“Welcome back to augmentation training class!” bellowed Coach Thompson.
“As I said previously, today we will be doing some beginner sparring training”, the coach eyed the class. The class was dressed in a wide variety of casual clothes, mostly jeans and t-shirts, and hoodies. “Before we start, everyone who hasn’t finished the obstacle course gets another 3 tries today. If you have already completed the course, you can try again as well, improving your time may earn you some XP points.”
The coach led them out into the courtyard again, where the novice obstacle course sprawled. Tyler jumped up to the starting line and readied himself before anyone else could volunteer. The startup chimes counted off and the start horn blared. Unlike last time, Tyler showed no hesitation. He sprinted over the steps and in a tackle pulled the Log Drop quickly into motion. Max’s eyes opened wide. He could see the wood deform in Tyler’s grip. Tyler navigated the abrupt stop into a smooth dismount and lightly skipped over the rolling log beam. At the jump hang, he managed to leap over the top of the net and landed inside the top end of the net. He skipped into the next platform and ran up the warped wall without slowing and not needing much of a leap to crest the ledge. Tyler then scaled the rope climb using only his arms and slammed the timer when he reached the top.
“Time: 59 seconds! We have a new record for the summer cohort. Good job Tyler. Looks like someone did some extra training yesterday. “
Leah went next and was able to finish the course without too much trouble although not nearly the speed Tyler had performed. Finally, Sasha was up. She was making a respectable time when she missed her grab on the jump hang and went into the water. Max volunteered to give the course another attempt so Sasha had some time to dry off before trying again.
When the horn sounded, Max shot forward smoothly powering over the quintuple steps. He swiftly engaged the log drop with a firm grip. His gains, like Tyler, were evident as he was easily able to hold and performed a smooth release after the drop. Max activated his leap skill and cleared the rolling beam without touching it and immediately hit hard into the springboard and bounced up to the net. This time Max went down the net as quickly as he could and swung up to the next platform. The warped wall was no challenge as he triggered his leap again easily vaulting to the top, his momentum helping him over the ledge.
Only the rope climb remained. Max triggered a leap again and shot 12 feet into the air grabbing the rope and scrambling up the short remaining distance. He hit the button to stop the timer.
“One minute and 15 seconds.” Coach Thompson boomed. “I think you beat your best time Max, good training.”
Tyler scowled at Max while Max grinned at the encouragement. Then Max’s notifications rolled in.
[Quest Novice Obstacle Course – complete, Time 1:15 / 2:30, +50 XP for improved time.]
As we advance, this obstacle course will continue to get easier until it's no longer a challenge, Max realized. They are probably going to make this more difficult if we come back again to this. I can’t wait to see what that is going to look like.
Sasha was ready for her second try. She ran the course and this time finished without mishap. Max mused that her gains finally gave her the edge she needed to get through it, she probably already had it if not for the slip-up on the jump hang. Neither Charlie nor Marc was interested in retrying the course, so the coach ushered them back into the classroom. The classroom had some lunches ready on a table for them as they were given a small break to relax. Far too soon, the coach clapped his hands to get their attention. The class hurried back from the table to the center of the class.
“I hope your clothes are programmable, the traditional uniform for sparring is a Gi.”, he paused and transformed his tracksuit into a martial art Gi with a black belt. “If you please, reformat your clothes so we can do some proper sparring.”
Max was caught by surprise by this request but with a quick query to his AI, he was able to reformat his clothes into a basic Gi. After a few moments, everyone had dressed appropriately for sparring. Tyler, the mayor’s son, had a custom red sleeveless Gi with a black dragon on the back. Max recognized the logo as the symbol of the dojo downtown, Epic Kempo. Charlie also had a personalized aikido Gi already stored as a ready pattern, with a black belt that showed 6 red strips. Leah, the trauma recovery girl, was very surprised that she had a Wing Chung Gi loaded into her wardrobe’s memory.
The classroom desks and chairs dissolved at a command from coach Thompson and reconfigured into a basic dojo design. The walls were covered in scripts of martial virtues. One wall was a mirror with a stretching rail. Several combat mannequins were propped on the walls along with several racks of weaponry, mostly staffs and swords but with some more exotic choices like nun chuck, tonfa, and sai as well. Six faceless mannequins were standing against one wall, each wearing a Gi with a number on it.
“Alright, I will start by explaining the sparring rules," he said.
“The goal of the competition is to strive to win. You all should now have some type of competition quest. Competitive quests will unlock skills and stats much faster than passive or solo quests. This is also one of the quickest methods to truly master your augmentations and appreciate their defensive and offensive potential.”
“For today, we will start slow. Our Academy AI, Tatemono Reí, will be controlling the sparring mannequins and he will give each of you an opponent to drill you on your basics.”, the coach said.
The six mannequins strode out to occupy a section of the large room; six rings appeared on the ground. With perfect synchronization, the robots assumed a formal greeting position and bowed towards the students with fists together in greeting and spoke aloud.
“Welcome, young students, with combat androids, we'll spar, Tatemono guides.”
“Thank you, Tatemono. Ok, everyone. Pick a partner and get to it. Tatemono will set progress and difficulty at a pace designed to match your learning speed.” Coach Thompson said.
Max walked up to one of the androids. It was not very lifelike. It looked humanoid except for its pure white coloration and blank surface for a face. Its Gi was light green with the number 2 on it. Max mirrored its stance and bowed. The nano foglets in the air shimmered and created a blurred privacy curtain around the ring. The android addressed him and assumed a guard position and motioned with flicking fingers for Max to attack.
“In this dojo hall, Tatemono Reí awaits, Max, let us spar.”
“Hajimaru!”
The android led Max through a series of basic strikes and blocks. Max very quickly found himself sweating as the unfamiliar exercise took its toll. His running training stamina skill and elevated stats helped him to keep going. The android with its strange speech patterns soon had him trading blows and blocks in a back-and-forth turn, allowing him to work for strikes and blocks. As soon as Max thought he had the flow, the android would increase its speed, pushing him to respond faster.
The android began to get the better of Max. In desperation, he activated his strike skill after a successful block and delivered a truly impressive hammer blow to the top of the robot’s head. The blow knocked the android to the ground in a heap.
The android rolled over to its back and did a kip up, pushing up into an air kick to jump into its guard position. It bowed and spoke.
“Max strikes with force. Defense is also offense skilled. Strike to stay unharmed.”, said Tatemono in its strange sing-song voice.
Max struggled to understand what Tatemono meant and was going to ask for clarification when the bot drove forwards in a series of unexpected strikes, catching Max off balance. Max struggled to block the rain of blows until he understood and countered with an explosive striking block to the next incoming roundhouse punch. The android arm bent around his blow and snapped in half.
The bot backed up and picked up its arm, which snapped back into position, the break melding together in another few seconds. Tatemono’s bot sketched a formal bow and spoke.
“Max, you have learned. Technique honed, mind and body tired. Done for today's class.”
Max bowed back as the privacy curtain faded. Within a few minutes, one by one all the curtains dissolved, and the mannequins returned to their niches along the wall. Max brushed back his mane. It was matted with sweat. All the other students looked similarly spent. His notifications came rolling in as he relaxed.
[Strength +1, Agility +2, Endurance +1, Vitality +1]
[Energy 4/22]
[Strike Skill +1, Strike achieves level 2]
[Stamina Skill +1, Stamina achieves level 4]
Coach Thompson walked to the front of the room and addressed the class.
“Excellent, it looks like you all got a good workout. That’s enough for today. Tomorrow we will have a special activity in the morning with more spar training in the afternoon. By the end of the week, I hope you all will be ready for your first combat session against each other.”
“Get a good night’s sleep tonight. Tomorrow you will need to be your best.” He said with a wink. “Class dismissed.”
After class Max congratulated Leah on completing the novice obstacle course. As they were sharing their learnings, Tyler pushed through the group.
“You losers should get a room,” Tyler said. “Out of the way! Some people have better things to do.” He brushed past the group and jumped into a very expensive autopod.
As the car drove off, the group watched it leave. Charlie appeared calm but Max could see how hard he gripped his walking stick. Leah sighed.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Tyler is very full of himself. He is very used to being treated like he is special, living in the governor’s mansion.”
“It would be a shame if he was taken down a peg during sparring,” Charlie suggested. The group said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.
Max made it home exhausted from the busy day. He updated Casa on everything he had learned over dinner. He asked Casa if his dad had responded yet.
“Yes, he texted a short reply. Just - Thanks, keep me updated with any changes. It was weird and out of character for him.” Casa said.
She wondered if she should let Max in on the other secret, the concerns about the hacker. It was the only thing she could think of for Bill to be so short and cryptic. Before Max could get concerned, she changed the topic.
Casa showed him her new game called Bug Hunt. He and Casa played for a bit. They had skirmishes with the opposing Killer Hornet army. Max commented that the battleground looked strangely familiar to him, which caused Casa to break into a giggling fit, but she wouldn't tell him what was so funny.
Max crawled into his bed, with his mind running over everything he had learned. Just as he was fading into sleep, a notification was triggered.
[New Skill unlocked – Dream Learning 1: use augmentations to train your subconscious while sleeping. Explore new topics or reinforce current lessons.]
With a smile, Max triggered his new skill to reinforce his day's lessons as he drifted to sleep.
----------------------------------------
Max woke up early feeling refreshed. After a quick clean-up and use of the bathroom, he was ready to run downstairs. Thank goodness for plumbing, Max thought at the fuzzy pre-humanoid memory of having to go outdoors to go to the bathroom. He threw on his smart clothes and set them to a blue and gray sweatpants and sweatshirt combo for the morning training session at the Academy and ran down to the kitchen.
To his surprise, Bo and Casa’s avatar were sitting at the table. Bo was eating and there was a plate of pancakes waiting for Max as well. Max’s eyes narrowed, registering that he had been surprised because he hadn’t smelled Bo in the house. He was a projection as well!
[Perception +1]
“Yo, Max!” Bo said.
“Hey Bo, you surprised me. It's good to see you. How are you doing?”, Max replied.
“Very good, thanks. I wanted to catch you before your classes. My Diamond Man event is going to splash live in two weeks on Sunday night.” Bo said in a hurry.
“Please sit and eat before it gets cold,” Bo said, motioning Max to take a seat.
“Anyway, I’ve got access media passes for you all to screen it. For now, it will only be 2d, after some post-production, it will be available for Virts. I hope it’ll be killer.” Bo finished as Max began to dig in.
“Any more details, Bo?” Casa asked. “You said it was an augmentation-restricted survival game before.”
“That’s right, I don’t want to ruin the surprise, but the name of the game is the Cretaceous Challenge, which should give you a big hint,” Bo said with a wink.
“That’s awesome!” Max yelled. “Like a real-world Jurassic Park?”
“That’s right.” Bo grinned, “hopefully it goes better for the competitors than it went for the characters in the movie.”
“So, no augmentations?” Max asked with a mouth full of pancake.
“Not at first. I don’t think so. The producers are keeping the details down low from the players, so we don’t have time to train anything specific for the challenge. Kinda suss, if you ask me.” Bo said.
“Casa was telling me that you’re starting to do some sparring. Tatemono is quite an odd duck. Did you grok that he only speaks in haiku?” Bo said.
“Is that what he was doing? I didn’t want to ask. We are going over basics and doing our first competitive sparring this Friday.”
“Learn fast, Max. I’m sure some of the kids have been doing martial arts for years. The advancement of everyone’s stats is likely going to throw them off balance, so you won’t be hopelessly outclassed.” Bo said with a sly grin.
“So, you think I have a chance?” Max asked.
“Yes, if you try hard then you will have a fighting chance,” Bo said. “Just remember, the real challenge is not what we know, but how well we can apply it.”
“Thanks Bo.” Max said. “That’s very encouraging. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Max finished his breakfast and said his goodbyes. He had just enough time to make it to class with a few minutes to spare. He left the house energized and looking forward to the day's classes. Arriving at the academy, everyone was assembled in the courtyard instead of the classroom.
The obstacle course was gone, and the yard had a bouncy flat surface with a large rectangle painted on the ground and divided in half, six balls lined the divider. Max walked over to Leah and Charlie.
“Hey, guys! Have you got the dream learning skill yet?” Max asked, both looked confused. Max explained how he was reviewing his training as he was getting sleepy and had triggered the unconscious training program.
“That’s a valuable hint, Max. Thank you.”, Leah said.
Both promised to try it out that night. Before they could discuss the skill more, Coach Thompson came over wearing his usual tracksuit this morning.
“All right, class. As I said before, competition activities will heighten your advancement. A nice game of dodgeball will help sharpen your agility. Split up into teams and we will get going.” The coach said.
Tyler snapped his fingers at the brother and sister and strode to the far side of the court. They looked at each other for a quick second then with a shrug followed him. Max felt the energy in the air and quickly was making his way to Leah and Charlie. He grinned excitedly as he joined their squad and prepared for the match. The coach reviewed the rules and told them to take starting positions at the edges of the court.
At the sound of the whistle, both sides charged forward for the balls. Max was at the center of the action. In a quick shuffle, both sides managed to grab a couple of balls, Marc snapped a throw off, almost immediately and picked off Leah as she was focused on grabbing a loose ball. With a whistle, Coach Thompson directed her to the sideline penalty box while the off-balanced teams set themselves up.
The game went back and forth. Max managed to catch a throw from Marc and got Leah out of jail. Most throws were deflected or missed. Tyler’s aim was extremely precise and deadly. He seems to hold back waiting for opportunities to target his opponents for a face hit. Max was determined to stop him and half the time, managed to block his tosses.
The game continued for two rounds, Tyler’s team won the first round and Max’s team the second as they found a strategy to cover each other from Tyler’s deadly throws. The coach blew the whistle.
“Ok, let's make this a little more interesting. Tatemono, more players, please. And let’s double and shrink the balls.”, the coach said. Six androids ran out of the building and readied themselves adding three to each team. The balls rolled themselves back to the centerline and split like amoebae to double the number of balls while also making the balls smaller.
Charlie whispered to Max as everyone was assembling for the next match. “I got a new skill! Listen quickly. When you throw the ball next, focus on your aim.”, Charlie urged.
“If you just throw it nothing will happen, but if you try to target it better you might get the skill. Try it out.” Max grinned back as he stepped up to the line.
At the blow of the whistle, the court became true chaos. Bodies scrambled and balls flew every which way. The androids' athleticism was truly next level as they whipped fastballs left and right and employed gymnastic flips to avoid return throws. Max laughed and smiled as he jumped and ducked, flipping throws to his teammates. He was determined to win this round. The androids were evenly split for both teams, but they all targeted the humans instead of the bots.
Tyler was a whirlwind on the other side spinning low and launching a continuous barrage into Max’s team. At times, he had two balls, using one to deflect fire while employing his deadly aim to maximum effect. Max dove behind a bot which Tyler nailed with a viscous fastball to its groin. Max winced involuntarily, when the balls had shrunk, they were also harder. Such a hit on a human would have been debilitating. Max scrambled after the loose ball.
Charlie’s hit success was much more pronounced this round. Tyler was dominating the match, like the androids, he also exclusively targeted the human competitors. Max saw his opportunity as Tyler gunned down Charlie with a pair of throws. Max focused, Tyler was too deadly even without balls in hand, a caught throw would put him out. Max with careful aim launched his ball, targeting his heel just as he was swinging around. Tyler missed the threat, thinking Max had targeted someone behind him, and it impacted his foot.
The whistle blew ejecting Tyler, all three humans and one bot on the other side were out and Max’s team had a full crew except for Charlie on the sideline. Using teamwork his team mopped up the remaining bots and won the match. Max didn’t notice Tyler’s murderous stare as his notifications sprang up in his vision.
[New Skill unlocked – Ballistics 1 - real time calculated ballistics augmentation improves aim. Practice for increased accuracy.]
[Agility +2, Vitality +1, Intelligence +1, Perception +2]
[Stamina Skill +1, Stamina reaches level 5]
The class broke for lunch again. Like before each student had personalized attention from Tatemono Reí and his mannequins. Max learned some basic stances and movements to help keep his balance and stay ready to quickly respond to attackers without tripping over his own feet.
As the class was dismissed, Charlie, Leah, and Max said their goodbyes. Tomorrow was going to be the day for their first cohort sparring competition. Charlie was quietly confident while Leah seemed almost terrified. Max was only eager.
“Don’t worry so much, Leah. Just do your best. Win or lose, we will all get better thanks to our training.” Max hurried home; he needed an edge to help with tomorrow’s competition.
After a quick meal with Casa, they tried to contact Bo for advice but his aug said it was set to “do not disturb”. Max wondered what he was doing, maybe preparing for the competition. Casa reminded Max of the family's last meal together. Both Bo and Bill mentioned that they used a daemon for martial arts training named Miyamoto Musashi. Casa replayed the conversation for Max.
“That is totally what I need. Thanks for the help, Casa. So, I need to find Miyamoto in the Shogun Samurai virtual game. Any idea where he’s located in the game, Casa?” Max asked.
In the time that it took Max to ask the question, Casa had fragmented into five and performed a parallel search of multiple gaming forums, tried again to call Bo, tried to call Bill, and even hacked into one of the game designer’s private data cores looking for the answer to his question.
“Sorry, Max. Multiple accounts share stories of finding Miyamoto, but the locations are not consistent. He is usually located far from the game's main quest line, always deep in the woods or wilds.” Casa proceeded to share the details of the game she had learned from her search.
The main quest line of the game followed a young samurai's journey to become a shogun, the military commander-in-chief of feudal Japan. The samurai started as a low-ranking warrior and rose through the ranks by completing various tasks and missions assigned to him by his lord.
Some of the missions involved defending the lord's castle from enemy attacks, leading a group of samurais to conquer neighboring territories, or negotiating peace with rival clans.
The goal of the game was to unite all of Japan under the player's banner and to become the shogun. The game's world was divided into different regions, each with its unique terrain, challenges, and enemies.
In the territory of Edo, the capital of Japan, the players start their journey. Edo was a bustling city with busy streets, markets, and temples. No one had ever documented a Miyamoto encounter there. Kyoto, the cultural heart of Japan, was home to many shrines, temples, and palaces. Kyoto was a hub for diplomacy and political intrigue, it was unlikely to see Miyamoto there but there were some abandoned temples, so the potential wasn’t completely gone.
Mount Fuji, the majestic mountain considered sacred by the Japanese, was a frequent sighting spot. Also, Hokkaido was a snowy and isolated island in the north, where the player could encounter barbarian tribes and fierce wildlife. This region was the most likely area to find Miyamoto.
Finally, there was Okinawa. A tropical island in the south, where the player could face off against pirates and engage in naval battles. Miyamoto had been found there at least once.
Miyamoto wandered from territory to territory, generally avoiding cities in favor of desolate sights. He was a random encounter and depending upon how you approached him, he could be an ally or enemy. Either way, you needed to earn his respect to be granted the reward of his daemon.
“Darn it.” Max cried. “This may take some time then. I guess I better get started. I hope Musashi is worth the effort. Can you set up the game room Casa?” Max asked.
“Of course, Max. Head on downstairs, it’s set up now.” Casa said.
Max bounded downstairs with a thank you. He bustled into the room and found the media helmet in the closet. He stood in the clear space and activated the rig. He soon found himself in a tea house in Edo and ran through the setup procedure for his character. After an hour, he had a fully created character with a low-end set of armor and weapons. He avoided all opportunities to engage in the main or side quests and made his way deep into the wilds of Edo. At some point in his travels and interacting with NPCs, his augmentation training program had triggered giving him a quest.
[New Quest Unlocked: Musing on Musashi: In the land of the rising sun, find the legendary sword master.]
Max searched the area thoroughly, avoiding a pair of traveling samurai and narrowly escaping a roving group of bandits. Slogging through the lowlands of Edo, Max aimed northward to Hokkaido, the most popular area for Miyamoto encounters. After two hours of searching and narrowly escaping a dangerous Yokai monster, Max was getting tired. He set up camp and saved the game.
Feeling like he had wasted precious time, Max said his good night to Casa and crawled into bed. Remembering last night, Max grinned as he closed his eyes and triggered the Dream Learning skill.
His dreams were filled with the story of an archery contest. A medieval castle where a celebration was in full swing. A king was holding an archery contest to determine the best archer in all the land. The winner would become the king’s huntsman with a large parcel of land. Many in the land tried, most had failed the difficult tests.
When only three archers remained, the best of all in the kingdom, the king offered one final test. A wooden fish was hung on a pole, far out in the field. Whoever struck the fish closest to the head would be the winner. The three archers lined up, aimed up into the sky, and released their arrows. The king called each archer close to ask about their shot. The first archer came forward.
“What were you aiming at?” asked the King.
“I was aiming at the fish, your Majesty,” said the archer.
The second archer approached. “What were you aiming at?” asked the King.
“If it pleases your Majesty, I was aiming for the fish’s head.”
The last archer approached. “What were you aiming at?” asked the King.
“Your Majesty, I was aiming at the fish’s eye.”
The king declared the last archer the winner without reviewing the target fish for he knew intention was as important as results. Luck may win in a single instance, but dedication to focus would win over time.
[Dream Learning +1, Dream Learning reaches level 2]
[Ballistics +1, Ballistics reaches level 2]