[ Quest: Family Match! Successfully Accomplished! x2 EXP Gain for 167:59:45! ]

It took about fifteen seconds for Kazuto to open his eyes and read the screen that appeared the instant his body fell to the floor.

The past few minutes seemed like a blur, he remembered asking Suguha for a match and then she helped him get dressed, and then the second the match started it was basically over.

"Onii-chan!?" Suguha screamed as she knelt over his limp body. "Are you okay!?"

"J-just give me a moment." He groaned and prevented her hand from removing his headgear. He replayed his blurry memories until he could see exactly what had happened.

Kazuto didn't walk into this battle holding any misconception on his chances for victory, he knew his defeat was guaranteed, and yet he didn't want to go down without a fight. He knew Suguha was also aware of his fate, and so he counted on her to at least let him make the first move. He gambled on his Mislead Skill to trick her with a feint before his true strike snuck up from opposite direction. His goal had been to at least make her block an attack, that would be his victory.

Before he could make a single step, she had appeared before his eyes, crossing the distance between them with her sword raised high in the blink of an eye.

As he stared up at the sword about to swing down, he tried to raise his arms and then he realized that she already knocked his shinai out of his grip. His hands had been numbed by the impact and he failed to realize that he was unarmed. Before he could blink again a shout echoed within the dojo as a sword collided with his body.

"I'm fine." Kazuto said as he slowly stood up. "Let's go again." He said as he picked up his shinai.

"Onii-chan?" Suguha asked as she watched him take up a stance once again. "Are you really okay?"

"Yeah, I'm ready to go again." He nodded.

He wasn't lying or bluffing. When he had first stepped foot inside the dojo, a screen had appeared.

[ You have entered the 'Kirigaya Training Dojo (Lvl: 10)', while inside your HP metric is replaced by an Stamina metric. ]

At first he wasn't sure what that meant, but basically his Health didn't matter, while he was inside the dojo he couldn't actually be hurt unless his Stamina ran out. And luckily his HP didn't convert over to his Stamina, so he was still full.

[ Stamina: 711/732 ]

Well he had been at full until he had been attacked.

'That's a 21 point difference.'

Of course this didn't mean that Suguha had hit him with just 21 points of damage. Kazuto glanced over a screen that displayed his Equipment and a Passive Skill.

[ Kendo Helmet (Basic): Plus 10 in Basic Head Protection. Plus 10 in Basic Neck Protection.

Kendo Gauntlets (Basic): Plus 10 in both Basic Arm Protections. Plus 10 in both Basic Hand Protections.

Kendo Breastplate (Basic): Plus 10 in Basic Torso Protection.

Black Boxer Briefs (Basic): Plus 1 in both Basic Hip Protections. Plus 1 in Basic Groin Protection.

Kendo Faulds (Basic): Plus 10 in both Basic Hip Protections. Plus 10 Basic Groin Protection. Plus 10 Basic Leg Protections.

Kendo Shinai (Basic): Plus 20 in Physical Attacks.

Basic Body Protection (Lvl: 1): Reduces Physical Damage taken, by the Level of this Skill(1) multiplied by your Level(7). Currently at 89* Points. ]

'89 plus 21 would be 110, the Shinai only adds 20 to attacks, her skill should increase that Damage by 220%, but that would only be 44. If her strength, 30, was added to the 20 from the sword, and then increased by 220% then the math would make more sense, but there would still be missing chunks of numbers. However it would be odd for real life humans to only be able to deal flat damage, so I guess I'll have to see what I could learn.'

Suguha had realized that Kazuto had been serious, and she silently met his stance.


After being knocked down thirty more times, and getting back up twenty-nine more times, he finally accepted his loss.

[ Stamina: 126/732 ]

Kazuto felt that his Stamina was a filthy liar as he rested in his back huffing and puffing air, saliva pooled in his mouth and he was drenched in sticky sweat. "Ah, haa, ahh, haaaah, I'm, haaa, I'm done, huuunh." He managed to say between his gasping breaths.

[ Would you like to end your Training Session today? - You won't be able to utilize a Dojo's effect for 24:00:00. - Are you sure? ]

'Sure, sure, whatever.'

As Kazuto began contemplating falling asleep on the dojo floor, a number of screens appeared.

[ Your Training Session has ended! Here are your results! ]

[ Str has increased from 12 to 17! - Vit has increased from 11 to 19! - Dex has increased from 27 to 30! - Agi has increased from 14 to 16! ]

[ Gamer's Mind has leveled up from 4 to 6! - Gamer's Body has leveled up from 1 to 3! - Basic Body Protection has leveled up from 1 to 3! - Basic Kendo Proficiency has leveled up from 3 to 4! - Basic Shinai Proficiency has leveled up from 3 to 4! - Mislead has leveled up from 5 to 6! - Skill 'Stance Reading' Gained! ]

[ EXP Gained: 724! - Your Level has increased from 7 to 8! ]

Kazuto blankly read the screen in front of him as his cousin knelt down next to his body, this time he didn't stop from removing his helmet.

"Onii-chan…" Suguha started but she never continued her sentence, she fell silent as she stared at his face.

He continued to pant and he felt relieved that his head could breathe, regardless of the fact that he had been beaten down thirty-one times, he could feel a smile on his face. Today was the day he discovered that he had an ability straight out of his dreams, and what's more was that he had spent some time having fun with his cousin. "Thanks for everything, Sugu." He slipped back into calling her by her nickname.

Suguha suddenly stood up, her eyes were once again wide, and her face appeared shocked.

'She really likes to overreact, doesn't she?'

She spun on her heels and fled the dojo, leaving him alone.

Kazuto rested on the floor as he regained his breath and continued to read the floating screens, and then a blinking and flashing one appeared.

[Warning! Warning! - Urgent Quest: Goblin Slaying! - Description: Goblins have started to build a nest in East Machikan Park! - Objective: Kill them all (0/12)! - Upon Success: A Very Rare Item! - Upon Failure: Deactivation of Urgent Quest System! - Time Limit: 5 Hours! ]

He sighed and groaned as he rolled over, slowly he began formulating a battle plan.


Kazuto maintained a steady pace as rode his bicycle down to the park, after about ten minutes he finally arrived. Quickly he hopped off his bike, and then he Deposited it into his Inventory, it took up about a fourth of his available space.

While he had been dressed rather casually, with a single thought he changed his Equipped Outfit, he had three different slots he could choose from, and now he was dressed in the darkest clothes he could find.

Kazuto had barely spent more than a hour of his life at this park, its layout was most unfamiliar to him, and he didn't even know where the goblins were supposed to be. His first task was reconnaissance, so with that in mind, he began stalking through the shadows of this dark park. A moonless night made his job easy.

After thirty minutes, he finally found tracks, and then ten minutes later he found the goblin nest a deep within the small man-made forest. To be on the safe side, he crept along the perimeter, keeping his eyes open for traps of any kind, not that he found any. As he spotted a lone goblin resting upon a tree stump, he took a moment to take in the sight, the goblin wasn't anything special, it looked and smelled like what anyone could imagine it did. It was holding a crude wooden bow and haphazardly constructed arrows rest at its feet.

Kazuto wormed his way along the ground making sure he avoided loose leaves and brittle branches that had fallen from the trees. As he approached the monster from behind, he was able to clearly read the screen above it.

[ Goblin: Bird Eater - Lvl: 4 ]

The exact amount the goblin had was still a mystery to Kazuto, but from his own experience he would bet that this small monster had at least 400 HP simply because it was Lvl: 4. His best chance at killing it would clearly be with a Shinai, that was where his Skill bonuses would shine, but this was currently stealth missions, and so he came up with a different plan.

The Goblin let out a choked yelp as an arm wrapped around his neck tightly, but before it could scream out an iron skewer pierced his left eyeball and sunk into his brain.

[ Goblin: Bird Eater has fainted! ]

A silver blade nearly glowed in the dark woods as Kazuto repeatedly stabbed the goblin in the gut with a kitchen knife, and after his tenth stab.

[ Goblin: Bird Eater has been killed! Plus 314 (x2) EXP! ]

Kazuto currently had 17 Strength, the iron skewer and kitchen knife both increased his Attack by 15, he stabbed the monster a total of 11 times, for a total of at least 352 damage, and that wasn't including bleed damage or critical hits. Before he could drop the body it faded away like dying embers.

[ Goblin Tooth Necklace! ]

His Passive Observe told him, but he could get more information if he Equipped it, so that's what he did.

[ Goblin Tooth Necklace(Crude): Plus 1 Luk! ]

He left it on as he continued creeping through the woods, when he had done his perimeter search, he had noticed at least three goblins also circling their nest. Now that he killed their watchmen, he was aiming for their patrolmen next.

[ Goblin: Dung Born - Lvl: 1 ]

The first goblin he spotted was about half the size of the one he had just killed, this one was barely two feet tall and holding a flimsy wooden spear. Kazuto dashed before he slid behind it and then he quickly placed the monster in a headlock, his right arm wrapped over the left shoulder and clung the back of its right shoulder, and his left arm went over his face as he grabbed ahold at the base of its right ear, and then he yanked back harshly. He heard a mute snap and crack before the body faded away much quicker than the previous one.

[ Goblin: Dung Born has been killed! Plus 20 (x2) EXP ]

[ Goblin Gem! ]

He Deposited the drop to his Inventory, and while he had an Analyze function, from further investigating it, he discovered that it would take some time for that to complete. And wasting it on a Gem hardly seemed wise. So he continued his hunt.

[ Goblin: Neck Slasher - Lvl: 9 ]

This goblin was nearly four feet tall and it was holding two sharp looking knives made from what appeared to be bones. Kazuto kept his distance, and instead he decided to test something else out. The goblin growled and cackled as it stopped before a gallon in the middle of its path. It took a quick gulp before it spat it back up and began coughing.

With his Shinai, Kazuto could deal at least 37 damage plus whatever his skill added to that number, and his opponent had at least 900 HP, the minimum amount of hits it could take was at least 25 strikes. It likely would try to fight back, so he Switched into his Kendo Gear, his defense was now at 103 and he now had a skill that helped him read his opponent's next move.

So it was with confidence that he rushed at the Goblin, his first hit to the back of its head knocked it off balance and it was sent sprawling to the ground still trying to cough up the bleach it had swallowed. Kazuto whacked it a few more times before it tried crawling away. As it moved, he saw that it had dropped its blades, he quickly Deposited his Shinai and picked up a knives off the ground, he jumped on the back on the fleeing Goblin as stabbed both into hits gut from behind.

Blood sprayed up as Kazuto repeatedly stabbed into the goblin. He fell to the ground as it slowly began fading away.

[ Achievement 'Kill Above Your Level' Accomplished, you have earned ??? ]

[ Goblin: Neck Slasher has been killed! Plus 1762 (x2) EXP! ]

[ Your Level has increased from 8 to 12! ]

Kazuto rested on the ground once again today, he allowed himself a quick break before he continued his Quest.

Neck Slasher had probably been more important that Kazuto first thought, because out of all the Goblins none had a higher level than that one did. It didn't even take an hour before he slaughtered the remaining monsters. And he only leveled up one more time by the time he was done.

[ Urgent Quest: Goblin Slaying! Successfully Accomplished! You Have Earned: Dragon Carved Jade Whistle(Very Rare)! ]

Kazuto tried to use his new Item but he couldn't muster enough strength to blow through it, and his face had gone numb from his attempt. At least he gathered up what supplies the Goblins had stock piled for their nest, he found a few weapons, ores, minerals, gems and herbs, they would probably be useful so he wasn't entirely disappointed with his late night venture.

He Switched to his casual outfit and began pedaling on his bike, speaking of which, he couldn't quite fit his bike in his Inventory if he wanted to take everything from his trip but he didn't think that it was an issue. While he rode home, he absently read about how his Basic Stealth Skill leveled up twice, and then a blinking and flashing screen distracted him.

[Warning! Warning! - Urgent Quest: Rat Rescue! - Description: Ninjas are pursuing a running Rat! - Objective: Save the Rat! - Upon Success: ???! - Upon Failure: Rat Dies! - Time Limit: 1 Hour! ]

After Kazuto finished reading the screen, he noticed a flashing line of arrows along the ground, he sighed before speeding along the path.

'Seriously? Ninjas? And what's this about a Rat? This one better be worth my time.'