Chapter 4: Chapter 4 Kendo and Passives
[Status].
[Ding!]
[Name: Tendo Akira] [Title: The Gamer]
[Level: 1] [Experience: 25.00%]
[HP: 100/100] [MP: 140/140] [SP: 100/100]
[STR: 10] [VIT: 10] [AGI: 11] [INT: 14] [WIS: 13] [PER: 10] [LUC: 10]
[Stat Points: 0]
[Money: $100]
"Hmm.... Completing that quest gave me a quarter of the experience points needed to level up. Meaning I need another 150 experience to level up. In addition, my mana points went up again.... maybe I can study when I get home and get it over-".
"Um.... Tendo-kun? You are Tendo-kun correct?", a voice broke through my train of thought and a group of pretty looking girls stood in front of me, some with varying degrees of red on their faces.
I nodded and stopped leaning on the entrance of the kendo club building. Despite my lanky physique, my height was much more than the average 17 year old Japanese male. Last time I checked, I think I was 6'1 maybe 6'2?
"Yeah. I know Kiba asked you if this was alright, but I don't want to force you or anything into teaching me. If you want me to leave at anytime just tell me so things don't get uncomfortable", my words seemed to take the edge of some of the more shy members of the Kendo Club.
Most of these girls went to all-female elementary and middle schools so Kuoh Academy was their first real interaction with males. Most were wary of members of the opposite sex, and combined with the constant badgering from the Perverted Trio, not all of them were too keen on interacting with boys.
Seeing how I didn't want to make any of them uncomfortable made Murayama and Katase more glad on taking Kiba's request. These two, just like most of the girls at Kuoh, had a crush on the Kiba Yuuto, although a majority were too shy to do anything about it.
Murayama, the brown haired girl who tied her hair into a side-wards ponytail nodded and smiled as she unlocked the doors to the Kendo Club.
"It's no problem Tendo-kun. I was a little surprised when Kiba-kun asked me to teach you but you don't seem like the type to try and take advantage of others", I raised and eyebrow and followed her into the club room.
I sent her a bemused look, one that I saw Kiba give a girl once before and smiled.
"Oh? And what "type" do I look like Murayama-san?", she blushed slightly but the redness vanished quicker than it appeared.
"To be honest I didn't think you were the type interested in physical activity. The Student Council President is always telling us that computer and games and mobile games are a distraction. If she wasn't always so stern, I would've thought she'd have a crush on you", she said guiding me towards the practice mats.
Sona? And liking me?
Just the thought was enough for a chuckle to slip through my lips.
The day that I would make Souna Shitori, the Student Council President of Kuoh Academy fall in love with me, would be the day that the school explodes in a flash of bright white light. Perhaps the holy energy would even exorcise the witch that governs over this school.....
I smirked but shook my head throwing those thoughts to the back of my mind.
"Anyway Murayama-san, I was wondering what you were going to be teaching me today?", I waited outside the changing rooms, speaking loudly enough for her to hear me through the thin bamboo walls.
I didn't want to get kicked out straight away for peeping. That would defeat the whole point in me coming here.
Her voice called out from the changing room.
"Just take off your blazer and pick up one of the shinai on the rack. Today I want to just grasp your physical abilities and show you how to properly grip and hold a sword. I would suggest going to the gym after this to improve physical strength for a beginner. Although I will ask you to be careful considering you don't have any armor".
Nodding mentally I took one of the shinai off the wall and held it with both hands raising it up and bringing it down for a practice swing.
".... it is a little heavier than I thought.....", I muttered.
I kept repeating the single swing dozens of times just like I had seen Murayama and Katase practice dozens on times on my way home before. Noticing the difference in both strength and control over the practice sword, I could almost feel my inexperience affecting the power of the shinai.
Whenever I saw the girls from the Kendo Club swing their swords, the way they moved their bodies along with the blade, the way they exhaled at the end of a swing and even their ability to stop, block or counter another blade was impressive. There was something missing from my swings. Something missing from my swordsmanship. Something-.
[Ding! A new skill is created by a specific action. Due to the continuous sword strokes, the new skill [Two-Handed Sword Proficiency] has been created. It reflects the [Gamer's] skill with the sword, boosting speed and attack power while in use].
[Two-Handed Sword Proficiency (Passive)]
[Level 1] [Experience: 01.00%]
[Shows the degree of proficiency with Two-Handed Swords. Increases attack speed with a Two-Handed Sword. Increases attack strength with a Two-Handed Sword].
[Passively increases attack strength by 10%]
[Passively increases attack speed by 5%]
I smiled for a moment before removing my left hand from the grip and swinging the sword with just my right hand. A slight strain could be felt growing in the muscles on my forearm and biceps, with no strain coming from my wrist or fingers.
Eventually....
[Ding! A new skill is created by a specific action. Due to the continuous sword strokes, the new skill [One-Handed Sword Proficiency] has been created. It reflects the [Gamer's] skill with the sword, boosting speed and attack power while in use].
[One-Handed Sword Proficiency (Passive)]
[Level 1] [Experience: 00.90%]
[Shows the degree of proficiency with One-Handed Swords. Increases attack speed with a One-Handed Sword. Increases attack strength with a One-Handed Sword].
[Passively increases attack strength by 10%]
[Passively increases attack speed by 5%]
I smiled at both of my new skills however didn't anticipate what would happen next.
[Ding! Two skills of similar purpose and requirements have been detected! Would you like to merge [Two-Handed Sword Proficiency] and [One-Handed Sword Proficiency?].
[Y/N].
Instinctively I pressed [Yes], at the bottom of the blue colored screen in front of me.
[Ding! [Two-Handed Sword Proficiency] and [One-Handed Sword Proficiency] have been merged. Please name the newly created skill].
".... [True Sword Proficiency]", I muttered, noticing that Katase, the pink haired leader of the Kendo Club had just emerged from the changing room.
[Ding! Due to a merging of two skills, a new skill has been created. [True Sword Proficiency] has been created].
[True Sword Proficiency (Passive)]
[Level 1] [Experience: 00.00%]
[A combination of [Two-Handed Sword Proficiency] and [One-Handed Sword Proficiency] has resulted in the passive skill [True Sword Proficiency]. A higher quality skill that allows the [Gamer] to wield any sword with the same level of proficiency so long as his status matches the swords requirements. Improves attack strength with swords. Improves attack speed with swords. Improves sword perception].
[Passively increases PER by 1%]
[Passively increases sword strength by 15%]
[Passively increases sword speed by 10%]
My eyes widened as I read the description of [True Sword Proficiency] once more. It seems that combining similar types of skills would result in a higher quality skill that brought the best out of both basic skills.
"This definitely changes things. I thought that I would have to level up a skill to 100 before it would evolve. But merging skills would definitely be a handy feature to take advantage of.....", dismissing the screens I turned and looked at the pink haired girl in front of me, who gestured for me to come up onto the mat with her.
"Are you the one who will be teaching me Katase-san?", she nodded and took out her own shinai from her bag. It seems maybe the ones in the club room were just extras?
"I will be yes. Murayama will be teaching some of the first and second years who just joined the club this year. I, will be showing you how its done". She raised her bokken and pointed it towards me with a small smile on her face.
It was remarkably similar to the one Souna gave off when she gave me detention....
"The first thing I will teach you is the stance. A proper stance will allow you to shift your feet and change directions on the fly, allowing you to maneuver your body more effectively and by extension attack or deflect your opponents blows", she exhaled.
In a single moment the air around Katase changed and she stepped forward swinging her sword from her right hoping to hit me on my thigh. The power she showed behind just her simple two handed swing was more than I showed in my practice just a few minutes ago!
*SMACK!*
Swinging my arm around and rotating my wrist backwards I blocked the strike towards my left leg earning a look of slight respect from Katase.
"Oh? It looks like your reflexes are better than I thought", I smiled if only for a moment before her leg came swinging around, kicking my foot and knocking me onto the floor.
Despite the softness of the mats, it didn't lessen the blow to my pride by one bit as I felt the wooden shinai press up against my chest.
Katase smiled as she extended one of her hands to help me up.
"Although your stance was complete garbage, it seems your reflexes aren't too bad Tendo-san. We'll make a swordsman out of you yet", I got back up on my feet and tried to mimic the stance that Katase was showing causing her to nod and swing her sword at me once more.
It was an overhead strike that was significantly easier to block that the first attack she did. I matched it by swinging my own shinai at her bokken, before backing up two steps and swinging my sword towards her, aiming to strike her right arm.
I tsked as I she blocked my strike but instantly repeated the action this time aimed at her other arm, it wasn't any surprise that she blocked another one of my blows but this time parried catching me off guard and thrusting her bokken into my chest.
I felt the wind get knocked out of me for a second before all the pain vanished the moment I came into contact with the mat. I quickly checked my [Status] to see how much damage that attack actually did.
[Name: Tendo Akira] [Title: The Gamer]
[Level: 1] [Experience: 25.00%]
[HP: 50/100] [MP: 140/140] [SP: 70/100]
[STR: 10] [VIT: 10] [AGI: 11] [INT: 14] [WIS: 13] [PER: 10] [LUC: 10]
[Stat Points: 0]
[Money: $100]
"So pain is only temporary. I feel it for an instant and it just subtracts the damage from my HP.... neat", I get back up on my feet and let out a deep breath.
"Again".
Got knocked on my *ss after exchanging 5 blows.
"Again".
Got a sword strike to the arm which caused me to drop my shinai.
"Again".
Smacked in the wrist by Katase's bokken causing me to loose another 20 HP.
"Again".
Got sideswiped in the legs and landed on my *ss after another 12 blows.
"Again".
Felt the sword finally land a blow on my thigh, causing me to stagger and fall on one knee as I let out a deed exhale of carbon dioxide.
Similarly, Katase was also drenched in a large amount of sweat, causing her uniform to stick to her teenage body, highlighting all of her curves and edges. Even if she did have the body of someone like Gremory-senpai or Himejima-senpai, Katase was still a beautiful girl.
I laid on my back, not caring at all at how my uniform clung to my body like a sleepy koala, and gave the pink haired girl a smile as I wiped the sweat off my forehead.
"You're a real bad*ss Katase", I couldn't be bothered with honorifics, "Kicked my *ss seven ways to Sunday with that last bout.... Ugh, I've literally got like 1 HP left", despite my gaming joke I literally meant that I had 1 HP left. If a needle so much as poked me, I would probably die.
She smiled and giggled a little as she used her bokken as a cane moving off the practice mats and towards the changing rooms.
"The boys showers in the main building are probably still open. You should shower and walk home in your sports uniform. If Souna-senpai catches you, just tell her that you were with us. We'll back you up", she disappeared into the change rooms and I waved her off as I headed towards the boys showers.
The smile on my face couldn't help but grow as I looked at the blue screens in front of me.
[Ding! Due to strenuous physical activity you have gained + 1 VIT]
[Ding! Due to strenuous physical activity you have gained + 1 STR]
[Ding! Due to strenuous physical activity you have gained + 1 STR]
[True Sword Proficiency (Passive)]
[Level 5] [Experience: 67.90%]
[A combination of [Two-Handed Sword Proficiency] and [One-Handed Sword Proficiency] has resulted in the passive skill [True Sword Proficiency]. A higher quality skill that allows the [Gamer] to wield any sword with the same level of proficiency so long as his status matches the swords requirements. Improves attack strength with swords. Improves attack speed with swords. Improves sword perception].
[Passively increases PER by 1%]
[Passively increases sword strength by 20%]
[Passively increases sword speed by 15%]
[Ding! Due to a continuous action a new skill has been created! Due to constant physical damage, the new skill, [Physical Resistance] has been created. It marginally lowers the physical damage done by attacks lower than your vitality!]
[Physical Resistance (Passive)]
[Level 7] [Experience: 45.82%]
[Decreases the amount of damage taken when enduring physical attacks. Increases vitality]
[Passively increases VIT by 10%]
[Decreases physical damage taken by 0.70%]
[Ding! Due to a continuous action a new skill has been created! Due to copying another persons technique, the new skill [Beginner Kendo-Style Swordplay] has been created. It is a rudimentary level technique which is necessary for learning higher quality swordsmanship].
[Beginner Kendo-Style Swordplay (Passive)]
[Level 4] [Experience: 98.19%]
[Is the most basic of Kendo-Style Swordsmanship. Teaches one how to properly and effectively utilize the sword in order to defeat one's opponents. Increases sword damage. Increases sword speed. Increases sword proficiency speed].
[Passively increases sword strength by 0.4%]
[Passively increases sword speed by 0.4%]
[Passively increases sword proficiency speed by 0.4%]
Seeing the three new passive skills appear under my [Skills] list made my smile bigger and brighter then it had ever been before.
"Watch out world.... the [Gamer] is coming to play.....".
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone