Assembled Players: 0/10

Quest time remaining: 35:53:12

I awoke to the sound of rustling clothes and the smell of food. Opening my eyes, I saw someone creeping backwards towards the door, having left a tray on the floor beside me with a few small buns, a bowl of porridge, and a mug of steaming tea. It was one of my rescuers.

He no longer wore last night’s dark green clothing but had on a light gray, loose-fitting tang shirt with wide white cuffs, closed up the front to the mandarin collar with white frog buttons, along with matching gray pants that flared loose at the thighs and tapered down through the calves to simple white slippers laced up almost to his knees. Only the green armband was the same as the night before. His round face was alert and kind, with a long white scar running down one side from eye to jaw.

“Thank you,” I croaked.

“So you are awake,” he said.

“And alive,” I said, “thanks to you.”

He bowed his head in acknowledgement, then shuffled forward to the tray and lifted it up to me.

I struggled up to a sitting position and accepted the tray onto my lap with much gratitude. I expected it to hurt, but there was no pain, just some residual soreness, like I’d done a hard workout without stretching. Yes, I knew what that felt like, I had worked out before. I’d gotten myself a gym membership after splitting with my ex-girlfriend in that post-relationship self-improvement phase. Sure, I’d only gone a couple of times, but I did know what it felt like to work out. I reached up tentatively and felt my jaw. It was whole and seemed in proper working order. Then I felt my chest, and everything seemed fine in there now too.

“How?” I blurted.

“How are you healed so quickly?”

I nodded.

“Sifu is very skilled,” he said, then pointed to the empty bottle on the desk. “And his healing potions are very potent.”

I took a wary nibble on the bun. It was soft and warm and filled with some kind of sweet paste. I took a bigger bite. “This is really good,” I said, and he grinned again, clearly pleased with my reaction.

“I’m Shashu,” he said.

“Nife oo meechoo,” I replied through a mouth full of bun. I chewed and swallowed before speaking again. “Sorry, nice to meet you. I’m Daniel.”

I grabbed another bun and munched it while getting a better look around. I was in a different room than the one they’d brought me to during the night, a plainer room with lots of cupboards and a few cots.

Shashu Dragon Clan Warrior Skills:

Gossip - Adept

Kung Fu - Expert

Leadership - Competent

Teaching - Competent

“Where am I?” I asked.

“This is the infirmary,” he replied.

“Yes, but...where?”

“Ah yes, of course. We brought you back to our dojo last night.”

“Dojo? As in, a school for fighting?”

“Yes, but it’s more than that. The school is only one part of it.”

“And that old man last night...”

“Sifu, yes.”

“I’d like to thank him if I could.”

Shashu averted his eyes. “Sifu wants to see you,” he said in a demure tone. “Eat quickly,” he added ominously as he stood and backed up to the door. He gave me one last penetrating look before bowing and leaving me alone with my breakfast.

Did I imagine it, or was that fear in his eyes?

Nah.

I finished the second bun quickly and started on the porridge. It was a rice congee, thick and hot with small pieces of fish and some kind of root vegetable mixed in. Again, maybe I was just really hungry but it tasted fantastic, and all too soon I looked down at an empty bowl. Pressing my fingertips to the tray to capture the crumbs, I perched on the edge of the cot and sipped the tea as I nervously awaited Shashu’s return.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Shortly, the door slid open and Shashu appeared, bowing, with a basin of water and a fresh set of neatly folded clothing. “Wash, dress, and join us in the room at the end of the hall.”

“Thank you,” I said as he placed them beside me and picked up the empty food tray.

“Wait!” I said, then grabbed the cup and gulped down the last of the tea, nearly choking.

“Please hurry,” he said. I set the cup on the tray and he backed away, bowing once more before leaving.

I swiftly rinsed my hands in the warm water that filled the basin and splashed some on my face. I’d much prefer a nice, hot shower, but beggars can’t be choosers. The thought occurred to me suddenly that hot showers might not even exist in this world. If the primitive soap I’d seen in the shops yesterday was any indication, personal hygiene standards here were far below what I was used to.

I peeled off my blood-stained t-shirt, took a tentative sniff, and was surprised to smell nothing at all. Come to think of it, I wasn’t sweaty. It’s like my Player body didn’t sweat at all. Filing that away to explore later, I used my t-shirt to dry off before putting on the clothes I’d been given.

They’d given me a similar outfit to the one Shashu wore, only fancier. His had been made of simple linen but this was soft silk with an intricate dragon embroidered on the back. It fit perfectly and was surprisingly comfortable. I could get used to wearing something like this.

I folded my jeans and t-shirt neatly, even though the shirt was ruined.

If my real body is lightyears away in a tank in a spaceship above Earth, how come I woke up here in my Player body wearing the same clothing that I’d had on when I was abducted there? Yet another question I’ll have to ask Stratos if I ever get the chance to talk to them alone again.

I knocked softly on the sliding door of the room at the end of the hall and it immediately slid open. Shashu greeted me brusquely and ushered me in. The size of the room surprised me. It was a huge, open area clearly set up for martial arts training. Woven mats covered much of the floor where several pairs of young people wearing the same linen outfits and green armbands as Shashu sparred with each other. I noticed there were as many women as there were men, and everyone was fairly young. Racks of weapons lined one side, many were practice weapons made of wood but some looked very real.

I was surprised but happy to see Shannon, the newly named NPC cat girl from the night before. She didn’t have an armband, and seemed to be learning the most basic skills. Hopefully she’ll be able to defend herself against idiot Players from now on. I caught her eye and she waved to me. I waved back.

Shashu led me to a place on the side of the floor and bade me to sit. Then he crossed the training floor to where Sifu, in long silk robes with a similar dragon embroidered onto it as mine, wandered among his pupils offering the occasional guiding pointer or cutting remonstrance, whichever he deemed appropriate for the pupils in question.

Chow Bo Dragon Clan Master, Sifu Powers:

[Hidden]

[Hidden]

[Hidden]

Skills:

Laying On Hands - Expert

Kung Fu - Master

Teacher - Expert

More hidden powers, huh? Interesting. And a Master level skill. This guy must be important.

Shashu conferred with Sifu for a few moments, then found another Dragon Clan trainee on the practice floor to spar with. I sat watching the different pairs of students practice, but my mind was mostly focused on what had happened last night.

Kiki, that bitch. I didn’t care what she said, I was determined to assemble the best team I could. I didn’t know what got hurt more, my body or my pride, but I chose to ignore Kiki and her threats. I just had to make sure I could fight back next time, preferably alongside some powerful allies.

I brought my mind back to the present and realized I had been given the perfect opportunity to observe people doing kung fu, so I sat back and watched, hoping Jack Of All Trades would work its magic.

I noticed the various degrees of skill among the fighters. Some of the much younger ones were clearly beginners, but there were also some older experts whose moves were so fast and fluid I could barely follow them with my eyes.

System: You know Kung Fu

Bless you, Jack Of All Trades.

After a while the session ended and the fighters all began doing stretches on the mats. Shashu came over and told me to follow him, then led me over to where Sifu sat cross legged on a low dias.

Shashu knelt in front of him, indicating with a subtle glance and gesture that I should do the same. Once I was kneeling beside him, Shashu said, “This is Sifu Chow Bo, master of the dojo and head of the Dragon Clan.”

I cleared my throat. “Thank—”

The old man raised his hand to cut me off. I knelt there, fidgeting while the old man stared at me appraisingly. By the look on his face, I wasn’t sure if he liked what he saw. After a few disconcerting moments, he spoke to me in a clear, high voice.

“I know about last night.”

“It was—”

Chow Bo raised his hand again, this time only a fraction of an inch, but it was enough.

“You interfered with a fight.”

It sounded like a simple statement, but after the old man stared at me for a few long moments I started to think maybe I was missing something.

Was that a bad thing? Was it against the warrior code or something to get involved in someone else’s fight?

“Yes, sir,” I said.

“I am told you cannot fight, yet still you interfered.”

I sensed Shashu shifting on his knees beside me.

He probably felt guilty about telling the old man what a crummy fighter I was. And Sifu must’ve thought I was a skill-less idiot who almost got himself killed sticking his stupid nose where it doesn’t belong. Crap.

But hey, that was last night. I’d learned a few things since then.

“It’s true, last night I didn’t know how to fight,” I said.

One of his shaggy eyebrows lifted. “Is it different today?”

“Well, now I know kung fu.”

Sifu pursed his lips. “Last night you did not know kung fu.”

“No, sir.”

“But this morning you do?”

“Yes, sir.”

Chow Bo stood abruptly, his movements so swift and smooth it was as though he went straight from sitting to standing with nothing in between, and leaned toward me. “Show me.”