IRL Console 28 Epiphany

[Level Progress ----------------53]

The past two years had flown by once Ma Sa had truly established his routine. He hadn't really cultivated that much over this time; merely one hour per day. His focus had instead been on learning Tui Na and the Spear Law Scripture. His One and Two-Handed Proficiency had merged into Combat Skills soon after he had begun his training and he was making steady progress in it. His in-depth knowledge of human anatomy came in extremely useful for the former but the latter was a brutal grind. Even with the early Combat Skills perks, --Martial Comprehension(9/9)--, the Spear Law was not even close to pa.s.sing the threshold of the first layer. Whereas, for Tui Na and Qi Thread Manipulation, the comprehension boost was so noticeable that his base learning speed had quadrupled. In reality he was much faster than that due to another reason.

Barely progressing in the Spear Law itself didn't mean that Ma Sa was not improving in his use of the spear however. He went from a complete noob to being able to accurately pierce a specific leaf of his choice on a blowing bush. The --Kinetic Vision(9/9)-- perks helped here. Since Ma Sa was merely training outside of actual combat his proficiency rose rather slowly. The grind had certainly paid off over the last few years. Ma Sa was certain that, if he had to face the nine-tails again, it would be on the verge of death in only a strike or two. He finally had an idea as to how to use his power effectively!

As for Smithing, Ma Sa had improved relatively quickly in this department too. Certainly the theory wasn't ever going to be an issue with the inventory at hand and his 'other Ma Sas' to look through it for him. Two years had brought him a long way in his mental cultivation. Mainly due to the diligence of MS 1.1 who would access the console and train for a ridiculous amount of time when Ma Sa was asleep. Turns out that sub personalities can keep on ticking without sleep. MS 1.1 was so diligent that there was now MS 1.9. The weird naming was MS 1.1's idea... Ma Sa could only have 9 splits of his own mind but, since the sub personalities were able to also split at higher levels of the technique, it was likely that there would be a 1.91 soon enough. The multiple sub minds made his comprehension in all fields skyrocket. Smithing was suddenly super easy if you had nine minds calculating the perfect hammer angle for the next strike. Ma Sa was so glad that this whole process happened under the hood. He imagined that the mental chatter would drive him bat-s.h.i.t in seconds.

He was starting to get a little bit of what he referred to as 'Saitama Syndrome' lately. Life was getting a little bit too easy the more he trained and that only drove him to throw himself into more arduous training in order to push his limits. Ma Sa wasn't one to go looking for trouble but he occasionally found himself imagining how he would survive if some alien invasion or martial art super zombie apocalypse was to occur... It seemed like, no matter how strong he got, he would always dream of being the MC! Right now he was bored! What was the use of training if he couldn't put it to the test?? Thoughts of the Jianghu slowly started to occupy his mind more and more throughout his daily life. It was time to get out there and experience a little of the chaotic world. After all, a hero enters the chaos and tames it. If there is no chaos, there can be no hero!

Ma Sa thought back to his life in Toronto and all of the suffering he had endured being imprisoned by the silent pilot. Somewhat of an epiphany struck him at that point. Maybe he had willed the silent pilot into existence himself in order to face adversity?! His world was so civilized in the modern era that pioneering adventure was no longer possible. People had to make their own. Some did it in business, trying to climb their ways to the top of the rich list. Some did it through activism, trying to overturn societal establishment. Some, like Mao, Hitler, and Stalin, did it by trying to bend the world to their vision and establish complete order, becoming 'heros' in the process. Some tried to top the world in their sport. Some took the simple route and just threw their bodies out of airplanes! Suddenly a whole new outlook towards human nature formed in Ma Sa's mind. That was it! He simply wasn't cut out for playing the games other people in civilized society did. He longed for true, life-threatening, blood pumping chaos to pit himself against. What he was doing now was like practicing combos in a fighting game's training mode; just pounding on a stationary dummy in a bid to improve his skills. This wasn't life! This wasn't the real game!

The newfound clarity overwhelmed Ma Sa to the point of tears! How much heartache could he have avoided if he had simply picked the adversity he wanted to face more carefully?! He could have thrown himself into his work more and tried to solve puzzling cases with more enthusiasm. Maybe he could have gone into chiropractic research and attempted to solve puzzles that had stumped everyone else before him? Maybe he could have just realized that chiropractic didn't b.u.t.ter his m.u.f.fin and thrown in the towel? Maybe he'd have found his happiness struggling for survival in the arctic tundra?

He didn't, however, and instead overcame his silent pilot, in a pretty embarra.s.sing, keyboard gobbling fashion. That had led him to where he was now - on the verge of living yet another unfulfilling life in another world with an insanely OP system! Thinking back on his time here, the one time that he had felt truly alive was when the nine-tails had forced him to the edge of despair. Suddenly the snarling nine-tails looked kind of cute to him - especially when it looked confused as he ran at it after the first attack.

So, what was going to be his goal for life on the Qian continent? The most apparent answer to Ma Sa was to aim for becoming the strongest being on the face of the earth. How would he know when he succeeded? When he could beat all of the other strongest people on the earth (or whatever this world was called) when they came at him together. What would he do when he succeeded? Go to the next world and start again from scratch with a different goal. What would he do when he had eventually learned all there was to learn? Struggle to become a Deity and create lifeforms to live vicariously through. Once that got boring? Find a way to erase his memories and start again! What was his meaning for existence? To find meanings for his existence!

Wait... What if he had already done this before?! If this was the conclusion he came to now then it was possible that the Ma Sa of now and the Dave of the other world were simply incarnations of a bored G.o.d who wiped their own memories! Woah there buddy! Let's not get too far into this... Thinking of yourself as a G.o.d is a fast track to gaining some pretty s.h.i.tty personality traits...

Ma Sa slapped his hands on his cheeks to bring himself back to reality. So what if he once was a G.o.d? He wasn't now. In fact, right now he was completely insignificant. A mere speck of dust in a vast desert. That was the way he liked it! Starting from nothing gave him infinite potential for growth and the real pleasure was in the journey to his destination. Right now, it was time to go talk to his elders about heading out into the Jianghu to take his first steps on the path to becoming the strongest being on the planet!

*******************

"Grandpa Su!" Ma Sa barged into the old Forgemaster's quarters to find the old pervert with his hands all over his maid's b.r.e.a.s.t.s, copping a feel of those t.i.tties!

"Brat! What the f.u.c.k! Who told you to go barging into people's private s.p.a.ce!? What do you want??"

Su Won was fuming but at the same time he had a little hint of pride on his face. Min Li Pan was a fine woman in her late thirties and was very attractive. Quite the catch for an old man like him! She was considerate and mild mannered normally but fiery and pa.s.sionate in private. He didn't know what a hottie like her saw in him apart from his money and fame but she really did genuinely care for him. He had asked her to be his wife numerous times over the last few years but she had always said that her place was by his side as a maid and lover. She didn't want or need the recognition of being the Forgemaster's wife.

Min Li Pan blushed as Ma Sa flashed her and her older gentleman lover the thumbs up. The cute kid was quite funny to her as he was definitely old for his age. She gently separated herself from Su Won's embrace.

"Hrrmm hrmm! Well, sorry to barge in I just had something I was way too eager to talk to you about. I want to go to the Jianghu!"

"Ha! Sorry my a.s.s! Wait... What?! Kid, no way! You're far too young for that place. Not to mention, too weak!"

"Well, about that... I won't continue to bother you now. Can I see you and teacher Guan in your courtyard before dinner?"

Ma Sa didn't want to reveal his cultivation in front of Min Li Pan even though he knew she wouldn't say anything it was just better. What one doesn't know is less likely to bring them trouble. He knew there were mental techniques to pry information out of people so it was safer to only have his close circle of confidants know of any sensitive information. Besides, he had even decided against showing Old Guan the full extent of his cultivation after he fought the nine-tails. He only showed that he had advanced to Martial Fighter. The last thing he wanted was to shock Old Guan into apoplexy!

"Sure. We can do that kid, now get out of here! And KNOCK next time!"

Ma Sa saluted his Grandpa Su in his customary fashion and skipped out the door after which the murmuring of sweet nothings between Su Won and Min Li Pan resumed.

Ma Sa really hoped the pair of old geezers wouldn't die of heart attacks when he revealed his cultivation later!