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I dropped about five feet and the landing felt light. That was wrong, I shouldn't have fallen at all. I had just logged back in to [Freeflow Dream Online] after getting something to eat. I was farming The Shrouded Sun boss for cosmetics so I should have logged in at the boss entrance, instead I was standing on top of a mountain. There was snow up to my thighs and the wind was wild. They were both cold but it felt like something I could brush off. [Freeflow Dream Online] didn't have detailed sensations like this so I must have logged into a bug. Raising my hands showed me the caramel skin and small hands of my main, I hadn't logged into one of my alts.

"Menu" the voice I had selected for my character reverberated out.

I waited a few moments and when no menu appeared I started going down the list, calling out status, help, I even tried to use the emergency eject of my VR pod. When that didn't work I let out a frustrated grunt then twisted a bit of refined chi into my feet and lifted one of my legs to step out of the snow and on top of it. I was just about to look around when I realized what I did. I used the refined chi without using the spell menu of the game. It was a simple utility spell but it worked.

There was an ocean of dark golden warm essence sitting just below my belly button. I chewed on my lip and looked down at myself. My character was a Grandmaster Monk, one of the very few in the game. The only thing I could change outwardly was cosmetics and the weapon I used, which I could feel resting on my lower back, glued there with chi. Inside was a different matter, the game used enhancements you could slot it for builds. I could tell by the essence pool I was running my solo dps build, put together to dish out massive damage and survive.

I wore a red kimono jacket with golden highlights and baggy loose cloth pants. Below the kimono was a black shirt and my little cloth shoes were sticking out from under my baggy pants. And finally had a breechcloth that hung down to my knees. I lifted each of my legs and gave them a little shake to get the snow that was sticking to them off while looking around. The mountain I was on was above the cloud layer, about five hundred feet below me was a bed of clouds that twisted and swirled. A small part of me was worried about the thin air while the majority of me shrugged it off, passive chi flowing through me warding off a lot of dangers.

There were no trails in the snow anywhere I looked on the mountain. Either no one had climbed it or the snow covered their tracks. The sun was high in the sky but I had no idea where it set so I didn't know when it got dark. I took a step and started walking down the mountain, it was going to be a long walk. I had made my character short, about five foot three, it didn't stop me from dropping off cliffs. I had picked one direction and followed it. When I broke the cloud cover I saw small towns and cities dotting the landscape. Leaping to one would have been easy but I didn't want to land on anyone so I walked.

Half way down the mountain signs of people started showing up, old tents and air canisters. That showed me people were climbing the mountain but I saw no dead bodies like there would be on Everest. The sun was starting to set and I realized I would probably get to the town or cities some time during the night. I slowed my walk and started looking for things to eat. My chi guided me to some plants and dead wood. A spark of chi on the wood started a fire to cook the plants. I had to tuck the fire in between some large rocks out of the wind. I sat down on a flat rock and ate my burnt plants while staring at the sky. I wasn't into space or anything but the sky looked weird to me, the stars were different I think. I don't mean swapped around, I mean completely new.

The moon was there and it looked very moonish. The small part of me that was freaking out from the top of the mountain slowly died as I walked down it. I had no money, no place to stay, and only a single change of clothes but I knew I would be fine. My name was Suneya Tetsuko, Grandmaster of chi with my coiling dragon staff. Whatever challenges this world threw at me I would be ready. The world probably wasn't ready for me.

I rolled my legs under me as the fire burnt out and closed my eyes. Some esoteric instinct or habit guided me and I started running my chi through my body, following pathways I knew by heart. It would slowly increase the size of my essence pool and a few other things. I would be repeating this until dawn then I would go out and see what this new world had to offer me.

The sun eventually rolled around and I pushed myself to my feet then turned and started walking down the mountain again. It was a few hours later when trees started sprouting from the mountain and I had to start weaving through them. I didn't recognize any of the trees and the grass looked a little weird but I kept walking. Eventually a little town opened up to me, it was a small one that looked like it held maybe two hundred people. The houses were smaller than I was used to but very free in the way they were arranged.

I got a few looks from people that were out and about but nothing suspicious. There were some convenience stores and two gas stations but not enough for my purposes. I kept walking through the town and out the other side, it was a small walk compared to the walk down the mountain. My ears picked up a language I didn't understand with a small slathering of some I did, there wasn't enough to help me learn more so heading to a bigger city was a must. Passing the edge of town there was a sign on the side with a few squiggly lines from the written language and a number giving distance. A few hours walk to the next biggest town, perfect.

It was about an hour later when I heard a motor behind me, glancing back showed me a little truck hauling bales of hay. It was driven by an older guy who slowed down when he saw me, his windows were down and he spoke to me and gestured around. I shook my head and replied, "I don't understand."

His eyes lit up and a grin broke across his face, "Ah. I don't get to practice this language much. I was offering you a ride."

I cupped my hands and nodded to him, "Much obliged."

He reached over and pushed the passenger side door open for me to climb in. I reached behind myself as I stepped to the opening. I pulled off my back my kiseru, a golden smoking pipe with a bag full of herbs, and my coiling dragon staff. The three pieces of the staff were a black celestial metal that was made from end game resources. Setting them in my lap i took a seat on the bench and shut the door. The guy gave my things a small glance then we were off, "What brings you out here?" he asked while gesturing around us.

I couldn't tell him I was possessing my in game character so I did the next best thing and used the lore I had made up for her, "I am a wandering martial artist. I go where my feet take me."

He shook his head and kept driving, "so you have no idea where you are?"

When I replied negatively he continued, "we are going to pass through a few small towns on the way to Swivel City. That's where I am headed, should get there before dark."

"Dropping off some hay?"

He nodded his head, "zoos over there pay a premium for it so I make the trip every few days. So you're a wandering martial artist? Are you any good?"

I let out a chuckle as I opened my little bag of herbs. It was named [Never Ending Taste] and in the game randomly gave out herbs that could taste like anything from chocolate ice cream to spicy berries. I stuffed some herbs into the kiseru and waved it back and forth while replying, "I am the best."

He chuckled, "Heard that from a lot of people and none of them are as short as you."

I felt a flush of amusement and burst out laughing, "do you practice?"

He shook his head, "When I was younger I watched a lot of tournaments. That changed when enhancement sports came out. There's still competitions for us regulars but the enhancement sports get more attention. Everyone wants to watch the guy who can grow spikes from his body get into a fist fight."

He looked to be in his sixties so enhancement sports must have been around for only forty or fifty years. I brought my kiseru to my lips and started chewing on the end while thinking about what he said, people had super powers and they had to be common if there were sports leagues for it. I must have been silent for a while watching the road and chewing on my pipe so he replied, "You can smoke in here. I don't mind, this truck is almost as old as me."

I shook my head and covered the end of my pipe with my thumb and rested it on my thigh, "I was just thinking about something. Are there any dojos or martial buildings in Swivel city?"

He nodded while he drove, "Some. I don't think they are as popular nowadays."

That was my destination then. Find one and get a job beating people into shape until I figured out this world. We chatted some more as we rode to Swivel City passing through some small towns on the way. When the city appeared on the horizon the sun was about an hour before setting. The city was big, everything around it for a few miles was flat and clear cut of trees. There was a massive number of sky scrapers shooting up from the ground challenging each other to height. The closer we got the more the city took over the landscape, a power line there or a pipe sticking out of the ground.

We didn't drive directly into the city, we turned down a road about a mile from the city and weaved across the landscape. The zoo turned out to be just off the side of the city. We parked next to it and he turned to me, "Well this is my stop. I wish you well on your journeys."

I reached over and set my hand on his shoulder, "Thank you for the ride."

He nodded and with a burst of chi I cleaned his essence channels, tomorrow he would wake up feeling like he was ten years younger. I stepped out of the vehicle and put everything back to where I was carrying it except my pipe and started walking to the city. I was about a quarter mile away when I realized I didn't even know the guy's name. I shrugged and brought the kiseru to my lips and lit it with a flash of chi. If I met him again I would ask. The taste of smokey chocolate flooded my mouth as I took a pull, that was one of the better ones.

The city started to swallow me so I pushed some chi into my ears and started listening to the mass of people. Another twist of chi helped me start learning the language. There were small stores everywhere and colorful signs as I walked through the city. The people that were out wore sweaters and pants, I guess it was a little chilly. The trees I saw told me it was early spring. The streets were clean in the part I was walking but I imagine it would have its darker side, all places did.

When I felt I had learned the language enough I started asking for directions. I got some weird looks but eventually got directions to some of the dojos. Most of the directions were crap, i could speak the language but not read it. Eventually I found what I was looking for, the first few martial arts places looked like places you would go to get a certificate. The second to last place looked to be the real deal. It was a small factory building with brick walls and a sign of Browns MMA Dojo in faded paint.

I slapped my pipe across the back of my hand, kicking the ash out and slid it into my belt before stepping inside. There was nobody at the front desk but I could hear activity in the back so I followed the noise. There was a group of about twenty people all practicing taking other people down or getting them into hold. There were a few people walking around giving pointers and adjusting the students. Just from a glance I could tell these people were dedicated and some of them had the ability to go far. I stepped inside and leaned against the wall with my arms crossed and watched. I was noticed right away but ignored, which was fine by me. Eventually one of the older teachers approached me and held out his hand, "Jacob Brown, can I help you?"

He was tall, almost six foot five and was wearing a blue training gi with a black belt. He had black hair peppered grey and a well trimmed beard. His hands were callused from hard work and had a few scars from punching things he shouldn't have. I clasped his hand giving it a firm shake and replied, "Suneya Tetsuko. I am looking for a job."

He looked me up and down trying to judge my athletic ability. I knew what he saw, a five foot three lady made of muscle with asian ancestry. He took a step back and shrugged, "What do you know?"

Since he asked, I obliged by reaching out. He followed my hand and I lightly brushed my fingers across his sternum. A flicker of golden chi lifted off my finger at the touch and his lungs squeezed hard evacuating all the air from his lungs. He let out a whoosh of air and dropped down to one knee, everyone else stopped training and turned to us. He gasped for breathe and wheezed out, "What the fuck."

Two of the people with black belts started walking over to us while John got his breath back. He stood up and glared at me, "the hell was that?"

"Chi. you're going to pay me to teach it to you." I looked him up and down, "You are almost there, maybe a few months of meditation and you will start feeling it."

He continued to glare at me when the other two people got close. The one on the left had a shaved head and asked, "What happened?"

Jacob waved at me, "She knocked the wind out of me with chi."

That got chuckles from them. I guess chi was something common here maybe. The one on the right was younger than the three, he looked to be in his thirties and was looking at me like a shark. The one with the shaved head replied, "Go give your old man a call. He's gonna wanna see this."

Jacob shook his head and turned with a ,"I will be right back."

I watched him walk through the room to the back then crossed my arms and glanced at the two. "I am Anthony and this is Victor," The bald guy introduced themselves.

I nodded at them both, "Suneya."

"You can really use chi?" Victor asked.

He was coming off to me as someone who really enjoyed martial arts. When I nodded he met Anthony's eyes. When Anthony shook his head Victor grinned and turned back to me, "I wanna spar with you."

I heard Anthony sigh as I met Victors eyes and thought about it. I felt calm like I knew beating him wouldn't be a problem. This would be a good chance to see if I had Suneya's skills. I gave a nod and things happened quickly after that. The people on the black gym maps were shuffled to the side and I approached the mats. I took off my staff and pipe and set them down then slipped my feet out of my slippers and stepped into the mat. The first thing I was going to buy was new clothing. The stuff I was wearing was good and I could clean it with chi but new clothes are a must have.

I set my bare foot on the cool mat and stepped towards Victor standing in the center. When I got close Anthony spoke to the student, "Pay close attention, you might learn something."

I stood across from Victor with my arms behind my back and met his eyes."Ready?"

When I nodded he squared his feet and lifted his arms into a guard. I stared at him waiting for him to do anything else. It was about thirty seconds before I started looking around the room. There were posters with faded ink and trophies. This gym looked to be doing pretty well with the number of students and trophies it wasn't going to die anytime soon. I wish I knew the date so I could look for the last time they won something.

Some esoteric instinct told me to look at Victor so I did. As my eyes met his form he exploded forward into a smooth punch. There was a lot of power in the blow showing he was serious. If that punch met some random person it would do a lot of damage. I shifted a little and watched it glide smoothly by my face before setting my feet and ducking down into a twist. Victor was pulling his arm back but it was already too late, I was in his guard. When he shifted his weight back to his other leg I gently bumped his hip with mine at the correct time and accelerated to movement.

His feet shifted out from under him and he flopped down to the ground. He had a look on his face that told me he had no idea what had just happened. I stepped a few feet back and watched him. He rolled onto his but from where he was laying on his side and I could see the fight play through his head. The whole fight had felt natural to me as breathing, I was probably one of the best martial artists on the planet. I weighed about one hundred and forty pounds and I had just put someone weighing over two hundred on the ground. That was wild.

Victor eventually stood up and shook his head, "that was smooth. Can we go again?"

I nodded at him and waited again. This time there was no long wait as he tried to lunge out and grab me. I pulled my arms from behind my back as I fell back. He shifted trying to follow me down so I used that against him. I planted my hand on the mat and twisted while coiling my legs pulling just out of range before pushing off and exploding towards him. I went from coiled up to using my legs to cut off blood flow in his neck as I held onto his arm. We flopped down onto the mat and I heard him take a gurgling breath as I held his arm out straight using it as a lever.

He just started to pick himself up with his free arm when it went limp and he collapsed. I relaxed my hold and was using his arm to roll him over when Anthony came over and helped me. We got the snoozing Victor into a comfortable position and Anthony started speaking, "Victor's one of the better instructors. He's Jacob's little brother and grew up hearing stories about his great grandpa the chi user."

I let out a chuckle, "so they have one in the family. That's good. It shows dedication."

He nodded, "We all grew up listening to the stories. Jacob will tell you more."

I nodded at that and Jacob came from the back. He took one look at us standing over Victor and facepalmed. "We can hire you but my dad wants to meet you. He's seen chi users before so he knows what it looks like and will be able to judge if you are the real deal and not some enhanced using some power."

I crossed my arms and shrugged, "that's fine. Where is your dad then?"

"He doesn't live in the city but he will be here in a few days," he replied.

"Where are you staying?" Anthony asked.

I shook my head, "somewhere in the woods I guess. I only have the things I came in here with."

Jacob shook his head, "Some monk thing i'm guessing. There is an office in the back with a futon. We use it for when someone takes a hard hit. You can stay there until you get your own place. Do you have an ID or anything like that?"

"No, nothing of the sort." I replied.

"Then we will pay you in cash until you get that sorted out. The city library will have things to help you with that." He replied.

"Is that common?" I asked.

He shrugged and Anthony answered, "sometimes people slip through dimensions here. It happens enough there is a system for it."

I chewed on my lip and thought about that. Maybe that happened to me and I ended up in my game character as some form of safety. I turned and headed for my stuff, when I reached for my coiling dragon staff it snapped into my hand and I used my other to pick up my pipe and bag. A place to stay, a job and a way forward in one day. I think I am doing pretty good so far.