"Swing your sword on it horizontally, vertically and diagonally. You must practice these basic sword movements until it's as easy as breathing to you. After that you must learn how to connect these movements together to make more complex patterns."
He demonstrated the moves and asked me to do the same.
I agreed and started practicing my swings on the dummy.
"Remember, don't push yourself too hard. If you feel like you are tired just go and rest." He said rubbing my hair. He had a proud look on his face.
He stepped back and watched me train from a distance.
I on the other hand had already started swinging my sword at the wooden dummy.
Ding!!
[You have activated a Quest.]
[Quest info]
Practice basic swordsmanship on the training dummy. This is a repeatable quest.
[Quest goals]
Vertical strikes (0/20)
Horizontal strikes (0/20)
Diagonal strikes (0/20)
*Only strikes with proper form counts*
[Time limit]
48 hours
[Rewards]
Proficiency in basic swordsmanship increases by 2%.
Minor increase in strength.
Minor increase in endurance.
Dumbfounded, I stopped midway during my practice.
**Quest eh? So all I have to do is to practice my strikes huh? The rewards look good. My proficiency in swordsmanship will increase by 2% if I complete it. What'll happen when it reaches 100?**
[You'll completely master basic swordsmanship by then.]
**If that's the case then let's begin** I thought as I shifted my focus on the wooden dummy again. This time with a new fire in my eyes.
Thwack!Thwack!Thwack!Thwack!Thwack!
The sound of a wooden sword clashing against a wooden dummy can be heard as I strike it multiple times from different angles.
[Strength has increased by 0.2]
[Endurance has increased by 0.2]
My strength and endurance continued to rise as I attacked the dummy.
[Strength has increased by 0.3]
[Endurance has increased by 0.3]
Thwack! After one final strike, I completed the quest.
[You have completed the quest]
[Strength has increased by 0.5]
[Endurance has increased by 0.5]
[Proficiency increased by 2%]
Basic swordsmanship proficiency (2/100)%
I looked at the rewards after completing the quest.
*The rewards sure are great. My strength and endurance went up by 1 just from completing the quest once. Also, after completing the quest, I felt as if I had gained a week's worth of swordsmanship knowledge in an instant.*
I looked at the dummy in front of me.
*Let's do the quest again.*
Without taking a break, I picked up my sword and started practicing again. This time I could feel a slight improvement in my technique and form.
My body brimmed with excitement as I continued to attack the dummy
Thwack!Thwack!Thwack!Thwack!Thwack!Thwack!Thwack!Thwack!Thwack!Thwack!
I attacked the wooden dummy like a madman, completing the quest again and again. Though every time I did the quest, my rewards dropped a little. But that didn't stop me. I continued striking the dummy and completing the quest.
Soon it was evening. I have been training since early morning. Dad told me to stop and rest for the day, but I still continued. Eventually he gave up on trying to stop me.
Thwack!Thwack!
I hit the wooden dummy last time.
[You have completed the quest]
*Ok, this should be the last quest!*
I sat down to rest and looked at the rewards of my hardwork.
[[Strength has increased by 0.1]
[Endurance has increased by 0.1]
[Proficiency increased by 0.9%]
Basic swordsmanship proficiency (100/100)%
[You have reached hundred percent proficiency in basic swordsmanship.]
[Congratulations! You have mastered basic swordsmanship]
"Finally" I exclaimed.
*But I'll have to hide my abilities from Father. From what I know, basic swordsmanship takes at least a year to master. I just mastered it in a day. No matter how talented someone is, they can't achieve a feat like this. It makes me wonder what kind of God made this system and what their intentions were, while giving something like this to me.*
"Cassian."
My thoughts were interrupted by my father
"It's already evening. Come back home now. You said you wouldn't push yourself too hard and here you are, training all day."
I stood back up and turned to face him.
"I am sorry, I won't do that again." I apologised.
"Fine fine. Just make sure you don't do it again or I'll have to stop your training. Remember, you are still five years old. Training is good but do it in a limit."
I simply nodded at what he said.
"Come, let's head back. Dinner is ready. Your mom's waiting for us."
After having dinner, I returned to my room and laid down on the bed.
*It was an exhausting day but it was well worth it. Let's check my status screen.*
[Name]:Cassian Talen [Exp]:40,500.2
[Age]: 5 years
[Race]: Human
[Titles]: None
[Innate abilities]-
[Power level]
-Tier-1 Ki practitioner
-Solid blue grade Mage (close to tier-2)
------------------
[Skills]:
[Fire magic: tier 1- level 2]
[Minor pain resistance: tier 2- level 2]
[Basic swordsmanship mastery]
Proficiency for next level - (0/100)
[Skill points]: 45
-------------------
Stats
[Endurance]:30 [Health]:450
[Strength]:30
[Dexterity]:25
[Intelligence]:100 [Magic]:2500
[Stat points]:0
--------------------
Mana gate grade: Solid blue
Ki gate grade: Solid blue
--------------------
[Physical damage negation]:0.6%
[Magic damage negation]:0.3%
**I am a tier 1 ki practitioner?**
[Yes. After surpassing the overall physical strength of an average adult human you become a tier 1 ki practitioner. In terms of stats, your physical stats should be above 20 to be called a tier 1 ki practitioner]
**And what about tier 2?**
[Your stats should be above 50 to be called a tier-2 ki practitioner]
**I wonder what tier dad is.**
[I can tell you what tier he is]
**Wait! You can? But how?**
[Instead of explaining, I'll show it you. Try focusing your gaze on anything you find]
I turned my head to left and focused my gaze on the wooden sword I bought back to my room. Just a second later a screen popped up.
[Wooden Sword]
Description - It's just a plain and simple wooden sword used for training newbies, nothing else.
**Huh? That's all? And What's with that description?**
[As you can see, this is how it works. Focus your gaze on anything you need information on and a screen will pop up.]
**Then while dad teaches me tomorrow, I'll see his status screen.**
Next day arrived and I woke up at the same time as yesterday. Dad was already in garden doing some warm ups and light stretches.
"Good morning dad." I greeted
"Oh, you're up. Good morning son."
"I thought you would rest today since you trained till evening yesterday. So I didn't wake you up."
"I am completely fine now. Besides, if I want to surpass you, I can't miss a single of training right?"
"Oh? Look at this boy. In that case, I'll make sure I get even stronger." He said and we burst into laughter.
I focused my gaze and a screen popped up in front of me.
[Name]: Max talen
[Age]: 36 years
[Race]: Human
[Power level]
Tier 3- Ki practitioner
[Skills]: Can't be viewed
Stats
[Endurance]:150 [Health]:2250
[Strength]:150
[Dexterity]:150
[Intelligence]:150
Ki gate grade: Dark red
**My dad's a tier-3 ki practitioner? His stats are impressive. I'll have to work hard to surpass him.**
"Why are you staring at the air? Is something the problem?"
"N-no. nothing wrong."
"Dad."
"Hm? What's wrong? You want to say something?"
"Can you teach me hand to hand combat today?"
"Weren't you learning swordsmanship yesterday? Why that all of a sudden? It's best to just focus on one thing at a time you know."
"I just want to experience hand to hand combat once."
"If that's the case then I'll teach you that today."