While other participants were resting and socializing, a man stood out. Unlike the others, Jason’s fatigue was blown away merely by the fact that he had gained something. Something so precious that others won’t even dream off. He struck the wooden straw dummy with a smile underneath that helmet.

Basic Swordsmanship level up to level 3

“Nice,” muttered Jason.

He felt his heart beating faster than ever, excited by this new prospect. Just a while ago, he had received this new skill. Although it was a passive skill yet it was still worth a lot to Jason. Not only that, his proficiency in this skill was rising at a monumental pace. It leveled up to level two a while ago just after Jason hit it around ten times.

He didn’t understand the experience curve of the skill, so he couldn’t relate it with his unique trait. He had an inkling about the fast pace of his leveling but overall, everything was good for him.

“Okay, that’s it for class today. I hope you all have an enjoyable time and I hope I’ll see you guys next week,” the replacement instructor bade farewell to the whole class.

Jason felt reluctant to leave but he had to. At least now he knew there was a way to gain a skill. He hailed a taxi and sat back on the back seat. He didn’t want to waste time running back to the apartment since he knew it was fruitless to do so. Jason stared at this newfound skill of his.

Basic Swordsmanship Lv.3

- ATK +9

- Boost sword skill final damage by +13%

- Str +1

Attack boost as well as a free status point. This skill is too good to be true. Even those skills found in games are rubbish compared with this one.

Vzzzzzt...

Jason heard and felt the vibration of his phone.

Mom?

A call from his mother. He picked it up and answered the call.

“Yeah mom, is there a problem?”

“Is that how you greet your mother? It’s been six months and you’ve never left me a call,” from the voice of his mother, he was definitely in trouble.

“Mom, you know I’ve been busy. Finding a job in Wall Street isn’t easy.”

“Jason are you sure you won’t change your mind? Me and your father-”

Jason intervened.

“I’ll be fine mom,” a single sentence from Jason and there was silence between the mother and son.

Jason could hear the light sigh coming from the other end of the call. He didn’t want to admit it, but it pained him to hear as such.

“That’s fine then. In fact, I called you for something else. Your uncle is having his 60th birthday, he’s celebrating it down at a hotel in New York this weekend. I and your dad couldn’t attend the celebration, so be a good son and attend it on behalf of the family.”

A bomb dropped on him.

“Wait, mom. Why can’t Ted or Esther do it?” Jason was hoping to get away from this. One thing he didn’t like the most was extended family gathering.

“Ted is busy with his preparation for his orchestra concert and Esther is busy with her finals. I don’t want to disturb them at the moment, you know what I mean, right?”

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Jason shut his mouth as he didn’t want to yell out in response. He too was busy with his life but his parents probably saw him chasing his dream as a big joke, seeing how they didn’t take him seriously.

He was agonizing inside as both of his fists were clenched tightly.

“Your father is calling me. I’ve got to go. Be sure to attend the birthday party on behalf of us, okay son. Goodbye,” she hung up.

She just hung up, didn’t she?

Jason’s face contorted to a shocking degree. He was on the verge of throwing his phone outside of the taxi but he stopped himself from doing so. As of now, he couldn’t afford to buy a new one if he threw it. He returned back to his apartment as It was already night and his stomach was grumbling. Alone in this big city made him missed those friends of his back in Toronto. But the thought of what happened before made him cursed out loud.

“Damn it!” shouted Jason.

Just thinking about it made him boiled in anger. He was the eldest of his siblings yet he was also the black sheep of the family, it was something he knew the moment he told his parents about his dream. It shocked him but he couldn’t deny his own ambition. He paced around the apartment trying to cool off and shook off this feeling. Yet at the corner of his eyes, he saw the katana.

He grabbed the hilt and unsheathed it. The blade was rather dull but he didn’t mind, its cheap, to begin with. Forgetting everything else, he swung the katana while he remembered the words of Aiko.

Swing the sword with all my heart.

In a matter of minutes, he attuned himself with the katana. Focusing solely on his action. Swinging the katana in perfect form, as if the basic form he had learned just now was ingrained into his body. He wasn’t a genius but merely someone aided by the skill of Basic Swordsmanship. The skill itself influenced him in multiple ways. Deep in his own world, Jason forgot about the anger he held in his heart, replaced by the sole intention of the katana.

The first of light dawn broke through the darkness. The light of the sun shone on the figure of a man with a katana in his hand. He had been up all night, swinging that damn katana on his hand. His hands were blistering from the constant swinging he had done. Yet he didn’t mind it at all. He kept on swinging to the point of even his sweat had been dried out. A new notification appeared.

Basic Swordsmanship level up to level 6

His knees grew weak and he fell on the floor with a thud. Jason’s head rested on the cold floor as his eyes started to slowly close. Exhaustion was an understatement as his fatigued body was telling him to go to sleep.

“Just a little nap,” he muttered as his eyes closed.

He slept on the floor with the hilt of the katana still in his grasp.

---

Jason woke up with the day coming to a close. It was late in the evening and the sun was about to set.

Shit, how long did I slept?

He checked his phone and saw the time. He wasn't surprised and flung his phone on the couch.

“I slept the whole day,” his stomach grumbled. “Pizza sounds good, I heard a new Othello branch just opened near here.”

He got up and ordered his dinner over the internet. Slouching over his couch, he was staring in a daze. He didn’t feel like doing anything at the moment.

“Status open,” his status window opened up.

Jason Park Job : None Level 2 EP : 1/1 Strength : 8+2 Agility : 4 Dexterity : 5 Stamina : 2 Energy : 0 E.Resist : 0 Points : 5 Unique Trait : Rapid Growth Skills : Basic Swordsmanship Lv.6

He saw his skill under the skill parameter. He smiled seeing his sole skill at level six. It had been a long time since he felt a sense of achievement. His late-night training wasn’t put to waste as everything was calculated for the sake of his skill. It made him pondered for a while.

I think skill attainment involves a teacher and a student. Then I might be able to learn something else from a person. Can I get a skill different from the basic skills in-game?

What came into mind was production base skills, like alchemy, mining, smithing and etc. Put it into the modern perspective, then he might be holding a golden goose in his hand.

Should I try learning trading then?

He opened up the wetube channels pertaining to trading. He watched and learned hoping to gain another miracle like back in the dojo. He even took out a pen and a notebook, jotting down this knowledge. As if he was back when in college.

Time passed by and Jason himself didn’t notice that his dinner was coming in late. Usually, twenty minutes was enough for the pizza to arrive but two hours already passed and there was no sight of any pizza on his doorstep.

Ding Dong...

The alarm bell of his apartment rang.

“Pizza,” he got up and went to the door. He opened the door and received his dinner.

“Sorry for being late, here’s a complimentary coupon. This is triple the amount that we gave since we’ve pretty much late because of that news,” said the delivery man.

“Late? News?” Jason didn’t get what the delivery man just said. He glanced at the delivery man’s name tag and saw his name.

Glen? Quite an unusual name for an Asian.

“Oh, you didn’t check the news? There’s this crack in the air above New York. The news outlets are all reporting about them. They said the cracks are becoming bigger. I’ve even seen those crack while doing the deliveries,” said Glen the pizza delivery man.

“Crack? In the air?” hearing those words made Jason remembered something traumatic.

He went inside, shutting the door right in front of Glen.

“Well, there goes my tip,” Glen left with a dejected look.

Meanwhile, Jason was panicking. He left the pizza on the table and darted out to the balcony. He glanced upwards and immediately his expression hardened. Both of his fists clenched hard, his eyes widened apart. His chest was heaving rapidly and his heart was beating like mad.

“Goblins, those goblins...”

The thought of those goblins returning back was like a nightmare to him. He knew first hand the terror those little critters could do. He even fought to the death with one of them. The sight of the crack in the air made him recalled the crack back at the alleyway. He felt goosebumps crawling over the back of his neck.

“I need to check,” Jason was worried.

He ran to the door, not before grabbing the sheathed katana. In a matter of a few minutes, he arrived in front of the alleyway. A yellow tape barred the entrance to the alleyway. It was still deemed as a crime scene. But for now, it didn’t matter to him. He crossed the yellow tape not minding the repercussion that would hit him back if any authority caught him on sight.

His pace slowed down as he remembers the pitiful woman. Although there was nothing there but his memory was as clear as day. Gritting his teeth he walked further to the spot where he killed those goblin babies. He saw nothing was there and for once he sighed out of relief. Yet a voice came from behind him.

“Who are you?”