After splashing water over his face several times, Ogata returned to the dojo.
While he had been outside, a new round of matches had already begun.
Where should I sit…?
As he searched for a place, an extremely familiar voice reached him.
“Senpai, over here.”
Ogata turned toward it.
The speaker was Makino Bunshirō, the junior disciple he had faced moments earlier.
There happened to be an empty place beside him.
Ogata walked over quickly and settled into seiza at Makino’s side.
The same familiar yet foreign sensation he had experienced during the match returned.
Before crossing into this world, Ogata had never once sat in seiza.
Now he folded his legs beneath him as easily and naturally as breathing.
He was already beginning to accept these uncanny moments as ordinary.
“How are you feeling?” Ogata asked with a smile once he was seated.
“Does your chest still hurt?”
“It stopped hurting a while ago.” Makino rubbed his chest and grinned.
“Thanks to you holding back, Senpai. After resting for a moment, I could barely feel it anymore.”
During their match, Ogata had pulled his blow in time and avoided injuring him.
Had the bokken struck Makino’s chest with full force, the young man would not be sitting here now, chatting so casually.
Makino Bunshirō was one of Ogata Issei’s few close friends and was one year younger than him.
They both studied Sakakibara Ittō-ryū, but because Makino had entered Sakakibara Hanbei’s school later, he was Ogata’s kōhai.
The two were on good terms and often sparred as they had today.
Makino’s swordsmanship was inferior to Ogata’s, however, so nearly all their matches ended in Makino’s defeat.
* * *
After exchanging a few casual remarks, the two fell silent.
Makino concentrated on the pair of disciples fighting in the center of the dojo.
Ogata pretended to do the same while secretly studying the system inside his mind.
He silently repeated the word “system” several times, and a translucent screen appeared before him.
Name: Ogata Issei
Level: LV 7 (570/600)
Personal Attributes
Strength: 5
Agility: 5
Reflexes: 5
Stamina: 5
Vitality: 5
Martial-Arts Schools
Sakakibara Ittō-ryū: Rank 3 (420/500)
Remaining Skill Points: 0
Sakakibara Ittō-ryū Rank 3 Techniques
Ascending Tower: Beginner
Waterfall: Intermediate
Bird Thrust: Beginner
Dragon Tail: Beginner
The personal-status screen was simple and easy to understand.
Still, the attribute values made Ogata want to complain.
Strength, agility, reflexes, stamina, and vitality are all five?
Could my abilities be any more evenly balanced?
After silently ridiculing his uniformly average combat attributes, he began examining each item in earnest.
He noticed a tiny question mark at the end of certain entries.
Whenever he focused on one, it expanded into a small window containing basic information about that category.
When he fixed his gaze on the question mark beside Level, for example, it became a panel explaining the function of personal levels in concise terms.
Defeating or killing enemies grants Experience.
Stronger enemies provide more Experience.
Your current level is 7.
Each increase in level grants 1 Skill Point.
The explanation could hardly have been more direct.
Skill Points…
What are they used for?
Ogata shifted his gaze to the question mark beside Remaining Skill Points.
Skill Points may be spent to improve Personal Attributes or raise the level of individual techniques within a martial-arts school.
Spending 1 Skill Point raises one Personal Attribute by 1 point.
Spending 1 Skill Point unlocks a new technique within a martial-arts school.
Spending 1 Skill Point improves an unlocked technique from Beginner to Intermediate.
Spending 2 Skill Points improves it from Intermediate to Advanced.
Spending 4 Skill Points improves a technique from Advanced to Master.
Spending 8 Skill Points improves it from Master to Grandmaster.
This entry contained considerably more information, but it was still easy to grasp.
Martial arts…
Does that refer to the entries below?
Ogata moved his gaze to the bottom of his status screen.
Only Sakakibara Ittō-ryū appeared under Martial-Arts Schools, which meant it was the only style he currently knew.
Martial-Arts Schools: Defeating or killing an enemy with a technique from a martial-arts school increases that school’s Experience.
When its Experience is full, its rank rises.
Each martial-arts school may reach a maximum of Rank 15.
Every rank gained grants 2 Skill Points.
After reading the explanation, Ogata recalled the message he had heard when he defeated Makino with Dragon Tail.
It had indeed said that Sakakibara Ittō-ryū had gained Experience.
He carefully digested everything he had learned.
The highest possible rank for a martial-arts school is fifteen, while Sakakibara Ittō-ryū—the only style I know—is merely Rank Three.
It seems I’ll have to work my way upward slowly.
The Skill Point description said I can use points to raise the level of each technique.
Sakakibara Ittō-ryū has only four techniques: Dragon Tail, Ascending Tower, Bird Thrust, and Waterfall.
Of those four, Waterfall is the highest at Intermediate.
The other three are all Beginner techniques.
Heh.
That is surprisingly accurate.
Both this body’s instincts and its memories tell me that Waterfall is the technique I handle best.
Judging from the description, I could spend two Skill Points to raise Waterfall from Intermediate to Advanced.
Or I could spend one point to raise any one of Bird Thrust, Dragon Tail, or Ascending Tower from Beginner to Intermediate…
Wow.
Raising a single sword technique from Beginner all the way to Grandmaster would cost more than a dozen Skill Points.
And right now, I have…
zero.
Skill Points are precious.
They can improve both my Personal Attributes and my sword techniques.
Raising any technique to its highest level would consume a mountain of them—and turning my physical abilities into something superhuman would require just as many.
Once he finished sorting through the information, Ogata reached a single conclusion: Skill Points were vitally important, and he could not afford to waste even one.
* * *
“Senpai. Senpai.”
Makino suddenly nudged him with an elbow.
“What is it, Makino?”
“You have the nerve to ask?” Makino gave him a puzzled look.
“You really are distracted today. Didn’t you hear Sensei calling you? It is your turn to fight again. Your next opponent is strong, so be careful.”
You can join my P.
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/Meegoatbaa Whether you join as a free or paid member, you’ll also get access to 2 extra chapters.