'…I thought the things that I learned when I was a child would be useless, and I would eventually forget all about them.
'Yet here I am.'
Fang Raon thought of himself.
In the middle of the snowy forest, he and Junior circled each other, neither of them making the first move.
It seemed like each one of them was waiting for the person to make a move and then respond with Basic Parry.
Fang Raon squeezed the sword hilt hard.
…
Many years ago.
A twelve-year-old Fang Raon sat on a chair, the sound of men fighting with swords echoing in his ears.
He couldn't see anything, but his sense of hearing had become very sharp, and he could tell that the fighting was intense and serious.
"Huff! Huff!"
Fang Raizen kept hacking his training sword against the sword of his brother, Fang Raikou, and neither of them was giving an inch.
"…Don't abandon defense in favor of offense, Raizen!"
Watching them, their and Raon's father, Fang Aizen, watched with the usual cold and unhappy expression on his face.
"Yes, father!"
Fang Raizen shouted and blocked his brother's sudden strike. They struggled fiercely. Neither of them was giving an inch.
Their swords touched blades, both trying to push each other back, and neither willing to back down.
"…"
Fang Raon stayed silent and just listened…
The hours went by, and his brothers left to take a shower, and only his father, Fang Aizen, was left.
"…Go make yourself useful elsewhere, Raon. Your presence in the sacred dojo is not needed. It is not a place for the blind."
Fang Aizen said coldly.
"…Can I also learn the art of the sword, Father?"
Fang Raon asked.
Whack!
Out of nowhere, Fang Aizen smacked him in the face with a wooden sword and made a deep cut on his cheek.
"Ah…"
Fang Raon touched his bleeding cheek and turned in the direction of his father's loud breathing and wanted to ask, "Why?" but was too afraid.
"…I don't want to see your face in my dojo, do you understand?"
Fang Aizen asked coldly.
"…"
With a weak nod, Fang Raon grabbed his walking cane, slowly got up from his seat, and limped out of the dojo with tears in his eyes.
A feeling of hate grew in his heart.
Not towards his father, but towards himself, and for the first time in his life, he defied his father's words.
In secret, he started training with the sword…
…
The present time.
'…Why am I remembering that shit now?'
Fang Raon frowned.
In that moment, he stopped thinking about everything useless. Nothing mattered at this point. Nobody mattered.
Fang Raon put all his weight and trust into the tip of his sword and made the first move in the fight.
Junior's body tensed up.
"Sword Stab!"
Fang Raon thrust his sword quickly forward, and it was so fast that Junior couldn't use Basic Parry in time, as it was too slow.
Therefore.
Junior put the shield in front of the tip of the blade and blocked the strike!
"Ah?"
In that moment, Junior's feet slid backwards in the snow, and he noticed that the ground below him was rather icy.
It made it very difficult for him to keep his balance.
Fang Raon rammed into him with the shield, and the force sent Junior falling backwards. He landed on his back on top of a snow pile.
"Basic Slash!"
Fang Raon slashed down.
Junior rolled out of the way, awkwardly stood up, and quickly pressed forward in an attack.
He came hard with his stabs and slashes, but Fang Raon masterfully parried them all with his shield.
Fang Raon also kept backing up, but he kept his balance and didn't slip up.
"Aaargh!"
Junior chased after him, put his sword next to his waist, and extended his arm into a fierce thrust.
He extended the thrust so much that he had to stand on his toes for the extra reach.
"You abandoned defense in favor of offense. Didn't anybody tell you not to do that, hmm?"
Fang Raon waved his shield and parried the sword thrust. It was too weak. There was no weight behind it.
Junior's eyes shook, and he tried pulling his body back, but Fang Raon's Refined Sword was already coming down hard at him.
"Hard Slash!"
The sword went through Junior's arm, through his shoulder, and into his chest until finally his leather armor stopped the slash.
"…Uh."
Junior fell to the snow-covered ground, the bloody stump gushing blood, and the coldness of the world around him seeped into his body.
The vision turned hazy as if he had just woken up.
"Are you still clinging to life?"
Fang Raon asked.
[Junior: 1 HP]
"Ah… Ah… This sucks…"
Junior whispered with a teary voice, barely able to hold on.
"…Like you said, it could be a worse place to die. It is only the 2nd floor. You could have died over on the 30th floor."
Fang Raon said.
"…I can't come back here. My family cannot afford to purchase another game card for me… This is it… My end."
Junior said with trembling lips.
[-1 HP]
In that moment, his eyes turned blank, and his health finally dropped to zero, and with that, his body disappeared.
"…"
Fang Raon gathered all the dropped items and pulled out the Enchanted Compass. The needle was flickering towards the safe zone.
He started heading in that direction, and after about an hour of walking, he arrived in the Winter Village.
Tall wooden walls surrounded the village, and there were players coming in and out of the gates.
Fang Raon entered the village through the gate, and looked around the village with all its pointy-roofed buildings that were covered in snow.
The chimneys were puffing out smoke, and reindeer were trotting about in the streets, pulling wagons and carts filled with goods.
"…It was a cold night, wasn't it?"
"…I almost run out of firewood. I have to visit the old man Khris down the street tomorrow to buy more."
"…I might just send my son to go hack some wood from the forest so that he stops hanging around with those troublemaking friends of his!"
The locals of the world talked amongst themselves.
"…What?"
Fang Raon stopped in his tracks.
In the village square, there was a tower. Its door was tightly locked so far, and the village people were casually holding market place around it.
It was like they weren't afraid of the doors opening one day and the second-floor boss coming out to attack them!
'The tower is right in the heart of the village?'
Fang Raon thought in a surprise.