Hiro awoke to the sound a heavy thunderstorm. The sky flashed brightly with each lightning strike. It was raining heavily outside and it was much colder than it had been for the last 2 days. He couldn’t take the chance of getting sick so it was too risky to go out. He decided to stay in and practice his fighting skills as he felt that honing them would increase his chances of survival in this world. He thought to himself, “What is the basis of being a warrior?” Then he remembered that the basis of all fighting was a strong and agile body. He thought back to his days of martial arts practice. Every practice would begin with a warm-up, followed by stretches and ending with skill practice. He began with doing jumping jacks to warm up his body. He was never really good at this so he thought 25 would be good to start. He began jumping up slightly until is hands clapped above his head and his feet were spread open then he return to the start position. His body was moving pretty well and he was not feeling any labor in his breathing as he had in the past. Hiro decided to do some more and do them faster until he broke a slight sweat. He counted, “25….. 40…. 75…100!” It took him 100 jumping jacks just to break a sweat. This was crazy.

Next he decided to do some body exercises pushups, squats, and situps. He started with sets of 10 for each exercise. He got down on his hands and began doing push ups. He pushed himself into a plank postion then lowered himself until his chest almost touched the ground. His body felt strong much stronger than before. He completed ten pushups in almost effortlessly. Then he moved to squats. He put his feet shoulder length apart and placed his hands behind his head. He looked up towards the roof of the cave a proceeded to lower his body until his butt was as low as he could get it without falling. After that he returned to the start position and did 9 more completing his set. Again he still wasn’t really feeling anything. Now he moved to the last of the body exercises which was situps. He placed his back on the ground and moved his legs up as he bent his knees. Then he placed his hands on either side of his head a lifted his head up to his knees by contracting his abdominal muscles. Then he returned to the start. He quickly did 9 more repetions of situps but he was not feeling any fatigue so he did another set, then another and another. After completing 5 rounds of these calisthenics his body barely felt fatigued. So he did more and more and more. By the time he was exhausted he counted that he did over 250 of each exercise!  

Ding!”  Due to your strenuous workout you have gained 2 points in strength, 2 points of agility,  and 2 points of vitality.

“What is going on? My body could never do this before. I can become stronger in this world like this? I never imagined practicing the basics like this would help me to improve in this type of situation.”Hiro decided to rest for a bit to recover his stamina. Then using this premise of practicing would make his skills increase he assumed a fighting stance and began throwing punches and kicks each time trying to maintain his balance and perfectly execute the technique. Once he practiced his basics he began to visualize an opponent in front of him. He attacked his opponent as he visualized various weaknesses in his imaginary opponent’s defensive stance. Now it was time to work his own defense. He visualized his opponent was attacking him by throwing various kicks and punches. To combat the attacks, first he decided to practice blocking. First, he used multiple blocks to stop his imaginary opponent's attacks. He began with high and low blocks, then mixed in some elbow blocks and finally attempted some soft parrying like blocks that could lead to counter attacks. Next he decided to try using some footwork to avoid the blows. He was hit several times by his imaginary foe until he began to get the hang of it. He began to look closely at his opponent and observe his movements. He could not use his prediction ability on this enemy so he had to be more observant. Soon he was able to avoid the blows by creating distance that was advantageous to him. He moved in and out, side to side to avoid the blows from his attacker. Then he closed the distance and tried to avoid the blows without moving away. He began to avoid the attacks using upper body head movement, ducking, and swaying. He was really beginning to move around. His body was sweating profusely but Hiro was enjoying every minute of his training.

Ding! You unarmed combat has increased to level 4!

Ding! you have learned the skill, dodge

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:DodgeBeginner10%This skill allows the user to be more difficult to hit in combat. Relying on quick movements the user is able to avoid damage and move into more advantageous positions in combat. With each level the user is awarded +5 to agility.

Next came weapon training. He took out his spear and thought about all of the martial arts movies that he would watch on tv for hours on end. He began to practice each and every move, thrusts, blocks, and slashes on his imaginary foe. As time passed he was able to twirl the spear and complete numerous strings of various movements that he remembered from watching on tv. He was now pummeling his imaginary foe with his spear repeatedly and blocking his attacks with the spear. He was beginning to get more accustomed to using the weapon.

Ding! Your spear mastery increased to level 4!

As he was pouring sweat he felt his stomach beginning to growl. His hunger forced him to decide that he would go out. As he adorned his panther tunic, he looked out into the woods. He felt that he was ready to take on anything that came his way. He thought to himself, “I need to find a new weapon. Something that can do some real damage when I attack a stronger enemy and I also need to try to explore further into this forest to see if I can find a way out to a town to complete my quest.

After a few minutes the rain subsided and the sun came out. The temperature was pleasantly warm after the cooler wet morning. Because of the heat and moisture in the air his leather tunic and pants were a bit uncomfortable but he knew they were necessary for his survival. Hiro went out of his cave and resumed his exploration of the forest. On his way he saw a few forest rats but they ran at the sight of him. “I guess they thought I was the forest panther”. I picked a good animal to make my tunic out of. He continued out into the forest where he saw a human looking thing. It was about the average height of a 10 or 12 year old child but it had green skin with pointy ears. It wasn’t wearing any armor or any clothes at all for that matter. Immediately, Hiro activated his hide skill to erase his presence and then used inspect.

GoblinType: MonsterLevel 5Health:100 / 100Mana:0/0a weak monster that lives in the forest. Goblins are known to be dim witted but they travel in groups so be careful when approaching.

Upon further inspection of the enemy, Hiro noticed that it carried what appeared to be a rusty short sword. “I need to get that sword”, he thought to himself. I will have to be sneaky in order to get up behind it and even if I can’t manage it should still be fine. It did not have any armor and I am much larger so I should have the advantage. I’ll activate my predict ability to be on the safe side. Hiro continued to sneak around behind the enemy. “This hide skill is amazing! I’m making almost no sound at all. He won’t notice me until it is too late.” Hiro continued to sneak up behind the enemy until at last he sprang up behind the goblin. With his spear firmly in his hands he thrust it directly into the goblin’s back. The spear easily penetrated through the goblin and it fell limp and lifeless on the ground. Hiro quickly looked around for any signs of other goblins. He didn’t notice anything so he took the sword, a bag the goblin had, a necklace it was wearing and ran off into the woods.  That was pretty. Was that a result of my increased spear mastery skill?

Hiro then took the sword out and took a few practice swings. This sword feels pretty light and this bag seems to have something in it and I wonder what this necklace is. Well now that I have a minute, I’ll inspect them all.

Iron  ShortswordType:Short swordDurability:15 / 25Quality:LowIron Shortsword: a short sword that is stained with blood from numerous battles. The blade is chipped and covered in rust but it will still cut through most enemies.

Magic BagType:BagDurability:100 / 100Quality:MediumMagic bag: Has 8 slots within the bag. Each slot will an item. The item can be stacked up to 10 times.

Tooth necklaceType:NecklaceDurability:25 / 25Quality:LowTooth necklace: Necklace that a hunter wears to show his conquests. The wearer will gain 4 points to strength while wearing it.

This was definitely a good haul. Hiro looked around and noticed that no one was around so he placed his spear on his back and took the sword in his hands. He began swinging it over and over. Some of his attacks were thrusts others were slashes.

Ding! You have learned the passive skill sword mastery.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Sword MasteryBeginner010%This is the user's proficiency at using sword type weapons. As user improves the skill new techniques will be unlocked as well as improved ability to wield weapon and damage.

I’ll put the necklace on put the bag on my hip for now and I will have to see about how well I can use the sword when I get back tonight. For now, I have to find some food. Hiro began to walk through the forest but he was unsuccessful in finding any enemies to kill for food. He began to venture into an area that he had not gone to before but he was getting desperate as his hunger was beginning to grow. As he walked into this new area the thick forest changed into a pleasant grassy area full of all kinds of different colored flowers. This place was absolutely beautiful but Hiro had no cover so any enemies could see him at a distance. Hiro began to boldly march out onto the plains area. In the distance he was unable to see anything that could be food so he decided to go back into the woods.

Ding! A dangerous presence has been detected.

Just then he heard a noise from behind him. Then from out of the bushes hopped a dark figure, It was another forest panther. This time he would not wait to for the big cat to come at him. He would take the initiative and attack. He dropped his spear, pulled out his new rusty sword and readied himself for battle.  

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He thought this would be a good chance to see if I can use predict even better than last time. The cat growled and readied itself to attack. Hiro steadied himself and charged at the cat. His ability showed him the path of all the cat’s possible next attacks with red lines marking its trajectory. Due to his increase in speed, Hiro’s charge was pretty fast. He could not believe it himself compared to how he moved the first day. As he closed in on the beast, the first attack came toward his head. In anticipation he jumped and the cat slid underneath of him. He slashed the panther’s hind leg causing a smile amount of damage but the cat began to bleed. The panther growled at him but Hiro was unphased knowing that he had already defeated a forest panther he knew he could do it again. The beast raced towards him and Hiro dodged but this time he was slashed by the cat’s claws. He only lost 20 points of damage due to his tunic’s protective ability so the cat was not much of a threat now. He allowed the cat to attack him until his hp was cut in half to help build up his endurance stat then he went on the offensive. He began slashing the cat over and over practicing his swordplay. Finally, he dodged the attack of the beast by jumping onto the back of the cat where he plunged the blade deep into its skull instantly killing the beast.

Ding! You improved sword mastery to level 2.

Ding! Your endurance skill is now level 4.  

Hiro’s assumption that his strength had increased was correct. His training, new weapon, and new found abilities made him a formidable opponent for any beast. His increase in strength became even more apparent when he grabbed the carcass of the panther. It seemed a lot lighter than the previous one even though this one was about 150 cm tall and about 240 cm long. Hiro thought to himself, “Can this magic bag actually hold this corpse?” He decided to give it a shot. He placed the bag down and grabbed the head of the panther and began stuffing it into the bag. As soon as the head touched the bag it was swallowed up whole. Hiro checked his inventory.

Equipment

Weapons:

Wooden Spear

Iron Shortsword

Armor:

Panther leather tunic

Leather pants

Magic bag

Slot 1: Forest Panther corpse

Slot 2: Small hunting knife

Slot 3: Skinning knife

Slot 4-8: empty

This is so cool. Now I don’t have to carry it in my hand which leaves me free to catch more things. After two very bloody battles, Hiro decided to go and bathe in the lake near his cave.  When he arrived he took off his equipment and dove in. The water was clean and refreshing.

Ding! Swimming skill learned

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:SwimmingBeginner10%User is able to swim in water. With improvement the user is able to swim faster, dive deeper, and hold his breath for longer periods of time.

As he relaxed in the water he started to feel lonely with no one to talk to. He thought that isn’t much different than home. No one would talk to me their other than to pick on me or call me some kind of names. Oh well. I will carve out a new existence for myself here. I will be a warrior without equal. I will earn the name of hero. That is if there are any other people around. He decided to get out of the lake and go hunting for a little longer to see if he could find anymore worthy foes.

As he traveled he heard something in the bushes near him. His sense danger ability warned him that there was an enemy near. Hiro immediately pulled out his sword and took a defensive posture. He knew danger was near but he could not yet pinpoint its exact location. Just then several little green goblins jumped out at him. Once was already on his back biting him in the  muscle above his collarbone. The other two were encircling him in a quasi-pincer attack. Hiro felt the sharp teeth of the goblin tearing into his flesh causing him to bleed. He had to get it off. He took his blade and tried to thrust it into the head of the goblin but it released him before he could land the fatal blow. Now the 3 of them had Hiro surrounded.

Ding! You are bleeding. You are now losing 2 hp per second and any attacks to the wound will deal 50% more damage.

Hiro, recognizing that he was really in danger, immediately charged the goblin directly in front of him while activating his predict ability. He could see that the other 2 that were in his blind spot and were going to attack in from the sides so he jumped as high as he could. The missed him and ran into each other. The observe screen was right they really are dim witted.  The impact of them running into each other caused them both to fall down. Hiro then came down plunging his blade into the head of the goblin in front of him who had been frozen in place as Hiro set upon him with his blade. Now there were 2 left. Hiro immediately ran back to the other goblins that were on the ground. They had no weapons so he decided to take this opportunity to use his unarmed combat skills. He put his sword in the scabbard that he carried on his back and assumed his fighting pose. The goblins came at him and he parried their attacks on countered them with vicious punches to their bodies and heads. They moved much slower and had a lot less technique than the image of the foe he had created during his training so they were easy to defeat. The battle continued on and he beat them until they could no longer stand.Once they were unable to stand he jumped in the air as high as he could and stomp the heads of each one killing them in a bloody mess.

Ding! Unarmed combat is now at level 5

His hp had dropped to almost ½ of his maximum. This was a good battle. Now what should I do about this bleeding status. Hiro began to search around for something to stop the bleeding. He took his sword and cut a piece of his leather tunic off and wrapped it around his shoulder tying it under his arm. The bleeding stopped and his status was recovered.

Ding! You have learned the skill first aid.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:First AidBeginner10%With this skill you will be able to recover from light injuries more quickly by using bandages from various materials. As you improve the health recovery will be faster and you can stop more serious status ailments.

He looked around to see if there was any loot on the goblins. He only found a small container that looked like it could hold water. He went down to the lake and rinsed the container out several times. Then he filled it with water. Now that he was satisfied with hunting for the day he decided to get back to his cave for dinner. He gathered his equipment and made his way back to the cave. The sun was beginning to set so he gathered some wood and a couple of smooth stones.  He placed everything in his bag and went into his cave. Once he got to the entrance he noticed something lying on the ground. He moved closer and used inspect.

???Type:Human FemaleHealth:?? / ??Mana:???You are unable to discern any information with your present skill level.

It was another person. Hiro ran into the cave. It smelled of blood. The woman woke up startled and screamed, “Get away from me!”

Hiro replied, “It’s ok. I won’t hurt you.”

The woman got on one knee in a defensive posture as if she was readying to strike. She appeared to be injured as one of legs was not able to support her weight. Hiro noticed that his prediction ability was not showing any attacks coming from her so he knew she would not really attack him. He decided to start a fire and leave her alone while as he was confident that if she decided to attack his sense danger and prediction abilities would warn him in enough to defend himself. He used the skinning knife that was in the bag to skin the panther. Once he skinned it he used the fur to create a bed. Then he cooked the meat. The woman’s stomach made a growling sound. Hiro offered her some food. She snatched the food away and darted back to her area of the cave. After eating his fill, Hiro took the rest of the meat and put it in the bag hoping that if he was unable to find food he would be able to pull it out and eat it later.

Now it was time for his next project. He pulled out the smooth stone from his magic bag and the container of water.  He thought he might be able to use the smooth stones as a whetstone to sharpen his sword. It was extremely rusty and could use some refurbishing. He placed the stone on the ground and poured some water from his container on it. Then he began rubbing the blade of the sword against the stone. Slowly but surely the rust that was on the blade began to fall off and the shiny copper metal beneath began to show.

Ding! You have learned the skill of weapon sharpening.

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Weapon SharpeningBeginner10%This skill allows you to maintain and or improve the sharpeness of a weapon. In doing this you will restore its durability and increase the damage it does.At your present level you can only increase the damage by +2.

Once Hiro had remove all of the rust from his sword he then looked at the blade. It was back to its former metallic luster. The blade was now shiny and it looked razor sharp. Finished with his battle preparations he looked over at the woman and said, “I’m Hiro”. Then he asked the woman her name.

She replied, “Foria”.

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