Vital Strike

Jin Jianyu opened his eyes. The silk canopy came into view once again. He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. His body was covered in sweat, but he felt refreshed.

The lights were off, and the room smelled of flowers and incense. Jin turned to see Wei Yue in the chair next to him, asleep, her hand resting against the bed. She looked peaceful as she slept.

'Has she been here the entire time?'

Jin Jianyu thought about waking her, but then decided against it. Instead, he quietly got out of bed and walked over to the window. He parted the silk curtains and opened them wide. He took a deep breath as a gentle breeze blew in.

He gazed at the night sky and thought back on what had happened. It all seemed like a dream now that he was awake — a dream where everything had gone wrong and right.

Jin Jianyu looked over and saw his robes on the nightstand. He picked them up and put them on before leaving through the window. He left Wei Yue sleeping peacefully in the chair.

***

Wei Yue awoke with a start. She quickly glanced around the room but found no one there. Wei Yue could hear something outside the room. She made her way out into the hallway.

Wei Yue stopped when she saw her brother Wei Cheng stomping down the hallway towards her room.

"Where is he?" Wei Cheng barked as he pushed past Wei Yue and entered the room.

"He's not here," Wei Yue said calmly. "He was already gone when I woke up."

"I'm going to kill that bastard. How dare he show his bare body to my younger sister. The guards told me everything, Wei Yue." Wei Cheng shouted while looking under the bed. "I don't care if he saved a few people by ingesting a little poison."

"Cheng. Stop. He's not here." Wei Yue stomped her foot. "The window was open when I woke up, and the bed was empty."

"The Academy tournament is later today. I'm sure he will be there. We can get our revenge then."

Wei Yue stared out the window at the morning sky. She knew she couldn't change his mind. Her brother had always been protective of her.

She followed Wei Cheng out of the room and down the hall.

***

Jin Jianyu sat in his room, looking out the window. He was still thinking about what had happened last night. He didn't know how much time had passed since he had woken up.

Jin Jianyu thought maybe the system could help. He tapped his fingers against the bed and waited for the system to respond.

After a few seconds, a small window popped up in front of him.

「 What do you want? 」

'Tsk.' Jin thought. 'It's so cruel. Why am I so unlucky? Why couldn't I have gotten a nicer system?'

'System. Can you tell me how long ago I fell asleep?' Jin Jianyu thought.

A second later, the window disappeared.

「 Sure. 」

'It hates me. The system really hates me.' Jin Jianyu sighed deeply. 'System, how long was I asleep?'

The window appeared in front of him again.

「 You were asleep for two days. 」

'Two days... Wasn't something supposed to be today then?' Jin Jianyu thought for a second. 'The tournament! Today is the day of the academy tournament!'

Jin Jianyu sobbed lightly. 'I haven't trained at all.'

Suddenly, Jin Jianyu thought about when he was passing out. He heard multiple notifications, but he didn't see anything when he woke up.

Jin Jianyu paused and asked the system about this.

'System, what were the sounds before I passed out from?'

「 User has 3 new notifications. 」

Jin Jianyu became more curious. 'System, what are these squares called?'

The window appeared again.

「 This is a notification window. 」

'So this is a notification window?' Jin Jianyu said, staring at the window. 'What else is there?'

「 User's mind is too weak. The User can't see the entire interface. 」

「 For now... I will enable the kid menu. 」

'Kid menu?' Jin Jianyu felt a burning sensation flow through his mind and felt like crying. 'Ugh.'

The notifications disappeared, and a simple menu appeared.

「 Kid Menu: 」

Jin Jianyu read the list of options.

─ Quests (1)

─ Notifications (3)

─ Status

「 To select an option in the menu, think the option name, and it will appear. 」

'Is that all I have to do?' Jin Jianyu thought.

Jin Jianyu took a deep breath and thought, 'Notifications.'

「 Notifications 」

'Wow, it works.' Jin Jianyu looked at the window.

「 You have unlocked a new mastery. Check the status menu. 」

「 You have unlocked a second ability. Check the status menu. 」

「 You have been assigned a new quest. Check the quest menu. 」

'A new quest... I will save that for later.' Jin Jianyu thought. 'Unlocked a new mastery? What's this?'

Jin Jianyu looked at the menu again and thought, 'Status.'

「 Status 」

─ Name: Jin Jianyu

─ Age: 14

─ Gender: Male

─ Title: Social Nobody

─ Realm: Qi Gathering Realm

─ Stage: 1 (Qi Body)

「 Traits (1) 」

─ Eat (Rank SSSS+) (Level 1)

「 Abilities (2) 」

─ Martial Insight (Level 1)

─ Shadow Step (Level 1)

「 Mastery (1) 」

─ Sword Mastery (Level 1)

「 Stats 」

─ User Realm Too Low To Show

Jin Jianyu looked at the stats. His realm was too low to show. 'That's weird. I jumped an entire realm, and I still can't see my stats?'

Jin Jianyu was about to ask the system when he noticed a new section under the status menu.

「 Mastery 」

Jin Jianyu looked at the window. 'I've never heard of this before.'

「 The mastery system allows users to specialize in skills quickly. 」

'For once, the system might have given me something useful.' Jin Jianyu looked back at the status menu. 'What is Sword Mastery?'

「 Sword Mastery (Level 1) 」

─ Description: Grants the user basic proficiency in swords.

「 Sword Skills (2) 」

─ Vital Strike

─ Quick Draw

Jin Jianyu looked at the list of skills.

'How do these skills work?' Jin Jianyu thought. 'Do I just use the skill whenever I want?'

Jin Jianyu decided to test out the skill. He looked around the room and found the sword his father had left him. It was a long sword with a black handle. He picked up the sword and headed outside.

He walked over to a tree and held the sword out in front of him.

「 Vital Strike 」

Jin Jianyu concentrated on the sword. A bright flash of light shot out of the blade's tip and hit the tree behind him. The area exploded into tiny pieces causing the tree to fall with a thud.

"Holy Sh*t!" Jin Jianyu said aloud.

'That was amazing!' Jin Jianyu's face wore a sh*t eating grin. 'Eheheheh. With this, I can take top rank in the class!'

Jin Jianyu swung the sword around quickly, slicing through the air. He turned and looked at the tree he had just cut down.

'I can't believe this. It's like my muscles are working on their own.' Jin Jianyu thought, looking at the trees lying on the ground.

Jin Jianyu returned to his room to get ready for the tournament.