The following morning, after five hours of sleep, Jesse woke up with sleepiness still lingering in his eyes.
It was hard to start sleeping after finding out that his parents had simply abandoned him like that.
It was the second time, but now it was final.
He was no longer part of their lives.
After getting out of bed, Jack and Sebastian visited him.
They had visited his apartment early in the morning and brought everything he owned.
Once Jack saw his lack of clothes, he gave his very old ones to Jesse. They were both very different sizes when they were in early adulthood, so it wasn’t a perfect fit.
However, they were enough for now, but Jack planned to go purchase some new ones soon.
After they left, Jesse put on Jack’s old tracksuit.
It was black in color and had white lines on his arm sleeves.
There were also new sneakers, which were a size too small, but they were still more comfortable than his old ones.
Then he left the mansion and finally managed to see it from the outside, having a hard time closing his mouth.
The mansion was even grander and more breathtaking than he had imagined.
It was built several centuries ago, but it looked way more luxurious than any modern building.
With its thousands of ornate windows, dozens of balconies, brown brick-made walls, and five floors, it looked like it could house thousands of servants.
The building was a true architectural masterpiece.
The garden was far from modest. It covered an area of more than a kilometer and housed many hand-made bush statues and fountains with sparkling blue water.
It was all connected by a cobblestone path that found its way through vibrant flower beds and neatly trimmed hedges.
Jesse ran down the cobblestone path while taking in all the sights.
After twenty minutes of running, he reached the end of the path and found a dirt road leading deeper into a forest.
The trees, blooming flowers, and lush greenery bathed in the sunlight while creating a picturesque sight.
“Whoo.” Exhaling, he entered the forest and ran with the wind blowing against his face.
The forest seemed endless as he ran, and he soon came to a stop to catch his breath.
He found a place to sit and rest, admiring the beauty of nature around him.
“Hmm?” Jesse reached out to his pocket to take out his phone to check the time, but then he saw a wooden branch on the ground.
It was around 50 cm in length and had an uneven, spiky surface.
He grabbed it and tested its weight.
It was lighter than his swords, and balance was terrible.
However, he stood up and swung it slowly around his body, treating it as a real sword.
He switched hands, using only his left hand, and used the tree as a training dummy.
Smack, smack—the attacks weren’t very powerful. It was like trying to punch through a brick wall.
“Hmm, what if I do this?” He moved the wooden branch under his right armpit and did a very wide swing at the tree.
The smack had the same volume because the attack lacked weight.
“I still need to create more skills. I only have Kill and High Pain created. Even Jaeger had more than I did.
“If I recall correctly, he had three, maybe four. Still more than I have.” Jesse lifted the wooden branch and thought deeply about what kind of skill he wished to have.
He knew he needed to catch up and increase his strength with the help of more powerful skills.
His level had already reached a staggering 35. He still had thirty stat points usable, as he didn’t spend them before logging out.
However, because of all that, he could create more powerful skills.
His level was much lower when he created Kill and High Pain, but he was still very proud of those skills.
“My imagination is lacking. I am thinking about creating equally powerful skills as those, while I can create even more powerful ones!
“Those skills also become stronger when I level up and place my stats, but I can create way more ridiculous skills.” Jesse crossed his legs and deeply frowned.
“Growl…”
Jesse felt his hair rise at the back of his neck. He jumped to his feet and backed away from the treeline.
There was something lurking in the forest, growling menacingly.
And soon, the creature letting out the growl revealed itself. It had dark brown fur with patches of gray, sharp claws, and glowing yellow eyes.
“A wild dog… no, a wolf!” Jesse’s face was bleached. “How could it be here?! W-wait, don’t wolves usually move in packs?”
He looked around the dimly lit forest, afraid that he was surrounded by dozens of wolves. It would mean almost certain death.
However, at first glance, it looked like it was alone.
“I-It’s alone? Is it the so-called omega?”
Jesse lifted his wooden branch with a shaky hand, ready to defend himself if necessary.
“Growl…” The dark brown wolf stepped out of the bush and slowly circled around the human. 𝑜𝒱xt.𝒞𝑚
It looked like a feral wild animal with hostile intentions.
“F-fuck, I am not in Martial Online. In here, I can actually die!” Jesse wiped off the cold sweat from his forehead and gulped with fear.
He even thought about throwing the wooden branch at the wolf and, while it was stunned, run away.
However, he had enough knowledge to know that would be the worst thing he could possibly do in this situation.
He would be chased down, clawed to death, and dragged into some random cave to be eaten.
“I-I guess I have to fight through this.” Jesse looked at the wooden branch in his hand, completely helpless.
He didn’t have his Black and Red Sword.
He didn’t have his amazing strength or his stats to help him overcome this obstacle.
It was just him.
“Growl…” The wolf readied its attack, growling with a drooling mouth, and then lunged forward with its sharp fangs aimed straight at his head.
“Ahhh!” Jesse screamed and lifted the wooden branch over his head. Then, out of reflex, he shouted. “Basic Slash!”
At that moment, everything in his mind froze. He forgot one crucial thing; he also couldn’t use any of his skills.
He had become so used to relying on them that he completely forgot such a simple thing.
As the wolf’s fangs grew closer, he closed his eyes and resigned himself to death.
‘I am such a fucking fool…’
At that moment, he felt the balance of his body tilt slightly forward.
He felt his waist twist to the side, the grip on the wooden sword tighten, and his muscles tense.
He opened his eyes in shock, and surprisingly, his arms moved downward with a wooden branch in his hand.
It landed perfectly on the wolf’s neck, immediately breaking its neck and hurling it across the air into a tree.
The wolf whimpered before letting out a final growl before dying.
“W-what the hell was that? Did I just do Basic Slash?” Jesse staggered backwards and accidentally dropped the wooden branch that was now stained with real blood—red blood.
Crack—a sudden crack sounded in the forest, frightening him.
Jesse looked around in panic and then turned around before running away.
He didn’t want to find out whether there were more wolves!
“How the hell did I just use Basic Slash!?” He asked himself with the wind rushing against his face.
That was the second strangest thing that had happened to him after receiving the VR headset.
“Did my body just instinctively do that? No way, I did it perfectly. I had already given up, but my body simply moved.
“Just like in Martial Online!”
After a while, he sprinted out of the forest and saw the mansion in the distance. He ran down the cobblestone path and suddenly let out a laugh.
“I can’t believe I made it!” Jesse exclaimed, feeling a surge of excitement and accomplishment. “I don’t know what happened or how I used Basic Slash, but now, after the encounter with that feral beast, an insane skill appeared in my mind.
“That skill will be the cornerstone of my style—an absolutely bizarre skill!”