Chapter 1
Ichigo had been pissed when he saw the Game notifications for the first time. He somehow knew in his heart that it was in exchange for his mothers life, and that was unacceptable! He refused to acknowledge it for a long time, almost 5 months, before finally giving in to his growing curiosity. What he found, made Ichigo feel a mixture of excitement and fear, since it gave him proof of supernatural beings. Especially ones that were even more dangerous and powerful than the one that killed his mom. Just to make his life 'interesting again', one of these impossibly strong beings had given him this power, and Ichigo would be required to fight others for it's entertainment. At least the being had provided Ichigo with a comprehensive explanation and tutorial to go through, so that made it easier.
Right now, Ichigo was looking through his status and skills after finishing the tutorial. He wanted to look at things a closer than what he'd had time for in the beginning. Being only 9, Ichigo wasn't too surprised by his stats and abilities, which weren't that impressive.
STATUS
Name: Ichigo Kurosaki
Titles: The Gamer
Level: 3(0/300)
HP: 80 (10*END)
SP: 95 [(END+STR)/2]*10
?: 950(200+300+300+150) [(INT*WIS)/2]*10
Stats-
STR: 11
END: 8
AGI: 9
INT: 8
WIS: 5
LUK: 3
Free Points: 12
Attributes-
? - (+100 ? per level)(+1 AGI per 2 levels)
? - (+50 ? per level)(+1 INT per 2 levels)
? - (+100 ? per level)(+1 STR per 2 levels)
? - (+1 Free Point per level)
SKILLS
Gamer's Body/Mind lvl. MAX
- Gamer experiences life like a game.
Karate lvl. 23/100
- 23% damage increase while using hand-to-hand comvat.
- 11.5% attack speed increase while using hand-to-hand combat.
Running/Sprinting lvl. 3/10
- 15% speed increase while running on usable surfaces(costs 8 SP per minute)
- 30% speed increase while sprinting on usable surfaces(costs 10 SP per second).
Cooking lvl. 12/100
- 12% better tasting food.
And that was it, all of Ichigo's skills were summed up in those four skills. Of course, Ichigo knew that while he could go back to his friends dojo, it would bring him past that place, something he wasn't ready for yet. Closing the book that the Game used to record all of this, Ichigo went downstairs to start dinner for his family. He had been doing so for the past 5 months, since his dad had lost himself in his work since his wifes death. Oh, he hadn't neglected his children or anything, he just forgot about meals and other stuff like that every once in a while. It made it Ichigo's responsibility to take care of his little sister's, Yuzu and Karin, the young fraternal twins.
Speaking of them, Ichigo passed their room to see that they were playing together inside, and he was glad. While too young to completely understand right now, they had felt the changes that came from their mom being gone, and it took a while for them to start playing again. Sighing, Ichigo looked through the fridge to find something simple to make. Sadly though, they had run out of meat, so Ichigo decided to run to the store and buy some real quick. Letting the old man know that he would need to take care of the twins, Ichigo ran out into the darkening streets, hoping to make it there before they closed. Ichigo made it almost halfway there before meeting his first spirit, which had to be new record, since Karakura was full of them.
This spirit was thankfully very calm, but it did seem to have something to talk with Ichigo about, since she was waving him down from afar. Slowing in his run, Ichigo cautiously watched the spirit woman approach him, he would never trust spirits completely after what happened to him.
"You are the Kurosaki boy, correct?"
"Yes? What do you want?"
"I'm sorry to bother you, especially about this but... I was there that night."
Ichigo froze at the reminder, and immediately frowned up at her.
"And what does that have to do anything with you? What do you want?"
The spirit flinched at Ichigo's anger, but steeled herself for what she was going to say. It would have to be quick, she could tell.
"In my time alive, I lost some close loved ones as well, though in such a manner. I would like to try and teach you something that might help you when it becomes too much."
"... What is it?"
"I would dance, when I was overtaken by my troubles, and while it is not the most manly discipline or anything, it certainly helped me. I feel like it could help you, if you are willing to accept my offer?"
Ichigo thought about it a bit, keeping his frown up, but really thanking her internally. While many people had offered condolences, even some spirits, none had offered to fond a way through it. Now here was this random spirit woman, who had watched his mother die as well, and now wanted to help Ichigo push past the pain. Of course, the Game didn't really help with that when it gave him this notification.
*Ding!*
New Quest: One Last Dance
Objectives: Accept Inaka the Spirit's offer to learn to dance. Level skill to at least 10 before time limit expires.
Bonus Objective: Reach level 25 in Dancing skill before time limit expires.
Rewards: + 100 exp for each level in Dancing, +1 WIS for every 5 levels in Dancing, (bonus) +2500 exp for reaching lvl 25 in Dancing.
Time Limit: 1 month
Ichigo only just barely kept his flinch from happening, but when the notification showed up, he made his decision.
"Alright, I'll do it. When and where do you want to meet? I do need to hurry today though, I need to buy some meat for dinner."
"Okay, when do you have free time? Since I'm already dead, I've got all the time in the world."
"Right after school I've got to pick up my sisters, but I can meet with you after that. Can it be at 4? That way, we can practice for a couple hours before I need to make dinner again."
"Very well, we will meet by the river."
"What?"
"Yes, I know, but it is something that you must do. That is, if you want to overcome the pain that place brings you."
Ichigo was once again frozen, but he shook himself violently to break the spell. He nodded curtly to Inaka, and ran off to the store, barely making it in time buy some meat for the family's dinner. Once he got back, running the whole way, Ichigo had gained another level in his skill, and immediately started their meal. By the time he finished, even his stomach was complaining, and so they barely had time for grace before diving into the meal. When they finished, Ichigo smiled as Yuzu tried to help clean up, but wasn't tall enough to put things away. He just let her try, and finished everything up for her, to which she pouted, but Ichigo just patted her head.
The next day, Ichigo almost couldn't focus on his work since he was anxious about his Dancing lesson. He had tried to dance a bit in his room before going to bed, but he hadn't earned the skill, so he was also wondering what they would do differently. Anyway, once he had brought Yuzu and Karin back home for the day, he left them with the Old Man and went out to find Inaka again. She waiting by the river, and while Ichigo had blocked it, he knew that it was right where his mom had saved him. Ichigo was immediately stressed, but he tried to focus on the spirit and what she would teach him.
"Okay, let's start with the a basic two-step. Once you've got that down we'll move on to it's variations. Sound good?"
Ichigo nodded, and they got to work. After a few minutes, Ichigo got the notification for learning Dancing, but he stayed focused on the lesson for now. As he was practicing the motions, a thought came to Ichigo.
'What if I taught this to Yuzu and Karin?'
*Ding!*
New Quest: A Good Brother!
Objective: Teach you sisters how to dance!
Bonus Objective: Teach your sisters another skill besides Dancing.
Rewards: +100 per level in skills taught.
Time Limit: 1 month
Ichigo smiled at the quest notice, and when Inaka asked why he was smiling, he answered honestly.
"I was thinking about teaching this to my sisters."
The spirit woman smiled lightly at Ichigo, before nodding and saying.
"Well, you can't teach someone very well, if you don't know how to do it yourself! Let's get back to practice, alright?"
"Yeah!"
Timeskip-later that night
When Ichigo got home he was covered in sweat, have worked hard to level Dancing and Running home. He took a quick shower and started making their dinner, when he heard a crash from the dinning room, and Yuzu let out a small scream.
"Yuzu!"
Ichigo was by her side in a flash, and he quickly checked her over for any cuts from the shattered plates on the ground. She had tears in her eyes as she looked up at him, and Ichigo gentle pulled her into his arms as she started trying to explain. Karin and Pops had come in seconds after Ichigo, and they listened in to their conversation.
"I, I, I, I j-j-just want-t-t-te-ed t-to help-p!"
"I know, I know. It's okay, Yuzu, we have other plates. Are you hurt?"
Yuzu shook her head before speaking again, her face buried in her older brother's shoulder.
"I thought I could carry them, but I couldn't get them all! I just wanted to help..."
"I know, Yuzu, it's okay. How about this? Next time, me and Pops will get the plates, and you can carry them to the table for us, does that sound good?"
All she did was nod, and so Ichigo hugged her closer, then turned to his father. He picked up his little sister and gave her to the much taller, and stronger, man. Ichigo went back and finished dinner as quickly as he could, then he helped his dad take the twins up to their room to sleep. Yuzu was still teary-eyed, but she thankfully fell asleep quickly, and Ichigo eventually found himself alone in his room. Before he went to bed, Ichigo took the time to look over his Character Page and Skills, and maybe spend a few of those points he had.
STATUS
Name: Ichigo Kurosaki
Titles: The Gamer
Level: 3(0/300)
HP: 80 (10*END)
SP: 95 [(END+STR)/2]*10
?: 950(200+300+300+150) [(INT*WIS)/2]*10
Stats-
STR: 11
END: 8
AGI: 9
INT: 8
WIS: 5
LUK: 3
Free Points: 12
Attributes-
? - (+100 ? per level)(+1 AGI per 2 levels)
? - (+50 ? per level)(+1 INT per 2 levels)
? - (+100 ? per level)(+1 STR per 2 levels)
? - (+1 Free Point per level)
SKILLS
Gamer's Body/Mind lvl. MAX
- Gamer experiences life like a game.
Karate lvl. 23/100
- 23% damage increase while using Karate.
- 11.5% attack speed increase while using Karate.
Running/Sprinting lvl. 4/10
- 20% speed increase while running on usable surfaces(costs 7 SP per minute)
- 40% speed increase while sprinting on usable surfaces(costs 10 SP per second).
Cooking lvl. 13/100
- 14% better tasting food.
Dancing lvl. 3/100
- 3% better dancing/less chance of tripping over yourself.
As Ichigo thought about his options, he decided against putting everything into his physical attributes. He didn't want to draw any unwanted attention to his family for being impossibly strong or fast, especially since Ichigo was only 9. So, he thought about what he could do with his 12 points, and he was stuck for a moment before a thought hit him. Following the gut feeling Ichigo had gotten, he placed 2 points into INT, 5 into WIS, and the rest into his LUK. It was at that moment that a strange feeling overcame him, like he was burning up a bit. It thankfully didn't hurt too much, and the feeling subsided(wait, where did Ichigo learn that word from?) quickly, leaving Ichigo almost gasping for breath. Then he got a notification, startling him.
*Ding!*
Thanks to reaching 10 in both INT and WIS at the same time, a secret reward has been unlocked! Skill 'Meditation' has been given. Please make good use of it
Meditation lvl. 1/100
- Helps user calm his mind and ?. Higher levels can substitute sleep and cause special effects on other abilities or skills.
- 1% faster HP, SP, and ? while using skill.
- Substitutes 1 min of sleep after usage(time doubles every 10 skill levels).
Ichigo stared at the screen in front of him, and he was both confused and excited. That he would get such a great skill from only reaching 10 in two attributes was incredible, but it really bothered Ichigo that it still didn't tell him what that other energy was. Still, Ichigo decided not to focus on that and instead start practicing his new skill. If he could level it faster, then he would be able to spend more time on other things. Sitting on his bed, Ichigo activated his skill, and meditated until his time ran out. By the time morning came, Ichigo had reached level 7 in Meditation. It came at a price though, because since he didn't get a complete nights sleep, he was extremely tired, but he would recover. Forcing himself to wake up and make it through the day, Ichigo took every chance he had to meditate a bit and basically take naps throughout the day. Something that gave him a bit of energy though, was that he had learned that he could train his own attributes. It had happened in class, as Ichigo tried to focus on what his teacher was saying, and he suddenly got a notification.
*Ding!*
Thanks to paying attention in class, you have gained 1 INT! Good job!
The warmth that came from the increase to his mystery energy also woke him up a bit, but it was still hard for Ichigo to focus. When it finally came time for his lesson with Inaka, Ichigo was feeling much better, and he was able to make some progress with his Dancing, reaching level 5. After a while, Ichigo realized that his month was almost up, and he was glad with everything he'd done in that time. He hadn't made any huge changes, but his skills had made a large increase.
STATUS
Name: Ichigo Kurosaki
Titles: The Gamer
Level: 7(100/1250)
HP: 90 (10*END)
SP: 110 [(END+STR)/2]*10
?: 2730 (980+700+700+350) [(INT*WIS)/2]*10
Stats-
STR: 13
END: 9
AGI: 12
INT: 14
WIS: 14
LUK: 8
Free Points: 16
Attributes-
? - (+100 ? per level)(+1 AGI per 2 levels)
? - (+50 ? per level)(+1 INT per 2 levels)
? - (+100 ? per level)(+1 STR per 2 levels)
? - (+1 Free Point per level)
SKILLS
Gamer's Body/Mind lvl. MAX
- Gamer experiences life like a game.
Karate lvl. 25/100
- 25% damage increase while using Karate.
- 12.5% attack speed increase while using Karate.
Running/Sprinting lvl. 5/10
- 25% speed increase while running on usable surfaces(costs 6 SP per minute)
- 50% speed increase while sprinting on usable surfaces(costs 10 SP per second).
Cooking lvl. 22/100
- 22% better tasting food.
Dancing lvl. 23/100
- 23% better dancing/less chance of tripping over yourself.
Meditation lvl. 29/100
- Helps user calm his mind and ?. Higher levels can substitute sleep and cause special effects on other abilities or skills.
- 29% faster HP, SP, and ? while using skill.
- Substitutes 2 min of sleep after usage(time doubles every 10 skill levels).
He only had a few more days before the quests with Inaka and his sister were done. Ichigo was also feeling a lot better now that he had gotten better at Meditation and set up a system to not go crazy from sleep depravation(thanks for the vocab INT!). Thanks to all the progress he had made with his skills, Ichigo had recently been on the lookout for anything new to start learning. His school had a few activities that could give him some skills, but he couldn't actually join them since he had to get his sisters. He was fine with that though, since he could just learn things by himself, and it gave him more time to practice everything.
When his final lesson with Inaka came around, Ichigo looked at her sadly. He knew what would happen when she finished teaching him what she knew. It had been her last wish, to teach someone else the joy of dancing, and Ichigo had given her that. As the countdown sounded, Ichigo ignored it and just continued dancing with Inaka, not wanting to think about it.
... 1 minute ...
... 30 seconds ...
... 15 seconds ...
... 5 seconds ...
When the timer sounded, Inaka suddenly stepped back with a smile.
"Ichigo, thank you. I have always wanted to be able to teach someone to dance, and you have made that wish come true. I can't thank you enough."
"It should be me thanking you, Inaka. If you hadn't helped me, then I might never have been able to come here again. Or even dance as well as I can thanks to what you taught me."
Inaka giggled at his expression when he said that, but calmed down as she felt the pull start.
"It's time for me to go, Ichigo. Thank you for everything, and don't forget to dance when you have the time."
"Alright, I promise!"
Slowly, Inaka began fading away into particles of light, and Ichigo's eyes watered, before he tried blinking the tears away. Inaka smiled and bent down over the orange haired boy, causing him to freeze when he felt a pair of lips press against his head. Ichigo looked up just as the last bit of Inaka's body faded away, and he collapsed to the ground, crying into the dirt. It was only a long time later that Ichigo finally had the strength to lift himself up and walk home. He was barely able to heat up a bit of leftovers for everybody before not even eating himself. Ichigo went straight upstairs and fell asleep before anybody could protest, and his family could only watch with worry.
For the next couple of weeks, Ichigo was still down about Inaka, but he continued his practice and training. Eventually, he started feeling better, and he continued working on his skills. This all continued for a couple years before anything big happened again, but thankfully, Ichigo was much better prepared than he would have been otherwise. Anyway, what happened was always secondary to Ichigo, since all he cared about was his family. He would never let them be hurt again, not even the Old Man. Sadly, Ichigo didn't get anymore quests after those first two, at least, not as rewarding as those two. He had leveled up a few times thanks to his hard work, but nothing too big.
He had also leveled his skills a bit, and gotten some new ones. The best thing, but also most annoying, was that he had learned that his mystery energy was Reiatsu Power, but he still didn't know what the attributes were! He had also gained a few skills to go along with the power.(But that's gonna wait until thw next chapter!)