New System, Who Dis?

Tutorial Day 42

So, it turns out the cleaning inside the Dojo was definitely not magical—well, not Enchanted I supposed. I had to wonder if that was the same with the Showers in the Alchemy Academy. I mean, I'd never needed to clean those. So, there was no way of knowing.

Nor had I needed to clean my own room or bed! Plus, I'm paying way more to stay here, and I still need to repair my own room! Stupid ancient Bag of Holding…

I wasn't truly mad at Claude or even the price for that one, though. The Bag I'd gotten from Shiva had ripped itself apart, disgorging my Cauldron and Gathering Tools that I had kept in there. I hadn't even seen it happen. I'd simply returned to my room after morning 'training' and found all of its contents in a rather obvious hole in the floor. At least it hadn't been as expensive as the fees that the Alchemy Academy had charged to fix.

Kneeling down and essentially on all fours, I cleaned up vomit while wearing the exceptionally heavy training Armor. I wasn't entirely sure that it was getting heavier, but I had my suspicions. On my quick jaunts outside of the Dojo, I felt that my Strength had increased. This, of course, led me to believe that Claude was, in fact, increasing the weight of the Armor—somehow.

However, none of my Stats had increased. So, perhaps I was just mistaken. Well, two Stats had instantly increased and continued to rise: Perception and Wisdom, because I had to Cleanse and Heal Claude daily. I even knew why those Stats were increasing, thanks to my Battlefield Healer Class.

I swallowed back my own vomit for what felt like the third time and sat back on my heels for a moment. I looked around the Dojo, reaffirming how I thought the cleaning in here worked.

Well, if you consider what I was doing, and Claude's hints earlier about other trainees—my guess was that this building was something of an instanced Dungeon. At least, that's how I would describe it using gaming terminology. Essentially, when Claude used the 'Clean Enchantment' of the Dojo, it moved the recipient to another version of the place while also leaving behind the dirt on the individual being transferred. That's why I was cleaning up vomit, sweat, blood, and anything else I could imagine in my current instanced Dojo. While other trainees may be training in a clean Dojo.

With my stomach settled, I returned to my task of sweeping up chunky white vomit into a dustpan. How long was I going to do this?

There was no telling. Claude, whenever I asked him that question, gave me some sort of vague answer like, "You'll know when you're ready," or "Learning patience is a gift that all martial artists must hope to receive."

I shook my head, remembering Claude's frustrating words. I dumped my dustpan filled with milk porridge vomit into a bin, and then reached into the bucket to get my washcloth. Thankfully, as long as I took a few breaks like I just had, this task no longer caused me to want to add my stomach contents to the floor. I continued to clean the stain left behind from the trainee's bile, consoling myself with the fact that some other poor schmuck had likely done this for me when I'd first arrived. Looking around, I realized I was almost done with this round of cleaning.

Even better, the Sunstone indicated it was before noon, which meant I was getting faster. I would still probably have time to go out this afternoon and collect Herbs and perhaps kill a Borker or two.

Having already made the mistake of not asking Claude for his opinion, I'd asked him if I should try to head to a new area of the Tutorial. His response probably shouldn't have surprised me, but it did.

"One must be prepared for all situations when entering an unknown area. Do you feel you're ready?" he asked sagely.

Then, just like now, my response was silence. I didn't feel ready. I had two attacks, or a combination of one attack and a retreat. Even using my new Hatchling's Body Skill, which raised my Physical Stats by five times, I could only manage two 'actions.' And after those two actions, if a creature was still alive, I was in trouble.

So for now, in the time I had after cleaning but before nightfall, I returned to the Borker region to collect Herbs. The good news was that all of my Rejuvenation Pills had sold exceptionally well, averaging about fifteen thousand Tutorial Points per sale at auction. It actually made sense if the starting bid was ten thousand. Veronique even suggested that the number might increase as word spread about the Pill's capabilities. I knew firsthand how powerful they were, since four of them had likely supercharged my Breakthrough, causing my Reptilian Body to evolve into Hatchling's Body.

Maybe even upgraded my Qi–I was still convinced Claude was wrong on this, but if he didn't know. Well then, I didn't know who else to ask. Veronique was my next most knowledgeable contact…

But I didn't trust Veronique on many things, except in matters of getting the most money for products—I felt that was an area I could be supremely confident in her capabilities. With fifteen thousand Tutorial Points each for the remaining three Pills, I was back up to just under fifty thousand after the last couple of days of paying for my Room and Board in the Dojo.

Which is really still a negative number since I owe Veronique a hundred thousand Tp at some point. Still, she hasn't brought it up? Maybe she forgot.

I scoffed, highly doubting that. It was one of the reasons I needed to push extra hard to hopefully have that repayment ready when and if it came due. Either way, I'd deal with that when it came.

There was more good news in the form of another unexpected discount on my Room and Board fees that came from Claude, depending on how many 'Dojos' I cleaned. Claude discounted my daily Room and Board cost by two hundred Points per cleaning. So far, I was paying eight hundred Points per day for Room and Board, since I could only manage one clean per day—maybe two if I stayed into the afternoon.

There wasn't really a question of staying for the afternoon, since I was definitely making more Points going out to farm in the Borker region.

My eyes slid from the rag I was using to clean the floor, to the door behind which I knew Claude was lurking. Should I knock and ask again for Spear lessons or advice on how to use my Qi, Soul, and perhaps even Mana more efficiently in combat?

What was the worst that could happen?

Despite asking myself that question, I needed to psych myself up. My need for some self-talk fit perfectly with the completion of my cleaning duties of the Dojo. Once I had emptied the bucket outside, mopped the front entry, and hung the rag to dry, I returned to stand in front of the door, feeling 'ready.'

My Qi is nearly empty too. So, that should give me an excuse to ask for my lunchtime milk porridge from Claude.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

I knew I was still trying to psych myself up and with that in mind, I forced myself to knock on the door.

It opened relatively quickly, and Claude, with a bottle of wine, straight liquor, or beer in his hands, asked, "What took you so long?"

He had a bit of a slur, meaning he had probably gone a bit heavier this morning than he normally did. Sighing, I reached out and grabbed his forearm, pumping a Cleanse into him and simultaneously channeling my Heal. Instantly, I saw and smelled the alcohol exit his skin through his sweat, and his eyes cleared a little. I wasn't sure if he enjoyed this experience, where he could drink himself to an almost stupor and get it removed by me, but the smile on his face suggested he probably did.

Once I had Claude's full attention, I asked, "Mind if I grab my milk porridge? I'm running pretty low on Qi."

Claude nodded, and strangely, a bowl of milk porridge appeared in his hand, even as he was lifting his hand up that—only a moment ago—had held only empty air. I blinked.

"Can you just make those out of thin air?" I asked. Claude's smile stayed the same, and he didn't answer.

Well, it is now or never, I thought, and unable to meet Claude's eyes, I asked, "Is there any chance that you can teach me the Spear today?"

"Sure, why not?" Claude said with a small shrug.

"Oh, okay, well, I'm gonna—Wait, what?" I asked, surprised at his answer.

This was the first time he hadn't responded with some cryptic nonsense about patience or preparation. Claude shrugged again and reached to the side of his door frame, where he picked up a spear. With a casual flick of his wrist, he tossed me the spear and reached out for another.

Claude swaggered through the door, moving toward the center of the Dojo. I followed, a spear without a tip in one hand and a bowl of milk porridge in the other, completely dumbfounded. Was it actually that simple? Did I just have to ask him enough times that he got annoyed and gave me a lesson?

Once Claude reached the exact center of the Dojo, he stopped and turned. Facing me, he grounded his Spear on the floor, holding the haft with one hand and said, "Okay, so the first three lessons of the spear are—" He made a motion and grabbed the Spear with his second hand before he jabbed forward. "Thrust."

I blinked at him, confused about what he was trying to teach me with that simple action.

"Sweep!" Claude intoned and made a swift motion out to his right, and my left with the Spear, seeming to brush aside an imaginary attack. So, sweep was like a parry?

"Spin!" he finished, and promptly spun the Spear in a windmill-like pattern in front of himself.

A small smile crept onto my face, lasting only until Claude grounded the butt of his Spear again and stood staring at me. The words that followed instantly drained any excitement I had.

"That's your first three lessons. Start practicing," Claude said.

I couldn't believe that was all he was going to give me. I tried to replay what I had seen. The thrust had used two hands and a step forward, I think. The sweep had begun with two hands from the thrust position, a backward step before it went to one hand, maybe. And then the spin was just spinning my staff like a training spear.

"How is that a husking lesson?" I asked.

Claude picked up the butt of his Spear and walked back toward his door. My eyes followed him, as if he was about to provide an answer to my question.

Of course, he did not.

A moment later, I heard his door slam shut with a force that had to be intentional. My jaw clenched, even as my hand around the training spear did the same. My other hand, currently holding a bowl of milk porridge, managed to remain 'calm.' I took a deep breath, attempting to suppress an outburst. It helped somewhat, and I assume Mental Fortitude took care of the remaining disappointment.

Using the spear haft as a cane, I slowly lowered myself down and began eating my milk porridge. What exactly had Claude expected me to get from that? Did he believe that was actually a lesson? Then, something unexpected happened. A window popped up of its own volition. A blue window.

Reading through the blue window, any excitement I felt dried up like rain in a desert. The steam from that made its way up my throat and came out as a hissed, "God damn it."

I still couldn't believe this was something the System wanted me to do. Not only did I need to clean another Dojo today, which would probably take me until mid-afternoon, but then after that, I still needed to perform a thousand thrusts, a thousand sweeps, and a thousand spins.

It's like Claude took my thoughts about cleaning not being worth it personally… Do you think he can hear me?

Looking at the Daily To Do, there was just no way I was going to get this done… was there?

My mouth still full of milk porridge, I stood up and performed a thrust, leaving the window open. I simply wanted to see how much effort it would take. However, nothing happened on the screen. The counter didn't go up by one, so I waited. Surely it was just a delay.

No, it seemed that the perfect moniker in the window meant something.

I closed my eyes, vastly disappointed with my choice to move here and not just stay in the Alchemy Academy while experimenting on more Pill combinations. I'd even lost the Magical Shower!

This was going to be a very frustrating time.

The 'Quest' didn't even have a reward…

* * *

"How in the hell is Ryu doing this? I'd need all my puppets farming the D-Rank Monster Zones for an entire month to earn this much!" Maelstrom shouted. He then proceeded to throw a puppet across his chamber. Once it landed, he sighed and moved to another puppet, putting a cheap memory Core and then an Illusion of a guard on it, before ordering it to go collect the room list again.

"This time focus on getting all the rooms rented by the Spider and her businesses," Maelstrom ordered. "He must be with her, or living in one of her safehouses."

The real problem now was that the Achievement Leaderboard was showing him in the top one hundred. Sure, that was just for the Northern District, and he wouldn't be on the global All Time Leaderboard—but based on how fast he was climbing, he could be soon. Plus, he'd definitely be on the Quarterly Rising Stars…

His Tutorial Points total was still relatively low, but it also climbed and decreased by leaps and pitfalls. Yet, it wasn't like Tp mattered, not when compared to Achievements.

"How have you not found anything?" he growled as he spun on his daughter, Jacky.

"Me? What do you expect me to find?" Jacky asked, her tone filled with disdain. "It isn't like I can just leave and go to the deeper Zones. Which is where someone that powerful must be!"

"You could leave to the deeper Zones if you converted your group to the Spider's organization like you were supposed to!" Maelstrom shouted, and came very close to striking Jacky. However, he restrained himself. This was his daughter, and he would never strike his family.

No, she's a puppet! And she needs to do what she—

"Isn't this totally Fong's department? Why isn't he finding this Ryu?!" Jacky asked, reminding Maelstrom that his son was currently the larger problem.

He was supposed to check in monthly but had missed his last check by more than twelve days.

Maelstrom picked up the last list that had been collected for people renting rooms in the Northern District. A district he owned almost every building in. Some people, like the Spider, owned buildings or knew how to circumvent his influence and would rent rooms under aliases, but those aliases or people never ended up on the Leaderboard. Or that would undermine the point…

He threw the list at Jacky and shouted, "Anything stand out to you?"

"I've looked through this with you already. Other than the room of that dead kid—there isn't anything on here that looks suspicious!" Jacky vapidly responded. Still, she did pick up the list and start going through it again.

"What was the dead kid's name again?" Maelstrom asked.

"Brodie…" she responded, flipping pages. "He was room four hundred and twenty-one at the Alchemy Academy."

"Go check his room," Maelstrom ordered. "Maybe this Ryu discovered a way to extend the rental or something?"

"Dad, I already have things to do today. Send one of your fake guards!"

Maelstrom growled and pointed to the door. "Get out there and find me someone who has met this Ryu, then."

Maelstrom looked back to the Leaderboard and watched as Ryu's Achievements climbed again.

He screamed even as Jacky fled the room.