Mr. Grey took Bane's outstretched hand and shook it firmly. Bane would have reciprocated, but he was distracted by the textbox that appeared before him.
"You need to work on your handshake," Mr. Grey said. "It was like shaking a cooked noodle."
"S-Sorry." Bane finally returned to reality, eager to see what the system had gifted him this time. But Mr. Grey was quick to start the training. Bane could have checked the system during training, but he knew he'd just space out again.
"That's alright," Mr. Grey said, walking until he was directly to Bane's right. "Alright, let's start with the basics."
He meticulously wrapped his fingers around the katana and held it in front of him. "The katana is one of the most delicate weapons ever forged, primarily because of its thin blade. It can easily bend or chip, but shattering a katana takes more skill than using one properly," Mr. Grey explained, rattling off facts about katanas.
"Swinging aimlessly is not how you use a katana—or any sword, for that matter. But a katana requires more technique than most." Mr. Grey paused and swiftly struck the air.
Whoosh.
'Wow…' Bane admired his instructor's quick and precise technique.
"You got that?" Mr. Grey asked.
Bane quickly nodded. "Y-Yes," he answered, though he wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to have taken from that. He knew katanas required technique—that was the whole reason they were out there.
"Good. To start, let me see how you swing a sword," Mr. Grey said. Bane paused and placed his hands where he usually would. He looked up to see if Mr. Grey showed any reaction, but all he said was, "Go on," as he lowered his head and motioned with his hand.
Bane closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting the cold air fill his lungs and flow to every part of his body. He opened his eyes and imagined an enemy standing in front of him.
"Ngh!" Bane grunted slightly as he swung the blade. It was lighter than what he was used to, causing him to almost stumble at the end of the swing.
"Wrong!" Mr. Grey exclaimed. Bane jumped slightly, slowly turning to his teacher. "Is that really how you hold a sword?!" he shouted. "It's a miracle you aren't dead," he muttered, walking toward Bane.
"You hold a sword like this," he instructed, holding the sword with a small gap between each of his hands. One hand was pressed up on the handle, and the other was on the edge of the grip. Currently, Bane held it with clasped hands, causing Mr. Grey to cringe.
"You don't hold it like that," Mr. Grey chuckled. Bane was embarrassed and shied away from his gaze. Sensing this, Mr. Grey continued, "Don't worry, young Bane. I'm just surprised you've made it this far with technique like that. This is long overdue." Bane felt reassured.
With his hands in the correct position, the two of them officially started training. They practiced some extremely basic swings, and Bane began to get accustomed to the blade. "I like it…" he murmured. The two continued a basic training session, and while Bane improved his form, Mr. Grey rattled off the components of the sword and the craftsmanship required to perfect a katana.
About an hour in, the two of them took a short break. The training was mostly mental, with Bane responsible for absorbing the information and improving his stance, posture, and grip with Mr. Grey's guidance. At one point, Mr. Grey handed Bane his own katana, and Bane tried dual-wielding.
"I'll be the first to admit I don't know much about dual-wielding; I find it really difficult. But if it's something you're interested in, we can work on it," Mr. Grey said. Bane really appreciated his teaching style—it was informal and gave Bane most of the control. Bane tried many stances, grips, and styles and was given the option to pursue the one that felt most natural.
"Dual-wielding is cool, but not yet. I just want the basics," Bane said. The two of them continued for a short while longer until Bane had the bare basics down.
"That's enough for today," Mr. Grey said, moving away to gather his things. "You learn pretty quickly," he added, slinging his belongings over his shoulder.
"Only because you're such a great teacher," Bane said, following Mr. Grey.
"Haha… Don't make me laugh," Mr. Grey chuckled.
The two of them chatted as they made their way back to the weapons shop. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow," Mr. Grey said, giving a short goodbye as they went their separate ways.
Bane's stomach growled, and he wanted to get out of the cold weather, so he stopped at the first decent-looking restaurant outside of the slums. A young girl greeted him at the door.
"Hello! Welcome to Scarlets! A table for one?" she asked with a smile. She was a young woman with small horns protruding from her head and green skin. It caught Bane off guard, but he responded with a smile.
"Yes, just one," he answered.
"Okay, follow me!" She reached for a piece of paper from under a table and led him to his seat in the corner of the restaurant. He didn't know if it was just his mind playing tricks on him, but he felt like a lot of eyes were on him.
"Here you are, sir. I'll be back in a moment for your order," she said with a slight bow, then turned to greet another group that had arrived. Now that he could see the entirety of the building, he realized it wasn't just a feeling—people were indeed staring at him.
There were a few hushed whispers, but he didn't feel threatened, so he checked the menu and found what he liked.
The young woman returned not long after, and he ordered a light meal. He then turned his attention to something that had been bothering him since the start of the training session.
A new icon had appeared in his vision when the training session began—two small, crossed swords. 'Weapon mastery,' Bane thought, unsure what it could mean.
Opening it, he was met with a menu of mostly locked boxes, but one had an icon of a katana. Overwhelmed, he was thankful when a textbox appeared, explaining what he was seeing.
Weapon Mastery: A system tracker that shows the amount of improvement and mastery the user has for a weapon. This gives the ability to unlock weapon-specific skills or titles. Completing daily training speeds up weapon mastery progress by granting XP. The user can also earn weapon mastery XP through general training.
Even more confused now, Bane opened the Katana icon:
Katana Mastery: Novice (20/100) -> Experienced
Daily Challenge:
Slay Enemies with Katana: 0/20
Rewards: Mastery XP
Bane read through the boxes slowly. 'So, I'm a novice with the katana, and after I gain eighty more experience, I'll be classified as experienced,' he thought, nodding as it started to make sense. 'It's just another way for me to get stronger,' he mused, keeping his excitement and laughter inside.
'So, it seems that the training session this morning earned me twenty XP…' Bane didn't know if that was good or bad. He had a feeling that the leveling system would be like titles, where you needed ten times more XP than before to progress.
'To be a true master, I might need a million XP or something ridiculous,' he thought. Even though Bane deemed it excessive, if he ever got there, he would be a true master of the katana.
"Here you are, sir," the young woman said, setting down a small steak and a glass of water. Bane snapped out of his thoughts as she did. "Would you like anything else?"
"Yeah, do you have the Guild's paper?" he asked.
"Yes, we do."
"Could I get one?"
"Of course," the server said, retreating to the back and emerging a moment later with a paper in hand. "Here you are."
"Thank you," Bane said. The young woman bowed slightly and went off to help her other tables. Many eyes still lingered on him, but it seemed they had lost interest after seeing Bane stare off into space. Little did they know the power he and the system possessed.
'Today should be the day I'm in the paper. Maybe that's why people are looking at me funny,' Bane thought. He flipped through to the New Arrivals section of the newspaper and, to his surprise, he was the very first entry.
A nice-looking picture of him was printed alongside some general stats and background information about how he grew up in the slums and was now a successful adventurer. As he ate, he read the rest of the paper and could feel his skill, Proficient Reader, taking hold.
'I should really buy some books,' he thought. 'Eir often has books, but I don't know where she gets them. This skill is really useful and easy to level up.' He decided he would ask her later about books and recommendations.
Bane paid and tipped the young lady handsomely before heading back to the Faction Building. As he walked, an old, mythical-looking man approached him directly.
"Are you Bane?" the old man's booming voice asked.
"Yes, who are you?" Bane replied.
"I am Pluto."
'…Uh. What?' Bane thought, bewildered.