Martial Online.



'Three million health.' Jesse chuckled while walking down the hallway with a towel wrapped around his neck. He finished his morning jog and watched the VOD of the stream while walking back to his room.

The end result didn't surprise him, but the amount of health did. It was a hot topic in the Martial Online forums: how was it possible to defeat a creature with so much health?

The Dark Magician Karma had merely three thousand.

The Ghost of the Wild Hunt had a thousand times more!

'I don't have any hurry to go to Dark Waters, but damn.' Jesse pocketed his phone and opened the door to his room before entering. He went straight to the bathroom that was connected to his room to take a hot shower.

While the water streamed down his naked body, he put shampoo on his hair and let the shower wash it away.

'The Wild Hunt makes everyone think twice before entering Dark Waters.' Jesse finished the shower, wrapped a towel around his waist, and left the bathroom.

While searching for new clothes in his wardrobe, he thought. 'Not sure if that is good or not. Many missed a crucial part of the fight.

'That female player stabbed through the head, yet the Ghost of the Wild Hunt lost merely 1 HP.

'Do we need to stab through it three million times for it to die? Truly ridiculous.'

After putting new clothes on, he returned to his bed and put the headset around his head. He pressed the start button and closed his eyes.

'Another day of training, here I come.'

...

"Good morning, grandmaster." Ambrose bowed at a ninety-degree angle as the old Wisdom King walked up to the platform. 

The weather was sunny with clouds drifting about, but there was something brewing on the horizon. Tons of dark clouds moved in their direction. A storm was moving their way, seemingly coming from the direction of Yatagarasu.

It wasn't strange that this place also had a lot of rainstorms, as Yatagarasu wasn't that far away.

"How was your meditation training?" The Wisdom King asked without sitting down.

"It was challenging, but I couldn't manifest it, yet." Ambrose replied.

"I would be shocked if you did. It takes many months." The Wisdom King said. "However, according to young Zhen, you managed to learn the soul scent within one night's time...

"I wonder how long it takes for you to do this." He hummed thoughtfully.

"I will not disappoint you." Ambrose said and before they started training, he wanted to ask something. "Grandmaster, have you heard about the Wild Hunt?"

The Wisdom King's eyebrows jumped before he looked silently in the distance. "Ah, the Wild Hunt. The dangerous and elusive force that haunts the night. I have heard about that myth."

"Myth, you don't think it's real?" Ambrose asked curiously.

"I believe all myths have some truth in them." The Wisdom King said with a wise tone. "However, I myself have not witnessed any skeletons riding on top of a skull-faced horse who brings doom and destruction to anyone who crosses its path."

"Can you tell me more about it, please?" Ambrose asked with a hopeful tone.

"Hmm..." The Wisdom King slowly sat down cross-legged. "Well, there is not much to say.

"The Wild Hunt haunts the foggy Dark Waters. They abduct children and kill men and women.

"And those who are taken never return," the Wisdom King finished solemnly.

"Where do they originate from?" Ambrose asked.

"There are multiple versions." The Wisdom King said before continuing. "Some say they are ghosts of the people that died alongside sunken ships.

"Some say they are soul creatures of the people who are trapped in the depths of the ocean.

"And some believe they are people who have escaped from hell."

"Are there multiple Ghosts of the Wild Hunt?" Ambrose asked, as by analyzing the Wisdom King's words, it sounded like that.

"According to myths, there are." The Wisdom King said while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "The reason why traveling between two continents is so difficult is because of the Wild Hunt that roams the seas, killing everyone who breathes.

"Many think that they are on the side of the Dark Continent, but that is exactly not true. The Wild Hunt is simply indifferent to the origin or allegiance of those it targets."

"What is their goal?" Ambrose asked. "Are they really only haunting spirits?"

"That's where my answers end." The Wisdom King shrugged his shoulders and stood up. "What I know is only from the tales of others. I myself haven't traversed to Dark Waters, so I do not know."

"I see; thank you for the answers." Ambrose then stood up and put his hand on the hilt of his sword. He was ready to start the training.

"Draw your weapon." The Wisdom King said.

Swing—Ambrose unsheathed his sword, the black blade cutting through the air before stopping beside his waist.

"Mediocre." The Wisdom King said bluntly without bothering to speak nicely. "Just like your swordsmanship.

"Well, I am here to make your mediocre swordsmanship into something more tolerable."

Ambrose nodded silently and looked at the sword in his hand. His grip tightened as he remembered the utter humiliation he received from the White Inquisitors.

"I won't be teaching you to kill." The Wisdom King put his arms behind his back. "I will teach you to fight better than anyone else around you.

"If you happen to use those skills to kill, that is up to you. However, remember that the weapon you carry is not a trinklet. It is a weapon forged in fire and metal. When you wield it, you hold immense power and responsibility in your hands."

"I understand, grandmaster." Ambrose looked at the black blade with his reflection staring back.

"Following yesterday's lesson, I will teach you the basics." The Wisdom King said and walked out of the platform before returning with a wooden training sword. "You haven't even learned the most basic things in swordsmanship, and yet you call yourself a swordsman.

"You have a long way to go." The Wisdom King put the wooden training sword in front of his body and said, "Throw away everything you know. We will spar now.

"Only use the right-side slash, left-side slash, and overhead slash and parry. No fancy tricks or techniques."

"Yes, grandmaster." Jesse spun his black blade around before moving it in front of his body, He only used his right hand and not his left, as during swordsmanship training, he was only allowed to use his right.

'Now that I remember, I haven't ever done Basic Slash, aka overhead slash and parry, without using it as a skill. I am not allowed to use those skills, so I have to perform those techniques just by memory and without the help of game system.'

"I will be using the same moves." The Wisdom King then nudged the sword blade in his direction. "Now, attack."

Ambrose kicked off the ground and lunged forward before moving his sword over his head and then bringing it down with all his strength. He resisted shouting "Basic Slash," as he had grown accustomed to doing that.

"What is that footwork?" The Wisdom King took two steps, but that was enough for him to dodge the attack and move behind his back. "You were lucky you didn't trip on your own legs."

Smash—he then brought the wooden sword down and slammed it into the back of Ambrose's bald head.

Thud—he crashed on the ground with a loud thud.

"Ugh..." Ambrose rubbed the back of his head while standing back up.

The Wisdom King sighed. "We have a long way to go."

"I am sorry, grandmaster." Ambrose said, bowing his head in apology. "I will train harder."

"I am not interested in apology." The Wisdom King again pointed his wooden sword at the bald-headed young man. "I am interested in results. We won't be finished until you have managed to last more than three moves.

"Attack!"

Ambrose lunged forward, starting another round of battle. However, it ended merely seconds later. Then he stood back up before continuing to fight.

They fought, and Ambrose continued losing the fights, and when the rainstorm finally arrived on top of them, they didn't stop the training; instead, Ambrose planned to use the rain to his advantage to land at least one attack on the Wisdom King.

He thought the slippery ground would be favorable for him to execute his swift and unpredictable moves. Unfortunately, the Wisdom King was even more powerful in such unpredictable conditions, and Ambrose lost even worse.

During that day, he lost over a thousand fights.

He didn't land a single hit on his opponent.

He never even managed to throw his second attack before being defeated.

The longest he survived in a fight was three seconds.