Closing his eyes and digesting the memories that seemed to be almost boundless, Reno was thinking about how he should progress from here on out, especially as he didn’t even have a vital core anymore.

 

‘Mmhmm, I don’t want to let down Reno’s parents expectations and hope that their son could become a elite Combatant, especially after the big deal that the original Reno made about it’

 

Before Reno left his home, he never stopped going on about how he was going to graduate and become a B+ rank Combatant at the least so his parents wouldn’t have to worry about anything anymore.

 

Being a Combatant could be considered to be the most prestigious job title in the year 2328 just about everyone in the different rifts of the world wanted to be one, especially ones that came from Remote Rifts like Reno.

 

Rifts. Around the year of 2123 when the planet earth could no longer occupy anymore people, there was an excursion formed by a group of Combatants called the ‘Seekers’ in order to find out if Rifts where other races lived could be inhabitable by humans.

 

This ended in a success but ended up sparking wars between humans and certain other sentient races that lived in rifts and were fearful that their rifts might be the next target.

 

Rifts were divided into different levels, with the ones producing the most number of Combatants, Resources and Talents being higher level while others were considered lower level when they rarely produced any.

 

The classifications from low to high would be Rank 5, Rank 4, Rank 3, Rank 2, Rank 1, Rank S and then Rank Z. The earth doesn’t have a classification as it’s considered the central hub of the rifts and Combatants.

 

Coming from a Rank 4 rift, if Reno was able to even reach C rank then that would be considered rare, much less reaching rank B+ which would make him be considered some sort of elite combatant. 

 

Stupidly enough, the world or timeline that Reno got transported into was very class dependent, enough so that it annoyed him to think about it.

 

Not only do those that come from lower ranked rifts get lower privileges, even University Credits that are needed to buy things were earned slower or faster depending on someone’s class or family.

 

To make it even worse, there are restrictions on certain techniques and privileges that were dependent on someone’s rift ranking

 

After thinking about it some more and just getting annoyed with every passing second, Reno just gave up trying to find a goal.

 

“Even in my original world, I never really had a life goal, it was mostly just following what others did and getting by in the cesspool of life”

 

Upon reaching his conclusion, Reno jumped out of his bed, went into his wardrobe and then put on a pair of black shorts and a black t-shirt.

 

“Let me see how good I am at using a sword and then I’ll see where I can go from there.” 

 

The original Reno mainly used the sword as most of the flashy and cool Combatants that he saw online did the same thing.

 

It was only until much later that he realized that swordsmanship was a big commitment and shouldn't be an arbitrary choice. 

 

He wanted to try another weapon but sadly due to pride, he stuck with the sword up to now.

 

The dull practice sword that he mostly used was one that was similar to the ones that ancient Spartans used. This was the one that he had to take because higher ranks got first priority over lower ones.

 

After getting dressed, Reno walked across the living room and then scanned his smartwatch and did the necessary security measures to enter his training room.

 

The room was similar to a modern day gym in Reno’s original world with the only differences being some equipment that didn’t exist in Reno’s original world such as a room for training defense by shooting iron balls at you.

 

Looking to the left of the room, Reno saw the dull practice sword that the original Reno usually used to practice swordsmanship.

Reno went over and took up the sword and started swinging it around, doing his best to follow what the original memories of Reno did.

 

After doing this for around 20 minutes, something became clear to Reno.

 

“After a full semester, this is all that the original Reno managed to grasp!?”

 

Although Reno wasn’t expecting much, this was worse than he thought. 

 

‘Reno’s memories don't have much related to swordsmanship, most of the sparring or training that he did was just spamming and abusing the one damn Wendao’s sword art skill’

 

‘I’m actually surprised he even came this far, I’m not what most would consider even educated about swordsmanship but I know that what Reno was doing in the past can’t really be considered swordplay, just waving around sticks against others if anything.’

 

Reno sighed and then sat down on the ground. “I need to either find an instructor or a guide on swordplay and then I need to practice as much as possible to bridge the gap between me and the other second years”

 

Being tired from all that happened so far, Reno tapped his watch and then laid down on the ground of the training room checking his combat evaluation.

 

‘The cut skill is essentially useless, ten seconds for a small amount of damage based on my garbage stats would be fatal in any fight’

 

‘Wendao’s sword art is useless, I have no energy after all. But even in Reno’s memories, I’ve never heard nor seen him mention or use anything relating to a focus skill?’

 

‘The name sounds pretty basic and it uses hours instead of numbers like the other skills, plus it doesn’t say that energy is required, so I can try it out’

 

Thinking about it in his mind, Reno activated his Focus skill.

 

[Focus Skill : Assign a Task]

 

‘Hmmm, anything realistic should be possible, right?’

 

‘Assign the task to increase the proficiency level of cut. That should be good’

 

As soon as Reno thought this, he felt as if he was drifting on clouds, as if he was in a trance and could barely control his body.

 

[Focus is starting, Time allocated : 1 hour, Task : Raise Cut Skill Proficiency] 

 

Reno’s body suddenly got up and then took up the dull sword and started swinging it while activating the cut skill as soon as the cooldown for it finished. 

 

While Reno’s body was swinging the dull sword, the cut skill seemed to become more refined and there became less and less wasted movements after each cycle of the cut skill was activated, no wasted energy, no wasted time.

 

The feeling was weird for Reno to describe but it felt as if he was being enlightened, as his body was swinging the sword skill, it was as if the workings of the skill was unravelling in his mind.

 

The scenarios the cut skill could be used in, how it could be used effectively even with the long cooldown time and how the cut skill could be seen and even countered in other sword arts he had seen before.

 

It felt as if Reno finally found the answer to a question that he struggled years and years to answer. It was a truly divine feeling.

 

[Focus skill is ending in : 5]

 

[Focus skill is ending in : 4]

 

[Focus skill is ending in : 3]

 

[Focus skill is ending in : 2]

 

[Focus skill is ending in : 1]

 

“Wuh, Huh!? Guh!?”

 

Gasping for air, Reno opened his eyes and saw himself sitting on the ground with the dull sword in his hand and sweat covering his body.

 

The feeling that Reno had experienced a while ago was indescribable, something that felt like he was seeing the world in a whole new dimension.

 

Remembering the original purpose of trying to test out the Focus skill, Reno checked his combat evaluation sheet.

 

Name : [Reno Mochizuki]

 

Age    : 19

 

Courses : Swordplay, Rift Exploration, Survival 101, Energy Control [Year II, Semester I]

 

Gender : Male

 

Stats : [Strength : G+ ]

 

  [Speed : G ]

 

  [Defense : H ]

 

  [Vitality : G+ ]

 

  [Energy : N/A ]

 

Rank : G+

 

Skills  : Wendao’s Sword Art, Proficiency : [II] EXP : (28/1000)

    (Needs Energy to be activated)

   {This is a decent sword art made by the swordsman Wendao when he was bored with nothing to do, When the user keeps hitting consecutive blows the damage and speed of the user increases by 5% up to 25% after every new consecutive blow} (Rarity : C [Average]) [Cooldown time : 5 minutes] 

 

     Cut [III] (728/1000) (A very basic sword skill)

    {A vertical strike of any weapon that is able deal a small amount of damage on hit  {Calculated based on the user’s speed/strength and the skill’s proficiency level} (Rarity : F [Common]) [Cooldown time : 8 seconds]

 

    Focus [I] (1 hrs/ 2 hrs)

               {Able to maintain full concentration on any task for 1 hour, during the skill duration, comprehension is increased} [Cooldown time : 1 day] (Rarity : N/A)

 

Not much had changed on Reno’s combat evaluation sheet but seeing how Cut had jumped up to proficiency three from one and that focus would level up soon, he couldn’t help but feel ecstatic.

 

“Unfortunately, the cooldown of the Focus skill is day but as long as I get better at using it then it could be a game changer, especially now that I have no vital core”

 

Before Reno could even imagine how he was going to use focus efficiently however, he heard his room doorbell ring.