the more he used it, the stronger the skill got. After two hours he finished one lap, something his weakest student could finish in 15 minutes on a good day.
He kept going until the early hours of the morning. At that point he could walk at normal speed without suddenly falling over, but there was no way he could hold five milk crates. He discovered when he tried to lift the hammer that the increase in weight applied to things he lifted as well as his equipment.
Instead of giving up or backing down, Ryuu went to the dairy an hour and a half earlier. The boss was there and allowed him start earlier. Ryuu could not hold all five crates so he picked up one, delivered the milk, picked up the empty bottles, and returned to get the next crate. It required more work and took more time, but he successfully managed to deliver the milk.
The same way he plowed the fields and did construction, he took more time with lighter loads, but he did each job. Although both physically and mentally exhausting, at the very least Ryuu knew the training was worth the effort it took. The point at which he got used to Kame’s training gi was the point that he no longer received stat points while working in it. Since switching to the rings, he had already received seven stat points in less than twenty four hours, by far a record for his stat training.
After eating dinner he bypassed the city quest board and went straight to his training spot.
He was starting to get the feeling of his ki again after two weeks of daily Ki circulation. By focusing it in his legs he could withstand more weight and run faster, by focusing it in his arms he was stronger and his punches were faster. Focusing his ki was really just strengthening the image that his limbs were receiving more nutrients and oxygen, thus were stronger, but it was simpler to think of it as energy and ki.
As always before training, he started with breathing and focusing on his body.
Skill level up: Ki circulation [6]
The skill had been increasing often due to how much he had been relying on it to recover.
“Show skill window, Ki circulation.”
Ki Circulation [6] 1%
Move ki throughout the body to increase health
Health and stamina regeneration increased by 60% during circulation
+4% STR, AGI, and VIT for 10min after performing Ki Circulation.
Requires Ki
The more he used the skill, the more useful it got. And it was still accurate to using the skill in real life. The more one used it, the stronger the nerve pathways got to use it again, making it easier to use with greater effects.
After confirming the progress of the skill, Ryuu decided this was the time to start practicing using Ki attacks in his avatar.
In the real world, Ryuu could imagine his nerves sending energy to his fists and bursting the energy out at the moment of impact. Besides dealing greater exterior damage, such an attack could also deal interior damage.
Nerve cells are not wires, but a series of transmitters and receivers sending information across small gaps using electric signals. If the strength of the signal was increased, the distance of transmission could increase as well. It was through this concept one person’s nervous system could affect another’s through touch without a direct nerve connection. A precise application of which could be used manipulate another’s organ and muscles to hurt or even heal specific areas. A less precise skill, whose only function was destruction, was to send a large, violent signal of ill intent through contact into another’s body. The effect of which was similar to using a taser on a computer, it damaged the inner systems. This however was never taught to beginners. More so even than pressure point strikes, ki attacks were dangerous. Receiving a strong ki attack can disrupt blow flow or organ function. This can even lead to organ failure without an obvious medical cause and result in death. Of course outside of videogames, it took more than a few months or even years of training to achieve such results. And in order to train to achieve them in the first place, you had to know it was possible to do so. Thus, this had become one of the larger secrets of martial arts and it was of course forbidden to use in tournaments due to its lethal nature. Therefore the concept of energy fists that could kill with one punch was looked at by the public as hype, and the the part of the martial arts community that knew the truth, let it be so.
That being said, killing someone in Royal Road was not really killing them. And using a fantasy-like skill in a fantasy game was not actually revealing that the skill was real.
After two hours of punching while imagining the energy traveling to his hand and bursting out with the right timing, he got two messages.
Ding*
New skill acquired: Ki Strike.You have gained a skill that uses up Ki. You can add the Ki bar to your screen from the Display menu in the Systems Option
“Ki bar? In the Display menu?... Open Menu.”
The menu opened in front of him. He clicked System which opened more options. There he clicked Display.
Display MenuShow messages ?Show Health bar ?Show Mana bar ?Show Ki BarBackExit
Since he had no skills that used mana so he unclicked ‘Show Mana bar’ and clicked to highlight ‘Show Ki Bar.’ After finishing he clicked, ‘Exit,’ but this prompted another window to show up.
Would you like these changes applied to your status menu as well?
-Remove 'Mana' gauge from the Status menu
-Add 'Ki' gauge to Status menuYesNo
“Hmm, sure.” He clicked ‘Yes,’ then to see the effect, he said, “Show Status Menu.”
Status WindowExitAvatarRyuuAlignmentNeutralTitleNoneLevel2ClassNoneFame5InfamyNoneHealth320Ki170Strength26Agility29Wisdom10Intellect10Leadership0Luck0Vitality19Endurance30Attack9Defense2Magic Resistances-None
To check if 170 Ki was a lot or not, he said, “Open skill window Ki Strike.”
Ki Strike [1] 0%
Moves ki to the extremities and bursting it at the moment of impact.
Attacking with Ki increases attack and adds non-physical Damage.
Cost: 20 Ki
According to the numbers, he could use the skill eight times before his Ki ran dry.
A side effect of having no Ki, besides, being dead tired, was that he could not use the Ki circulation skill. Also, Ki took longer to regenerate than mana or even health did, so it was not something to be wasted casually.
Ryuu went back to Kame’s house each day to try the wall run, but it took four days before he could go more than three steps up the wall. Also, the crickets he had to smash only came out at night. The bugs themselves were black and thus impossible to see in the shadow of the wall cast by the moon, and they jumped away whenever the hammer was brought down. Ryuu found himself having to hold up the hammer while listening for the sounds of chirping each night, and smashing the dark floor, hoping a cricket was beneath it.
One night three weeks after putting the rings on, Ryuu smashed down the hammer and listened quietly, only to hear silence. A few days later after hundreds of failures, he was able to run seven steps up the wall to his previous mark.
Ryuu knocked on Kame’s door once more.
“Oh, hello. I can’t hear any more crickets, that’s pretty impressive. You reach your mark?”
Ryuu held up his hand wearing four rings and said, “Yep. I’m ready for the real training.”
Kame said, “Alright, then go to the beginner training hall.”
“What? But what about your training?”
“My training? You’ve been doing my training since you started, and now you’ve completed it obviously. Here is your reward.” He got out another gi, an orange one that looked lighter, and seemed to be made of nicer materials. Ryuu almost expected it to be heavier than stone, but it was lighter than a feather.
You have obtained Hermit Graduate Gi
“Good luck. You can keep the rings. I have no intention of taking another student anyways so I won’t need them. Sell them or give the training to someone else. Good luck and goodbye.” With that he closed the door.
?Chapter 3 Familiar Training
?Chapter 1 The Strongest Man in the World
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