It's been a few day since I gained my new footwork skill and I had to admit that I really wasn't disappointed at all, in those few days I realized the huge difference a skill made.
Even if this skill didn't turn me into a monster, this F rank skill was enough to make me seem like a talented person, it was as if it increased my own talent and each time it leveled up it was more and more obvious, thanks to that skill in only 3hrs I could have the equivalent of close to 5hrs of training.
Those few days I've been trying to train as consistently as before even if I didn't use the energy replenisher anymore that was enough to raise the footwork skill to lvl 5.
I was planning on trying to raise it to lvl 100 and see what is needed to upgrade an F rank skill, but raising it's level isn't as easy as it sounds, it would probably take me a few more months to level it up naturally.
One of the notable events of this week is that Kenichi won a fight with a guy at his dojo thanks to Miu's technique. He managed to make his opponent fall flat to the ground. And that attracted the attention of another senior of the club so now Kenichi was pissing his pants.
I tried cheering him up and we even went shopping together to help changing his mind but nothing changed he kept being constantly worried.
Tho that actually helped in finally giving me the opportunity I've been waiting for since a long time ago.
"Amon, tomorrow I'll be going to take a look at the dojo of Miu, I want to become stronger and stop having to worry about those bullies in my school but I don't want to force you to join with me so if you want to come as well let's meet up tomorrow in front of your house."
After hearing Kenichi's words I didn't had to put any thoughts in my answer and easily agreed. It was for sure very scary but I knew it was the best way to improve my technique and to receive many future quests.
Weirdly enough me and Kenichi bounded way more than I expected, probably because unlike the people in my high school we both actually had similar interests and goals.
------
Finally it was the fated day, I couldn't help but have a bit of worries. I was fairly confident about it before but the more I thought about it the more I was growing increasingly worried about meeting those monsters, the worst is that because of that I barely had any sleep.
I didn't see myself as someone excessively attached to life, I don't have any family nor do I remember what a family feels like and apparently I've already died once so ever since I arrived here I didn't really have any actual reason to live.
But if I had the choice I'd still prefer to stay alive, it was a primal instinct that I couldn't control, the fear of death isn't something I can easily get rid of even if I've went through it once in the past.
Though unlike at the beginning this time I wasn't alone, I had Kenichi who might be the first person I can call an actual friend by my side. I looked at his worried face with a smile. "What's wrong buddy?"
"It's my first time going to a dojo, what if the people there don't like me?" He seemed extremely worried about how people there would view him.
"Don't worry about it, I'm here with you" I lightly tapped his back and kept walking towards where Miu told us to come.
Soon enough me and Kenichi arrived in front of the huge door with written "Ryozanpaku" at the front.
"It seems like we finally arrived at our destination" I said, and as if to confirm my words I suddenly got multiple system notifications.
[Main quest:
A true disciple. (Difficulty D)
Description:
Make all of the ryozanpaku teachers acknowledge you.
Reward: system upgrade 1.0, unlocking world traveling and world quests. 100 coins. 30 F class chests.]
[Side quest:
Joining a dojo. (Difficulty E)
Description:
Join the ryozanpaku and impress the teachers by making a good first impression on them.
Reward: 20 coins, a new job.]
Just looking at the reward of the main quest made my eyes widen, if I'm not wrong this would open a complete new path to me, I did get some knowledge about other worlds from the system but I didn't expect to unlock it so soon.
Other than that I also got the chance to gain a new job and a total of 120 coins so I knew I had to absolutely succeed in both of those tasks.
I kept rereading the descriptions of the 2 quests and soon enough came up with what I thought to be the best course of action.
'System, open the shop and show me the fear reducers.'
[Shop:
Fear reducter: 50/50 available. Cost 2 coins.
Balance: 45 coins.]
[Fear reducer (E rank item)
Description:
Reduce the stress, anxiety and fear of the user
Duration: 24 hours.
Cost: 2 coins]
I decided to spend 10 coins and bought myself 5 fear reducters that I immediately used since the effects luckily stacked up.
As soon as I took them I could immediately feel my heart calming down and my mind clearing up.
I was so focused on the new quests that during that time Kenichi went ahead and tried to open the immense door of a dojo when suddenly a giant over 2 meters tall opened the door and came in our view.
I could feet Kenichi's whole body tensing up as he instinctively took a few step back, I could clearly see his whole face turn pale but on my side I was still feeling as peaceful as usual.
I knew I would usually be extremely scared of the monster facing me but for now all I was feeling was some shock and a slight worried feeling in my stomach, even with the 5 fear reducers it seems like it's not enough to completely erase that feeling.
The huge old man then stared at me with a surprised a look and asked."I heard of a boy named Kenichi who was interested in joining but I haven't heard anything about you. So who might you be?"
He talked in a very calming and warm way which made it easier for me to feel comfortable around him and push away the worried feeling in my stomach.
"I'm Miu and Kenichi's friend, I am also interested in joining the dojo so I'll be in your care sir!" I said while slightly bowing my head.
"Hahaha what a polite young man, you don't look from here though. Are you a foreigner?" He asked as we walked inside the dojo with Kenichi following us like a Zombie barely holding on to life.
"Yes I used to live in-" my sentence was interrupted by a huge punching sound followed up by the sound of a tree breaking in 2 under the kick of a tall tanned man.
"What the hell is that!!" Kenichi was starting to lose it in front of such a sight.
"That's apachai hopachai. A 28 year old thai."
Another punch from Apachai made Kenichi take another step back in fear. His punches made enough sound to turn someone deaf if he was standing too close, that's how ridiculously strong that man was.
"Haha no need to be frightened he's simply overdoing it because he's in a good mood." The tall Giant that I knew to be Miu's grandfather comforted him.
Unfortunately that only served to worry Kenichi even more, it was my first time seeing him so pale. And I knew I would look like him if not for the fear reduction items. I tried standing next to him and putting my hand on his shoulder to cheer him up.
Next up we got the introduction of Shigure Kosaka the weapon specialist and Kensei Ma who seemed to be a master of some sort of Chinese origin.
That brief interaction we witnessed between Shigure and Kensei Ma who seemed to be childishly arguing, resulted in a Shiruken being thrown right towards my face, I tried to move my head to the side but I was way too slow, luckily at the very last moment it got stopped by the old Giant.
"Thank you for saving me." I would've for sure pissed my pants if I was in my normal condition but now I found the clarity to simply thank him for his help and act as if nothing happened even if I was sweating like crazy.
That was my first time being so close to death, I knew that if he didn't save me that would've been my end for sure, even if on the outside I was acting calm the fear reducers didn't stop me from being extremely frightened deep down.
Luckily that managed to impress Miu's grandfather as well as the 2 other masters who were present. Even Kenichi looked at me with admiration which was pretty funny, in the small time we've spent together he have slowly started to become more and more of a little brother to me even though he was older than me.
"What?? A disciple? Nah I would never train one!" Those were the first words we heard from the karate master Kenichi was the most excited to meet.
"If I do get a disciple... he'd most likely die in under 3 days." His reasons were believable when you saw how his punch easily went through the thick wooden board he was using to train.
Right as Kenichi was about to leave another man appeared, it's the man I remembered to be Kenichi's first official master, Akisame Koetsuji.
"What a rude child." He entered the room and looked around at me and Kenichi. "Do we have a second disciple?" Akisame asked, his face and tone were enough to indicate how surprised he was.
"Yeah, I only heard of one disciple." This time it was the Karate drunkard who joined on the conversation.
"Nice to meet you all." I simply replied with a smile. I knew even if they were very scary they were all genuinely good people and adding to that the fear reduction, I felt was more comfortable than back when I had a shiruken being thrown at my face.
"Bahaha that kid is really unbothered." Sasaki the karate master laughed for the first time.
I could even see a small smile on Akisame's lips. Soon after, Miu entered the room and explained the situation to the 2 masters while also mentioning that I was their friends and that I took down 2 men while trying to help her.
I'm still pretty proud of that day which is from what I remember my first fight ever in both of my lives.
I could already see the difference in the way they were looking at me, maybe the angel title also affected that but I will not be complaining anyway, the 2 masters had a positive view of me and that's all that matters.
Soon after all of the Ryozanpaku masters joined in on the conversation and Hayato, Miu's grandfather introduced every single one of them to us.
Miu's grandad then concluded the introduction "That's why our Ryozanpaku dojo is the best you could ever find but also the hardest to follow. So I'll ask both of you one more time. Are you sure you want to join us?"
Without much thoughts both me and Kenichi replied "Yes. we are sure!" No matter how scared Kenichi was he was still an extremely motivated person.
Kensei suddenly appeared at our side and handed some papers to us then asked us to write our name and address in there.
"Oh yeah and it'll cost 2000yen!" He said with a sly smile.
"Whatttt!! That's too expensive!" Apparently what shocked Kenichi the most in this dojo full of superhumans is none other than the price.
"I'll pay for you don't worry." I was pretty well off so that much was fine for me. I had no need for the money and I'll gain a lot more by being able to join. And since Kenichi is the closest thing to a little brother I ever had I didn't mind paying for him.
"Amonnn! Thank you so much!" Kenichi was as emotional as ever and hugged me.
'It seems like the dojo will become more lively.' Akisame thought as he looked at us with a small smile.