"Ahh… Ahh… Haah…" The bag's straps slid down from my shoulders, and the rock-filled bag dropped to the ground with an earth-shaking thud.
I fell to my knees, wondering, where am I?
The place seemed familiar with wet grass, surrounded by windows and a gray sky above. Then, memories of my pain-filled, foot-aching, and scream-echoing morning jog resurfaced.
It was like a flood, all my locked memories were unleashed immediately, and I could feel my frustration filling my insides. I lay down on the ground and turned around to face the sky.
Then, footsteps appeared, and a shadow loomed over me. The gray-haired bastard's face became visible, the person responsible for my never-ending pain.
"Feel like giving up?" Garp asked after seeing the sorry state Liam was in. The shoes were worn-out, and the man wearing them looked half-dead.
I opened my mouth. But, my throat was parched, and my tongue numb. Instead, I shook my head. There was no way I would give up after suffering.
Giving up would mean the suffering was nothing. Even though there could be more difficult experiences ahead, at least I am prepared.
Garp nodded and said, "We would usually have sparring lessons at this time. But, you obviously aren't capable of doing it, and you wouldn't give a good fight to anyone."
I groaned with an inaudible voice. Even though I wanted to show I could spar, there wasn't anyone who would benefit from it. The feeling of weakness became clearer.
"Once you can stand up…" Garp stood up and turned his back to me, "Go get a training sword, and keep swinging it till your arms fall off."
Then, he left, leaving me alone in the garden.
I gritted my teeth and slowly sat up. Then, I pushed myself up with the help of my feeble arms, and after I stood up, my feet began screaming in pain.
The bottom of my feet was burning, and it felt like I was standing on top of blades. A trail of blood left the corner of my mouth, but I wiped it away and walked inside the building.
There was one door open on the first floor, and it was the storage room. I went there, took the wooden sword, and returned to the garden.
I held the sword with two hands and began swinging up and down. After doing it the first time, my arms felt weak, and the wooden sword felt as heavy as a boulder.
The blood vessels protruded as I moved the sword above my head and swung it powerfully down. The sharp whistling sound echoed throughout the garden. Then, I moved the sword up and slashed down.
A sharp whistling sound echoed in the garden the whole day. Once the gray sky became orange, loud bells tingled in the building, signaling that today's training was over.
My arms fell to the side like they were made from jelly. The shoulders slumped, and eyes were droopy. The tongue swayed outside my mouth, and drops of sweat kept trailing down.
I turned around and walked toward the garden's exit with the wooden sword hanging from my right hand. Then, I saw the rock-filled bag. I also grabbed it and began dragging it behind me.
Soon, I reached the storage room, and I saw young men and women taking their bags there with their training equipment.
This time, they turned to look at me and nodded before leaving. Then, Garp came from the end of the hallway and tossed pair of keys to me.
Once I placed the bag and wooden sword inside the storage room, I closed the doors and locked them tightly.
Then, I left; however, after passing by a slightly ajar door, I slipped the key inside and returned to the second floor.
Soon, I was back in my temporary room, and I immediately slumped down on the bed. Then, I logged out for the time being.
In real-life, I went to eat, and my parents asked why I looked so exhausted. For some reason, the exhaustion was as similar in real life as in the game.
I only replied that I exercised. Then, after done eating, I returned to my room and placed the VR Helmet around my head.
After I opened my eyes and saw the wooden ceiling, I sat up and went to the desk. There was an open book lying on the desk, and I resumed reading it.
I didn't stop when the sky became dark. Instead, I ignited the gas lamp and resumed reading. Soon, the percentage reached 99%, and I thought that the finish straight was near.
However, after reading one hour more, the percentage didn't rise. I massaged my temples, and I felt like something was missing that stopped me from reaching the second level.
Slam!
I slammed the book shut, and put the book back on the bookshelf. Then, I began searching for the third book, but I couldn't find any. There were many different books with both worn-out covers and brand new.
There were different weapon styles and attack styles. However, they all seemed a little bit too difficult for me to learn.
Then, I took the second book back into my arms and returned to bed.
I opened the first page and carefully began reading each text. However, something was missing, but I couldn't tell what it was.
"Maybe Garp knows…" I closed the book and hugged it tightly to my chest. The light danced in the ceiling. That looked like several shadowy figures were fighting with swords.
They looked like they were dancing on the ground. It looked mesmerizing and challenging to perform.
That made my eyes widen in shock and realization.
"That's right, footwork!" I sat up with cold sweat pouring down my back, "Footwork is essential in swordsmanship, and I have only focused on how the swinging motion of wielding sword works, not about the footwork!"
I went back to the desk and opened page eight about the footwork. Usually, I just skimmed through this page because it seemed boring and useless. However, it appeared that this page was precisely the most important one.
Only ten minutes later, dinging noise echoed in my ear.
Ding! Ding!
[Marine Swordsmanship Level 1 -> Level 2]
[Marine Swordsmanship Level 2 - 0%]