“So what did you learn this last go around with the golem?” Amon was staring into Rūkasu’s face as he had woken up.

  It had been three days of constant sleep for the young man. Although he regenerated his resources he had kept hearing that same fleeting voice he heard every time he slept. “ Stay on mission…. Remember…”

  It was still eerie to him that the voice would constantly change between his mothers familiar voice and a voice he recognized but knew he had never heard.

  “Yeah. Converting my heart points into stamina and magick is good in a pinch and doubles my damage output but it has a backlash like no other. I also need to be mindful of the eye. I keep forgetting that I can actually see and use it when I need to be more perceptive of situations.”

  Shaking his head, Master Amon just looked dissatisfied with the answer. “That is not something a level 11 combatant should be physically able to do. It is highly advanced and I recommend not doing it again until your title upgrades from Newcomer. You simply do not have enough reserves in your point pools to handle the conversion without suffering the backlash in its highest degree.”

  It should be noted that Rūkasu had leveled up from his final battle with the Number Strike Training Golem. He took a quick look at his stats and his equipment.

  “Read your stats and equipment out to me.”

  Naturally, Rūkasu read them to his master.

  Name- Rūkasu Kazesuji

  Level- 11

  Class- Newcomer

  Heart Points (HP)- 950/950

  Magick Points (MP)- 950/950

  Stamina Points (SP)- 950/950

  Strength(STR)- 70

  Agility(AGI)- 45

  Hidden Traits (HT)- 70

  Battle power(BP)- 185

  His stats had grown quite well if he said so himself. He had even gotten a boost in his point pools for leveling above level 10. Rūkasu felt his gear was looking a bit lackluster.

  Head- Eye Patch

  Chest- Tutorial Shirt

  Hands- Tutorial Gloves

  Back- N/A

  Legs- Tutorial Pants

  Feet- Tutorial Boots

  Main Hand- Ashen Simple Katana hilt

  Offhand- N/A

  Soul- Soul of Growth

  “I think part of my problem is that I am still using tutorial gear. The +5 to point pools is nice but there is no armour from the items or bonuses.”

  Pondering at his gear list longer he noticed he had nothing on his back. I wonder what can go on my back. Rūkasu had his thoughts interrupted by his master.

  “I see your problem. Your survival instincts must be on another level, kid. Having said that, you can’t even see your own faults. You have dropped most of your points into strength. That is fine and dandy but your agility stat is just as important.”

  Rūkasu looked confused. “My strength stat seems to help more. I can carry more, my defense is better and my attacks are stronger.”

  The old man lit his pipe and took a deep drag from it. “You are not wrong, but your agility carries more importance than you realize. Besides making you naturally faster it also speeds up your reaction time, thought processing, improves your swing speed of your weapons which would equal out to more power. Strength and Agility stats work in tandem. If one falls behind the other will lose the effectiveness that the stat carries.” Amon was almost purple in the face, letting out a few smoke rings after his little speech.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Realizing he had made some huge errors in distributing his points, Rūkasu face-palmed. “If I had kept my stats closer together I probably wouldn’t have had to convert my pools together and suffer the backlash from it.”

  Nothing I can do now except level up and dump points into my agility. Looking back at his menus, Rūkasu noticed a new tab.

  System Message! You have defeated the Training dummy and have thus unlocked your grand Quest!

  New Quest! Key to the Elysium Empire-

  Objective- Collect the Relics of Bishamon to open the gates of Elysium!

  Relics obtained- 1/7

  The one who unlocks Elysium will have brought peace and unity to the land. Will it be you? I doubt it but time will tell. ~B

  Accept Quest? Y/N

  Looking at the grand quest Rūkasu muttered “This is my purpose. To unite the land. End the war and suffering.”

  Amon glanced up from a scroll he had picked up and just watched the young man pondering over his menus. “What will you do? Will you accept the quest and do what others have tried and failed to do?” Determination filled Rūkasu’s eyes. “I will master. It may take years, I may get beaten and battered. I haven’t much left to lose. What’s the worst that could happen?”

  The old man had smiled at him. Though the smile had not reached his eyes, he hoped his student would be right.

  “You’re young. Time is on your side, that is for certain. Keep striving to hone your skills and master that relic in your head. Trust your instincts and follow your heart to your goal, my young disciple.”

  For the first time since he had met his master in the dimly lit tent almost a year ago, Rūkasu had seen his master show emotions. The only other time he saw the man show an ounce of emotion besides laughing at his failures was when he told the tale of the Great War God. It had seemed like the two had really bonded over the past months. At this point Rūkasu had realized he saw Amon as more than a master. He is the closest thing I have gotten to having a father and a family.

  Looking on at the old man pouring wine, Rūkasu became even more determined to make his master proud. Clearly this quest meant more to the aging man than anything else in the world. He couldn’t put his finger on it but the man had looked like this was life or death. It very well could be for both of them.

  If I can’t get strong enough to protect us both, what would happen? Who was he kidding? His master was stronger than himself by a large margin. On the other hand, Amon doesn’t have the C.O.S backing him. He was just a normal human being that was moderately skilled with a sword. God forbid some of those damned goblins attack them screaming "VENGEANCE FOR PHILIP!” Rūkasu shuddered at the thought. I never want to see another goblin again.

  Regarding the rest of his thoughts, Rūkasu decided that his next few level-up points would be put into agility. He would still keep his strength slightly higher but only by five points at most. He liked having that extra “oomf” in his attacks.

  “So you have your Grand Quest, what now?” Amon was looking at Rūkasu waiting for an answer.

  Putting his hand on his chin and looking up, Rūkasu attempted to look deep in thought. “Honestly, no idea. I know what I NEED to do but the C.O.S. has not sent me in a direction to start. I might use Kiji’s tutorial room to work on making a new skill I have been cooking up. I think it would prove useful to me the most right now.”

  The old man gave the orange haired boy a deadpan expression. “We both know that not a lot goes on up there. You do not think that hard. You hardly remember to use the Ashen Eye when you are in a panic.” Rūkasu’s head and shoulders slumped down. “I know Master. I’m still acclimating to the eye. It is easy to forget that it is there unless I consciously activate it. I can use the Tutorial Room to work on that as well.”

  Placing his hand on Rūkasu’s shoulders, Amon looked him in the eye and smiled. “I know you will master it in due time my boy. I am proud of how far you have come in such a short time.”

  Feeling Amon’s wrinkly hand run through his hair, Rūkasu’s good eye started to well up with tears. Nobody had ever been proud of him since his mother fled the country. His emotions were running high and he didn’t know how to process them correctly.

  Wiping his eye, Rūkasu stepped back, laid down and entered his Tutorial Room. He thought to himself I WILL keep making you proud master!

  “Kiji, you there?” Kiji popped into existence with her loud fanfare of confetti and small fireworks.

  “Rū! You’re back. I didn’t think we would use this room again. Is there a skill you want to work on?”

  Kiji was excited as ever to be back with Rūkasu in her “physical plane” as she had no body outside of this room. She could appear in Rūkasu’s HUD but that was about it.

  “Yeah. I noticed I am getting hit way too much. I need to make a skill that I can use at a distance at a moment's notice. I have something cooking in my head but it will take time. Speaking of time, how does time work here exactly?”

  The time dilation had never actually been clear to Rūkasu so he figured now would be a good time to ask.

  “Well, I do know 3 months here equals out to a week in real time.” Trying to do the math in his head, Rūkasu got flustered. “Ah screw it. Kiji, when it has been a week here let me know okay? I just got a system message and it looks like I will be heading out on my first Main Quest. What terrible timing.”

  Ba-Da-Dum! System Message!

  New Main Quest!

  Travel to The Forgotten Caves and clear out the swarm of enemies residing in the caves!

  And so your journey TRULY begins! Travel Swiftly Combatant! You said you had no direction to go…. Is this good enough for you? Some people, I swear. ~B

  This system was getting a little too harsh for Rūkasu. Who is “~B”? Someday I will find out. For now, I’ll work on this skill. It is going to need a catchy name for sure! Maybe the Ashen Destruction Wave? No, perhaps not. If I put “Ashen” in front of all my skills it would be boring.

  “Problems for later. For now, it’s time to get to work. Kiji! Let’s Rock!”

  Do you (the reader) Care to see stats and gear every few chapters?