Chapter Three "Stat Increase"
Memories that belonged to his older brother figure flowed into Kirito and he called upon ingrained skills that were not his. The first thing Kirito thought were the seven steps of a magic spell that Shirou called as Tracing:
1.Judging the concept of creation
2.Hypothesizing the basic structure
3.Duplicating the composition material
4.Imitating the skill of its making
5.Sympathizing with the experience of its growth
6.Reproducing the accumulated years
7.Excelling every manufacturing process
After Kirito followed those seven steps of Tracing, motes of light gathered in his right hand to form a longsword. The longsword cut through air as Kirito swung at the monsters, but each attack also left violently burning fire in their wake as the magical flames brightened the surrounding fog. The first wave of magical crows could only "caw" in fear as either the sword cut them or the fires burned them in their attempts to dive at Kirito.
The sight of the unfortunate crows that had been cut, burned or a combination of the two shocked the magical beasts who were slowly gathering around Kirito. It made the crows and other magical beasts realize that the human in front of them was not the easy meal they had originally anticipated.
Kirito stopped swinging his sword and stared at his surroundings with a bloodthirsty aura. It seemed like his actions worked as the magical beasts all of them quickly fled away like they were struck with a great terror in a great panic.
The Scavenger Crows, the first to target Kirito, let out the most noise of loud "caws" as they flew into the sky, briefly wheeling about in the air above and disappearing into the depths of the fog.
Kirito breathed out a long sigh of relief. Despite knowing that he was inside a VR game, Magecraft Online was so realistic that he had instinctively thought that he had been in great danger when the first crows attacked.
He took deep breaths to calm himself and let out the effect of adrenaline burnout. Kirito nearly jumped up when he heard a voice announce in his mind.
[Projection Magic Unlocked]
[Unique Magic Spell: Tracing Unlocked]
After hearing the announcement, Kirito made a mental command for the Game UI. He navigated his way to find the Skill/Spell window. Magecraft Online's description regarding Projection and Tracing surprised him. What he found was the description regarding Projection and Tracing, while not the exact same wording, was similar to what Shirou had taught him.
"It seems Shirou-niisan's hypothesis was right. Not only is the game's Magecraft the same as the real world's, but the knowledge and skills of magecraft in the real can be brought into the game." Kirito mused thoughtfully.
Suddenly, something hit Kirito's mind. Parts of Shirou's temporary memories quickly disappeared. He nearly started to panic until Kirito realized that the disappearing memories were those related to creating the powerful magical items such as the current sword in his hands. The rest of his memories that allowed him to use Projection and its more advanced counterpart, Tracing, still remained.
Kirito frowned as he hypothesized why Shirou's temporary memories were disappearing. His suspicion was that the CARDINAL system that controlled every aspect of Magecraft Online was the party responsible for disappearing memories that allowed him only to recall the bare basics of Projection, Tracing and swordsmanship. It was likely not done for nefarious means, but for the sake of gameplay balance as if a mage in the real world would break the game balance if they could reckless abuse their real life knowledge and abilities of magecraft.
Kirito sighed as he felt the awesome power that Shirou had given him was locked away before he could enjoy any longer, but for some reason he thought it was for the best.
Shirou-niisan's memories would be a clutch and the fun of playing an MMORPG is to overcome difficulty. Kirito thought in self reflection. I wonder if the same memories are permanently erased by the CARDINAL system or if it would return when I log out.
He returned his attention back to reality and was surprised by the complete lack of any hostile intentions. What he had been expecting was a couple fearless or ignorant magical beasts still wanting to try taking him on after all, according to his avatar's false memories, the body of an apprentice mage was an irresistible treat as not only apprentice mages much more delicious than ordinary humans or wild beasts to monsters, but it also had the potential to allowed the monsters to become stronger.
"Well, it seems I have no other choice, but I cannot go with my original plan of baiting the monsters into attacking me." Shirou sighed as he reviewed his Stats and Skill/Spells. "I should be able to take out a couple of monsters. If I die then I can always try again. It's not like I will really die as this is a video game after all, despite how realistic it seems." Just as Kirito was set out on his monster-hunting, he had the feeling that he had forgotten about something. "Oh, right! How could I forget? I originally came out to fulfill the quest to get parts of Blood Tree."
Kirito walked to a nearby Blood Tree as he started recalling the false memories about the particular tree's biology he was supposed to harvest material from. He dug out the soil underneath a nearby Killer Tree with his sword and cut the roots that got in his way until he finally saw the quest item.
Between the tangled roots were some small pulpy root nodes. Some were white, some were red, and there were even a few purple colored ones. Kirito suppressed the disgust he felt as he recalled a particularly nasty part of the Blood Tree's biology as his hands passed several pale white human bones. He carefully harvested three of the purple nodes and placed them into his pants pocket.
As Kirito patted his clothes to get rid of the soil that had gotten on his clothes, he noticed the monsters that were once again started to gather around.
"Good," Kirito smiled as the prey came to him. "Saves me time from having to locate them."
Kirito closed his eyes as he thought about how to proceed. He didn't activate the game UI and went through the false memories' arsenal of magic spells. It was nothing too impressive. Just some basic magic spells that any apprentice mage would know. Yet, Kirito started to come up with several ideas to use what little he had.
"Fire Wall." Kirito chanted as he sent a wall of fire towards the gathering monsters.
Some of the monsters were caught by surprise, not expecting their prey to attack first. A couple of the weaker and smaller monsters were killed or severely wounded. The stronger and more intelligent ones used their preferred methods to either block or dodge the fire wall.
As the fire wall passed by, the unharmed monsters were shocked to find Kirito hiding behind it. Several monsters were injured or slain either due to Kirito's sword or the fire that came out in the wake of the sword moving around.
Kirito was not too surprised that several monsters that he had hit but were not wounded by his sword or fire magic. They were the monsters that were resistant to slashing and fire type damage. For these monsters, he quickly changed his methods to use his sword to stab and elemental magic spells of water, wind and earth. Each non-fire elemental magic spell was manipulated so that they would cause piercing or blunt damage on top of their respective elemental damage.
It was not long after that all the monsters laid dead on the ground.
"Wow…" Kirito breathed out in disbelief. "Did I really do all this?" He stared at his hands in shock. "Wow, if it wasn't for the false memories then I would have been able to remain so calm at the danger I had been facing or without any hesitation cut down monsters."
Kirito looked at the grizzly sight of the monster corpses around him. The fact that he also wasn't affected by what he saw started to make him question how much influence the false memories had on him. Thankfully, he wasn't too worried about the false memories affecting him in real life. This might be the second time Kirito had played Magecraft Online, but from his previous experience the false memories started to disappear immediately after logging out and within minutes most of the false memories faded away like a dream.
He also had his older brother that could help if the false memories had any effects on him. If Shirou couldn't handle it then his older brother likely knew other mages that could help resolve the issue.
Shaking his head, Kirito summoned the game UI. He browsed through several windows and was surprised by how little EXP he had received. If he had been playing another game then he would have gained several times more by the amount of monster he had slain.
Kirito quickly shook his head. "I cannot compare Magecraft Online with any other video game. The game developers did advertise how it was different to any other game, but they had been rather mysterious about it." An excited smile grew as he said, "It's going to be fun figuring out how the EXP system works."
He opened the Stat and Skill/Spell windows while looking at the two windows with great care. Kirito's eyes brightened as he noticed several clues to finding how Magecraft Online's EXP system worked. The urge to meet another Player grew as he wanted to know if his answer was the same with other players. He made a mental note to later go to the official Magecraft Online forums to discuss the matter.
"What should I do with the EXP that I got so far? I could upgrade my Stats or current Skill/Spells." Kirito wondered for a while. "Nah, forget about Class or my Skill/Spells. Upgrading my Stats would overall have a greater effect on my Build."
Since Magecraft Online didn't possess the traditional Level system used by other games, Kirito decided to invest his earned EXP to upgrade all of his Stats by one point to see what effects it would have. He pressed the 'confirm' button and the world around him seemed to change.
The pain struck without warning and it was so much that Kirito nearly blacked out. By the time he recovered, Kirito found himself clutching his head and on the ground. The strange thing was that the pain felt good. Like the type when someone feels after a good exercise.
No, it isn't the world that has changed. Kirito concluded after the headache started to subside and he started to adjust. He took some deep breaths and checked once more. No doubt about it… The one that has changed is me.
He felt better. Yet, it was difficult to quantify exactly how much better. Kirito's guess was that they were about twice better, and his hypothesis was further supported by how earlier he had deduced each Stat point calculated using the baseline human as a reference.
Curiosity started to grow inside him. Kirito wanted to test out his new improvements. He didn't even remember to investigate the monster corpses for anything worth looting as Kirito ran after the nearest bunch of monsters.
- O -
Nearly an hour later after his monster-killing spree, Kazuto logged out and found himself back in the real world as someone called out to him.
"Onii-san, I understand that you're all excited to play your new videogame, but please do so in moderation, especially this early in the morning." A feminine voice spoke as the door to Kazuto's room opened.
"Yo, Suguha." Kazuto lazily greeted his younger sister, who was biologically his younger cousin. Suddenly an idea popped into his mind after his recent monster-slaying in Magecraft Online and what time it was during the morning. "Suguha, is it okay for me to join your morning kendo practice? I suddenly have the urge to spar."
"Are you really my brother?!" Suguha blurted out in shock, staring incredulously at Kazuto as if she was looking at an imposter. "You swore never to practice kendo again, which made grandpa furious."
"Argh," Kazuto groaned as he recalled how furious his grandfather had been at the time. "I… felt like practicing kendo again after playing Magecraft Online."
"Magecraft Online is the first ever true VR videogame, right?" Suguha asked as she recalled what she remembered about the game. "Did the feeling of using a sword in VR awaken your passion for kendo again?" She asked eagerly as her eyes shone at the possibility of her brother taking up kendo practice again. Without Suguha realizing it, she dashed forward to Kazuto and in an excited tone continued, "Tell me, Onii-san!?"
"Suguha give me some personal space!" Kazuto shouted uncomfortably as he was forced backwards into the wall by the excited Suguha.
"Heehee, sorry Onii-san." Suguha chuckled as she sheepishly smiled as she backed off. "But I really want to know if you had a change in heart?"
"I'm not too sure if I had truly changed my opinion on practicing kendo again." Kazuto shook his head. "Although, I will not deny that my curiosity for kendo might have come back after playing Magecraft Online. In the game, I suddenly remembered the fun of swinging a sword."
"Well since you said you wanted to spar for the first time in two years, let's go!" Suguha shouted enthusiastically as she dragged Kazuto by the arm to the family kendo training room.
Several minutes later after Kazuto and Suguha had put on safety gear used for kendo, they stared at each other with shinai in their hands.
"Onii-san what is up with your posture? It looks so silly that it feels like you're taunting." Suguha asked with a mixed tone of curiosity and annoyance.
Kazuto smiled. He agreed that if he had been in Suguha's shoes then he might have thought the same. His current stance was not the orthodox or even something that a kendo practitioner might seriously use.
Yet, the thing was that he wasn't fooling around. It was far from it. What he was planning to do might go against the teachings and traditions of kendo that had been drilled into him by his grandfather, but he was calling upon Shirou's memories of sword-fighting used against magic users and supernatural beings.
"No, I am fighting seriously. This is how Shirou-niisan fights in kendo." Kazuto replied seriously.
"Really?! You're using Shirou-niisan fighting style? The same fighting style used to beat the legendary Tiger of Fuyuki, Taiga Fujimura?" Suguha asked incredulously as she stared at Kazuto's fighting stance and imagined how Shirou had defeated Taiga.
"You will have to find out for yourself." Kazuto chuckled.
"Fine, I will. Here I come, Onii-san!" Suguha shouted as she dashed forward and brought down her shinai on Kazuto.
Kazuto blocked the downward slash, but it felt strange to go against the muscle memories that had been drilled into him despite two years of non-use. He used the gift of temporary memories given to him by Shirou to guide his actions. His shinai was brought into a blocking position not taught in kendo.
The first failed strike caught Suguha by surprise. Her brother hadn't been very skilled at kendo as his training had been half-hearted given his lack of passion that had led to him giving up on it. Yet, what Suguha saw before her defied her understanding of her brother's kendo skills.
Her suspicions were further reinforced by the fact that Kazuto blocked and dodged with skills that she had never thought he might have possessed. As her offensive continued uninterrupted as Kazuto remained purely on the defensive, the notion that she might have always been wrong solidified into mind.
Shirou-oniisan, or Shirou Murumasa, appeared in her mind. Her older brother loved to spend time with Shirou-oniisan and it wouldn't be impossible that Kazuto had secretly trained with Shirou instead of under their grandfather, who had been an incredibly harsh and strict teacher that may have caused Kazuto to stop learning from their grandfather. There was more evidence to support her hypothesis as Kazuto himself had also mentioned using the same fighting style as Shirou-oniisan.
She continued attacking with everything she knew, but Suguha couldn't help but marvel at Kazuto's performance. If Kazuto could summon a fraction of the fighting style used by Shirou-oniisan then she could finally understand how the legendary Tiger of Fuyuki had lost to Shirou-oniisan.
Shirou-oniisan's fighting style was something that no kendo practitioner would teach for it went against the very rules that governed kendo tournaments or the teachings and traditions of kendo. Yet, Suguha could see hints of non-kendo swordsmanship in Kazuto's defensive actions.
So, this is Shirou-oniisan's fighting style that incorporated his mastery of numerous disciplines of swordsmanship from around the world. Suguha thought in admiration as she recalled that Shirou-oniisan might not be the world's best in various sword sports but he ranked amongst the world elite in every sword sport he had participated in.
"I fully got to see how far your training has come Suguha. The same training that has allowed you to reach the national kendo championship." Kazuto spoke happily as he defended. "Well, let me show you what I am capable of under Shirou-niisan's tutelage!"
Kazuto eagerly blocked Suguha's last strike and started his counter-offensive, pushing Suguha back with his unrelenting barrage of attacks. Each strike became stronger, faster and more accurate than the previous until Suguha was forced only in defending, a complete reversal of positions from before.
As the offensive continued, Kazuto couldn't help but feel aggrieved as Shirou's temporary memories faded away in his mind. It felt so great to have the skills and experience of a world-class swordsman at his call. Yet, Kazuto rationally understood the reason why Shirou hadn't implanted permanent memories as it wasn't his own power and swordsmanship was something that he should earn himself.
More and more of Shirou's memories faded from Kazuto's mind, but he didn't grieve for their loss anymore. He instead tried to drill those fading memories that were not his into his body and mind before it all disappeared so he could use them in the future.
"Argh!" Suguha screamed as the shinai in her hand broke, and Kazuto finally snapped out of his musing. The shocked Suguha looked at Kazuto with wide eyes. "Onii-san, when were you so strong that you could break shinai with your strength?!"
"Hmphm," Kazuto muttered as he stared at the broken shinai in his hand.
His broken shinai was proof that he hadn't used Reinforcements to enhance his strength to break Suguha's shinai as if he had unknowingly been influenced by Shirou's memories then he would have not just reinforced strength, but both his weapon and body at the same time.
So, he wondered how he had been able to break a wooden shinai with his physical strength. Kazuto's mind automatically went back to Magecraft Online. It was the thing that had allowed him to use magical abilities starting with activating his Magic Circuits and giving him the basics of magecraft. Hence, he had a strong suspicion that Magecraft Online was also to blame for him breaking a shinai without using any Reinforcement on his broken shinai or his body.
His mind recalled the hour of monster-slaying after upgrading all his Stats in Magecraft Online. the sudden increase in his physical strength without Reinforcement, and Kazuto had a strong feeling it was likely connected to his game avatar's Stat increases. Kazuto suddenly recalled vividly that while sparring with Suguha that it wasn't just his strength that had undergone a noticeable difference.
Kazuto snapped back into reality as he stared back at Suguha's shocked eyes. "I have been working out…?" He blurted out the first response that came to his mind.
The shocked Suguha stared back incredulously at Kazuto as if she didn't believe him at all. She was about to interrogate her brother when a familiar voice called out from outside.
"Suguha, I can vouch that your brother's greater physical strength was a result of my training." Shirou Muramasa called out as he entered the small family kendo dojo.
Was this good, bad or meh? Please tell me what you think. I accept all criticism as long as it is no flaming.