Tyler stormed into his family’s house in a rage. The robot butler, piloted by the house AI Winston, was waiting for him at the foyer as usual.
“Master Tyler, good afternoon. Would you like a refreshment?” Winston said through the robotic butler.
In answer, Tyler struck out with a front punch to the butler’s chest, empowered with both his strike and shock skills. Winston’s robot was thrown across the foyer, landing in a broken heap.
Winston’s disembodied voice echoed, “Feeling a bit peckish, Master Tyler? Are you sure I can’t get you something, perhaps a snack?”
“I’ve told you just to leave me the hell alone!” Tyler yelled as he marched to his basement rooms.
“Very well, Master Tyler. I will leave you alone. It is just that Governor Ericson requires me to ask you. Please, do let me know if you require anything, sir.” Winston’s voice echoed as Tyler ran down the stairs.
Tyler slammed his door closed and activated his Hack skill to isolate his rooms from the house AI. He accessed the lights to turn them on. His room was always a mess, he didn’t allow the AI to clean it. Tyler fumed about the match. Soon his father would be home from his vacation on Luna. He already knew that Tyler had used the poison strike and had been ejected from the class and had chewed him out virtually. He wasn’t even concerned for Tyler. He only cared about how it made him look.
Tyler called up his status screen.
[Name: Tyler Ericson Free Stats: 0 Level: Novice 7 (4100/4500 XP)]
[Body Design Model: Custom Human, Model: Scion™, Make: Bodywerks LLC]
[Strength: 44 Agility: 25 Endurance: 60 Vitality: 34]
[Intelligence: 28 Perception: 24 Will: 26 Energy: 112 Regen: 60/min]
[Basic Skills – HUD, Map, Health Monitor, Telephony, Translation, Music, Record]
[Body Skill - Stamina: 8 Leaping: 4 Healing: 8 Strike: 7 Unbreakable:7]
[Body Skill – Hulk: 8 Balance: 1 Skin: 7 Painless: 7 Armor: 6]
[Body Skill – Shock: 7 Precise: 6 Poison: 5 Gland: 4]
[Resist Skills – Poison: 10 Shock: 10 Sonic: 7 Light: 8 Heat:8]
[Sense Skills –ExVision:1]
[Mind Skill – AI Assist: 4 Access: 10 Hack: 3 Emotionless: 3 Identify: 10]
[Mind Skill - Daemon: 2 MultiTask: 4 Drone: 2 Analyze: 3 Privacy: 1]
Even if he couldn’t go back to the academy, his training program was still active. He vowed to finish the program without any help from the goddamn Academy. He had already done his research anyway. He consoled himself that he didn’t need them.
Tyler had known from his father that the aug training program would come with a censor preventing him from gathering or even accessing details on the skills and methods of advancement. Before enrolling and activating the training, Tyler had downloaded a packet from the Pirate’s Roost, his favorite site to find tips, tricks, and cheats for his favorite VR games.
A Pirate’s Roost senior contributor had posted details regarding his tips and tricks on fast and complete augmentation advancement. Over the years, the document had grown into a detailed compendium. Tyler had a cunning mind and knew that his dad used the houses matter compiler to occasionally fabricate some questionable drugs. When he did this, he disabled the parental locks on the compiler and often he forgot to reset the restrictions for downloading from unregulated indexes. Tyler printed a hard copy of the Augmentation Training compendium, efficiently bypassing the censors with an old school textbook. With a hard copy, there was no way for the information to be restricted.
Unlike many kids, Tyler’s dad had paid for activating two of his augmentations before his training had even begun. He bought the poison attack for emergency self-defense, and he bought his son a support daemon. Tyler’s first daemon, Nico, was based upon the historical figure of Niccolò Machiavelli. He acted as both a minder, and a tutor, and unfortunately also as a tattletale. Unfortunately for Governor Stef Erickson, his son Tyler had learned the wrong lessons from Nico, mostly how to manipulate the system and others to get what he wanted.
Without his father’s knowledge, Tyler had utilized his generous allowance to purchase yet another daemon using his father’s account. Tyler had downloaded a training daemon called Sisyphus, or as Tyler liked to call him – Slag. As his augmentation already had the daemons activated, his training program didn’t require a quest to unlock them or use them.
Slag was a perfect daemon for help in advancement. He was both uncomplicated and incredibly stubborn. He could be tasked with piloting his host’s body for training. He would endure the most painful tasks and the most boring repetitions. He would exert incredible effort into every task he was given. He knew no other world, and his memory was reset weekly so he wouldn’t grow tired of expending all of his efforts toward Tyler’s goals.
“Nico, is the room completely isolated from Winston’s control and observation?” Tyler asked.
“[Of course, Master Tyler. Your hacking skill is sufficiently advanced to separate these rooms from Winston’s control, access, and observation. Are you ready to resume training?]” Nico asked.
“Yes, set up the Foundry Scene.”, Tyler said.
Nico had already prepared the virtual training environment, a construct Tyler has created with similarities to one of his favorite VR games, The Foundry. The large room shifted its material around until it was dominated by a large forge, an anvil, and an assortment of hammers and stock metal in bins.
He reconfigured his clothes into a threadbare set of pants and loaded Slag into his body’s driver position within his augmentations command console. He gave Slag instructions to begin working the metal bars into simple shapes. He winced a bit as Slag grabbed a set of tongs and pulled a piece of rebar up and held it into the furnace. Slag experienced the intense heat of the forge, while Tyler, removed from control of his own body, didn't feel the pain that he knew Slag was enduring.
He pulled the white-hot metal out of the forge and set it upon the anvil. He began pounding the metal with the hammer. Tyler could see his skin getting red and blistering in less than a minute from initiating the task. By forcing Slag to experience the pain and effort of working at the foundry without appropriate gear, Tyler’s skills were advanced quickly. His stats grew again and again from where he had left them yesterday. It was all proceeding according to his compendium’s instructions.
[Strength +1, Endurance +1, Vitality +1]
[Body Skill – Healing +1, Healing reaches level 9]
[Body Skill – Painless +1, Painless reaches level 8]
[Resistance Skill – Heat Resist +1, Heat Resist reaches level 9]
Tyler laughed in his head at the easy progress. Having a daemon doing all the work was one of the better training hacks. With Slag’s “help,” he was able to speed train the unbreakable, skin, and armor skills. That training session was very ethically questionable. It resembled a torture chamber more than anything else, but it paid dividends in stats and skill levels.
At this rate poor old Slag might be ready for the trash heap soon. The Path of the Body would soon be complete, and he could consult his cheat book on how to leap ahead with mental skills.
Bored already with Slag’s never-ending grind. Tyler used his telephony skill to contact Marc. Marc had just signed up at Epic Kempo, with Tyler as his sponsor. Tyler had been “friends” with Marc and Sasha for the last couple of months. Sasha was very good at Math and pairing up with the duo had helped him with the end-of-semester tests. For as long as they were useful, Tyler would continue to work with them. The compendium mentioned that beginning the Advanced level, some training in a real-world dungeon was a popular way to train both body and mind, but the dungeon franchises usually required teams instead of solo play. Tyler sighed, as long as he was in control of the group he didn’t mind. After a short wait, Tyler’s aug confirmed a connection to Marc.
“Marc, we should meet at Epic before class tonight to go over Kata #3.” Tyler said as Marc picked up the call.
“Sounds good, Tyler. I’m glad you’re helping me at Epic, I really needed new combat partners to keep my augmentation quest progressing.” Marc replied.
“All good. I wish I could have been there in class today. Thompson is such an ass. You, me, and Sasha made a good team until those freak shows messed it up.” Tyler said, leading the conversation where he wanted.
Before long, Marc was filling Tyler in regarding all the training the class had done that day. Tyler had asked a few questions about the way Ms. Matthews had triggered the class’s OverLayer skill. Once he had enough clues, he made an excuse to end the call.
While Slag continued his resistance training, Tyler worked with Nico on how they could trigger his OverLayer skill from the clues Marc had provided. Tyler would need to think about how to leverage the twins into showing him their hard-won sensory and mental skills. Just knowing what the challenges were would be a huge benefit so he could keep ahead of the curve, but his cheat sheets were a little thin on mental skills.
Both were very eager to learn how he did his shock touch, and he hadn’t shared it yet. Maybe he would need to soon. That one was one of his first cheat tips. With as little as sticking a fork into an outlet, he had built up his shock resistance. When he had achieved level 10, it opened the shocking grip skill for him. It had proven a decisive advantage in training class and at the dojo, at least until his opponents built up their resistance. Easy XP was good XP. For as long as he had a head start, he could continue to dominate his opponents.
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Maybe I can share the Torture Chamber training with them, Tyler mused. That would be hilarious seeing them go through the scenario without a daemon to take the abuse. Tyler’s pair of daemons was his secret, and he would keep it that way. Two more points into Intelligence and he could acquire another daemon advisor to help him out even further. He would make sure no one had advantages over him.
[Excuse me, Master Tyler, I have a surprise package for you today as well. Your father accessed the fabricator today and left the system unlocked again. I took the liberty of starting your order from the IndyNet. It should be finished compiling. Would you like it now?], Nico asked, waving towards the compiler door that was built into the wall.
Tyler, despite an entire life of receiving gifts, never got tired of opening presents. He eagerly flung open the compiler door to reveal his latest purchase. With a scream of triumph, Tyler grabbed and held aloft his ultimate weapon.
The Conduit Blade was crafted for his current skills. Experts would happily provide powerful devices for the right price if you knew where to shop. The Darknet provided for those with funds. The blade was locked into a bracer that he would wear. The brace itself was reinforced diamondoid and could block most weapons. The hidden blade would spring out at his command extending three feet in length. The blade was razor sharp and would channel his shocking ability, even amplifying its effects.
“Oh yes!”, Tyler exclaimed. “With this device, those degenerates won’t stand a chance.”
Tyler knew from his cheat book that weapons and armaments were a bridge to the next level of augmentations beyond the mental skills. To truly grasp his locked domination skills, weapons and devices would prepare him for direct control of the world. In the short term, this blade would help him to dominate his opponents until he unlocked those skills.
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Max faced the large amphora with veins of gold and with a sigh dropped it onto the fireplace riser. Much to his chagrin it didn’t break. He dropped it again, and again it bounced.
The golden epoxy must have strengthened it, Max thought. With a resigned sigh, he threw it full force with his augmented strength. It shattered in a rain of fragments and this time all the shards were smaller than they had been previously. Max collected all the shards and chips and brought them to a crafting stand Casa had fabricated for him. He began slowly collecting mating pieces and applying the golden paste only when certain he had the correct pieces together.
After 3 hours of painstaking assembly, with Casa encouraging him but not helping, Max finally had the amphora repaired again. He was worried as he placed the amphora on the mantle waiting for the notice. Three seconds ticked by, and he opened his mouth to ask Casa to check it out for flaws when the quest update finally popped up.
[Quest Kintsugi and the Trice Broken Amphora II complete, 100 XP awarded]
[Perception +2, Intelligence +2]
[New Quest Unlocked: Kintsugi and the Trice Broken Amphora III: Shattered amphora, Golden veins now trace the cracks, Beauty from chaos.]
Max sighed in satisfaction. The twice-repaired vase looked even better than before. He had a premonition that the last time would be a painful chore. This one had stolen almost his whole day of training. Casa congratulated him and reconfigured the whole décor using the amphora as a focus.
With only a couple hours of daylight, he didn’t think a trip to the woods for parkour training was going to work. With apologies to Casa, he retreated to his room. His quest to find Musashi was at a critical juncture. He activated his VR game using his OverLayer skill and jumped to his last save point within Shogun Samurai.
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“Max-san, here is your tea.” the small Japanese proprietor said as he delivered the tray, poured the tea, and bowed. The cozy tea house had a fire blazing in the fireplace as a thunderstorm raged outside. Max was not the only traveler seeking shelter tonight as the whole tavern was filled to its capacity.
“Arigatai gozaimasu, oyaji-sama”, Max replied wryly. He still didn’t know Japanese, but this is what all the other tables around him said when they got their tea. He could use English and the game would proceed without a hitch, but the game mechanics improved the NPC’s favorability towards him if he occasionally used traditional Japanese. That would be useful when Max was asking the NPCs for directions or favors. Max was changing his tactics. Instead of blindly tramping through the wilds, he would travel towards the wild areas of Japan and find the hostels and taverns near the wilds. Then he would listen to the locals and travelers for rumors of the elusive Miyamoto.
He had already heard one rumor that Musashi may be nearby and traveled to this village on the news. Nakaguska was a small and isolated Okinawan town surrounded by thick forests. However, it did boast a major trade route that passed through, making it a perfect area for Miyamoto to randomly spawn. It was therefore also a good location for Max to find him.
Max’s attention was drawn to a trio of warriors as he sipped his tea. The samurai were obvious in their dress and arrogance. They all had distinctive silk kimonos covered by wet haori or jackets. They all openly wore their katanas and wakizashi and one had a breastplate with the crest of Kiyomori, the local shogunate.
Max shifted his haori to better cover his embroidered kimono. It had the sigils for Shogun Yoritomo on its shoulders. The two Shogun had been in conflict over this very territory. If these samurai noticed that Max was a samurai from Yoritomo’s Kamakura shogunate, there would be trouble for certain. These men were already deep into their sake cups and by their appearance they had already been in a fight.
Max had avoided all quests for the Shogun Yoritomo, not wanting to get drawn into the main questline. He focused exclusively on finding Miyamoto Musashi. Max shifted his conical bamboo hat, his plain jingasa, lower for privacy and continued to nurse his tea. He listened intently to the conversations around him. The most talk was about the imperial taxes increasing, encounters with bandits in the woods, and the failing crops; but then Max heard the name he wanted to hear.
[Perception +1]
Samurai 1: sighs heavily I cannot believe we lost to Miyamoto Musashi. I think he must really be a yokai. He didn't even use a real sword, just a wooden bokken!
Samurai 2: grimaces It was shameful. We are the Shogun Kiyomori's samurai, yet we couldn't defeat a single swordsman.
Samurai 3: takes a sip of sake We were caught off guard by that thunderstorm. The rain and lightning made it hard to focus.
Samurai 1: nods in agreement Yes, the weather was definitely a factor. But we should have been able to handle a lone swordsman, regardless of the conditions.
Samurai 2: puts down his cup Miyamoto Musashi is no ordinary swordsman. He's known throughout the land for his skill with the sword such that he now only fights with the bokken.
Samurai 3: leans forward That's true. But we can't let this defeat bring us down. We are still loyal samurai of the Shogun, and we must regain our honor.
Samurai 1: raises his cup To regaining our honor!
All: raise their cups To regaining our honor!
Silence fell as they drank for a few moments. Max couldn’t contain himself, Miyamoto at last! And he was very nearby if he understood correctly. Max walked to the trio’s table and bowed lower than strictly necessary as an offering to their station.
“Apologies, Gozaimasu kyaputendono. I have long been seeking Musashidono to deliver an urgent message. I could not help but overhear you talking about him. Would you honor me with which direction he may be found?” Max kept his eyes down and stood stooped to conceal his kimono’s sigils better.
The three samurai looked at each other and then the eldest of them nodded. He looked at Max and answered.
“This Musashidono you seek is north of here, not more than 2 ri distant. We just came from there tonight, and it is said that he recently arrived there from a journey from the far north. Be warned, he has little patience for disturbing his training. He has bested every Samurai in Japan and is very disgruntled about not finding any good competition. He is seeking local bandits but will not hesitate to challenge anyone wearing a blade. You have been warned.”, the elder samurai said, eyeing Max’s sword.
Max bowed again and thanked them before quickly walking away. He placed one silver tael on his table for the tea and exited the tavern with his heart racing. He cursed himself for taking so long to find his quarry and cursed himself twice more as a wild gust of wind blew his jingasa away. With a face full of rain, he ran along the dark forest trail to the north.
The rain had soaked Max to the bone, but it was of little consequence as he finally knew where to find Miyamoto Musashi. He smiled in the rain, for the first time in months he could see the end of his mission. He quickly made his way to the north, not caring if he stumbled over rocks or tree roots in his haste, as he was certain that he would succeed.
In the dark of night, he caught a glimmer of light in the woods. A fire on such a night! And this distance was about right. Max left the trail and plunged into the woods, thankfully the broad trees shielded him from the driving rain. He made his way to the light and found, as he expected, a roaring fire abutting a crude leaning shelter made from sticks and branches. Too small for bandits, but just right for a lone traveler.
Max was about to step into the camp and announce himself when he felt a blade on the back of his neck. He was about to speak but was stopped by a voice in the darkness.
“Trespassers will not be tolerated here. State your business and why you are here now. I'm not in the mood for toying with fools and I'll not spare the blade if I do not like the answer.”
Max thought for a beat, he knew he needed to win Musashi’s respect to gain his daemon. He doubted he could win in combat against him. The game offered two methods to play, progressing a character with game mechanic skills or using his current capabilities. Max knew he didn't have the time to play the full game to the extent to be able to challenge Musashi, so he elected to use his own skills. Perhaps the worst of both worlds since his augmentations were still only novice level. Max decided to be honest with the legendary samurai.
“Sensei, I have come to learn from you, the best swordsman in Japan and the world.” Max threw himself into a full kowtow as he had seen done by other NPCs in the game.
“I am not your Sensei, get up.” Musashi spat. “You are no peasant. You wear the robes of a samurai. Have you no spine?”
“Sensei, although I use the swords of the samurai, I have no training from a master. I can fight but I don’t know the way of the sword. That is why I have searched for you.”, Max remembered the phrase Sensei Kostecki used. “I am an empty cup, Sensei-donó.”
“You are a cracked cup”, Musashi retorted. “Draw your blade! Now or go away!”
This isn’t going very well, Max thought, but I can’t give up. Nervously, Max drew his katana. He was wet, and he was tired, but he was determined. He extended the blade and settled into a deep stance, ready to move.
Musashi observed his form with a scornful look. He had a weathered and rugged face with his long black hair tied back and a hand-length of wild beard. His clothes were rough and showed many repairs. Lightning flashed and, in that heartbeat, Musashi’s bokken struck the katana from Max’s grasp. He hadn’t even seen the strike. Max realized that the bokken blade rested on his left shoulder. Musashi had reversed the strike into a neck cut but stopped it short.
Musashi stepped back, pulling his wooden blade down. “Pick it up," he suggested.
Max picked up the weapon and was shortly disarmed again. Determined, he grabbed it again and was disarmed again. No matter what Max did, Musashi always struck impossibly fast. Stubbornly he continued to try to face the Swords-master, quickly growing tired. With determination, Max picked up the sword and set himself in position.
Fire in his eyes, he activated his Fast Cog skill. The lightning crashed again, and Max’s eyes narrowed but didn’t close. This time, in slow motion, he saw Musashi’s blade strike. Impossibly fast it was, even with his time sense slowing it. Max activated his speed skill to turn. He managed to catch the bokken’s blow against his blade. Max continued his motion, spinning his trailing leg and driving it into a back kick using his Strike skill. Max knew he was in trouble when his kick didn’t connect. Even with fast cog and speed skills, he had lost sight of Musashi. Max finished the turn and saw that Musashi had ducked his kick with a low spin and then Max’s world spun as Musashi’s bokken swept his standing leg out from under him.
With his fast cog and speed skill timed out, Max used his gymnast skill to kick into a standing position. He faced Musashi with his claws ready. The man had already slid backward and had crossed his arms.
“You truly have never wielded a blade.” Musashi snorted. “I’ve seen better control from toddlers learning to hold their hashi for the first time.” Musashi set down his bokken against a tree and invited Max to sit by the fire.
“However, you do have something of a fighting spirit in you. Your last block and counter strike came very close. Quite surprising for one so clearly without a scrap of training.” Max sheathed his blade and knelt by the fire just under the leaning shelter.
“Get some sleep. It is unforgivable to drop a blade. Tomorrow, you will learn to hold it properly or die trying.” Musashi grumpily declared, and without further conversation, turned his back on Max and lay down to sleep.
Max saved the game and, as he logged off, his notifications triggered.
[Musing on Musashi complete, 100 XP awarded]
[New Quest Unlocked: Way of the Sword – Learn the basics of kendo]
[Mental Skill - Fast Cog +1, Fast Cog reaches level 2]
[Body Skill – Speed +0, body skill advancement invalid in VR]
[Body Skill – Strike +0, body skill advancement invalid in VR]
[Mental Skill – OverLayer +1, OverLayer reached level 2]
[Max Level +1, Max advanced to Novice 5, +10 free stats]