Brian's estimates were almost spot on, and he spent over three weeks working for Foreman Yao at the docks of Louyang. In that time, he had become a regular fixture there and had gained the respect of the other workers. And, through a series of food bribes and excessive compliments, had gained the trust and friendship of Yao. This meant his wages were much higher than the typical worker and Yao would often make sure he found himself with a hefty bonus.

Some players had also noticed Brian's presence on the docks. Most pointed and whispered, though a small number would try to talk to him. However, they were usually ran off by Yao before they got a chance to open their mouth. This provided a decent amount of amusement for the NPCs around the dock, and would cause a small crowd to gather from time-to-time. Apparently the NPCs liked to watch their player counterparts do odd things. Wonder if they're really curious, or just programmed to be?

Their behavior wasn't so odd when considering how Brian spent at least fifteen hours a day in the game, most of them at the docks. The NPCs didn't work near as hard or long, so Brian assumed it was difficult for them to wrap their minds around the fact that a player would willingly do so much work. At one time, a small party of players organized themselves and attempted to stage a rescue for Brian, under the impression that he had somehow been enslaved. Brian almost felt bad breaking the truth to them. And Yao had almost fired him for the distraction. If it hadn't been for Brian's earlier work at making friends with Yao, he probably would have lost his job halfway through week two.

He had purchased an old and rusty lamp the second day. With the lamp, he was able to spend time after dusk training in the secluded park he had found. Every few days he would head to the same book kiosk and buy a new manual. All of them were basic, generic techniques he could have easily taught himself with some experimentation. He hard learned this after he had decided to try and do a kick and found himself with the Basic Kick skill. Despite this, he still purchased the Basic Kick manual from the kiosk. His plan required he buy them all.

Speaking of plan...

Yao had just called an end to the days work. It had just reached midday, so the men were confused. Most didn't dwell on in long, though, and began to line up in the usual fashion.

Brian had learned that there was a hierarchy of sorts between Yao's dock workers. Your position within the line depended on your position within the hierarchy. Brian had started at the end of this line, of course. But he managed to move much higher in the past three weeks, though, and was now the third person in line at the end of each day. His turn came up fast and he took the chance to ask Yao about the sudden end of the day.

"Got things to do," Was all Yao would supply, handing Brian his four hour wage.

Shrugging, Brian got out of the line and was heading out of the docks when someone called at him from behind.

"Junjie!" At first, Brian didn't respond as he wasn't used to being called his in-game name.

"Yeah?" He shouted as he turned to see who had yelled his name. A scrawny man who seemed more fit to be a pickpocket than a dock worker waved at him. Some of the other dock workers surrounded him.

"Wanna come have a drink?" The man mimed pouring a drink down his throat, which he exaggerated a great deal. This caused a few chuckles from the men around him.

"Nah, I've got some other things to do," Brian turned to go.

"Aw, you always have stuff to do!" The man called out, causing the rest of the men to break out in laughter.

Brian waved over his shoulder and continued on his way.

Truth be told, he just didn't like most of the NPC dock workers. He found it disconcerting how life-like their personalities were. And the realistic nature of their personalities meant most were crude, stupid, and generally hateful. Basically the type of people Brian didn't want to be around. Plus, he would reason to himself, he didn't like the odd way the alcohol made him feel. He hadn't had alcohol in the real world yet - his uncle never drank, and Brian had just copied him.

So perhaps he was underprepared for the way it made him feel when he first tried some of the virtual wine at a nearby tavern. He couldn't even be sure if that was how you should feel, or if the game alcohol had different effects than real life alcohol. Either way, he didn't like the way it seemed to limit his ability to think, and had sworn off the stuff right after the effects had worn off.

Except today, unlike most days, he truly did have a reason for declining. He needed to finish his plan.

It didn't take him long to get to the kiosk. The same old man, with the same toothless grin, was there. Brian wasn't sure, but he thought he saw the old man's grin widen just a tad when he walked up.

By now, the man knew what Brian was after and took out what he had left of his private collection of Kung Fu manuals. There was only one, and it was relatively thick at four pages. Brian pointed to it and the man held up seven fingers. In his weeks working at the docks he had saved up several Liang, which were a thousand Wen each, so the price wasn't a problem. He counted over the coins and handed them to the man.

Brian picked up the manual and gave it a quick look-over, learning the skill in an instant. Leg Sweep. He then looked back up at the man behind the kiosk expectantly. A hidden event should trigger after purchasing the last of the manuals, and his weeks of effort were about to pay off. Yet, with each passing second with no movement from the man behind the kiosk, his heart fell. He was somewhere between sadness, disappoint, and anger. Worried he might do something he would regret, Brian turned to leave. Becoming an outlaw wont help me.

"Wait,"

Brian snapped his neck over his shoulder so fast, it popped.

"I have something for you, young Youxia." Unlike most NPCs in the game, this one had an odd accent. As if English weren't his first language. Which was odd, as, so far as Brian knew, the whole game had been completely translated into English. Wait a second, he's never talked before.

But Brian didn't have much time to dwell on the thought, as the old man had pulled out a new manual which was much thicker than all the rest and had a golden cover. He held it towards Brian, who tentatively took it.

"How much do I owe you?" Brian asked, running his eyes over the manual. It seemed as if the cover was gold leaf, with the name of the technique being in silver.

"Nothing, Youxia," The man explained. "It is a gift for your dedication to Wushu."

"Thank you," Brian said, looking back up at the man.

He waited for a reply, but none came. Shrugging, he began heading to his usual park. Sometimes, he would take this time to leisurely stroll through the city and enjoy the aesthetics of the game world. Today he just sprinted, not wanting to hesitate in learning this new skill.

The reason Brian had worked so hard for the past three weeks was so he would be able to have this moment. He had read about these types of skills on forums. Known as Special Techniques, they were much more powerful than normal techniques. Some might call them "Finisher Moves" in other games.

Soon, Brian had reached the park and he began examining the manual.

This technique was known as Crane Steps Forward To Strike With Beak. The first page of eight explained the theory. How its purpose was to close the distance between a target up to three meters from you. The technique consisted of eight movement, with three actual strikes. Two kicks and punch. The last strike called for the use of Qi. That didn't make much sense to Brian.

He began reading the technique. Like the other manuals, it had a lot of sketches displaying how you should be moving. However, the sentences were a lot more descriptive than earlier manuals and covered equal parts theory and action. Honestly, a lot of it seemed more like poetry; comparing the movements in the technique to the actions of a crane. Most of the movements seemed simple enough, but the Qi part stumped him. He wasn't sure how to channel the Qi, or if you were even supposed to actually do it. It could be the mention of Qi was like the mention of the crane - just metaphor.

Yet the last page focused on explaining how the Qi should be transferred through certain meridians and focused in his arm and into the fist, just enough to strengthen his strike.

Brian had expected the manual to disappear after finishing the last page, but was surprised to find the manual still in his hands. Maybe I have to copy the movements?

Standing up, Brian began following the movements as shown in manual. At first he practiced each step separately. Most of the movement were to get you closer to the opponent and build power for the strikes. The first two steps were simply that, long strides meant to help build momentum and get you closer to the target. The first strike was an odd jump kick, where you jumped forward and kicked out with your right foot at the same time. The next movement was landing on the same foot you kicked with and doing a downward angle straight kick with the right leg, ending with a slam of the same foot. And the last two movements were for the punch.

It took a few tries, but Brian found he was able to execute the moves without much mistake. He attributed this to his dexterity, which had risen to a decent amount thanks to his constant work at the docks. He then went back to the manual and read it again, but still nothing.

Sighing, he sat down with the manual and tried to figure out what was wrong. Maybe it's because I don't understand the Qi part.

He flipped back to the page of the manual which explained how to the Qi would travel through a set of Meridians and make its way into his hand. There was something about his small intestine and hand, but he couldn't figure out what it meant. He had a basic idea of Meridians from reading some Wuxia fiction, but most didn't go into great detail. And the various authors he had read always seemed to explain it differently. Thinking back to novels, he got an idea. When it doubt, visualize

.

He closed his eyes and concentrated within himself, just as hundreds of students in Wuxia novels before him had been instructed to do. He thought back to all the times he had read about someone learning to master their internal strength. As he did this, he heard a new screen pop up in front of him with a 'ping.'

Opening his eyes, he found something he wasn't expecting. In front of him was a sort of diagram of a human body. However, it lacked much detail except for some odd colored lines drawn about the body. Upon closer inspection, it seemed like the lines where actually moving. Flowing like tiny rivers. Most of the rivers lead to tiny little reservoirs. This must be my Qi!

Experimenting, Brian found he could have some effect on the Qi rivers. As he focused on certain parts of his body, the lines with widen or contract. He didn't have much control over how much they widened or contracted, but he could do it. He found he could also coax the rivers to flow in certain directions. As he did this, he felt parts of his body change temperature.

Now the theory mentioned in the manual made more sense to him. He closed out of the new Qi screen and picked up the manual.

He re-read the last page and stood up. This time, before he began, he concentrated on the reservoir he had seen residing near where he assumed his small intestine would be. As he did this, he felt a warmth spread through his abdomen. He coaxed the warmth to rise through his body, to reside in his arm and fist. This took a few tries as he found even a moment of lapse in his concentration would cause the warmth to disappear.

Once he felt he could hold his concentration and maintain the warmth, he began executing the technique. This time, as he threw the punch, he felt a definite difference. Almost like his hand was strengthened from the inside, allowing him to punch straighter and harder with more precision. There was even a crisp popping noise after. It was an exhilarating feeling.

He turned back to the manual he had left sitting on the ground. Come on, come on...

And then it began to glow, slowly dissolving into nothing.

You have learned Crane Steps Forward To Strike With Beak!

Hell yes!

You have gained 3 Wisdom!

Congratulations! You've reached level 4!

Please distribute your three (3) stat points.

This impressed Brian. He hadn't been expecting stat points, nor a level up. He had just achieved level three the day before, and barely had any experience towards level four.

Open character sheet.

JunjiemingLevel:60%Strength:35Dexterity:22Constitution:10Stamina:10Intelligence:8Wisdom:15

Brian whistled at what he saw. Apparently learning a Secret Technique gave nice experience, as he was already sixty percent to level five. Most players would probably be closer to level fifteen by now, so he felt bad about his slow leveling progress. However, looking at his stats made him feel proud. His strength was at thirty-five now, Dexterity was only at twenty-two, and his Wisdom was sitting at fifteen thanks to the six points he had just gotten. Constitution and Stamina had come up from his work at docks, with ten each. Intelligence was a paltry eight.

He was much more powerful than the average level three. Heck, he was more powerful than the average level ten. Plus he had a Secret Technique under his belt, something most people wouldn't get their hands on without getting a high level and joining one of the more secretive sects.

Finally, he felt he could leave the city and start playing the game.

Thinking on what he knew of hunting in The Jianghu, he figured starting with boars would be good. Most players, if they went down the combat route, would focus on killing chickens or pigs first. But his stats were high enough, so boar shouldn't be an issue. Plus, he could sell the skins to leather makers for some decent Wen. The meat might make a nice gift for Cao Cao, too. His research had revealed a small forest to the East of Louyang, apparently full of boar, only about an hour walk from the city.

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With his plan in mind, he set off to the Eastern gate of the city. He made a short detour to the Smiths quarter first, though.

The Smiths quarter was where most of the metal workers - both NPC and player - set up shop. You could look up at the sky from anywhere in the city and see the smoke billowing from their forges. Usually, one would head into the market to buy tools and weapons. But Brian felt he could get a better price going straight to the source. It also helped that the Quarter was close to the docks and therefore close to where he currently was. He could even hear the distant clanging of metal on metal from where he stood.

It didn't take Brian long to find himself standing in the midst of hundreds of blacksmith shops. The collective hammering sounded like thunder. He wanted to find a smith offering quality tools but wasn't prestigious enough to charge absurd prices. He also needed a blacksmith who focused on small blades, as he needed a skinning knife to perform field butchering to get his loot from the boars. He could get crude ones on the cheap in the slum market in which Cao Cao had his stall, but he wanted something of quality. The higher quality the tools, the better the loot quality. And the better the quality, the more money he could get.

Brian didn't mind working at the docks, and it paid well. But he would be damned if it wasn't repetitive. That, and he was no longer getting good stat gains from the work. Altogether, this made him feel like finding a new source of income and stats was a great idea.

Eventually, he found the smith he was looking for. An NPC who ran one of the smaller shops in the Quarter, little more than a forge and a large table to display his work. Yet, despite his humble workstation, the blades he produced looked of a high quality. He even demonstrated the strength of his blades when Brian inquired. The price he charged was modest for a quality blade, only two Liang. Which Brian was able to haggle down to one-and-a-half.

With his knew skinning knife safely tucked into his inventory, Brian made his way to the East side of the city and out of the gates. As he passed through, he noted how the traffic was much less than what he had experienced at the South gate.

As he left the city, he was in awe of the view. Louyang was located in a part of China known as the Central Plains, and it was suitably... plain. But in a good way. The flat landscape and fertile soil made for amazing farming and grazing lands. So, for a good couple of miles around the city, there were nothing but beautiful hamlets and farmland. And the occasional forested hill. It reminded him of the landscapes he had seen traveling through Kansas during a Road Trip with his Uncle Jie, years before.

However, his nostalgia got interrupted by a pop-up message.

Warning! You are leaving the protective area of Louyang! Guards will no longer help you if you come under attack. Proceed at your own peril.

Brian closed the message. He had read how the game was full player-versus-player enabled. People could even attack you in towns. However, doing that would attract the ire of the Town Guard, who were well-trained and equipped. Hoping he wouldn't get attacked by Player-Killers, called PKs, he continued onward. As he traveled, he went through a couple of small hamlets. These were collections of houses, often owned by farmers. Entering one, he passed by a small cart being pulled by an ox with two guards escorting it. It appeared to be carrying sacks of grain, but Brian wasn't sure. Once he was in the hamlet proper, though, he came across two players sparring. They even had a small crowd of the locals and a few other players cheering them on.

Both were using some type of curved sword, and their movements seemed almost like a dance. Until one of the players sliced their sword through the stomach of the other, anyways. Brian looked away, expecting to see guts spilled to the ground. But when he looked back, all he saw was the other player on the ground with a disappointed look on his face and a glowing red line where he had got cut. As he lay on the ground, one of the other players came forward and began applying some kind of powder to the wound. Guess it would be a bit to brutal to include full gore.

He continued onward, past the hamlet. He passed a few of the big killing fields he had read about. As he watched, he saw NPCs weave in and out of the tens of players in the field, picking up the pig corpses and carrying them away. Every few minutes an NPC would lead a string of new pigs to the players. An interesting way to explain the overabundance of pigs available for newbies to kill.

It took about an hour, just as he had estimated, to reach a forest he assumed contained the boars. Getting closer, this got confirmed as he heard the squeals and sounds of boar thrashing about the wooded area. The whole thing seemed to be infested with them, judging by the noise. It didn't make sense, so many large animals living close together. No NPCs in site, either. Well, I've got to remember this still a game.

Brian reached down and picked up a nearby stone. First testing its weight, he then threw it into the forest. He had thrown the stone expecting to scare a few of the boar out and then attacking one. Much to his surprise, though, a boar picked the exact moment Brian threw the stone to stick its head out of the brush. The stone he threw smacked it right between the eyes.

For a moment, the beast seemed stunned. But then it swung its head back and forth, searching for the source of its pain. Sighting Brian, it squealed and charged straight at him.

Brian instantly dropped into Combat Stance, with his legs about shoulder length apart and his left slightly forward.

As soon as the boar got within range, he executed a Basic Punch straight to the boars head, stunning it.

Basic Punch has raised 2 levels!

Strength has risen by 1 level!

Brian closed this new pop-up quickly, as the boar quickly recovered from the stun and was trying to gouge his legs with its tusks.

This time, as the boar got close enough, Brian used his Basic Kick and sent the boar flying about five feet back. It landed on its side, but was soon trying to get back on its feet.

Brian took this time to activate his new move.

Crane Steps Forward To Strike With Beak.

Nothing happened. What?

Brian didn't get a chance to think about it for long, as the boar was already charging at him. He sidestepped just in time and used his new Leg Sweep, causing the boar to sprawl on its stomach.

"Come on," Brian shouted in the heat of the moment. "Crane Steps Forward To strike With Beak, damnit!"

And then the move executed, causing his body to snap into the movements. This time, Brian didn't have to think about it. Each movement was done on auto-pilot, even the Qi portion.

Oh... Guess I need to say Special Techniques out loud.

Crane Steps Forward To Strike With Beak has raised by 5 level!

Congratulations! You've reached level 5!

Please distribute your three (3) stat points.

Neat.

He distributed his new points, making his Wisdom now eighteen. Then, closing the screens that had appeared, he turned back to the boar. As he advanced, he pulled his skinning knife from his inventory. This was something Brian wasn't sure of. He couldn't find any guide describing how to use skills like Field Butchery. So, unsure what he should do, he kneeled down and pressed the knife into the boar expecting he would need to literally butcher it. Not wanting to see the blood, he closed his eyes tight. However, after a moment, he realized he met no resistance and opened one of his eyes.

Oh, thank god.

As soon as Brian touched the boar with his knife, it began to glow like a skill manual and disappeared. In its place sat two tusks, a rough skin, and two separate piles of meat.

You have learned Basic Field Butchery!

Basic Field Butchery has raised by 5 levels!

Shrugging to himself and closing the pop-up, he began stuffing the items into his inventory.

"Hey!" Someone shouted from behind him.

For a moment, Brian panicked. He hoped he wasn't about to have his first encounter with Player Killers.

Quickly, he finished putting the items into his inventory and turned around. He felt a bit of relief by what he saw.

Sure, there was a large scary man with a sword at his hip. But there were also two women. Well, one woman and another that would best be described as "girl." The woman was on the left and could be the definition of beautiful for all that mattered to him. It's just an avatar, don't be fooled.

The girl on the right could definitely be described as cute. However, instead of a warm smile like the woman, she had a slight frown.

"Hello," Brian called out as they got closer.

"Hey there," The woman replied. "Been killing pigs, hon?"

Not wanting to correct the beautiful woman, he just nodded.

"Did you get any loot?" The girl asked, her voice a higher pitch than the woman.

"Yeah," He replied, turning to the girl. Looking at her closely, her avatar looked more about his age. She was just short and had cute features, definitely attractive but not what he would call beautiful. The woman, on the other hand, looked like she was about ten years older than Brian.

"Then you best hand over that pig meat, boy." The man growned as soon as he answered.

This confused Brian. Do they think I was at the pig slaughtering grounds? Didn't they see me kill the boar?

Taking his confusion to mean hesitation, the man stepped forward and placed his hand on the pummel of his sword.

The woman, stepping forward with him, placed her hand on the mans arm.

"Now now," She started. "No reason to get killed. NaruChamp here is level ten. He can kill boar as easy as he can eat pie!"

Brian cocked his eyebrow at the comment. What does pie have to do with...? Are these people slow?

"Just hand over the stupid pig meat, it isn't worth the experience loss." The girl interjected.

This time, Brian took a step back. It seems his initial fear was well founded. They wanted his loot, and they wanted to kill him if he didn't hand it over.

The man pulled out his sword, taking another step forward and waving it at Brian's face. Brian weighed his options. He would certainly take some experience loss. But he was only level five and the experience would be easy to get back. On the other hand, if he managed to come out of this with his loot, he could make a handful of Liang. That was worth at least attempting to fight. His thoughts got interrupted by the mans voice.

"Last cha-" The man didn't get to finish, as Brian executed a perfect level forty-eight Basic Punch into the mans face. Oh, level fifty now.

The man was stunned only for a second, and immediately slashed in a wide arc at Brian's head. Brian ducked, slipping into his combat stance.

As the man brought the sword back around, Brian kicked him in the side. This didn't stop his sword, though, and it sliced into Brian's left arm.

Distracted by his inability to move his left arm, Brian almost received cleave to his neck. However, he was able to sidestep the cleave just in time and used Leg Sweep on the man. He then executed two kicks straight to the mans head as he lay on his back. He was about to deliver a third when the girl called out.

"Wait!"

Brian turned to here, wondering why she was stopping him. As he looked up, he saw the woman running away and had already gotten considerable distance away. Runs fast.

"Why?" He asked the girl.

"If you kick him another time, he'll die."

"...So?" Brian didn't see a problem with killing the man.

She sighed.

"If you kill him, you'll get a murder count. You hit him first, remember?"

"Oh." It made sense to Brian. He had heard of murder counts before, but wasn't exactly sure how they worked. He knew that if you got one, though, a tattoo would appear on your forearm marking you for what you did. One for each murder. Hence the term "murder count."

The girl walked up to the man and executed her own kick to his head.

"Idiot!"

He groaned in reply.

She delivered a second kick and then the mans body disappeared in a mist of light. Reaching down, she picked up the sword and a few other pieces of loot left where the man once sat.

"Wont you get a count?" Brian asked.

She didn't answer until she had finished looting and had stood back up.

"Not unless you report me." She explained. "That's what Missy is doing, running to report you for the kill. They've done it before, though I don't think they expected you to fight. You look like a day-one newb."

This information worried Brian. He hadn't killed the man, but he wasn't sure if this meant the woman couldn't report him. His concern must have shown on his face, as the girl continued talking.

"Don't worry. You have to be reported by someone who witnessed the murder. She didn't see anything before she ran."

Then, without another word, the girl turned and began walking away.

Brian, for his part, decided he needed to head back towards Louyang. So that's what he did, nursing his disabled arm along the way.

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