In a large, expensive-looking mansion, a young man was eating dinner with his father. “Jason, I’ve been thinking that maybe you should start playing this new game that came out.” The father spoke hesitantly in a stilting manner. It was almost as though he was talking to a stranger.
Likewise, the son looked up from his meal and fixed a blank stare at his face. “Why?” It was just one word, but it was a word so lacking in emotion and attachment that it may as well have come from a machine.
The father chose his words carefully. How ironic was it that he could control an entire board of high-powered executives, but he had such difficulty speaking with his own son? “Academically you’re excelling at school, but I worry about your social life. I let it go ever since the…incident, but it’s important that we do something about it.”
“Fine.” Jason stood up after finishing his meal. “I have to study.” As abruptly as he made that comment, he was gone.
The father put his face in his hands and sighed. His son’s attitude was wearing on him. It was so cold and detached that it hurt, but he had no right to feel sorry for himself since he was partially to blame. If he had been more attentive and more involved as a parent maybe this may not have happened. But he wasn’t and it did, so there was no changing that fact. What he could do was to fix his son now.
The following morning, he took Jason to the therapist’s office. It was the same one that had suggested the game in the first place. He was a well-respected doctor in his field. “Hello Jason, my name is Dr. Frederick.”
They were sitting in his office. It was the formal one he used for appointments and meeting new and prospective clients. Jason merely nodded silently. Seeing that he wasn’t going to get anywhere with Jason, he turned his attentions back to the father.
“Now Mr. Stone, what I’m proposing is an unorthodox method of treatment to be sure, but it’s something that’s proven quite effective in cases like this. What I would like to see happen is for your son to play the game on his own for a month, during which time he’ll be left to his own devices without any supervision. I’d like for him to build up his sense of self and have a period of self-discovery and self-awareness. So Jason, Just play the game as much as possible and do whatever you want to do. I’ve written down a few guidelines and suggestions to get started.”
“So that’s it?” Mr. Stone asked the doctor.
“For now, yes. Just let him play the game for as long as possible, while keeping his health in mind of course, and then bring him back at the end of the month.”
It was a quick meeting that only took a few minutes to complete, and then they were on their way back home. The father had already called ahead to get the installation in place. By the time they got home, the capsule was installed in Jason’s room and ready to play. Since the father was a shareholder in the company that designed the game, he was able to get the game a bit earlier than everyone else.
After going over the guidelines the doctor gave with Jason, he made sure to watch his son enter the capsule. After setting the timer on the capsule, he left the room and went to work. God, I hope this works.
*
*
*
Welcome to the avatar creation process. Please choose your avatar’s name.
Jason was a quiet and withdrawn teenager. With his head down and covered by his long, greasy hair, his back slouched and hunched over, and his general demeanor of acting small and insignificant, no one really bothered him. Even if they did, they left him alone after seeing how little emotion he expressed. It wasn’t that he didn’t have any emotions, he just kept them all buried inside.
Going into a silver, egg-shaped capsule and coming to a room of endless darkness however, was more than enough to stun and shock him. For the first time in a long while, he was interested in something. Now what did that window want? Oh right, a name. it was too much of a hassle to waste time on something as insignificant as a name, so he went with his own. “Jason,” he said quietly.
Please choose your avatar’s race.
Human-No bonuses or demerits for learning skills
Elf-All magic-related skills rise 20% faster. All combat-related skills rise 10% slower. All crafting-related skills rise 10% slower.
Dwarf-All crafting-related skills rise 20% faster. All combat-related skills rise 10% slower. All magic-related skills rise 10% slower.
Orc-All combat related skills rise 30% faster. All magic-related skills rise 15% slower. All crafting-related skills rise 15% slower.
Random-90% chance of getting one of the four main races. 9% chance of getting a sub-race of the main four. 0.975% chance of getting a special humanoid race. 0.025% chance of getting a monster-type race.
Warning: Some exceptions apply for skill bonuses and demerits.
More information available.
“Human,” he said immediately, following the doctor’s guidelines.
Appearance can now be modified. Warning, certain extreme changes, like changing the sex or drastically altering body structure is not permitted for compatibility and integration issues.
Since the doctor told him to idealize his body and change his body to look a bit more appealing, Jason made a few changes. “Make the hair shorter and make it look, add some more muscle, a bit more, okay stop.” He looked at his avatar that floated in the air before him. Even though they were minor changes, they changed his appearance dramatically. The shortened hair was a rich chestnut color and showcased his originally attractive features. He was always a fairly good-looking guy, but no one could ever see it before. The only issue he had was with his eyes. He wanted to change it, but the guidelines specifically forbade him from doing so. The problem was that they were heterochromic, with the left iris being a light, almost golden-brown, and the right being bright blue. “Alright, that’s fine.”
Please choose a starting location.
“Random.”
As verification, please confirm your decision. Do you, Jason, wish to be placed in a randomly selected starting area?
“Yes.” As soon as the confirmation was out of his mouth, the world was replaced by a blinding white light, as he found himself transported to the game world.
Interesting. He took a moment to appreciate the realism of the game. He could feel the breeze on his face and smell the mingling scents of a bustling city. When he took a look at his surroundings, he saw that this world was vastly different to his own.
It was in a medieval period-like era, and the buildings were reminiscent of ancient oriental buildings, though with a slight European-styled influence. He had skimmed through the guide that came with the game, and remembered that the game was an amalgamation of eastern and western fantasy, though with a heavier emphasis on eastern fantasy and martial arts.
It was a fairly large city that he had started out in. The buildings were of varying designs, but for the most part they were rectangular, made up of bricks and stone blocks, with tiled roofs. Reflecting the eastern fantasy element, the buildings were heavily influenced by Asian architecture. The clothing too was reflective of the period they were in.
He checked his inventory and saw that there were a few coins in there to start him off. “Stat window.”
Status WindowNameJasonRaceHumanLevel1TitleNoneFame/Infamy0/0Health100Mana100Strength10Agility10Stamina20Wisdom10Intellect10Attack1-3Defence0Magic Resistance0%
It was a fairly typically designed character. As a human everything was average, with no real strengths and weaknesses. Instead, there was almost unlimited potential to grow. What he knew about this game was that it was unlike any other game that had ever been on the market. Then again, since they cornered this particular market and only released on game prior to this, it wasn’t much of a surprise. Even so, it was a dramatically different game.
The first major change was the fact that it had done away with classes altogether, and allowed the character to learn almost any type of skill without impunity. However while it was possible to be a healer, a craftsman, and a warrior all at the same time, it wasn’t at all practical.
Time was the key factor. It wasn’t easy to master a skill, and thus it took a great deal of concentration to do so. Invariably, players would be forced to specialise in a given area. Additionally, there were certain restrictions on learning a skill. Since the game was heavily reliant on Eastern fantasy, there weren’t divisions between swordsmen and mages. It was all blended together and unified in combat. Instead of those distinctions, there were distinctions between sects. They functioned much the same as guilds did, however the difference was that players couldn’t run them, at least not at the moment.
Each sect had their own unique skill sets, and was fiercely proud of them. Learning skills across various sects was difficult to say the least. Some skills wouldn’t integrate well with others, and in most cases, people would be unwilling to learn teach skills to someone of a different sect. If someone wanted to leave a sect and join another, then the skills they learned in that particular sect would be sealed and removed. If they ran and tried to keep them, the sect would issue an order to hunt them down.
The sects were quite powerful, and each one ruled over a particular region, in many cases this meant an entire country. Since the sects were so large, they were typically broken up into different branches that spread out across the region they controlled. Each of those branches usually had a unique style of fighting, that was part of, and yet separate from the others. For instance, one branch might focus on swordsmanship, while another put more emphasis on magical and energy attacks.
However while sects were powerful in their own right, they were too numerous to exist individually, so they formed factions. It was a semi-unified group. The different sects congregated and formed these alliances because they had similar values, proximity, and often similar ways of fighting. While there were dozens of sects, there were only a handful of factions, though they could typically be broken down and placed into one of four groups: orthodox, neutral, unorthodox, and heretic. The first three were similar enough that there were rarely any large-scale conflicts between them, but on the subject of the fourth group, they were unified in their animosity.
Jason understood that he would need to figure out where he was, and who ruled the city, though that could wait for the moment. He was in no hurry to pick a specific path just quite yet. Since he didn’t have a particular direction in mind, he decided to wander around. There were a few other people dressed like him in simple grey clothes, who he assumed were beginners just like him. They immediately went to talk to the people around them, and gravitated towards the better-dressed and powerful-looking people. Even here, the weak sycophants throng about the strong, Jason thought bitterly.
He wasn’t going to suck up to people to get something out of them. He would never become one of those people. He wandered aimlessly through the streets, until he was lost amongst the winding side alleys. It was then that he saw a man running along an intersecting alley, as if there was somewhere he needed to be. Since it piqued his interest, Jason decided to follow him.
The man was faster than Jason was, but thanks to the many twists and turns, the stranger was forced to slow down every so often. For the first little while, Jason only followed him on a whim. Then, as the man kept running frantically to whatever destination he had in mind, Jason’s curiosity grew, and he became more determined to stay on his trail.
Finally, after chasing him for over thirty minutes, he saw that the man had stopped. They had burst out of the winding alleys, and stood before a gate set into a giant wall. The Immense wooden gates were carved from bleached wood, and the walls from light grey stone.
Several other people, about two dozen youths, were there waiting by the gates. Men and women around Jason’s age were gathered there. They had different appearances and wore different types of clothing, but they were all eager and excited.
The doctor told him to do whatever he wanted, so he walked forward and joined up with the crowd. A few more people trickled in while they waited, and after ten minutes or so, the gates opened up. Four men stood on the other side of the gate, all dressed in white, gold-trimmed clothes. They were all fit and healthy males in their prime. They were all middle-aged men in their forties or fifties.
One of the men stepped forward. He was the oldest one, his long hair and beard almost gone completely white. “Welcome prospective entrants to the Eternal Sun sect.” His voice boomed and carried loudly over the gathered group of people. “As you know, we are part of the Virtuous faction. What we need are strong fighters, warriors to stand against the dark and the heretic sects. Other sects only fight these heinous villains if they encounter them, but we exist to hunt them down and purge their evil from this world. If you aren’t prepared to fight against the strongest and deadliest forces of darkness, then leave now and join a common sect!”
His voice wasn’t just loud, it had a deep, rough timbre to it that invoked the sense of danger and terror in his words. A few people were scared off by the description, but most of them stayed. He looked at the remaining applicants and nodded in satisfaction. When he and the other three men walked back inside the compound, the applicants, Jason included, followed him at his heels.
The inside of the compound gave way to a giant courtyard. There were a few trees to add beauty to the space, but much of it was flat, grass-covered ground. Several of the sect practitioners were on the grounds practicing martial arts and meditating.
There were four immense buildings at the side of the courtyard, and one huge single-story building on the far side of the courtyard, directly across from the gate. The headquarters of the sect seemed to take up a large amount of space, as there were more buildings and flat grounds in the distance.
When they arrived at the huge single-story building across from the gate, the entire group marvelled at the impressive architecture. Six pillars went around the side of the building to hold the weight of the high ceiling. The floor was made from polished wood, and covered with large thin mats that divided the space up into six sections. While the youths were gawking at the design, the four older men passed out a set of plain white clothes to each of them there. There were two small screens set up in the room, so that people could change in privacy.
Jason was a player and could change his clothes automatically, but it was a strange concept for him. Instead, he changed the traditional way and tossed his beginner’s clothes into his inventory. The clothes themselves were only marginally better than his own. The only difference was the colour and the fact that the new clothes came with some better quality shoes.
When everyone had finished changing, the old man that had welcomed them spoke up once more. “Each of you is now an initiate of our sect. My name is Master Jinn. Behind me are Master Woods, Master Kline, and Master Yong.” He pointed to each of the men as he named them. “We are the ones who will be responsible for your training, though obviously we won’t always be able to teach you personally. During the course of training, you’ll either be deemed acceptable for further instruction, deemed unacceptable, or you’ll choose to leave of your own free will. The first step to determine your place with us, is to judge your abilities and inclinations. Since a warrior’s fist is more telling than their tongue, you’ll each attack me as best you can. I will fight back in order to test you, but not to an extent that it will cause any real harm. First, let’s start with you.” He pointed one of the male teenagers near the front of the group. Seeing that he was the first one picked, he had a look of panic on his face, but still moved to stand before the older man.
His posture was that of someone who never received any martial training. He was nervous and twitchy, his body swaying and shaking. Comparatively, Master Jinn’s stood in what seemed to be a normal and relaxed manner, but was perfectly still and controlled.
The youth did try his best, but his efforts were laughable in the face of Master Jinn’s might. Every punch he threw was swatted away like one might do to a fly. Every kick was unbalanced and powerless. Whenever Master Jinn took an attack on purpose, more often than not, it was the youth that stumbled afterwards.
When Master Jinn attacked, his moves seemed deceptively slow, but every single one of his attacks landed on the teenager. After two or three minutes of it, Master Jinn seemed to have come to a decision. He directed him to stand behind Master Kline and called upon another initiate.
He repeated the same actions as he did with the first initiate, and after a moment directed him to Master Woods. The process went on for about forty minutes, with each initiate being sent to one of the three masters that stood and watched, or to stand in a corner to be trained by Master Jinn.
Jason was the last one left to be tested. When Master Jinn’s eyes lit upon him, he knew that his turn was coming. However, just before Master Jinn could say anything, someone else entered the building.
“Well, well, I suppose these are the new recruits, huh?” The voice was loud and rude, and had an ugly tone to it. The voice belonged to a large man, who unlike the other masters was somewhat younger than the other masters, being in his mid to late thirties. He wasn’t as muscular as the other masters, and was instead relatively thin and slender.
While the other masters wore the same robes as him, his had old, faded stains upon it. While his face wasn’t anything remarkable, everyone couldn’t help but stare into his eyes. They seemed to shine brightly, glinting with cruelty.
“Master Chase, how…unexpected to see you here.” Master Jinn’s voice was flat and his eyes narrowed. The other masters had similar expressions on their face. It was the look one got when looking at vermin. Obviously he wasn’t a popular person around there.
Seeing the way they looked at him, Master Chase scowled at them before looking contemptuously upon the initiates. “I don’t see why, Jinn. Though I haven’t done so in a while, I still qualify to train initiates.” The informal way he called Master Jinn seemed to be purposeful, as he tried to get a rise out of him. “But this year’s batch is quite rude, aren’t they? They should know, to kneel before their betters!” He yelled out viciously, and scared everyone there into doing as he said, everyone that is, except Jason.
When he saw that Jason made no move to kneel like everyone else did, he walked over until he stood directly before his face. “Is there a reason why you aren’t on the floor like everyone else?” He snarled at Jason.
“Kneeling is a sign of respect. But I don’t respect you.” This man was the epitome of everything Jason hated and despised. He had long since sworn to himself, to never by cowed or bullied by anyone ever again. No one held that kind of power over him anymore, and he would never let them have it.
The man known as chase looked on in disbelief that someone would dare defy him, but that look in his eyes quickly turned to fury as the insult. “You, you…” Suddenly a calculating look filled his eyes, and he smiled with sick pleasure. “Hey Jinn, I think I’ll train this initiate from now on.”
One of the masters, Master Kline, stepped forwards angrily. “You can’t do that! You’ve never taught a single initiate, and even if you did, it’s up to master Jinn to decide who trains who.”
“Well the fact that I haven’t trained anyone is all the more reason to start doing so right now. And as for ‘Master’ Jinn choosing initiates? That isn’t a rule that’s set in stone, unless he wanted to use his power as sect leader to make it so.”
Seeing that no one was able to argue against him, Chase grabbed Jason by the shoulder and dragged him off.
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Master Jinn stared grimly at Master Chase’s retreating figure. While a part of him wanted to put him in his place, he was honor bound to treat him well. Since nothing more could be done, he turned to the other three masters in the room. “Take your initiates to your own branch headquarters and see to it that they get settled in.”
“Wait, we aren’t going to do anything about Chase? You know what kind of teacher he’ll make,” Master Kline spat out. The other two masters agreed with him, grumbling in discontent.
Master Jinn was frustrated since he too, agreed with Master Kline, but…”there’s nothing we can do. Even so, all that will happen is that he’ll drive the newest initiate out of our sect. Now let’s forget about this matter and deal with our other initiates.”
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“In you go.” Chase shoved Jason and threw him into the basement. His house was quite a bit away from any other building in the sect, almost isolated in fact. Despite that, he had a large house, with an equally spacious basement. It was a dirty, unkempt place, with various tools and strange equipment.
A thread of fear rose up inside Jason. It was like that other place, the place he tried to forget about. The basement, the stone wall, the candles that lit the room, it was all the same. No, no! You’re not there anymore. She can’t get to you anymore. As he calmed himself down and suppressed his emotions once more, Chase locked the door, pushed him into the middle of the room and went to press a crystal orb that was set into the wall. It was next to several other levers and orbs that were set into the wall. It glowed for a moment, and then the ground beneath him flashed with light, and formed a magic circle about two metres in diameter.
Circle of Immortality activated. While inside the circle, Satiety bar will be frozen and maintained at current level, stamina, Mana and health will be replenished immediately after being lost. Warning, protection does not extend to large, wide-area attacks that instantly consumes all life-force.
“You know, this little contraption took almost four generations to complete? If I was to sell this house, I could buy a small city with the profits. It really is remarkable. When you’re inside, I can stab you right in the heart, or the head and you wouldn’t die or even bleed, as the wound would close up as the weapon gets taken out. It’s not only an incredible defensive barrier, but it has particular merit for training. Now I don’t want it to be said that I’m not a good teacher, so I’ll teach you everything you need to know. And I think we should start with preparing you physically.” His smile sent chills down Jason’s spine.
He put his hands out before himself, and said something unintelligible. A clear barrier formed around Jason on the edge of the circle. It was a cylindrical barrier that extended up to the ceiling. Despite the fact that Jason has done his best to clamp down on his emotions, his voice still shook with a hint of nervousness. “Wh-what are you going to do?”
Chase flashed that same cruel smile at him. “I told you, I’m going to train you. You can feel free to leave at any time, so long as you prostrate yourself before me, and humbly apologize for being, a weak, lowly creature who couldn’t hope to reach the level of power that I possess.”
This time Jason couldn’t hold his emotions in check. It wasn’t fear he felt now, but rage. This man wanted to break his spirit like one would to a wild horse. Jason was going to prove to him just how wrong he was. He could take whatever this brute dished out at him. After all, he had already been broken down before, and he wasn’t going to repeat the incident. “Do your worst, but I’d damned if I ever bowed before you,” Jason said coldly.
Chase’s eyes narrowed in fury. “We’ll just have to see about that. Now if you were concerned about how being a traveller would impact you, you don’t need to be. I can wait for you to come back. That’s right, I know what you are. I suppose you could escape my training like that as well.”
“Oh don’t worry, I won’t be gone for any longer than necessary. I’m not going to run from you.”
Chase snorted. “Yes, you will, everyone always does. That’s what the smart ones do, the not so smart ones wait until it’s too late, and their mind and spirit are broken. Let me tell you a little story. Did you know that it’s actually a forbidden practice? The old masters said that something like this was too dangerous to put into practice. The old version almost always ended up with most of the initiates dead. But my great-great-grandfather, who was the Sect Leader at the time, saw an opportunity to strengthen his forces. He scoured the various sects for their own forbidden training routines and integrated them into our own. Then he had this circle commissioned to prevent all those deaths. My great-grandfather, and my grandfather all worked on it, and finally finished the most intensive and effective training routine.
Unfortunately, they hadn’t been as successful as they would have liked. It was certainly effective, and no one died from it, but what was worse than the physical trauma was the mental damage it brought on. To this day, no one had been able to complete it. Once he understood that, my father sealed away the training routine and never used it again. Now, me on the other hand? I’m an optimist, and I truly believe in this sort of training. Now I sincerely hope your mind can take this, who knows, maybe you’ll be the first. Now let’s start off with the first phase.”
He pulled a lever on the wall that made the room tremble briefly. Right above Jason, a circular section of the ceiling detached and floated down towards him. Reacting instinctively, Jason put up his hands to hold it up. As he did so, he was surprised at its weight. It was far heavier than he had thought it would be, forcing him to squeeze out every last drop of strength in his muscles.
“Heavier than you expected, isn’t it?” Chase cackled manically. “Remember how I told you about the special nature of that circle? Well, it’s not the only special item in this room. Its weight corresponds to the maximum strength you can exert, and rises accordingly. If it ever does get to be too much for you, you can always let go. There’s a failsafe installed so it won’t kill you, it’ll just grind you up a bit. Well, I’ll leave you alone for a while. Let’s see how you feel after a day of this. If you ever want to give up, just shout out my name as loud as you can.”
Jason glared daggers into Chase’s back as he left. He hated him in a way he had never hated anyone before…not even her. The fear and pain of betrayal always outweighed the hate.
It was a strange feeling to be holding the stone up as he did. Since his stamina was constantly replenished, and the stone weighed the maximum amount he could keep up, theoretically he could stay in that position forever.
The only barrier to this was his mental fortitude. His muscles literally burned from the exertion. There wasn’t a single part of his body that didn’t feel like it was being dipped in acid. Moreover, there was the sense of exhaustion that constantly stayed at its highest level. It was the equivalent of going right up to his maximum limit, just half a step before his body gave out completely, and then keeping him there.
After the first five minutes, he had already reached a point where he desperately wanted to put it down. Through sheer force of will he tamped those feelings down and struggled through it for another ten minutes.
STR +1
STA +1
Almost instantly after the message popped up, the load seemed to lighten. But in the span of another heartbeat, the stone weighed back down on him to reach his new maximum strength.
New stat generated: Endurance
Endurance: This stat serves to reduce the amount of physical damage taken, and reduce the stamina consumption of physical exertion.
This is impossible, I can’t just stand here waiting for time to pass as it pushes down on me. I need to occupy my mind somehow. Let’s see, I’m alone, and I can’t move, so all I have is my mind. Might as well meditate.
He had learned how to meditate before, from one of the many therapists who his father had brought to treat him after the initial ordeal. At the time it hadn’t been all that effective, but perhaps the stress of the situation might change something. If he remembered correctly, the most important thing was to stay still and stable, and focus on his breathing.
He slowly slid his feet across the ground and straightened his arms and legs to lock his limbs and stand in a strong and stable position. Following that, he closed his eyes and started to regulate his breathing.
The words of his teacher came back to him, ‘breathe in and absorb the energy of the universe, breathe out and cleanse the negative energy from your soul.’ He did as he had been instructed to do. He imagined that the air was glowing and filled with power, he inhaled. He visualized the streams of energy filling his lungs and travelling into his heart to be pumped into his body. He then exhaled, and imagined black fog condensing into his blood, before being pumped into his lungs and expelled from his body.
It was an esoteric and mystical practice that he didn’t fully understand, but it helped calm his mind and start to block out the pain he felt. Over and over, inhale, exhale, those two concepts became the only things in his mind. As he focused on his breathing, the notion of time fell away, and he lost track of how long he was doing it for. After doing it for a while, maybe it was due to the pressure and torment he was facing to his physical body, he began to believe in the practice itself.
Suddenly, he was broken out of his trance state.
WIS +1
INT +1
Skill: You learned Transcendental Meditation.
Transcendental Meditation Lvl. 1 (0%)
An advanced meditation skill that allows the user to strengthen and refine their internal energy through intricate breathing techniques. Has three aspects to it which work as a cycle to strengthen the user. Continued use increases both intelligence and wisdom. The base effect of all three aspects is to increase HP and MP regeneration. Current regeneration speed +10%.
Aspect 1-Purification: Refines the energy and makes it more potent. (Increases base health pool)
Aspect 2-Absorption: Takes in the energy of the world and adds it to your own pool. (Increases base Mana pool) Available when skill reaches level 3.
Aspect 3-Dispersion: Channels the internal energy around the body and makes the movement easier and more efficient. (Increases all Mana-based skill levels) Available when skill reaches level 5.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
There had been other messages of stat increases, but they had been much quieter as compared to the loud ding that signified that he had learned a new skill so he had been able to tune them out. Though it had broken his concentration, he was still pleased that he had received it. In this game, an action that had a corresponding skill was easier to perform than one that didn’t have a skill.
He smiled inwardly. Not only could he train this skill immensely, he could also use it to increase his intelligence, wisdom, strength, and stamina at the same time, and at a much more accelerated pace than normal people would. Though he loathed Chase, he had to be grateful that the training unintentionally paid off. After all, if it wasn’t for the environment, he probably wouldn’t have learned this skill. It was only the unimaginable external pressure, and the extraordinary internal calm that he managed to learn this incredible skill.
So, he closed his eyes, and started meditating once more. This time it was easier to perform, and immersed himself in the technique rather quickly. He fell into the same easy rhythm of breathing, shutting out almost all the external stimuli. Since he had so much time on his hands, and was forced to execute the technique under incredible hardship, the skill level rose incredibly quickly. It seemed that only a moment before it was at level three, and then it was already at level five.
Since the skill had increased enough that all aspects of it were available, he could get the full benefit out of the entire cycle of purification, absorption, and dispersion. Since his routine already included these parts, he didn’t have to do anything different or learn the technique again from scratch. Breaking his concentration for a moment, he silently thanked the person who taught him this technique before going back to the meditation.
He didn’t know how many hours had passed since he first got down there, since he had no way of telling time, and the meditation technique made it harder to grasp the flow of time when he performed it. Since he had set the timer for eight hours, it should be less than a day since he arrived in this dungeon.
Until the timer rang, he had to stay here and practice quietly. And so that was what he did. By now he had reached a point where nothing disturbed him anymore. He could slide easily into his meditative state and almost unconsciously perform the actions. At the same time, he developed an awareness of the world as a whole. It wasn’t a skill in the game, but rather a way of thinking. His mind had opened up, and could remain calm as it meditated, and yet be awake enough to sense the outside world. He could choose what sensations to ignore, and which to let in.
It was however by no means perfect. The nature of this new way of thinking made it easy to unbalance and lose concentration. In fact his concentration was broken several times while he struggled to maintain this balance of awareness and unconsciousness.
New title unlocked: Resilient Mind
Resilient Mind
Awarded to those who keep a cool and level head in the face of great adversity.
+2 INT, +2 WIS
The new title he received was useful. In this game, the title system was extraordinarily important. It served to supplement the class system, and often provided a decent boost to stats, as well as possibly giving additional abilities. Like class advancements, titles could advance and reach higher ranks, and in some cases merge into one. The best thing about the system was that the bonuses stacked. He had access to all the additional effects of all the titles he had. Displaying one particular title was due to the fact that that particular title would be twenty percent more effective.
After a while, eventually the timer did ring and he didn’t have to worry about training anymore. Since the eight hours were up, he logged out immediately. He didn’t know what would happen to the block now that he was no longer supporting it, but he knew that he wold find out once he logged back in. There was a strange feeling of lightness in his body, now that he was no longer keeping that stone up in the air, but it soon went away as his mind got used to his body once more. After washing, eating and relieving his bowels, he went back into the capsule and logged back in.
When he got back into the game, he saw that the stone was floating in the same position it was in when he had been holding it up. Once it knew that Jason was back underneath it, it immediately started to float downwards. He had to put his hands up and push it up once more.
“Well, well, you’re back. When I got here, I thought you had left already.” Jason’s head jerked up and focused on the source of the voice. Across from him, Chase was sitting on a chair and stared right at him. He had an annoying smirk on his face. Obviously he thought that Jason had spent most of the time logged out.
“I would never just leave like that, not when you’re taking your time to give me such thorough training. Unfortunately I had something I needed to do in the other world, so I had to leave for a moment. Since the training was so easy I thought that it would be okay.” Jason’s tone was mocking and condescending, and it served to infuriate Chase.
“Well since you think it’s so easy, maybe we should turn it up a notch.” He pulled another lever on the wall that made the floor rumble slightly.
Jason immediately feel the stone lighten, making it easier to move around with it in his arms. Simultaneously, the ground started to glow with red light. There were only a few patches of ground that didn’t start to glow.
He was wondering what was going on, when the parts of the ground that were glowing red suddenly had thin spikes shoot up through the ground. He didn’t move fast enough, so both his feet were pierced by dozens of needle-like spikes. They hurt like hell, and sent waves of pain radiating up his legs.
“Surprised, aren’t you? Now I’m not a monster, so I’ll give you a fighting chance by making the stone a bit lighter than the maximum weight. But just to make things interesting,” he pressed another crystal in the wall. Suddenly, the stone Jason was holing became electrified, sending bolts of electricity shooting down his arms and into his body. He smiled evilly. “Since you were able to withstand a day of the first part of training, I’ll come back when you’ve endured for five days. By the way, that time doesn’t include the time you’re in your other world, so don’t try to cheat like that.”
It seemed he was trying to do all he could to break Jason’s spirit. He had misjudged the efficacy of the first challenge, and had increased the difficulty for the second. Unfortunately, he had done a pretty good job in making it harder to endure. Jason was already gritting and grinding his teeth at the pain that radiated throughout his body. It was no longer the aching burn of extreme muscle fatigue, this time it was sharp, piercing pain all over his body.
Still, he forced himself to move out of the red area and onto the unmarked ground. It wasn’t easy to do, but he managed it. Since the stone was a lighter now, he could slide his feet across the ground a bit faster. There was about a two second window between the time the ground flashed red and the spikes shot out of the ground. Even so, it was something that he could only just barely make. The first time he tried to move to safety, his right leg wasn’t fast enough and got partially pierced by the spikes. The second time, it was his left leg.
The trick wasn’t to try to move faster, but to maintain his balance, and move the shortest distance possible. Turning wasted too much time, and he had to make sure he didn’t shift his weight too far to one side. This meant he had to slide in short purposeful steps, sometimes sideways, backwards, or diagonally. Within an hour, he had gotten a hang of it, or rather he was forced by necessity to do so.
It wasn’t easy, and was made more difficult by the shooting pain in his body. To counteract that, he attempted to use his meditation technique. However the problem lay in the fact that meditation required calm and tranquility to work. Basically, he had to stay still. Moving around made it considerably more difficult to have a calm and tranquil mind, especially since his body was constantly wracked by pain.
However, just because it was difficult, didn’t mean that it was impossible. This pain was only a fraction of the pain he would have felt in the real world. He was used to agony much worse than this. What he had to do was start the technique over from the start.
New title unlocked: Resilient Body
Resilient Body
Awarded to those who endure great physical hardship.
+2 STR, +2 END
Like the Resilient Mind title, this was a basic title that many people would and could learn. However it was usually acquired after experiencing a great deal of combat. Or in Jason`s case, a great deal of trauma and pressure.
Using breathing as a base, he focused on his breath as he moved around in the circle. No matter which way he moved, or how he did it, the rate of breathing had to stay the same. In and out, in and out, in a constant, steady rhythm.
Then, with part of his awareness on the ground, he visualized the flow of energy once more. After a few hours, he fell back into the rhythm of things. He had worked out the pattern to the glowing ground. It was always a repetition of seventeen different configurations. Knowing that, he was able to move almost unconsciously. The pain melted away and he was at peace once more.
Skill: You learned Gliding Ascendant Footwork.
Gliding Ascendant Footwork Lvl. 1 (0%)
A unique movement technique that relies of smooth, gliding techniques to move rapidly, both in and out of combat. Coats the feet with a layer of Mana and acts as a buffer that makes friction almost negligible. At higher levels, skill is more effective and has further effects.
Passive bonus: AGI + 5.
Active bonus: Movement speed +20%.
Mana consumption: 10 MP/Second
With the new skill, moving was even easier, and could be done almost without thought. Time stopped having any real meaning. He could have been doing the training for hours or minutes and he wouldn’t have known the difference, or really even cared. The frustrations, fears, and needs of his physical body floated away, as he reached what some would call a new level of enlightenment. The burden he had carried with him for all these months seemed to break free. He was no longer chained down by it. He wasn’t completely over it of course, but he made some progress. He understood that what he was doing wouldn’t work. He had been trying to protect himself from harm by turning inwards, but that wasn’t going to work.
He had been so scared that someone was going to break him that he tried to hide. What he really needed to do was become strong enough that no one could hurt him. Who knew, maybe that doctor actually knew what he was talking about.
He spent his days unworried and unhampered by the situation. Every so often he would have to log out to eat, use the facilities and sleep, but he did all that as quickly as he could. He was eager to get back into training and raise his stats and his skills.
Skill: You learned Transcendental Breathing Technique.
Transcendental Breathing Technique Lvl. 1 (0%)
Based off of the Transcendental Meditation technique, this unique breathing technique allows the user to draw energy from the outside world and strengthen their body during combat. Due to the related nature of this skill with the meditation skill, training one skill helps train the other skill as well, by raising the skill experience by half that of what the trained skill receives.
+5% to Mana, Health, and Stamina regeneration.
+1% to all stats.
Mana Consumption: 50 MP to activate. If technique is broken due to faltering concentration, it must be reactivated.
Title: Resilient Mind upgraded to Unbreakable Mind
Unbreakable Mind
Awarded to those who endure unimaginable hardship and maintain a focused and unwavering mind.
+8 INT, +8 WIS
Title: Resilient Body upgraded to Unbreakable Body
Unbreakable Body
Awarded to those who endure unimaginable physical hardship and continue to improve their bodies.
+8 STR, +8 END
The breathing technique he had learned, in addition to the upgraded titles filled him with excitement. Each notification was a notch on his belt, an indication that he was growing stronger.
Eventually, enough time had passed that he had met Chase’s requirement of five days. This time, Chase was furious when he came to see Jason. Obviously he hadn’t expected Jason to survive the five required days, especially since he only took a little over seven days to do it, since he spent some time in the real world.
This time around, Chase immediately pressed a few levers and crystal orbs on the wall. This time around, the stone floated back up into the ceiling. From the ground, large metal bracelets and cuffs flew out and attached themselves to Jason’s body. They fastened themselves onto every part of his body, and then suddenly pulled down with an immense weight. Magnetism. It was a much better alternative to the giant rock. With the metal cuffs, he had much more maneuverability.
Additionally, thirty pillars rose out of the ground and formed a tight circle around him. They were made of stone and had three holes in them, placed at various heights. One was at his head, another at his chest, and the last at his legs. Simultaneously, a simple two-handed sword rose out of the ground before Jason.
Finally, the barrier that had been around the Circle of Immortality expanded to be around the outer circle of pillars instead. What remained the same was the glowing red floor that let out spikes. “I’ll admit that you surprised me. Most people give up before even the first phase is through, and anyone who managed to tough it out dropped out in the middle of the second phase. You’re the first person I know of to make it to the third phase. But I doubt even you can make it through this. These pillars will shoot out extremely cold spears of ice. They shoot out at random, so you can’t rely on the same trick you used for the second phase.”
As he started making his way out of the basement, Chase stopped for a second. “You know it’s strange, a part of me sincerely hopes that you make it through the training, though that’ll be highly unlikely. I’ll be back when a week of training is over.” When he left, Jason was left with conflicting feelings. Chase was certainly a vicious bastard, but just maybe, he wasn’t all bad.
In either case, he didn’t have time to think more on the subject, as the pillars started to shoot out small spears of ice. They didn’t all activate at once, thank god, but rather ten to fifteen of them shot the spears at the same time. As it was, with the massive weight pulling him down, and the fact that the ground could turn into spikes made it more than enough of a challenge. With the sword, all he could manage to do was deflect one of the spikes.
When they hit him, the parts of the body that were affected turned numb as a vicious coldness swept through him. He frantically tried to block them as best he could, but it was to no avail. They were too numerous, came from difficult angles, and there was too much else that he had to worry about.
This isn’t working, I need a new strategy. So he came up with one. In order to deal with the spears, he decided not to do anything at all. The biggest problem at the moment was the fact that he couldn’t see the spears that came at his back, and he didn’t have enough ability to deal with those that he could see. Therefore the first step was to figure out where they were coming from. For hours on end, he stood in one spot and let himself be hit by the spears and pierced by the spikes. He ignored the pain of the spikes, and instead turned all his attention to his ears and his sense of touch.
He listened to the sound of the wind as the spears flew through the air, and tried to sense them before they hit. After a while, he did have an inkling as to when the spears came for him. Still, it would take a long time before it became something he could use in real-time. As he was beginning to lose hope, something happened.
Skill: You learned Battlesense Aura.
Battlesense Aura (Passive) Lvl. 1 (0%)
A sensory technique that extends the user’s aura about themselves to gain an awareness of their immediate surroundings. Automatically levels up through experiencing combat, especially when hit by ranged attacks. Higher levels can increase range and sensitivity.
Current range of awareness: 1 foot.
Thank god. This skill was a god-send. At the moment it wasn’t all that effective, but after a few levels, it would be invaluable. Since he had this new skill, he decided to train it until it could help him out. Lifting the sword once more, he started to move. He quickly got into the rhythm of avoiding the spikes that came out of the ground, which was easier since he had his movement skill, and worked on intercepting the ice spears with his sword.
As he suspected, his battle sense was of little use at the moment. Although he could feel the spear when it came within a foot of him, by then it was too close to be avoided. It was an odd sensation to be feeling something outside his body. The best description would be like having strings tied to his back that vibrated and tugged when the spear came into contact with it.
After a while, he got used to having spears shot at him. They still hurt like hell, but he was able to keep on moving without faltering or slowing down. At the same time, his movements with the sword became more efficient and smoother. Often times, he could cut down two spears with one stroke.
Gradually, as the hours ticked by, his battle sense and movement skill leveled up, and he got something else as well.
Skill: You learned Swordsmanship.
Swordsmanship (Passive) Lvl. 1 (0%)
A combat skill that denotes mastery of fighting with a two-handed sword.
+25% to damage dealt by a sword.
+15% to speed of sword attacks.
It was a welcome skill that he put to good use. As his skills rose dramatically, he became competent enough to use a combination of swordsmanship and moving his body about to evade, parry or destroy any ice spears that came at him. He became so good at it, that even attacks that came from behind him were easily avoided or blocked.
The longer he trained and moved about, the better his movements became. It was actually startling how good he became in such a short time. He wasn’t clumsy or out of shape, but this level of physical technique and ability is simply astounding. Of course this wasn’t possible through traditional learning methods. It was undoubtedly due to the IMCS. Apparently it was a sort of advanced computing device that integrated with the virtual brain and provided a way of rapidly learning combat skills, as well as skills that the human body normally couldn’t learn. One example of this was feeling Mana, a substance that didn’t exist in the real world, and therefore didn’t have a corresponding mental structure in the brain.
It seemed like cheating, but there was a good reason as to why it was provided. With the help of this device, players could breeze through learning the basic combat techniques, which required at least months of long, arduous training, and skip right to the flashy advanced techniques. The point of the game was to increase enjoyment and decrease stress and work as much as possible.
New title unlocked: Beginner Swordsman
Beginner Swordsman
Awarded to those who reach a decent level of proficiency in the use of a sword.
+5% to sword attack, +5% to sword speed
He wasn’t going to complain about the system helping him out like this. The smooth ease he had with the sword and moving his body filled him with joy and excitement. He truly felt like one of those characters from those fantasy stories. As he spent hours and days fighting and struggling to push his body to his limits, everything else fell away.
He shed the useless and unnecessary layers of his self, peeling away layer after layer like an onion. He found himself in that hellish training, as a man who wanted power, control, and something to protect. In this world it was martial strength, but there were many sorts of power. Physical strength was just the most obvious one. He wanted to be strong enough to become someone who would never get pushed or ordered around
Above all, he was someone with pride, who wanted to be the master of his own fate. However this didn’t mean that he wanted to be alone and isolated. He wanted friends and family, people he could trust, who would be there to have his back no matter how bad things got.
He reached a strange point between serene calm, and vigorous fighting spirit. It was a point where he brought him emotions under control, and kept a steady, level head no matter what. Like a mighty blade, he was forged by the fires of pain and fury, tempered by circumstance to become stronger than ever.
“So Chase, what do you have next for me?” He stared at Chase, who had just come down, with a cocky grin and a challenging stare. He really had come out of his shell. It wasn’t an easy to pull off, considering how much he was moving about and swinging his sword. “God, I got to tell you, doing all this has really made me feel alive. Now come on, I know you can do better than this.”
This time around, Chase wasn’t furious, but rather stunned. And why wouldn’t he be? Over the course of the training routine, where most people should have gotten progressively more unstable, fearful, and withdrawn, the complete opposite was happening with Jason. He was more outgoing, happy, and centred.
Chase had started this entire affair as a way to punish and humiliate Jason, but as the training intensified and went on, Jason continued to excel at whatever came his way. He cleared hurdle after hurdle, and now Chase was starting to believe that he could finish the training course in its entirety. To his surprise, that thought filled him with joy and trepidation. His family legacy was being fulfilled, and his forefathers’ dreams were being fulfilled.
There was still a part of him that was holding onto his wounded ego and sense of pride, but, “screw it. Alright kid, I’m beginning to believe that you may actually pull this off. And for whatever reason, I’m starting to hope that you succeed. This last phase is the hardest of all. It gives me chills just thinking about it. You`ve seen how each phase builds upon the previous ones. Well this one won’t be anything like what you’ve faced before.” He pressed a few orbs in the wall and pulled down the last of the levers that he hadn’t touched yet.
The pillars that had shot out spears of ice at him retracted into the ground, and new pillars rose to take their place. These ones were taller than the old pillars. They were broken up into three sections which could pivot side to side, and each had a large ball inside it that could rotate around a horizontal axis. Running through each of the balls was a giant metal spear that was several metres long.
Like before, the ground had remained covered in a red glow, but there was something distinctly different about its layout now. It just didn’t look the same as it had before. What had remained the same were the metal cuffs on his body that weighed him down due to magnetism.
In addition to all that, a strange light fell down from the ceiling. It was like a liquid and a gas, having no distinct mass or weight. However the thing about this strange almost corporeal light was that it was intensely hot. It wasn’t the type of heat of a muggy summer day or a stovetop cranked to high, it was the same as being bathed by a flamethrower. If it wasn’t for the Circle of Immortality that instantly healed him up as good as new, he would have been a charred pile of ash several times over.
All the elements in the circle hadn’t activated yet, so Chase took the time to explain what it all was. “The light that’s falling upon you is pure, concentrated energy. Surviving through it will rapidly improve your body and give you unique abilities. As for the ground, it’s no longer going to shift in a predictable pattern. The same goes for the pillars. Since each spear can move side to side and up and down, it becomes much more mobile and flexible. Also, it is built to strike faster and harder than before. Overall, everything is faster, stronger, and more difficult to survive. If you want to back out, now’s the time to do so.”
Jason grimaced. The intensely hot light was more painful than everything else he had experienced during this training period. Although he had quickly learnt to ignore the pain, it was difficult to do so when it was as bad as this. Since they had come to a truce of sorts, Jason decided to draw upon Chase’s knowledge and experience. “Do you have any tips for me?”
“Just one. Don’t focus on one thing. If you pay too much attention to moving your feet, you’ll miss the spears. Contrary to what others might say, you need to relax your mind during combat and take in everything all at once. I’ll give you a minute to prepare yourself before I activate the remaining elements of the training.
Heeding his advice, Jason started to moderate his breathing and activated his breathing technique. He also activated his movement technique at the same time. When he was ready, he lifted his sword and nodded for Chase to activate it.
Once it was activated, he realized just how difficult it was. The pattern on the ground moved faster than ever, and the unaffected area was much smaller. The pillars also struck quickly, thrusting at every area of his body with lightning speed. Added to all that was the difficulty of maintaining a level head despite the unbearable agony that came with the falling light, and the fact that the metal cuffs weighed him down immensely.
It made the third phase look like child’s play. It was all he could do just to keep the ground from piercing him with spikes. This time around, the spikes were longer, and seemed to be tipped with poison or acid. Since they didn’t have a distinct pattern, he had to constantly keep one eye on the ground, and the other on the spears.
He depended on his battle sense to warn him about the spears that came towards his back, but despite the more accurate readings and the increased range, the fact that his focus was split meant that he couldn’t always react in time.
The spears were lethal. If he wasn’t inside the circle, he would have been dead several times over. It was an uncomfortable feeling to be stabbed as he was, in his eyes, his face, and even…more sensitive parts of his anatomy. Unlike the third phase, where the spears were only about the size of a dagger and focused on three main areas of his body, these spears were almost the same thickness of his wrist, and struck unpredictably on his body with the force of a hammer.
While Chase’s advice made sense, it was extraordinarily difficult to put it into practice. When he tried to pay more attention to the spears, he was stabbed by the spikes on the ground, and when he tried to focus more on the ground, he was mercilessly stabbed by the spears. Over and over he shifted the balance of splitting his focus to one side and then the other. For the entire first day, he didn’t get anywhere.
After sleeping, eating and taking care of things in the real world, he logged back in to face his torture. This day, it went a little bit better. Instead of being stabbed by twelve spears each second, he was able to bring it down to eleven…it was a real achievement.
Slowly but steadily, he built upon his successes. Unlike the other phases, he didn’t quickly accommodate and adapt to it. Instead, it was a gradual build up. After about three days he reached a point where he could deal with most of the spears while only occasionally getting stabbed by the spikes. At the same time, he received a new skill.
Skill: You learned Warrior’s Energy Manipulation.
Warrior’s Energy Manipulation Lvl. 1 (0%)
Unlike other magic and energy manipulation techniques, this skill only allows energy to be used through physical actions. As a result, it is more often faster and stronger to use for close and mid-range attacks, although it requires the user to sacrifice complex and varied attacks. It is also more difficult to control and harness.
Bonus: +5% to all Magic and Energy resistance. Energy manipulation uses 2% less Mana. Allows Mana to be directed within the body to boost effectiveness of Mana-based skills by a given amount.
Mana consumption: Variable
At the moment it wasn’t all that useful, considering that the falling light just intensified so as to overcome his resistance. Still, it was something he could train in the meantime. While a certain amount of experience was received for withstanding the pure energy, channeling it into his feet was much more effective.
With the acquisition of the skill, Jason grew more confident, and worked even harder to pass the training phase. After a few more days, he finally reached it. He achieved the pinnacle of awareness, a state of being where he could focus on every aspect of combat, where he could move his feet his hands and the rest of his body to respond to the situation. No spear could hit him anymore, and he could move so he was no longer pierced by spikes.
For days on end, he moved unceasingly, improving his stats and his skills as best he could, until finally, on the fourteenth day since the third phase ended, the mechanisms that powered the spears, the light and the glowing ground stopped. Jason was confused as to what had happened, until he saw Chase looking at him in awe.
“You-you did it. I can’t believe this. You completed the entirety of the training routine.”
I, it’s over? He couldn’t believe that it had ended. After spending such a long time doing this torturous form of training, he felt a little lost as to what he would do now.
[center][table]Congratulations! For being the first person to complete the Raervin family’s Forbidden Trials of the Demon Warrior, you have received the following rewards:Skill: You learned Demon Warrior’s Body.Demon Warrior’s Body Lvl. 1/7 (0%)
An extremely secret and rare skill, it is tremendously difficult to pass the needed qualifications and obtain this skill. In the history of the world, only a handful of people have received it, through a variety of different methods. The few people who have knowledge of this skill all agree that only a person with a demon’s fighting spirit who survived hellish trials can learn it. Unlike other body strengthening techniques, this does not exist as a buff, but rather passively increases strength. Skill rises through experiencing combat. As compensation for such incredible advantages, the skill has a maximum attainable level.
+5% to all stats. +500 HP, +500 MP, +50 STA. All physical damage received is reduced by 2%. Skills increase 2% faster.New title unlocked: Demonic Warrior[tr][td100]Demonic Warrior
Awarded to those who survive and thrive in the