Training Hall

A beam of light rose from the ground and Jimmy appeared in a large, plain-looking room. The floor seemed to just be plain stone, the walls were bare, and there were no distinguishing features other than the ordinary wooden door leading out of the room. The most bizarre part of the room was the fact that despite there being no sources of light, the whole room was illuminated.

Jimmy looked around and saw other players appearing out of beams of light around the room just like he did. It seemed this was one of the places people exit the tutorial from.

He walked up to the door and left the strange room. Outside was an empty plaza with only a couple of players populating it.

Turning around he inspected the building. It turned out to be just as plain as the inside with flat stone walls, and a seemingly flat roof. The whole building seemed to have been constructed with the idea of simplicity in mind.

However, there was one thing that stood out. Etched above the door of the building were the words, "Church of Gaia".

Thinking it was something he would have to ask someone about later, he walked off to take a look around the city.

He found himself walking down a crowded main street where many people were coming and going all over the place. Carriages were going down the street, vendors advertising their shops, and ordinary people going about their business.

Meanwhile, he was just walking around aimlessly admiring how lifelike everything felt. It felt like he was in a living and breathing city in reality.

He was also relieved to see actual people, not grinning silhouettes posing as grandmas.

After wandering around for a while he ended up going down a smaller street and something caught his attention. On the wall of a building was a sign that looked like a sword and spear crossed together that said, "Training hall".

His interest was piqued and he went inside the training hall. Immediately he was flooded with a sense of nostalgia.

The training hall was spacious, with numerous training dummies and wooden weapons for practicing. Multiple people were practicing their form, exercising, or even sparing.

It wasn't exactly the same, but it made him think of the dojo that he trained in for the longest time back at home. He was lost in thought while thinking about the past and ended up just standing just outside the entrance staring.

Meanwhile, a hulking woman just finished beating the ever-living shit out of someone at the center of the room. She was six foot six with muscles that looked like they had been chiseled onto her. She had a blonde ponytail and was wearing a white training outfit.

"Hahaha! I like your spirit but you're still as slow as a box of rocks. You couldn't beat me in a thousand years at this rate! Rest for five minutes and then go do 1000 side-to-side jumps!"

"Yes, sensei…" The dispirited young man crawled away while sobbing.

The woman then turned her head and noticed someone she didn't recognize standing at the entrance.

"Hey, you there!"

Jimmy snapped out of his thoughts and asked while a bit startled, "Me?"

"Yes, you! Who else would I be talking to Eh?!?" She approached him with a fierce glare. "What do you want? If you're not here to join then scram!"

"I… I want to join!" Although he was on the fence about whether he wanted to join or not, he was greatly intimidated by this woman, and instinctively blurted out that he wanted to join.

"If you want to join, then you have to pay up. It's 5 silvers a month. You have to pay upfront."

He quickly searched his pockets and found that he happened to have been given exactly 5 silver coins as starter money. He would have to spend all he had for just a month, but he already agreed to join. It would be embarrassing to back out now.

He handed over the money and was given a white training uniform.

"My name is Emelia, but from now on you will call me sensei! What's your name, kid?"

He didn't particularly like being referred to as 'kid', but he felt it would most likely not end well for him if he corrected her.

"My name is Jimmy, sensei."

"I'm guessing by that spear you have that you're a spearman right? Go grab a training spear. I'll spar with you to see what you need."

When everyone in the hall heard those words they shot sympathetic looks in his direction. They prayed in their hearts for his soul.

"Yes sensei!"

He picked up a training spear and readied his stance. Although he had pathetically low stats right now, he was still an expert with the spear. He had trained with the spear all his life, and had won many competitions. He wouldn't be beaten that badly, would he?

A couple of seconds later he was lying flat on his face with purple lumps all over his body. It was a complete beat down. Although pain sensitivity was turned way down, he still felt sore all over his body.

"You have some good skills, but your body is pathetically weak. Rest for five minutes and then do 1000 spear thrusts!"

~Common Quest~

[Do 1000 spear thrusts.]

[Reward: 2 strength and endurance]

[Failure penalty: A beating by sensei]

[Accept] [Reject]

His eyes sparkled, it seemed like he could gain stat points here without leveling up!

"Yes sensei!"

He picked himself up and limped over to a side of the dojo with no one practicing and opened his character page.

~

Jimmy Green [Lvl 1]

Alignment: [Neutral]

Titles-

[Basic Spearman]

Abilities-

Stats- [Unallocated Points: 10]

[Strength 4]

[Endurance 4]

[Dexterity 3]

[Agility 3]

[Magic 1]

~

He put all 10 unallocated points into endurance, as he figured he would most certainly need it to survive this training.

Immediately his body felt the soreness and fatigue from the beating subside.

Taking the spear out, he began doing his spear thrusts. He made sure to maintain his best form and effort for each strike, as he knew it was important to stay consistent while training.

An hour in, he was still going strong. Emelia watched over him and was impressed by his efforts. With how easily he folded in the spar she didn't expect him to complete the assignment she gave him. However, he was still maintaining excellent form and didn't look like he was going to give in any time soon.

Three hours in, he finally finished his last thrust. He collapsed onto the floor with a smile on his face.

[Quest Complete!]

[2 endurance and strength gained!]

When the two extra points of endurance came in, he gained enough energy to pick himself up off the floor. Just as he got up he felt a painful slap on his back.

"Not bad, kid! I didn't expect you to finish so soon. You have some grit, and I like it!" She had a smile on her face that would surely make a child cry.

"Sensei, can I ask a few questions if you don't mind?"

"Sure, kid! I'm in a good mood right now so I'll allow it."

He had many questions that were itching at him. He was curious what NPCs knew about players.

"Sensei, do you know what a 'player' is?"

She had a confused look on her face and picked her ear with her pinky finger.

"Do I know what? You just spoke some gibberish I couldn't understand."

'So that answers that, it seems NPCs can't learn anything about this being a game. It automatically gets censored. But if that's the case, what do they even know about us players?'

"Let me reword it sensei. I am someone who was 'summoned' into the Gaia church. Do you know anything about that?"

"Oh, that means you're one of those Blessed ones? The ones who were blessed by the world to not be able to die."

He nodded his head. NPCs don't view players as any different than normal humans who have been blessed by the world.

"Yes sensei, I was just summoned today so there is a lot I don't know. I was wondering if you could fill me in about some of the general things like where we are."

"You don't even know that much? Fine, I am your sensei so I'll teach you, kid."

They spent an hour chatting and answering questions before it was time for Jimmy to log off. He had to go to sleep so he could go to college in the morning. He had already played the game for 5 hours.

"Thank you for everything sensei, I will be back tomorrow. I have to return home now." He bowed to her.

"You paid so it's your loss if you don't come back anyway, kid." She gave that frightening smile of hers as she watched him leave.

"System, exit game."

And with that, he logged out for the day.