May 20th/Age 749
East City
"Outstanding. You've gotten stop scores on your exams and finished in record time. I must say that you've got a bright future Mina." The principal of East City Academy said with a smile on his face as he looked over the numerous papers that Mina filled out. "Have you considered early admittance to a university? With your athletic and mental abilities, you'd be almost guaranteed a spot."
"I've thought about it, and I do intend on attending university but right now, there is something important I have to do. Which is why I decided to take the exams early, since I won't have much time for school."
"Well, you will be missed. Also, if you don't mind me asking, why are you leaving the school so early?"
"I'm going on a life changing journey to study martial arts." Mina said bluntly, which caused the principal's face to fall before he let out a sigh.
"Very well." The principal said before allowing Mina to leave. From behind the door, she heard him speak. 'Its sad to see gifted ones like her, throwing their lives away.'
Mina shrugged it off and made her way out of the school and into the parking lot, where her father and mother waited in their hover car. Mina knew that ordinary people might not understand why she was doing this, and she didn't want to broadcast her powers to everyone in the world.
It was just asking for the government or shady scientist to try and dissect her for her powers.
"Where are we going?" Mina asked from the back seat, after she entered the car.
"Where heading to the docks. Do you remember our old boat?" Saul asked before Mina nodded her head.
"Yeah. It was really old, but it still worked pretty good, and you guys let me pretend to be the ship captain and we could fight imaginary pirates." Mina said with a smile on her face.
The car ride was a bit long, but it wasn't awkward or anything. The music was playing a bunch of pop songs, which Mina liked despite her mother's distaste of 'Modern Pop'. Hinata preferred older pop songs but that is neither here nor there.
Soon enough, they made their way to the docks and went up to their old boat. It was a tad bit bigger than an average speed boat and it was also slower, but it was reliable and sturdy. Saul spent time working on it and often brought Mina along with him.
Mina knew that's why she has a Mechanic perk and she enjoyed using it recently to help her father fix up the boat. Mina knew that today was the day she was equally excited for and dreading.
"Do you have everything packed?" Hinata asked in a low voice to Mina, as Mina got onto the boat.
"Yeah. I have everything in my inventory."
"First aid, survival supplies, clothes and tools?" Saul asked and Mina nodded.
"Everything." Mina replied before she went to a compartment on the speedboat and opened it to reveal several life jackets. She put one on over her clothes before looking back at her parents.
"I didn't think this day would come so soon; I was hoping that I had another month at least." Saul said sadly while struggling to hold back his tears.
"That damned power of yours. Making you learn things so damn fast. Whatever being gave you this power, is going to have a few words with me." Hinata said with her own sad tone of voice.
"I promise I'll come back home as soon as I can. Benji gave me a map of where I should start looking for the legendary Muten Roshi, and when I find him and learn from him. I'll come back home and tell you guys everything that happened." Mina said back with her own sadness, but when the emotions were about to overwhelm her, a certain skill prevented that.
The skill [Gamers Mind] has activated!
"You have a satellite phone. So, you'd better use it if you run into trouble." Hinata said back before Mina gave both her parents a big hug.
"I love you mom and dad. I'll come back as fast as I can." Hinata said to them, repeating her promise. Saul and Hinata hugged their daughter again before Saul and Mina removed the rope holding the boat to the dock.
Mina waved goodbye to her mother and father as she started the speedboat and made her way out to the great ocean. Her father gave her lessons on driving the boat and on boat safety and what not. In the past he thought that Mina might become a fisherman. Mina felt a pang in her heart as the memories of those lessons came into practice.
"It might not take too long. I just have to learn from Muten Roshi. That's all."
May 23rd/Age 749
Great Ocean
"Ow." Mina said with a groan as she sat up from laying down in the center of the boat. She was still wearing her life jacket over her white T-shirt with her jean shorts and sneakers on. The clothes she had been wearing for the past three days felt a bit sticky to her skin from the salty air and her own sweat.
So, Mina opened her Inventory and equipped a change of clothes and underwear. A green T-shirt and cargo shorts. New socks, panties and a bra as well.
"That's better. Now back to work." Mina said as she looked off to the side and saw the mainland in the distance. Mina also took out her map that her former martial arts teacher gave her and looked it over before refueling the boat and started driving it again.
Mina knew she was nearing the Diablo Desert shore or more specifically the shore of Fry Pan Mountain, where her first lead would take her. Benji had explained that there are two former pupils of Muten Roshi, who could tell her where he is.
The first is a man named Gohan up in the mountains. A noticeable distance away from any city and the second student was a person known as the Ox King, who has quite a nasty reputation. Mina was warned to be careful of him and she took that warning to heart, but she also knew he was the easier option to use.
Finding one hermit is bad enough but finding two might be a bit much in Mina's opinion.
"I wonder how long it will take me to reach the docks of Fry Pan." Mina said to herself before she put her map away in her inventory and took out a protein bar to eat.
Survival rations aren't the best tasting, but they will keep her alive and give her energy. Also, the docks should be down the way, so she shouldn't need the map anymore.
On the boat ride, Mina saw various animals in the distance of the water and land. That brought a warm smile to her face despite the intense heat of the local area. Animals seemed to have adapted to the heat it seems.
"I heard about how hot this place is from the nature channel but in real life it feels a lot more intense." Mina said to herself as she wiped her forehead of sweat.
The heat in this place was a killer to those unprepared. "Maybe I could take this time to look myself over a bit. I haven't really checked out my stats for a month." Mina said before she braised her pointer and middle finger upwards before sliding them down through the air to summon her status screen.
[Status Screen
Name: Mina Cam, Age: 17, Race: Human
Title: Gamer, Karma: Neutral, Level: 9 [133/1,200] EXP
HP: 1,109/1,109, Ki: 453/453, MP: 330/330(0.5 Regen per hour)
Strength: 28, Vitality: 31, Constitution: 29
Dexterity: 27, Intelligence: 25, Wisdom: 22
Charisma: 23, Luck: 35
BP: 15.6
Stat Points: 10, Perk Points: 2]
"Everything is standard, but it's weird that only my MP gets a regen status based on my WIS and VIT. My Ki is influenced by my physical stats, but my mental stats still have a role to play. I've already learned that my VIT relates to my Ki regeneration, but I wish I could see a numerical stat for it." Mina said to herself with a heavy breath before she flicked her fingers again and looked over at her perk points.
"I can enhance my stats later, but perks do sound nice and useful right now." Mina said to herself as she saw a list of perks in front of her. The perks all seemed pretty good for various reasons, and they also seemed pretty standard in RPG logic. "I don't need anything overly fancy, so let's pick something practical." Mina said before she selected two perks.
[The perk [Toughness] has ranked up from rank 1-2]!
1 Perk Point remaining.
[Name: Dragon's Heart
Rank: MAX
You have the heart of a dragon and the power with it. Your MAX HP and Ki have been doubled!]
0 Perk Points remaining.
"Whoa." Mina said in amazement as she took a deep breath, which felt like the first real breath she ever took as her body felt different after taking the perk. She felt heathier and as a result she checked her stats over again to see the stat change.
[Status Screen
Name: Mina Cam, Age: 17, Race: Human
Title: Gamer, Karma: Neutral, Level: 9 [133/1200] EXP
HP: 2,218/2,218 Ki: 906/906, MP: 330/330(0.5 Regen per hour)
Strength: 28, Vitality: 31, Constitution: 29
Dexterity: 27, Intelligence: 25, Wisdom: 22
Charisma: 23, Luck: 35
BP: 16.3
Stat Points: 10, Perk Points: 0]
"That health boost is massive for such a basic skill." Mina said with a surprised face. However, that surprise came to a swift end, when a sharp pain ripped through Mina's shoulder and lifejacket.
Mina saw a sizeable portion of her HP bar get drained as she slumped over the speedboat controls and looked back to see another speedboat coming towards her with four men dressed in a pirate fashion from the news alerts Mina saw on tv about pirates attacking cruise ships and what not.
You have been inflicted with the [Bleeding x1] status effect!
Mina's HP started draining at a steady rate, but it wasn't too fast or anything, however she knew it was still a problem and simply drove the boat as fast as it could go in order to gain distance from the pirates.
Mina heard gunshots fire around her at insane speeds. As a result, Mina cast a Mana Ward around herself for safety. However, the pirates were gaining on her at a fast rate. In response, Mina didn't see the shore and drove her boat onto the harsh desert like land mass.
Unlike in the movies, the boat didn't explode on contact with the land and instead it more or less became the bumpiest ride imaginable, and Mina knew the boat's underside was torn up from the tearing sound of metal that hit her ears.
"Damn it." Mina cursed with a heavy breath before she quickly hopped off the boat and started running north to get more distance from the incoming pirates. Trying to hide in a boiling hot desert is something else, but Mina managed to lay low and hide inside of a thick amount of brush near a lagoon of water. Thankfully there weren't any predators, and the amount of foliage was dense enough to hide several people. So, Mina stayed in hiding and dispelled her shield, while controlling her breathing.
Mina stayed perfectly still without making any noise. Thankfully her life jacket managed to absorb some of her blood from her wound, so she didn't leave a trail.
"Where'd she go?" One of the pirates asked as Mina gazed at their names and levels. But she didn't bother memorizing their names. The issue was that they were armed with guns.
The three pirates are each holding pistols and the leader of the crew is holding a rifle, along with having a belt of ammo across his chest with another pistol at his waste.
"How the fuck did you dolts manage to lose a little girl? She had a bullet wound and couldn't have gotten far." The pirate captain said in an annoyed voice.
"Maybe if your aim was better, we'd already have her." One of the pistol wielding pirates said before the captain raised his rifle and fired a round into the pirate's back, making him scream in pain and fall to the ground, before the captain walked over and shot him again. But this time in his head and it basically exploding in gore.
"Anyone else have something to say?" The captain asked the other two pirates who said nothing and just started looking around for the girl. For a long moment, Mina was scared out of her mind and thought about using her satellite phone, but she thought better of it. She would just be giving away her position for help that would never show up in time.
Her shield might not be strong enough to stop a bullet and sure enough she couldn't be taken on several armed men at one…Well she could if they were armed with something like knifes but not guns.
"Who dares invade my land?!" A loud booming voice asked as everyone heard the heavy footsteps and looked to the south to see a massive mountain of a man in desert themed armor and wielding a massive axe in hand.
Mina didn't need to look at his level or title to know that he was at least a boss level threat.
"It's the Ox Demon!" One of the pistol wielding pirates shouted in fear before the three of them started firing their guns at him, but the bullets simply bounced off his body. The massive man stormed towards them at speeds faster than he should be able to move, and he used his axe to savagely cut two of the pirates in half with a single swing.
"You bastard! I'm going to be a pirate king and I won't die to a monster like you!" The pirate captain said before reaching into his back pocket and threw what looked like a small bomb at the man's face, which exploded and made the man stumbles a bit, however when the dust cleared, the pirate captains face fell as he two was cut down by the man's axe. The difference was that the pirate captain's head was cut off by the axe.
Mina was in shock and awe at what she just witnessed. But her senses flared to life when she backstepped and avoided the axe that slashed away at the bushes that hid her.
"You damned pirates are always trying to steal from me. I've had enough." The man said in an annoyed and sour tone.
"Wait! I'm not a pirate! They attacked me and forced me on the mainland and trashed my boat!" Mina shouted and made the man pause for a moment.
"Well, you are injured and don't look like a typical pirate. But how do I know you aren't lying or trying to get to my treasure?"
"Because I don't care about that stuff. I'm just trying to find the Ox King and learn how I can find the martial arts master Muten Roshi." Mina quickly said before she went down to her hands and knees in submission. "Please don't kill me."
Mina didn't care about how the situation looked. This mountain of a man could crush her even if she wasn't injured. In games it is best to know what battles you can or can't win and frankly, Mina knew she didn't stand a chance.
"Raise your head." The man said as Mina looked up with a bit of fear and saw his hand outstretched towards her. "I'm the Ox King girl and if you're looking for the master, then you must be a talented martial artist in your own right. So, don't bow your head to me or anyone else again, unless it's to a teacher."
"Ok." Mina said with a bit of nervousness as she extended her own hand and grabbed the Ox Kings. When he helped her get up with his massive strength, Mina felt a sharp pain in her shoulder from the force and from her injury.
"Sorry I scared you. Recently pirates and bandits have been attacking more and more frequently, so I'm a bit on edge. Now follow me. I'll see to your injuries." Ox King said before leading Mina away from the dead bodies and soon enough after a decent walk, they came up to a large community of homes and people.
Ox King was the ruler of this community and took Mina to the local doctor, who looked over her injuries. Luckily the bullet went clear through and there weren't any shards, or anything left in her body. So, she got bandaged up and was given some cold water for her trouble. Afterwards, Mina and Ox King spoke at length about Muten Roshi. However, Ox King didn't tell her the location.
"I'm sorry lass. But if those bandits gave you so much trouble, then I doubt you could endure the training that Master Roshi would put you through." Ox King said and Mina didn't protest. She was made sharply aware of how weak she was.
"I need to get stronger before I can even begin to train under Muten Roshi." Mina said with a lowered head.
"Yes. But if you made it this far, your either lucky or have potential, so don't give up yet." Ox King replied and Mina looked up at the man as they stood outside the small hospital building.
"I won't, but this is still a bit disheartening." Mina said with a heavy breath.
"I suppose it is. But, since you came all this way, you can rest in one of the common houses. There is always a bed open for those who don't threaten my people." Ox King said to Mina before he left to handle some other business.
"Taking time to rest sounds like a good idea." Mina said honestly as she made her way to one of the common houses, which was basically an Inn. Luckily, they didn't charge Zeni and instead just allowed her to rest in one of the rooms.
For a while Mina simply laid down in the bed until sleep overtook her. The day had been unexpectedly exhausting both physically and mentally.
May 24th/Age 749
Fry Pan Community/Diablo Desert
It was early in the morning as Mina started practicing her martial arts behind the Inn she rested at. Training in the heat would exhaust her faster than normal, but it would offer more intense training; Mina knew that she needed more strength and decided to train hard and get the information from the Ox King.
"Training like this is hard. I'm having a harder time catching my breath due to the heat, and my energy is draining faster from overexerting myself to try and compensate." Mina explained to herself before throwing a series of kicks towards an imaginary target.
"Also, training in the sand is tough too. Pushups and stuff are harder to perform, and walking becomes a bit of a chore. This is a decent work out." Mina said before she stopped for a moment before reaching into her inventory and took out some purified water to drink along with a protein bar to eat.
After the impromptu breakfast, Mina decided to start training with her Ki. So, Mina closed her eyes and focused on her inner energy for a moment and felt it respond to her or more specifically it responded to her body's respiratory system. Each breath inward made the energy contract, and each outward breath made it expand. Her energy felt natural yet alien to her and she still hasn't gotten used to it quite yet.
Mina thought about her inner energy and what she studied about it, along with the information she knew from a few videogames with magic or Ki/Chakra mechanics. Granted the mechanics are different from actual Ki energy, but Mina figured that they should at least hold a small kernel of truth; Mina decided to test out the though and focused her energy into her palm, but instead of activating the skill Power Strike, she focused her mind and energy into forming a small ball into her hand.
The energy felt rough and unrefined in her hand but after more moments of focus, she felt the energy become a bit more controlled despite it still feeling rough. When Mina opened her eyes and raised her hand she saw the soccer ball sized ball of energy in her hand and was surprised by its size and the skill alert she saw.
You have developed a new skill! [Ki Ball]!
[Ki Ball, Active Level: 1
From the first monk to the last. Beings who manipulate Ki energy have learned to develop Ki into a ball for various purposes and it serves as a attack or a base from which people can develop other Ki techniques.
Range: 5 Feet
Cost: 200 Ki/Can cost more if more Ki is pumped into it.
Warning! The more Ki you dump into a Ki ball. The slower it can become and more the more unstable it will become unless you level up your Ki Manipulation skill.]
The skill [Ki Manipulation] has leveled up! Level: 3-4!
"Wow that's a bit draining." Mina said with a bit of a heavy breath before she felt the weight of the Ki ball in her hand. "I guess I have to use it now." Mina said before she threw the Ki ball at the ground but made sure it was a fair distance away from her, and when it hit the ground. The sand burst into a small explosion. Not one of fire and smoke but one of steam and a small burst of sand.
"Cool." Mina said as she went over to the hole she made and saw that she could stuff her whole foot into it. But instead of playing around she simply used her foot to shovel some of the sand back into the hole, so nobody tripped or something. "Using a Ki Ball might have helped against the bandits."
"No use crying about it now though." Mina said before she decided to take a break from her training. So, she started wandering around the community and noticed that the people were living nice lives in this hot desert, but they missed their old kingdom of Fry Pan, which is a constant storm of magical flames apparently.
"Maybe I should help these people out a bit. There should be an odd job or two available." Mina said to herself in wonder. Helping villagers always seemed to be a good idea in videogames, so maybe she could get a side quest or two while she was here.
May 27th/Age 749
Fry Pan Community/Diablo Desert
"That's the last one." Mina said as she was helping an elderly woman carry groceries into her home. It was a small side quest but offered her some EXP and frankly it was just a nice thing to do.
"Thank you dear. You've really helped me out. So, wait here while I get you a nice reward." The woman said before she went into the kitchen and came back out with a small jar of cookies.
"I can't take the whole jar." Mina said a bit with a chuckle as the woman shook her head.
"I insist dear." The woman said before Mina smiled and took the jar.
"Thank you, ma'am. You have a wonderful day." Mina said back before she left the woman's house and opened the cookie jar before taking a cookie for herself.
They were a mixture of all sorts of cookies and Mina wasn't picky, so she started eating a few of them with a smile on her face. Not because she got rewarded but because the old woman was nice, and it felt good to help her.
[Quest Complete!
Name: Shopping
Reward: 300 EXP! Increased REP with the people of Fry Pan!]
Mina saw that she was getting close to a level up but again it didn't matter much to her right now. Right now, she wanted to enjoy the tasty cookies.
"Excuse me but you're the outsider that's helping out around the village, right?" A figure in a black cloak said to Mina; she looked the figure over and saw that the hoods shadow concealed the figures face but the name, level and title above their head gave them away.
Riku, Level: 16
Rookie Mage
"Yeah."
"Excellent. I was wondering if you could help me out a bit. Recently there has been a stirring in the desert and there is a certain location that I need help accessing. So, could you offer me your protection?" Riku asked and Mina raised an eyebrow at the figure and their bizarre request.
[Quest Alert!
Name: Demon's Calling
Objective 1: Reach the forgotten Ninja Tomb with Riku.
Objective 2: Reach the main chamber.
Objective 3: Clear the Ninja Tomb.
Rewards: 4,000 EXP, Increased REP with Riku.
Failure: Possible Death.
Do you accept this quest? Y/N?]
"I'll help out, but I at least want to know who I'm working for." Mina said back as she accepted the quest and saw Riku lower his hood and reveal his face.
Riku is fair skinned with slick brown hair and sharp features. Mina could and is going to call him handsome but not at this time. Riku could easily try and charm her into getting scammed or something and that isn't something she wanted.
"Does this suffice?"
"Yes. But another question I have is why are you sneaking around the village?" Mina asked as Riku raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"I'm not sneaking. Wearing a robe like this reflects the sunlight off your skin." Riku said back making Mina confused now.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
END
A/N: So, another chapter has been completed for the story and my evil plans are coming to fruition. Que my evil laugh.
Anyway, not much else to say other than please fav, follow and review because it motivates me.