Hero to Zero (2)

The beautiful thing about hitting rock bottom - every step you take will only bring you higher.

And the only way for Lucas to climb higher now was to complete the tutorial which cannot be skipped. He had no armor, no weapons, no Golden or Silver Leaves. His only possession was a basic cotton robe. Who would have thought the legendary Ash Knight, the highest ranking player in DOJ, would need to go through a series of newbie training again? This meant having to endure the long-winded Story Master again.

As his name suggests, the Story Master was the NPC who narrated stories and introduced the world to players. The cities, the famous pugilists, the historic records, the secret martial arts skills…and so on. In a modern world, he would be the librarian who kept records of everything that happened on Earth. And now, Lucas, or Lucien Cavalier, was being introduced to the game he was so familiar with all over again.

"A long, long time ago, the martial arts world enjoyed peace. Heroes from different sects pledged to uphold righteousness and justice. But these heroes were humans too, beings who were easily tempted by greed. Among them, some developed a lust for power and believed only the strong ones should rule this Jianghu…"

Ahh, the same old story in every Wuxia world. Just why didn't they introduce a 'Skip' button so he doesn't have to go through this tutorial? He was Ash Knight, the last thing he needed was someone telling him how to play this game.

"…years passed and the Jianghu which was once united had split. In the Northern lands, the fists master Yuan Pi was most the respected martial artist. Under his rule, the Kun Ming sect prospered and many traveled miles to study from him. The Southern lands were known as Healer's Valley, for the region was well known to produce geniuses in the medicinal field. In the Eastern lands where the sun rises, swordsmen from Dong Yang Sect commanded authority. The Western lands were rumored to be once a sacred land where there was magic. The descendants of the region were believed to have innate abilities to wield magical weapons. It was said that the largest sect, Xuan Tian Temple, only chose to accept those who were 'special'."

Lucas knew these in the back of his head. He knew what the Story Master was going to ask him next…

"Lucien Cavalier, I sense you have great ambitions. You could be the destined one to unite the sects together again and be the new ruler of the martial arts world. But first, you'll need to advance your skills! Which sect do you wish to begin your learning from?"

A real newbie would probably need some time to digest this information but Lucas knew what each sect has to offer. Choosing Kun Ming Sect meant he would become a tank, also called the meat shield who'd usually be the one to draw attackers away and bear the damage, like his teammate Snowman. If he chose Healer's Valley, he would become a healer like MilkTeaLover. He was most familiar with being a swordsman from Dong Yang Sect since he had been using that character when he was Ash Knight. As for Xuan Tian Temple, it was the sect that Janson had joined. Players who chose that sect would become a mage or support in the game and it was a role that Lucas once considered. But now, he wanted nothing to do with that as it would only remind him of the friend who sent him to his grave.

So it was a choice between his old character the Swordsman, the Healer, or becoming a Tanker. A screen appeared to prompt him about his choice.

[Lucien Cavalier, please choose your sect.]

Lucas sighed, he was dejected at the thought of starting all over from scratch but he would be stuck here forever until he makes a choice. He thought about his former glory as Ash Knight and stared at his plain white robes.

"It's alright." his mother's voice echoed in his mind.

Yes, it's alright. Starting all over again isn't the worse thing. It's a second chance for him to prove his worth. He was going to be even better than Ash Knight, Dong Yang Sect it is!

"Ah, wise choice! The Sect Leader will be looking forward to your arrival!" the Story Master congratulated him. With that, he was teleported into the Eastern lands of Dong Yang Sect. He had to say his first teleportation experience was kind of weird, he simply 'dissolved' into the next world.

He was amazed by the grandeur of Dong Yang Sect. Not that he had not seen it before but being able to step on every tile and touch every pillar this world was built on felt wonderful. There were even cranes circling the clouds above.

"You must be the new disciple Master spoke of. Here, you'll find this [Newbie Package] helpful." an NPC in Dong Yang Sect's uniform handed him a box.

Oh yes, Lucas remembered deleting everything in this 'helpful' [Newbie Package] after a week of playing the game. He opened the box and saw the following items added to his inventory:

- Basic Sword x1

- Blue Potion x5

- Silver Leaves x100

A hundred Silver Leaves wasn't exactly a lot of money and the Blue Potion was the lowest-tier potion. He felt a sense of nostalgia looking at the Basic Sword. It was the very first weapon he equipped for Ash Knight and also the one he discarded the quickest. He had bought a more advanced weapon after a week of playing the game by purchasing Golden Leaves but heck, there was no way he could do that now. The Basic Sword he once thought was a joke became the only weapon he could rely on now.

"To prove yourself worthy of Dong Yang Sect, you'll first have to complete these missions. You'll find them in the [Mission list]. After that, you'll become an official disciple of our sect. Get going now!" the NPC continued.

Lucas couldn't recall what the newbie missions were. When he was Ash Knight, everything was a breeze at the start as he was able to upgrade his stats with Golden Leaves. But newbie missions shouldn't be too hard to conquer for a newbie, right?

He swiped opened the [Mission List] and saw a series of tasks:

- Repair Dong Yang Sect's fountain

- Help villagers fight bandits 0/5

- Find Blue Grass x10

- Find Scrolls x10

- Learn Qing Gong technique

- Clear wolves outside the forest

He scrolled down the list to see a bunch of other mundane tasks. Heck, he didn't remember that he needed to repair the sect's fountain. Guess it was a way to show he was really sincere about becoming a disciple of Dong Yang Sect.

Lucas wondered if he needed to manually repair the fountain now that he was inside the world itself. As he approached the fountain, a button appear and prompted him if he wanted to repair it.

Phew, Lucas thought. He simply needed to click [Repair] and the fountain would 'magically' repair itself. He went on to complete a series of tasks which included talking to several NPCs around the sect and was ready to venture out and try his hand at combat. He would go be the savior of the villagers and help them defeat five bandits!

Stepping through a portal, Lucas was transported to Dong Yang Village where he was supposed to kill five bandits. As he was wandering around the fields, he saw the first 'signs of life' after he died. He saw two players roaming around the village! For a while, he was excited. He finally met someone else besides the NPCs. Could they be somebody that he knew?

His excitement faded away when he saw their names and clan name above their heads. They were both from Dream Heroes, the clan who treated Ash Knight as their sworn enemies. The two of them turned around and saw Lucas, and started chasing him like a tiger was determined to hunt down his prey.

What? He didn't have the name Ash Knight written on top of his head. Why were they chasing after him? As he tried to escape their chase, it dawned on him what was happening. He needed to find the nearest Safe Zone or he would end up in a horrible death.