Prince tapped his finger rhythmically against the desk of his study. It was a solemn atmosphere inside the study.
A bright gas lamp stood on the desk, beside a stack of books, and created a yellowish glow that created shadows of figures across the walls.
The sun was setting, and as it got darker with each passing moment, the shadows became more prominent and taller.
“Mind repeating that?” Prince opened a drawer, brought out a finger-sized cigar, and lit it up before placing it between his lips.
“Y-yes, sir.” The scout of Saturn Dojo held his chest as if he were in pain and said, “H-he sent a dinner invitation to you, wanting to speak to you.
“H-he actually made me feel pain. I am not overexaggerating; he made me feel the worst pain of my entire life!
“H-how the fuck did he do that? That should be impossible, right?!”
“Calm down, Nyco.” A bronze-haired woman sat on a high stool, moving her legs left and right. Her name was DeadlyKiss.
She was already part of Saturn in Ember Online and followed Prince to Martial Online as well. However, it took some time before their reunion because her starting city was Tsukuyomi.
“I-I cannot give up!” Nyco screamed and slammed his hands on the desk, causing the gas lamp to fall towards the ground.
However, Prince quickly caught the gas lamp and put it gently on the desk.
“Ngh…” Nyco grunted. “He made me feel pain. If players can cause others real pain, this game then becomes a thousand times more dangerous.”
“I understand what you are saying.” Prince leaned against the chair and nodded. “Did you see anything else?”
“Y-yes…” Nyco scratched his hair and said, “That lady from Whispering Pages was there. They hugged and seemed very close.”
The members of Saturn, who were seated around the study, raised their eyebrows and looked at Prince with a curious look. They had heard rumors about their dojo master being very fond of her.
“Is that so, hmm?” Prince reacted rather calmly and interlaced his fingers. “Can you describe him?”
Nyco nodded and recalled everything he remembered seeing.
After hearing the description, which sounded overexaggerated, Prince nodded.
“I’ll visit him.”
“Y-you should be very careful!” Nyco shouted.
“Maybe we should be on standby nearby?” A long-eared man suggested.
“He discovered Nyco; it is easy to assume that he can discover all of you as well.” Prince tapped his finger against the desk. “I’ll go alone.”
“That is not wise, boss.” The long-eared man said. “You heard Nyco. He is definitely powerful, but if he truly has the ability to cause real pain…”
“All the doubt is sore to my ears.” Prince slowly stood up, using the desk to push himself up. “Remember who I am.”
The players slowly nodded.
They didn’t want to doubt Prince, as he had always shown himself to be able to take care of himself, even against their rivals, the War Barbarians, and their annoying leader, Barbarian.
However, knowing that there was someone capable of creating real pain made them doubtful against their wishes.
Prince looked outside the window at the setting sun. This new threat made his hair rise.
‘A friendly or foe…’
…
Creak—window opened slowly in the top floor of Whispering Pages.
Then, a black-haired figure jumped through the open window and landed on the soft carpet. He wasn’t alone in the room, as there was a young woman moving across the room while using strange footwork.
As he closed the window, he leaned against the wall and asked. “How is it going?”
“I-I think I am getting it.” Bella said with a rough breath.
Ambrose nodded and removed his black poncho, as it was getting quite warm in the room.
In Nocklund, it was about time for snow to start falling and the temperature to lower, but in Amaterasu, it felt like the temperature continued to rise.
“Aaah…” Bella stopped moving, hunched over, and tried to catch her breath.
“Here.” Ambrose found her towel on the bed and handed it over to her.
“T-thanks.” Bella accepted it with a weary smile and used the towel to wipe the sweat off her face.
She then sat down on the bed and said wearily. “I-If only I had even one level more, I am sure I could have gotten it if I had assigned the points to agility…”
“You are level 1, right?” Ambrose asked and sat down beside her, the length of an arm between them.
“Yep,” Bella replied.
“I could take a quick visit to Crow Forest; you’ll stay in the city, but you are in my party, and I could help you to level up.” Ambrose said, and he shrugged his shoulders. “Probably the best solution.”
“Mm…” Bella lowered her head and clenched her fists. “I’ll try a little longer.”
“Catch your breath first.” Ambrose took out a small apple from his inventory and took a small bite. “Let me teach you an easier skill. Grab your sword.”
“Oh, okay.” Bella stood up and pulled out her sword from the inventory.
“Lift it over your head and hack it down with all your strength.” Ambrose sat cross-legged and watched.
“Ok!” Bella grabbed the sword with both hands, lifted it over her head, and slashed it down.
However, nothing happened.
“Rotate your shoulder more.” Ambrose leaned against the wall while sitting on the bed.
“Move your body alongside the slash. The motion starts from your shoulder and the hip.”
Bella nodded, did just as he said, and repeated that same slash multiple times. Her hands started to turn red, as she hadn’t gotten used to wielding the sword often.
“Good, keep going.” Ambrose said and took a bite of the apple, examining as her body moved. Her ponytail swayed behind her head, her hips moved left and right, and her arms moved up and down repeatedly.
At that moment, she heard a gentle ding in her ear.
“It is saying I learned Basic Slash!” Bella exclaimed with an excited expression.
“Good, now say the name out loud.” Ambrose smiled.
It was possible to learn Basic Slash without a style scroll, as it was one of the most basic things possible.
Bella said something as her lips moved, but no words came out. However, her body moved robotically, replaying the same motion of the slash.
“Strange, I had no control over my body.” Bella said with a strange expression, as it felt quite weird.
“It takes some time to get used to.” Ambrose said. “Once the skill reaches full completion, it feels like the skill is part of your body, and you think like you are doing the motion yourself.
“How many percentages does the skill interface show?”
“It says 5,” Bella said.
“Okay. Rest now.” Ambrose said. “You should focus on Nachbilder for now, but Basic Slash is your first offensive skill. When you have time, you can try getting it to full completion.”
“All right, thank you!” Bella smiled happily and sat back down, feeling accomplished after having her first skill.
“By the way…” She moved her hair over her head and side-glanced at him. “You wanted to talk?”
“Mm.” Ambrose put the apple back inside his inventory and smiled as he stared out of the window towards the starry sky, looking devilishly handsome.