"Good morning instructor."

The instructor gave Lucifer a look.

"Good morning. Let us get this ridiculous farce over with."

Lucifer grinned. The man was underestimating him. He didn't believe there was any way for Lucifer to defeat him.

"Before we begin, could you disperse the crowd in front of the dojo? I don't wish for there to be any distractions during the duel. I would do it myself, but I don't believe that they would listen to me. Only a man of your caliber could command such a large crowd."

The instructor's chest swelled with pride.

"That's right. We don't want distractions during our match. I'll go deal with the crowd out there."

He walked off, strutting with pride.

'He really is simple,' Lucifer thought, laughing to himself. 'All I have to do is praise him and he forgets he is upset with me. If only all people acted like that.'

He quickly began setting up for his plan. He untied one side of the string he had set up the day before, retying it after putting it through one of the bows he had bought. He had cut the string thee day before so that it would be taut, and now he used what was left to tie the bow to a scarecrow. He set an arrow in the bow. Lucifer had set it up so that if the string going across the dojo broke, the bow would fire. All of this was done behind a scarecrow in order to hide the bow, the arrow poking through a hole in the scarecrow's neck. He was ready. He went back to where he had been before, and just as he sat down, the instructor walked back into the dojo, a triumphant smile on his face.

"The crowd is gone."

"Of course. How could they not listen to a great master such as yourself."

"Indeed. Now we can begin."

The instructor tossed Lucifer a wooden sword. Catching it, Lucifer asked for a second one. The instructor looked at the boy with a mix curiosity and disgust, throwing him another sword. Lucifer weighed them in his hands, then put them on the floor. The instructor laughed.

"How do you plan to fight with your swords on the floor?"

"With this."

Lucifer pulled out his second bow. The instructor looked extremely upset.

"The man who I am dueling with does not even have the guts to use a sword when he fights me? I am disappointed in you."

Lucifer chuckled, saying,

"To master the sword, one must also master other weapons. Otherwise they will never truly understand a sword's worth."

The instructor's face reddened.

"Are you saying I have not mastered the sword?!" He screamed.

"I am. And I will prove it to you by defeating you. If I strike you with my sword before you strike me with yours, then you will admit defeat, allowing me to pass the basic training program, correct?"

The man was still outraged at Lucifer's impudence.

"Yes. But that will never happen. Unlike you I am a true man, not a scheming rat!"

Lucifer was happy that the old man hadn't lied to him. He was fine with being a scheming rat, as long as he could improve his stats quickly. He just needed to keep up with high level players so he could continue his research. He wasn't interested in being a man.

"How should we decide how to start our match fairly?"

"For a rat you ask good questions. Maybe we should get someone from outside to begin the match."

Lucifer preferred not to get anyone else involved, even an NPC. If he defeated the instructor, he could trust the man's pride to keep his lips sealed, but he didn't believe there was anyone else he could trust not to spread rumors to the users. He suggested an alternative method.

"How about we flip a coin, and when the coin lands, we start."

"Fine," the instructor agreed, albeit somewhat reluctantly. He took a coin out of his pocket.

"I must give you a chance, however small, of defeating me, even if you are not a true man. Therefore I will not use my sword skills to fight you. I do not trust your word, so I will say only this. If you use your own sword skills, I will kill you without question."

As the man flicked the coin, Lucifer took a deep breath. He watched it slowly spiral through the air, getting closer to the ceiling, calculating the time it would take before it reached the ground.

The coin reached the peak of its flight, and, to Lucifer, the world stopped, as if the land itself was holding its breath.

Then the coin continued spiraling, gravity taking control as it flipped over and over getting closer to the ground.

The coin starting its descent had a profound effect on Lucifer, as he felt a sudden tug in his stomach, nearly making him throw up. He recognized the feeling. He was nervous. Extremely nervous. Every part of his plan had to go perfectly if he wanted any chance whatsoever of defeating the instructor.

*Clink!

The coin hit the ground, and the match began.

Lucifer shot an arrow almost straight up, his nervousness forgotten in a wave of adrenaline. He was able to start a split second before the instructor, as he could react exactly when the coin hit the ground, he didn't react to the sound of the coin hitting the ground, as the instructor had. However, this advantage turned against him. The arrow he had shot upwards was to force the instructor to block before striking, giving Lucifer a chance to pick up the swords, but that plan could only work if the instructor attacked as soon as the duel began. Lucifer had assumed he would, given his personality. Now, he watched in horror as the man stood stock-still, his perfect plan shattered. He no longer had the element of surprise on his side, and the instructor would be more wary than before. For Lucifer's plan to work, he needed the instructor to be right next to him, and he needed both swords in his hands. Otherwise there was no chance. Now the instructor would be more reluctant to come close enough for Lucifer to hit him, and the man could block ten arrows in the time it would take for Lucifer to get close enough to strike. Even so, the die had been cast, and there was no backing out now.

The instructor grinned at the teen's horrified face. However all Lucifer could see was the expression he would imagine a wild animal to have just before it eats you. He almost shot the man on pure instinct, but he fought the urge with clear reason. If he shot now, the man would have a chance to block the arrow and strike him before he could get to his own swords. He needed to continue with his original plan. The man still didn't know about the ace up his sleeve.

Lucifer prepared another arrow. His chances of victory had significantly dropped, but there was still hope. If his patience could beat the instructor's, then once the man charged, Lucifer would be able to use the original plan. The problem with this was that while Lucifer's reaction time was extraordinary, he would be a split second late, not a split second early, which could easily make the difference in this duel.

*Thunk

The arrow fell just in front of Lucifer's feet, lodging in the ground, tip quivering. It had been aimed perfectly.

The two stood face to face for nearly 5 minutes. There seemed to be a tangible aura around the two, but Lucifer's seemed to be on the verge of being completely swallowed up by the instructor's. However, Lucifer had not yet given up hope. He was working as hard as he could to think up a new strategy.

Lucifer finally broke the standoff. He kicked the arrow that was lodged in the ground straight at the instructor, and pointed the bow upwards. When his foot came down, he kicked the two wooden swords he had gotten from the instructor backwards. The instructor swiftly dodged the kicked arrow. Lucifer saw the man's muscles tense, and fired.

This time, the instructor really did advance, bearing down on Lucifer at an unbelievable pace. By the time Lucifer had reloaded, the instructor had already covered half the distance. Only by moving as quickly as he could away from the instructor was he able to have time to aim and fire the second arrow.

The instructor slowed a little while moving his sword up to block the arrow, but when he noticed that the arrow wouldn't hit him, he continued advancing, letting the arrow sail straight past his face. Finally, Lucifer threw the bow at the man while bending down to pick up the swords he had kicked earlier. The instructor ducked under the bow, giving Lucifer another split second to pick up the swords and get ready. Then the instructor was right in front of him, swinging his sword.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The arrow Lucifer had shot earlier after kicking the arrow lodged in the ground had been aimed behind him. The exact angle and amount of force necessary for it to land right where Lucifer needed it to had been calculated in the five minute standoff. The arrow now came down towards the back of the instructor's head. The instructor swiftly blocked it without taking his eyes off of Lucifer, a triumphant look on his face.

"I have avoided all your traps. Now you cannot defeat me you stinking rat!"

Lucifer smiled back.

"You have dodged only two of my arrows. You forgot about the third one."

The instructor's face was full of surprise. He now sensed a third arrow coming at him from behind his back, seemingly having been fired by some magical means. The arrow Lucifer had fired wasn't aimed at him, but at the string keeping the other bow from firing.

Now the instructor had a choice. He could get hit by the arrow on purpose, because the condition on the duel was that, to win, Lucifer had to hit the man with a sword, but if he got hit by the arrow his movements would slow and Lucifer would have a much better chance of winning. The other option was that he block the arrow, but that would require that he turn away from Lucifer, giving the boy a chance to attack him. He decided, jumping and swiftly spinning 180 degrees to face the arrow, whacking it away.

This was the moment Lucifer had been waiting for. He had been 99% sure the man would take this option, as his ridiculous pride wouldn't allow him to get hurt in a duel with someone he viewed as a lesser man, even by means other than the sword. He had begun swinging the swords before the instructor jumped, the one in his left hand moving towards the instructors legs, the one in his right had moving towards the instructor's head. This left his body completely defenseless, but swords would reach the instructor before he had a chance to attack Lucifer. He had underestimated the teen because of his absolute trust in the sword that made him unable to believe he could be defeated with a weapon other than the sword.

However, Lucifer had also underestimated the instructor. Although he was a genius, or perhaps because of it, he could only see the instructor as a prideful muscle head who never thought about anything except his pride and his sword. Therefore he was not able to foresee the instructor's next move.

Instead of knocking the arrow away normally, the instructor had tipped the arrow towards Lucifer's head. It now flew to the space right between the boy's eyes which were widening in surprise. Now Lucifer had to make a decision. If he dodged the arrow, he would have to slow his swords, giving the instructor a chance to counter, or he could continue attacking and let the arrow hit him straight between the eyes, which probably had a 100% chance of killing him. As he began doing a calculation on whether the arrow would hit him before he could hit the instructor, time seemed to slow down. Nothing else mattered, his whole conscious mind was focused the calculation and keeping the two swords moving.

He finished the calculation, and acted on the result.

A split second later the duel ended.

*Thwock

As he felt his sword connect, Lucifer felt a searing pain right between his eyes. The calculation had revealed that he would hit the instructor at the same time that the arrow struck him. He had a random thought.

'I must look like a unicorn.'

He began laughing. As he watched his health rapidly depleting, he saw another window pop up.

*Ding

[p=left]You have defeated the Basic Training Hall Instructor Docke Lancer in a one-on-one duel. Due to this, you have completed the basic training hall.[/p]

Before he could confirm his stat boosts he lost all his health and logged off. He was now banned from the game for 24 hours. Even so, he couldn't complain. Finn breathed a sigh of relief. He was surprised his plan had worked even though it hinged on so many unlikely situations. There was no way it would have been possible in the real world, even if he had the same physical abilities. He had completed the basic training hall, and could become stronger much more easily. He left the pod satisfied. There was a skill mastery penalty, but Finn didn't really care, as he wasn't sure if he would even use the combat skills he had at the moment, and the only other skills he had were extremely easy to grind.

Finn left his room, and saw the family was having lunch. They noticed him and offered him food. He gladly sat down to eat. He had been cutting down his sleeping and eating time as much as possible the past few days to train for the duel, he had even called the Tae Kwon Do dojo to inform them that he wouldn't be showing up for the next few days. Due to his 24 hour ban, he could take his time eating and catching up on sleep.

"So, how is your research going?" Finn's new father asked.

"Very well. Unfortunately I died in the game and can't access my account for the nest 24 hours, so I was thinking that if it's ok with you, my little brother has the opportunity to play while I cannot.

Finn's younger brother looked up from his lunch exited.

"Can I? Please Mother, Father?"

"If Finn says it's ok, then you can play."

"Yay!"

Finn's sister looked a little upset.

"But what about me?!" she wailed.

"You each can play for half the time. Why don't you flip a coin to see who goes first?" Finn suggested.

"Ok." The two seemed happy with this arrangement. They ran off to find a coin. And thus began the saga of a legendary brother-sister duo to be remembered across the Versailles Continent.

While the siblings were beginning their adventures, Finn went to sleep. He slept for 14 hours, over half the time before he could reconnect to Royal Road. For the remaining time, he gleaned new facts off the Internet about the game. He looked up the information about the dungeons near him, pathways to other cities, and he also looked at the list of known professions and how to attain them. He wanted find the best solo class, so he carefully read the information on each class weighing their pros and cons. By the time his ban ended he was still unsure as to what he wanted to be, but he had narrowed his list.

It was lunchtime now, and Finn wanted a good meal before he went back into the game, so he went to have lunch with his family. His brother and sister were already eating when he arrived.

"Did you have fun in Royal Road?" he asked.

"Yeah!" they shouted in unison.

"There was this really funny dude lying in the dojo with an arrow stuck through his head who everybody was crowding around. He kinda looked like a unicorn," Finn's brother remarked. Finn had to repress his laughter.

"It sounds like you had a good time. That's great."

Finn was a little annoyed that he was attracting so much attention, but that could hardly be avoided. He had to think of an excuse to get away from the crowd.

After lunch, Finn walked up to the pod, took a deep breath, and reconnected to Royal Road.

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