Chapter 55: The Swordsman
*Author's Note*
A lot of people guessed that the MC's na was the clue. Well, technically you're not wrong. Only one person successfully guessed it and he was a fellow gno. Gno Power!
Chapter 55 The Swordsman
Red poured a glass of beer and slid it over to Rayleigh before shaking his head and chuckling under his breath. "No amount of points would allow us to set up a situation where Mihawk would be willing to teach you anything. Even if we made you his long lost son or sothing, he'd still kill you the mont you asked for lessons."
Rayleigh downed a third of the glass before asking, "Why? I thought you could do anything with enough points."
Red snorted, "Within reason. Mihawk isn't a babysitter. Do you know the difference between a first degree Black Belt and an 8th, 9th, and 10th degree one?"
Rayleigh shook his head in the negative.
Red explained, "A first degree blackbelt just ans you have mastered the basics, that you have a foundation worth building on, that you have a full deck of usable cards. The highest degrees are the masters who know every variation, form, pattern, and style to flawlessly use that foundation without the slightest bit of error. Soone at the 8th degree has reached the mastery level to found their own school. Mihawk could be considered a 10th degree master of the sword while you don't even have a blackbelt since you are pretty far from converting your skill with a Lightsaber into swordsmanship. In order to teach you properly, he'd have to take the ti to teach you the basics first. Asking him for a lesson would be an insult and waste of ti, neither of which you'd be able to survive."
Rayleigh asked, "Where do I have to be skill-wise for him to even consider teaching
then?"
Red looked thoughtful for a mont before answering, "With your current strength, if you can kill Pitou with just your sword skills in a one on one, that would be enough to request an affordable lesson. And by affordable, I an less than fifty thousand Mission Points. You must rember, Mihawk ain't like Roshi who is willing to teach the next generation because he is old and bored. Before Zoro, Mihawk had never taken a single student, and Zoro almost died countless tis under his tutelage. Zoro was pretty much a 1st or 2nd degree master at the start of the series and could have been considered a 5th degree when he asked Mihawk for lessons and was trained to the 8th degree over the next two years and beca a ninth degree after beating King. And don't even get
started on the philosophical heart of the sword stuff that real swordsn have and at least right now, you don't. Regardless of your skill level, without a heart that belongs to the sword, asking for lessons from Mihawk would guarantee an instant, rciless death. He isn't weaker than Netero in his pri."
Rayleigh paled a bit at the explanation and price. He asked, "Is there anyone else in the Pirate World who would be willing to teach good swordsmanship?"
"There are plenty who can take you to the mastery level, but that's still just a first or second degree blackbelt. There are no schools that teach a greater mastery outside of the Marines. You could always join them, show off your sword skills, and disciple yourself under a swordmaster from them. That's what the Pirate Players are doing."
Rayleigh asked, "Are there no secret swordsman hermits living in a cave on secret islands waiting for their destined disciple to show up for them to pass on their knowledge to?"
Red snorted in amusent, "Even if there were, we wouldn't tell you. What's the point of granting you access to taknowledge in the Tavern if you aren't going to use it during the one ti it matters? You don't think you're the first person to ask sothing like that, do you? Using what you know, you have to make a plan, and then we drop you in the world with a background that will point you in the right direction."
Rayleigh asked with frustration, "Then how will I even know about Mihawk in the Pirate world?"
"Common knowledge isn't the sa as taknowledge. It is no secret that Mihawk is known as the strongest swordsman in that world. It won't cost a lot to add that knowledge to your background since you could have heard it while growing up or maybe you saw him yourself. He does get around."
Rayleigh sighed. "How much would it cost to go to the sword school Zoro attends?"
Red smiled, "A lot. I told you before, but anything to do with Main Characters is expensive, and the future first mate of the future pirate king is not an easy ticket to buy access to. Plus, there are other Pirate Players already at that school who probably won't appreciate the competition."
"Any recomndations you can give then?"
"Well, you could return to Tython and go back to wearing that amazing robe of yours."
Rayleigh's eyebrow involuntarily twitched as he directly stated, "No."
Red tapped twice on the countertop and said, "Sha. Then go to the MCU. You don't have anywhere near enough Mission Points to get a good teacher for the Pirate World anyways, but a basic MCU identity is free. The few points you do have are enough for so add-ons that will set you in the right direction."
Rayleigh nodded and asked, "What cos free with the MCU identity?"
"Parents if you want them. Otherwise, we can give you the identity of an orphaned emancipated minor that inherited enough to live off until you're older."
"Orphan, please. It might be the Jedi in , but I don't feel comfortable gaining attachnts if I can avoid it."
Red nodded, "Understandable. So did you want the basic package or did you want to spend a little for so add-ons?"
Rayleigh rolled his eyes at Red's smile. A little he says. Rayleigh was certain that the package Red made would zero out the Mission Points Rayleigh had made in the three months and everything else he had left since he spent nearly everything to convert the Paladin's Necklace into an inventory item. Still, he at least trusted that if Red said sothing was useful, it probably was. Everything went pretty well last ti.
The mont Rayleigh nodded, a see-through screen appeared in front of him that showed all the details for a new identity that Red seed to have already written up.
[MCU Identity
Rayleigh Rush
Lives in New York City, New York, USA.
Father: Reginald Rush
-Made good money in a lucky stock market gamble and used it wisely.
Mother: Leandra Rush
-SHIELD Agent that retired and got a new identity after her cover was blown and beca a stay at ho mom to avoid exposure.
Hydra discovered Leandra's real identity and arranged for her and her husband's assassination in what looked like a mugging gone wrong.
Neither Rayleigh nor his father has any idea of his mother's past. Due to being a stay at ho mom, Leandra ho schooled Rayleigh and taught him self-defense and martial arts. After their deaths, Rayleigh got himself tested and received a GED to avoid the requirent for High School and was able to get himself emancipated as a minor.
Before he turns 18, most of his accounts are held under a trusted attorney and friend of Reginald's that promised to help Rayleigh when he needed it and would not steal or betray him.
Cost: 2013 Mission Points
Purchase
Yes|No]
After looking over it for a bit, Rayleigh asked, "My mom was a SHIELD Agent killed by Hydra? Really?"
Red nodded, "That bit will help a lot for background stuff. Even if you stand out a bit, Hydra won't try to recruit you since you'd likely turn on them if you discovered the truth, and SHIELD will attribute the base human talents you show to your mother's training. It will be useful if you decide to join them later as well."
"Okay, what about the attorney? Can't I just own my own stuff like I did in the Hunter World?"
Red laughed, "Ha, not if you don't want a lot of hassle. There is no good way for a thirteen-year-old to be declared fully responsible for himself in 1993. Honestly, most of the cost of this identity cos from the fact that the guy who will be holding onto your assets is trustworthy and won't try to take it from you. Such would normally be the case for this kind of situation, especially in a comic book based world."
"Any family I have to worry about?"
Red nodded, "Your dad's father and siblings are alive and the latter will try to trick you into giving them money because they suck, but that just cos with the territory for this kind of identity. The money your dad invested to get rich was borrowed from his own father, and only a large, well-off family would allow that, so it would cost more to have no family in this situation since that would be more unnatural."
Rayleigh asked, "If grandpa is rich, why are my aunties and uncles trying to steal from ?"
"Because they tried to get lucky in the stock market too and it didn't work out. Your father paid back what he borrowed from his old man, but his siblings were lucky if they broke even and are quite the disappointnt."
"That's a lot of background. Did you already have this arranged?"
"Most of it. The MCU identity is free or cheaper to customize because we already set aside the resources needed for these identities prior to the ga starting so we don't need to move or reallocate anything. Since you are spending a few Mission Points as well, I was able to add a few useful things that didn't co with the free package."
Rayleigh nodded and finished his glass of beer. "Well then, wish
luck." Rayleigh pushed the Yes icon to complete the purchase and walked back out of the Tavern. He could have hung out for two hours but was too curious about this new life of his to do so.
The world whited out as Rayleigh passed through the door and his senses blurred from out of focus to crystal clear as he gained a sense of self. Yeah, it was still weird.
Although he didn't want parents because he didn't want any attachnts, that didn't an the Rayleigh Rush that his new identity had been up to this point didn't love his mother and father and those emotions were completely real to him. What sucked more was the pain and regret that stemd from the question, if he didn't ask to be an orphan, would his parents be alive? Did that an he basically killed his parents?
After thinking about the issue for a few minutes, he decided that he did not kill his parents. This identity was saved and Red gave it to him. If Rayleigh didn't ask for dead parents, this identity and those parents would have been given to soone else. The man and woman from his mories would have died no matter what, even if no one requested a life without parents since the Tavern allocated the resources for the identities beforehand.
Still, it was painful. Rayleigh had little choice but to take out his Nensaber handle, cross his legs, and begin ditating. This life's Rayleigh had ditated a few tis after being trained by his mother, so it wasn't a completely unfamiliar practice.
Unlike in his Hunter identity, this identity's parents had been killed only a week ago and this Rayleigh's ntality was still in a lot of pain from the loss. Due to having a young teen's brain chemistry, it was impossible for a few minutes of ditation to restrain the pain and grief, but at least he could organize around it so that it would not affect him as much.
Now was not the ti to grieve. Now was the ti to plan. Red had given Rayleigh a lot of subtle hints during their conversation and Rayleigh had paid close attention to them.
Without his taknowledge, the fact that Rayleigh's mother was a SHIELD Agent and even the existence of SHIELD was sealed, but most of the conversation with Red, outside of specific nas, was still in his mory. He did not rember who he asked to be a student of in the Pirate World but knew that he needed the skill to kill Pitou and a heart that belonged to the sword to do it. Both conditions were fine with him.
The first hint was Red's suggestion to return to Tython and wear that damnably itchy set of robes once more. It likely wouldn't fit him, but it was still a blatant and obvious hint. Why did he suggest it? And why did Red shoot down every attempt to make a Pirate Identity, but was very helpful in making an MCU identity?
Using clues from previous conversations, Rayleigh had a few guesses.
Red once said that when moving from the Jedi Galaxy to the Hunter World, the physical training Rayleigh did would be amplified. He also said that there would be another small amplification when he went to the Pirate World, but it would not be as big because the Pirate system was more focused on Willpower.
That conversation used to be sealed in his mories since it was taknowledge, but it was unsealed once Rayleigh learned the details of Haki from Dragon Chef.
Rayleigh initially thought that Red was downplaying the magnification his training would grant when he went to the Pirate World, but now he had a different interpretation of Red's hint. What if Willpower training was also magnified when he went to the Pirate World?
What if training Willpower was easier as a Pirate due to the Pirate Power System? Rayleigh suspected that to be the case. That ant it was a good idea to train his Willpower as much as possible before going to the Pirate World.
He internally shuddered at the thought, but the fact that he did so ant his Willpower still had a lot of room for growth.
Sothing Rayleigh would only realize later was that the teen years were the best ti for Willpower training. The brain chemistry of teenagers made them naturally rebellious, so it was like adding weights to hamper and reduce discipline and willpower. Any Willpower training during this age had a far greater effect than anything an adult could do, and there was a massive difference in skill between those who trained during their teens and those who did not.
As for how to train Willpower? Well, itching powder was a thing after all. Unlike his old robes, itching powder was made from tiny spikes covered in a film that caused severe itchiness when it ca into contact with the skin, and would probably be even worse than the robes he used to wear. If he could get to the point where he would not be ntally affected by itching powder, he would say his training was complete.
After collecting himself, Rayleigh opened up his Player nu and checked out the Chat Rooms.
[Select a Chat Room
General: 16 Users
MCU: 3 Users
Warrior: 16 Users
Wizard: 10 Users
Ninja: 10 Users
Hunter: 11 Users
Pirate: 16 Users
Jedi: 9 Users
The numbers didn't quite add up to 100, but that was because so were in the Tavern and so didn't keep the Chat Room open.
Seeing that the MCU chat room was empty, Rayleigh opened up the General Chat Room since the one he was looking for was probably hanging out in there.
[Swordsman has signed in.]
[Swordsman: Hey Book worm, you there?]
[Lord of Madness: You just missed her, she went to the library.]
[Book worm: I don't need to go to the library, I have my own. What's up Swordsman?]
[Wonder Woman: Must be nice to be rich. I wonder how much your parents would pay for ransom..]
[Swordsman: I just got here. Is that number still good?]
[Book worm: Ah. I see. Yes, it's good.]
Rayleigh then left his bedroom and walked over to his ho's living room where a ho phone was plugged in and picked it up. He missed smartphones and wondered if any of the Players intended to invent one themselves, though he highly doubted it.
When Book worm had co to the session where Rayleigh taught many Players how to use Nen, Book worm left an open invitation for additional lessons on Divine Script. If he either wrote a book on how to use it to teach her, she would locate the best teacher to give him sword lessons her family's money and connections could find. She also gave him her ho phone number, the number he was dialing right now.
After a pair of rings, the other end picked up and a familiar voice sounded from the other end, [Swordsman?]
"Yeah, it's . I'm in New York at the mont. Are you here too?" She told him she lived here but that was a few months ago.
[Yes, I'm still here. Did you accept my proposal?]
"Yeah, I can write everything I know about Divine Script down and give it to you and give you lessons in using it in exchange for a good teacher. Did you have anyone in mind?"
[I do. I even hired a PI to get a few more details from him and he's probably the best teacher you'll find.]
"Oh? Cool. Who is he?"
[You'll find out later. Tell
your address and I'll head over tomorrow.]
"Alright." Rayleigh had moved into a small apartnt after the death of his parents and sold his house since it was too big and had too many mories, so he had to find so mail on the counter and read it off for his current address.
[Okay. I'll be there at noon tomorrow.]
"See you then."
After hanging up, Rayleigh walked over to the window and looked out over the view of Central Park. Though he got an apartnt, it was a nice apartnt.
Rayleigh got so baggy clothes and headed outside after locking up. He lived on the 3rd floor, and only after heading down to street level and entering the park did he open his inventory and take out the Adjustable Weight set. The five piece set included a weighted vest, two weighted anklets, and two weighted wristbands. When he took them out, a slider appeared that showed from a scale of one to a hundred how much he could make them weigh. Each number represented another 5 kilograms. At max weight, if he wore them all, he would be carrying 2,500 kilograms.
Rayleigh could not carry that much without it slowing him down a lot, but he could set each piece to about a hundred and fifty kilograms and wear that. Rayleigh himself was far from weighing that much, so it was a good amount for his thirteen-year-old self to carry.
At least he thought so. Rayleigh heard that there was a Ninja their age who wore ankle weights that totaled over 2000 kilograms a piece. If Rayleigh went all out, he might be able to move wearing that, but he'd also probably destroy himself. He figured the Ninja power system must have granted better self recovery options than his own did if that guy hadn't crippled himself yet.
Rayleigh put the vest on under his shirt and then put on the ankle weights and wrist weights before he enabled his Second Level Zetsu, which not only removed his Nen abilities, but also completely cut himself off from the Force. Then he started jogging at a light pace. His goal was to tire himself out as much as possible, sothing that would be easier after sealing his Nen and Force abilities. The benefits of doing so were that healing and self recovery were magnified while in a state of Zetsu, so any wear and tear he experienced would recover quickly.
Rayleigh jogged for hours and continued long after the sun had set. His clothes were stained with sweat and his breathing was heavy. This was the first ti he'd tried exercise this intensive while in 2nd Level Zetsu, so he had no idea how much he'd been relying on the subconscious aspects of Nen and the Force this whole ti. Even when not doing so consciously, he'd always been using the Force to regulate his breathing and heart-rate. Completely sealing off the Force also ended anything he unconsciously did with the Force, and this was the result. That of course ant there was more to work on, sothing Rayleigh didn't mind.
Rayleigh didn't want to test his apartnt building's stairs or elevator, so he disabled the weights from his Inventory nu so that their projection vanished and he would not have to carry them back upstairs. Since this was New York, there were plenty of places he could grab a bite to eat even after sundown, so he found one and had so dinner before returning back to his apartnt where he got out a bunch of papers and started writing.
The next morning, Rayleigh's door sounded the arrival of his guest, so he set his pen down and answered the door.
As usual, Book worm was a shorter than average looking teen with a slim figure and brown hair cut short. She wore glasses but they were fake as she just liked the style.
"Hey Book."
She greeted back with a nod and replied, "Hey, so how's the new identity?"
"Are you gonna tell
anything about your identity, besides the fact that you're rich?"
"Nope."
"Fair enough. So, my parents were killed in a mugging last week. Getting over that is going to suck. I am an emancipated minor though."
"At thirteen? Who is your guardian?"
"A lawyer friend of my father's."
"What's his na and who does he work for?"
"My father or the lawyer?"
"The lawyer."
"Ah, Nathan Flanders. He works for Lukeman and Sacks."
Book smiled, "Ah. He should be fine then."
Rayleigh asked, "What, do you know every lawyer in New York?"
"Only the good ones," was her quick reply.
"Well, I paid extra for a trustworthy one, so I should be fine. So, tell
about this teacher you found."
Book opened the bag at her side and pulled out a folded, tattered paper, and unfolded it before placing it on the living room table and letting Rayleigh have a look.
It was a poster. On the poster was a picture of a French-looking guy wearing a purple uniform and holding a sword. The backdrop of the picture was clearly that of a circus. According to the caption on the bottom of the poster, this was one of the Main Attractions of the Carson Carnival of Traveling Wonders. The man's title on the poster was, Swordsman, the Most Daring Swashbuckler of All!
Rayleigh gave Book a disbelieving glance which made her roll her eyes.
She argued, "Hey, don't give
that look. This is a comic book world, right? Don't use normal logic. Besides, I told you I hired a PI to check this guy out, right? His na is Jacques Duquesne. He is a master of swords, knives, and pretty much anything with a sharp edge. He was born the prince of what was basically a French colony in a foreign country and he even joined a rebellion against his father's rule. But after the rebels won, they killed his father, so he left and wandered the world before joining the Circus. Doesn't that sound comic book-y to you?"
"Okay, I'll admit, he does sound like a comic book character. Is he moonlighting as a masked hero or sothing?"
"Nope. According to what my PI found, Duquesne is often hired by the local mob of wherever he goes for muscle work. He is a bad person other bad people pay to do things they aren't skilled enough to do themselves without getting caught, and since he doesn't use guns, he can get in and out without making a racket. By the ti the police are even looking for a suspect outside of the mob, the circus has already left for another area."
"And you think he'd be a good teacher?"
"As long as he is paid, yes. Besides, he apparently has a large collection of different swords from all over the world that were once owned by famous masters."
"Okay, you sold ." Rayleigh was fully aware of what he could do with access to a collection like that.
"Good. The Carson Carnival will show up in New York in another two months, so you have until then to either teach
how to use Divine Script or finish writing a book on how to use it."
"No problem. I can start teaching you now if you have the ti."
"Hmm. I can co over for an hour twice a week. That reminds , were you still gonna write the Kingkiller Chronicles?"
"Yeah, if I don't finish writing it before the carnival cos, I'll finish later and mail it to you."
"Okay. Did you read any other good books from the Hunter World? I read a few and plan to plagiarize them, but you might have read so I did not."
"I did read so of the classics. I'll write up a list of titles I rember and you can tell
which ones you didn't read."
Besides training Nen, Book worm also read one or two different books every single day in the Hunter World and planned to plagiarize them all. The only reason Rayleigh may have read ones she did not was that he spent a few years in the equivalent of Japan which had stories and books she would not have been able to easily find while in Yorknew.
Even though the savings Rayleigh's parents left him were enough to live comfortably off, he still wanted so inco, and Book worm said she would print any book given to her that didn't exist in this world and get the royalties to the writer. It would be a nice source of inco that didn't require him to work.
For now, he started on giving lessons. He had a lot of work to do, but at least he had the ti to do it.
*Author's Note*
So yeah, Rayleigh will be stealing the title of Marvel's Swordsman for himself, and in a Highlander fashion, will be taking down the original. THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE. So his Chat Room na was the clue. I'm surprised no one googled Marvel Swordsman. He's the first guy to pop up, and his Stats page confirms he is the best swordsman in the world. Not the strongest, but the most skilled. And Rayleigh will be stealing that skill.
Oh, I am changing the MCU tiline a bit. In the MCU, Hawkeye was 41 during Avengers. I'm changing that a bit. Instead of being born 1971, I'm setting it so that he was born 1978. He will be two years older than the Players and will be in the carnival until he is 18. He will then win various competitions in archery and be scouted by SHIELD later. Rayleigh won't stay in the MCU long (Chapter wise), just long enough to pick up so skills and establish a presence before he heads to the Pirate World.
For those wondering, yes, Rayleigh will be joining SHIELD at so point. Why? Because it lets
add more Nick Fury scenes which are always funny, and lets Rayleigh be sent to deal with other Players once they grow into a massive problem.
Stones Reviews = chapter fuel.
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