As the important looking man on the front courtyard continues to convey his stress, suddenly the door to the closet opens suddenly, revealing two stern soldiers who seem to be on high alert.

‘Shit! Already? I thought they wouldn’t be checking her at least a few more minutes! Though with how many of these guys around, I’m probably lucky I made it this far without anyone coming in here.’

I use my high dexterity to it’s fullest, allowing for complete control of my body. No twitches, no audible breathing, and as little sounds as physically possible. I even use my stealth mastery to it’s fullest in hopes of making the locker I’m in as inconspicuous as possible.

Gauging both of their levels, I estimate both of them at around tier 5, maybe slightly lower. Definitely not an opponent I can take care of quickly.

They slowly pan their head around the rooms, looking for any hint that someone else may be in here with them.

Then, to my horror, they move deeper into the room and begin to rummage through it. They check under and inside some boxes, inside the trash can, they even feel around the room in case someone is using some sort of invisibility.

Finally, they both walk towards the locker with their guard up, anticipating some sort of ambush when they open the door.

I sigh and think to myself, ‘Welp, nothing much I can do now, just have to hope I can somehow take out one of them quickly enough to give myself a one on one.’

Just as they reach to open it, a loud explosion rings out throughout the building, causing both men to look in the direction of the blast.

I use this opportunity wisely, and quickly burst out of the locker and place my sword into the neck of one of the two men, causing him to stare in shock at me before he quickly falls to the ground gurgling and holding his neck.

The other man reacts quickly and swings his sword in rapid swings towards my center of mass. I somehow am able to throw my body backwards and away from him.

Luckily it seems I was able to kill the stronger of the two, as this guy seems at most mid-tier 4. Unluckily, taking on a tier 4 of any level in a straight up fight is a tough ask. After all, while he may not gain as many stats per level as myself, a forty or more level lead is a lot of levels to overcome.

Seeing as the only possible way I’m going to be able to get out of this is either through running away, or out-swording him, I decide to risk it and take him on.

My thought process being that even if I’m able to outrun him, there’ so many soldiers around the place that I’m bound to run into one that’ll catch me.

With my decision made, I place all of my eleven newly gained AP into dexterity, bringing it to a nice even seventy.

Seeing that I’m not immediately making a move, the soldier reaches into his pocket searching for something.

Understanding that he’s attempting to grab his alarm device, I react quickly and change at him full speed.

At the same time, I begin to funnel my spiritual energy into my sword, hoping to bring my sword directly at his arm to stop him.

At this point I’ve learned many things about this power, one of them being that the further my swords needs to travel to get to where I want it, the more spiritual energy I need to exert.

After some testing I did during our two days of waiting, I found that I can pull off about three or four medium length slashes before I give out.

Unfortunately my attack misses, though it does do the job of preventing him from triggering his alarm. I continue to pelt the man with attacks, hoping to draw out some sort of opening, but alas it’s for naught, as his raw stats allow him to maneuver deftly around my strikes.

I make sure to keep my back to the doorway to prevent him from trying to escape.

‘I need to think of something quick before someone else shows up.’ I think to myself as I try my best to rack my brain for ideas.

‘Hm, that could work… maybe. It’s risky but it should give me chance here.’

With my mind made up, I quickly channel my spiritual energy throughout my body, bringing to the edge of release, before redirecting it back into my core.

One revolution passes, then two, then three. I start slowly at first, making sure my technique is perfect, before I increase the pace.

Eventually after a few seconds, I make it back to my top revolution speed, cycling my spiritual energy all throughout my body.

While the boost I receive isn’t anywhere near the real thing, this ‘pseudo-aura body’ gives at least a small, but noticeable, boost to my overall physical prowess and cognitive processes.

Seeing me not moving for ten or so seconds, the soldier once again begin to reach for his pocket, and like last time, I charge at him to prevent this from happening.

This time he expects it though, pulling his body backwards while bringing his sword down on my neck.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Time seems to slow down to a halt, and my vision narrows. Gathering my spiritual energy, I bring my sword to my nape, parrying the attack perfectly so that his attack hits the floor instead.

Seeing this perfect opportunity my vision narrows even further and I bring my sword perfect towards his stomach. He manages to get out of the way for the worst of it, but he still takes a good gash to his stomach. Even half an inch further and his entrails would be spilled on the floor.

My focus continues to grow through the roof, as I keep on the offensive, swinging blow after blow, slowly breaking his stance further and further.

To me it seems as if he’s moving at a snails pace, as I perfectly place each strike to get him deeper into my trap.

Finally, he slips up, sending a wide block left way to early, which allows me the opportunity to once more gather my spiritual energy into my sword and bring my sword striking towards his neck on the right, where he’s completely exposed.

The strike lands, sending blood flying from his neck. Instead of going down though, he just continues to attack and defend like his neck isn’t bleeding.

‘Must have some sort of skill or something, because a wound like that would send any man to the ground normally.’ I think quickly before diving back into the fight.

So we continue our dance, this time it’s even more one-sided, as while he doesn’t go down to the gash in his neck, he sure as hell feels it.

Seeing the situation turning worse for him rapidly. He attempts to maneuver around me and get to the door.

I allow him to and he quickly turn his back to me in an attempt to sprint into the hallway. Just as he’s about to reach the the door. A long worn out piece of metal enters through his back and out his front, piercing his heart and pinning him to the wall.

He looks back to see me just where I was but with my arm extended and my hips turned as if I was some sort of old-world baseball pitcher.

Finally, his face finally realizes what happened as shock turns to agony, which finally turns to death.

‘Ha! That little goblin was onto something with this! That was awesome! They never expect it!’

‘Woah an upgradable mastery? That’s awesome!’

Upgradable masteries are masteries that can evolve and change to fit your need over time. At level twenty is the first possible upgrade, allowing you to upgrade it into an uncommon mastery. There are any number of possible upgrades for each mastery, but usually your three options will be for more niche situations.

You also have the option of just not upgrading at all, as when you upgrade, you completely reset your mastery’s level. Surprisingly a lot of people do this when they acquire an upgradable mastery. Sometimes you just can’t beat the original I suppose.

Though in this case I’m hoping that when it reaches level 20 I’ll be able to select some sort of specializes sword option, or maybe even an option that allows me to regain my sword after I’ve thrown it. Though this is just wishful thinking on my part.

For my AP in decide to put the smaller half into agility and the larger half into wisdom. I put none into dexterity as I just put a whole level’s worth into there, and I want to remain at least somewhat of a balanced fighter.

I take a quick look at my status.

Name

Rowan Attain

Level

12

Class

Legacy: Skill-less Swordsman

Race

Human/Janin

Attributes

Strength – 20 (+2)

Agility – 43 (+2)(+6)

Dexterity(+) – 70 (+2)(+3)(+6)

Endurance – 11 (+2)

Perception – 30 (+2)

Intelligence – 22 (+2)

Willpower – 56 (+2)

Masteries

Common

Swords – 23

Temperance – 18

Stealth – 14

Sprinting – 9

Exercise – 7

Thievery – 3

Deception – 4

Killing – 10

Blending In – 1

Misdirection – 8

Monster Hunting – 10

Spirit Control – 5

Item Understanding – 3

Weapon Throwing (Upgradeable) - 1

Uncommon

Assassination - 2

Skills

Feats

Early Killer - Very slight increased progression towards your Killing Mastery.

Swords Prodigy - Slight increased progression towards your Swords Mastery. +1 to all Stats.

Temperance Prodigy - Slight increased progression towards your Temperance Mastery. +1 to all Stats.

Early Enlightenment - One trait can be chosen related to your core.

Reversal – One trait can be chosen related to your recent ambush.

Punching Up – +1 to all stats.

Starter’s Blade – +3 AP, +3 to dexterity.

Smart Spender – Save all of your SP until level 10. +1 to all stats.

Novice Spirit Controller – Very slight increased progression towards your Spirit Control mastery. Any cultivation abilities are slightly enhanced. +5 willpower and +5 intelligence.

Connected Mind – You may upgrade your race or add a new attribute to your status. +5 intelligence and + 5 perception.

Core

Sword – Your sword resonates with omnipresence.

Traits

Indomitable Swordsman - Receive a slight boost to perception when in a tough situation. Scales based on willpower.

Meager Swordsman - Increased progression towards your Swords Mastery while living humbly.

Sword of Silence - Harder for enemies to detect your sword coming. Very slight increased progression towards Stealth.

Dedication to the Sword – +2 to all stats when holding a sword, -2 to all stats when not. Increased progression towards Swords Mastery, decreased progression towards all other weapon and combat masteries.

Willful Gains – Permanently gain 5% of your willpower in any stat. Affect continues to scale with willpower. (+3 Dexterity)

Skill-less – All SP gained up to this point and onwards will be transferred into 2 AP each. Unable to acquire skills through any means. Bonus (2 * Tier) AP gained per level.

Sword of Will – Gain 10% of your willpower two other stats. Can be changed once a year. (+6 Dexterity/Agility)

State of Concentration - When you achieve perfect concentration under stressful circumstances, increase your agility and perception by 1.5 times. Duration is based on willpower.

Items

Solace’s Soul Shard (Two uses left)

My eyes are drawn to the last trait on my list, that being State of Concentration. That skill one hundred percent saved me in that last fight. While I didn’t realize it at the time, my capabilities were improved by leaps and bounds once I reached that flow state.

‘The only problem is that I still have no consistent way to reach that state. I’m sure I’ll be able to reach it again, but what if I try too hard to reach it at some point? To me it seems like it only really occurs when I’m not thinking about it. Hmm, something to think about I suppose, for now I need to deal with these bodies and this blood all over the floor before someone else shows up.’