Inside a studio apartment down at Queens, a man was swinging a cheap steel katana bought from an online store. Bathing in his own sweat, it showed his determination. His whole concentration was focused on the katana he was holding. Yet deep down, he was getting frustrated.

 

Shit, I’d been swinging this damn katana for the last four hours, why is there nothing happening?

 

Not only RPG, Jason too was a fan of MMORPG and one of the games he was fond of had a unique feature whereby the player’s character can learn skills purely based on their actions.

 

I should have learned something by now or is it doesn’t work that way.

 

Both of his hands relaxed as Jason sighed. He flopped on the couch not knowing what went wrong.

 

Am I getting way over my head? This game-like system probably wouldn’t work like I thought it would.

 

Staring at the ceiling, he wondered whether he could gain any skill.

 

On second thought, I do have something else, don’t I?

 

Jason opened up the status window and his eyes traced down to the bottom where the parameter for unique trait was located.

 

Rapid growth.

 

Jason tried touching the interface hoping to get an elaborate description of this unique trait of his.

 

I can’t even touch it.

 

He even gave a command hoping it to work as same as the point distribution method. But it still didn't work.

 

Hmm, I can only assume that this trait of mine can either affect my leveling rate or my skill growth.

 

With him giving up on swinging the katana mindlessly, he thought of something else.

 

“Oh, free class trial for one month. This doesn’t seem so bad,” Jason was looking at an advert regarding a kendo class.

 

“Done,” in a jiffy, Jason signed up for the free class.

 

“Just my luck, there’s a class this evening.”

 

---

 

Panting for his breath, Jason was covered in sweat. With his hands on his knees, his endurance was rather pathetic.

 

People attending the kendo class gave him a few glances as they went inside the entrance door.

 

Shit, I ran that much and my stamina still didn’t change.

 

Life was full of tests and obstacles. He was testing out more theories of his trying to get even a little bit stronger than before. Although he has five points left to distribute, he still wanted to find out an alternative way in raising his status besides using the points.

 

He had run from Queens to Upper Westside of Manhattan., The distance was no joke and he himself was close to collapsing.

 

But he persisted hoping to gain a point yet ending in failure.

 

“Need some water?”

 

Someone handed him a bottle of water. He grabbed it and gulped it down in a rush.

 

“Thanks,” Jason handed the bottle back and saw her.

 

“You look new,” said the woman.

 

“I signed up for the free trial,” Jason said.

 

“Oh, then I hope you won’t be one of those anime nerds,” her words were rather harsh. “Kendo is a sacred art, people who only treat it as something childish like imitating a cartoon are only tarnishing the reputation of the art.”

 

She left after saying her piece.

 

“Harsh but hmm…”

 

Jason pondered for a while.

 

But I guess she isn’t far from being right. I did sign up hoping to get a skill in return.

 

Wiping the drool off his face, he went inside joining the kendo class. Even for a beginner, he was treated quite well by the teachers. There were a few like him, new to the whole class, yet they were all dressed in proper kendo uniform. Although the uniform smelled a bit, it couldn’t be helped.

 

“Listen up, kendo is a sacred art. One needs to…” a familiar-looking person was giving a brief introduction regarding the class.

 

Oh, she’s the sensei, no wonder she’s so uptight. She probably had a lot of those students asking about some secret sword skill or something.

 

After going through a long and boring speech, Jason and the whole beginner class finally had their chance of going through the practical training. Jason felt his grip on the wooden handle of the bamboo sword. It was lighter than the cheap katana back home but as he went through the practice course, the once light bamboo sword felt heavy.

 

A step forward and a step back, with each step he struck his bamboo sword on empty air. Others besides him were already collapsing on the floor, fatigued to the point of sweating buckets. Jason was the only one left standing even he was being driven to the point of exhaustion.

 

Isn’t she being a bit too hard on us beginners? She’s a sensei and not a freaking drill instructor.

 

He was complaining but he knew he had to remain on his two feet. For the sake of gaining a skill, he had to endure this.

 

“Get up you lazy bums, aren’t all of you here for the sake of the sword? Stand up on your two feet and swing the sword with all your heart,” said the sensei.

 

“Aiko sensei, isn’t this too much?” one of those laying on the floor complained.

 

Aiko sensei swung the bamboo sword in her hand, showing her expertise.

 

“Hmph, if this all you guys can amount to, better off quit then pursuing the path of the sword,” said Aiko.

 

This sensei is going a bit overboard, isn’t this bad for business?

 

“Hoo, it seems we have a sole survivor. Come and let’s spar,” Aiko said.

 

She pointed the end of her bamboo sword at Jason provoking him for a spar. Rather than a spar, it was more like her picking a fight. Aiko's whole body flew as if she was flying through the floor. The bamboo sword was coming right at him in breaking speed. Jason held up his bamboo sword and deflected Aiko’s strike. He grunted feeling the heaviness behind this woman’s attack.

 

He had trouble believing it, but this kendo instructor really packed a punch behind that thin body of hers.

 

I ain’t going to go easy on her.

 

Time for some payback. Jason stepped forward and acted out the only move he learned from the one attacking him, a clear frontal strike. Aiko chuckled seeing a straightforward attack. She prepared to defend herself seeing it would be wasteful of her to try and evade the attack.

 

Their bamboo sword clashed together and the look on Aiko’s face changed drastically. Her eyes widened as she wasn’t expecting such heaviness coming from a newbie. Her legs were growing weak and about to fall on the ground. Yet she reacted quickly, Aiko diverted the force away from her. But another strike came at her, Aiko avoided the attack by a slight margin.

 

Yet pain spread from the right side of her cheek, Jason’s attack barely grazed her. The gaze on Aiko’s eyes changed as if a flame of determination burned behind those eyes. Her pride as a kendo instructor couldn’t take being beaten up by some mere beginner, who walked inside their sacred dojo just for some free lessons. From the beginning, she had planned to drive these people out from the dojo since she never tolerated those who came for free lessons.

 

She lunged at Jason piercing her bamboo sword right at him. She expected a counter from this beginner but he just stood there in a daze. Even though he wasn’t moving, that was no reason for her to stop her attack. Yet seconds before her attack can land, someone stood in the middle of their fight.

 

“Aiko, stop this,” a middle-aged man wearing a hakama, a traditional garment wore by a senior practitioner of kendo who stood on Aiko's path.

 

Aiko halted her attack.

 

“You’re going overboard Aiko, again,” said the man.

 

Aiko gritted her teeth knowing she couldn’t finish her strike.

 

“I apologize Ken sensei,” Aiko bowed at Ken sensei and left the dojo hall.

 

Ken turned and faced the man who stood there in a daze. Under the cover of the helmet, he couldn’t see Jason’s face.

 

“I apologized on behalf of our instructor. She’s a bit hot-headed when it comes to kendo,” said Ken.

 

Yet Jason didn’t respond.

 

“Hello, mister?” Ken probed further.

 

“Ah, sorry,” Jason jumped a bit in reply. He didn’t expect to see a grey hair man out of a sudden.

 

Ken was a bit confused by Jason’s reaction but shrugged it off.

 

“To the new students of our class, since you’ve gone through a rather tough course of ours. On behalf of the whole Manhattan Kendo dojo, we would like to extend your free classes for another month,” to Ken’s words, those people who were annoyed by the hardship of Aiko were already smiling.

 

Who in the world wouldn’t like free stuff?

 

At least this new instructor knew how to attract potential new customers, unlike the spartan instructor from before. Ken put his hand on Jason’s shoulder.

 

“I saw your moves before, you got talent, another month of free lessons would be good for you,” Ken said.

 

“Ah, thanks,” Jason replied.

 

He didn’t mind much about the compliment since he was smiling for another reason. Unlike the rest of those people, his sight was quite different since he saw a floating blue notification window in front of him.

 

Jackpot.