[Ghost - SP F2 Quest - Breaking the Unbreakable]

[Ghostie 0]

Spoiler

Quest Details:

 

Spoiler

 

Ghost
Total SP: 5 | Allocated: 0 | Remaining: 5
Level 1 | Paragon ?
HP: 100/100 | EN | DMG: 1 | ACC: 1 |EVA: 1 | MIT |

Equipment
-Weapon: Scrying Dagger T1 | ACC | EVA |
-Armor:NA
-Trinket:NA

Looking through the various available quests, Ghost found herself at the bottom of the Floor Two mountain to start the quest that she had heard others talking about. Martial Arts isn’t the most overpowered skill to learn by far, but it does seem fairly unique to have. Plus, it’d make it to where bulky weaponry wasn’t as much of a problem.

Shrugging her shoulders, Ghost stretched her legs and got ready to start the climb. ‘Once I get done with this, I should see about doing the questline for a familiar,’ she thought to herself as she eyed the various paths she could choose between for getting up the mountain.

One path to the left seemed much steeper, with plenty of rocks protruding from the cliff side which would help for climbing. The center path, however, had more of a slippery terrain, moss  growing more heavily along the holdings.

And lastly, the right path seemed to be fairly easy. There were still some climbing points, but for the most part it shouldn’t be too difficult to maintain.

Edited December 23, 2021 by Ghostie

[Ghostie 0]

After looking and debating long and hard about her available options, Ghost nodded with conviction… and chose the hardest path. Nine times out of ten, a challenge like this that gives seemingly easier choices even in older games are usually intended as an illusion to trick the player. The easier path could become much more difficult, for instance. That, or all of the paths might just converge together. There wasn’t any sense in choosing an easier path if the probability of a false sense of hope was high.

Satisfied with her reasoning, the girl rolled up her sleeves and slipped her sandals off. Hooking the lace of the sandals to her hands to where the bottom of the sandals acted as braces for the back of her hands, she started her climb up the steep, rough terrain. 

~Much Later…~
 

’Jesus, why did I pick the hard path,’ Ghost thought to herself as she rested for a moment on a small cut-out in the mountain. Checking the player menu for the time, she sweatdropped with a sigh. She had started the climb at 6:00, and it was already 9:00. Looking down at the place where she had started at, the place where she once stood was maybe a centimeter’s comparison in distance.
 

[Ghostie 0]

Catching her bearings, Ghost stretched again and hopped to, starting the climb once more. She knew this quest would probably be fairly difficult, but martial arts as a skill line was too tempting to pass up. Having trained for a while with her father after graduating secondary school, it would be generally right up her alley. She just wished that this mountain wasn’t such a pain.

….

Another hour had passed, and the girl was focusing on nothing else but climbing. Screw the rewards, the next objectives, the long way back down; nothing else mattered except the climb. It’d taken her too long just to get past the cloudline, she’d be damned if she didn’t at least finish the climb up this giant piece of rock.

As she thought to herself, one of the rocks she held onto crumbled away, and she slipped, only hanging on by one rock. Panicking for a moment, her fear almost instantly turned into determination as she took one of her handheld sandals and gently swiped at the holdable rocks ahead of her to make sure they weren’t loose. Feeling more confident, she slipped the sandal back on her hand and swung herself slowly, building up momentum.
 

Then after a few moments, she swung herself upward and latched onto the rocks up above her, the rock she held onto prior crumbling away from the sudden force. Breathing heavily, she eyed the mountain with more confidence than she would typically ever show.

‘I WILL best you…’

[Ghostie 0]

It was now 1:00pm. The sun was beating down on Ghost’s face; she was more exhausted than she ever thought she could be, let alone in a game. Having passed the cloudline hours ago, she still held onto her focus and kept climbing. If she gave up now, then frankly she’d never be able to forgive herself.

 

‘Just one hand in front of the other..’

 

After a while longer, she’d felt a drop of water hit her face, and she almost lost her grip before looking up blankly. Then, she saw it… Grass. Not just mountainside grass, but real rooted grass. Smiling in reprieve, the girl regained a huge boost of energy, practically hand-sprinting up the mountain as quickly as she could while still being careful.

 

Reaching over the top of the cliff side, Ghost’s hands grasped at the grass and pulled herself strugglingly up and over the edge, laying on her back on the top of the mountain and panting heavily. ‘Screw that mountain, its pebble children, and its fake paths…’ After seven hours of non stop climbing, she had finally made it.

 

Looking over to her left, she was left in awe of the scenery. Glistening waterfalls, traditional designs for bridges and a dojo, long but cleanly laid grass, and… a very large tacky boulder, sitting next to a lake. That probably has a purpose, but her spectation was interrupted by the voice of a man walking up to her.

Edited December 22, 2021 by Ghostie

[Ghostie 0]

“You seem to have come a long way!” Came the voice of said older man as he walked towards Ghost. He wore traditional ceremonial attire, his long grayed hair pulled tightly into a high rose ponytail, and sporting a long silvered beard that passed his core in length. “It’s nice to have a visitor! I haven’t had one in a long time.”

Ghost quickly stood up, and analyzed the man while she dusted off her clothes and slipped her sandals back onto her feet. Based on what was described in the quest, this might be the NPC designed to unlock the Martial Arts skill line for her. If that’s the case, then whatever objectives might be next, she’ll learn from him.

Bowing respectfully, the girl stood up and began to sign to him, her subtitles turned on. ‘Hello, sir. My name is Ghost, and I have climbed up your mountain in order to learn Martial Arts.’

[Ghostie 0]

After signing, there was an awkward silence between the two of them as the man didn’t reply. Ghost sighed in what she felt was defeat and frustration; she should’ve seen about getting help. she might’ve been able to ask Lessa, Koga or Oji, but she really wanted to try and do this on her own. At least they would’ve been able to actually talk to the NPC.

Before she had fully given up, however, the man began to sign back:

‘Hello, Ghost. I am Master YunXiang. You wish to learn Martial Arts, and that’s commendable. However, I will only train those that prove to me that they are ready. Come to me when you are prepared for your tasks.’

Ghost stared in between the man and his signing with wide eyes, clearly shocked. She figured that maybe if she were lucky, the game’s automatic translation would let the NPC understand her, if not her STS system. But the fact that this NPC seemed to genuinely understand and comprehend sign language, she didn’t even consider the possibility. 

[Ghostie 0]

Nodding and bowing once again, Ghost took a moment to get her herself mentally before signing to  the Master again. ‘I am ready to continue.’ Master YunXiang nodded, his face more relaxed and unreadable than even Ghost’s usual persona. He beckoned for her to follow him, and they made their way into the Minka home.

“Your first task shall be to train yourself physically,” master YunXiang explained. “For one’s body to become a weapon, their body must become attuned to such actions of a weapon. It is one thing to strike someone from anger with your hands; it is another entirely to focus your hands into the very instrument of damage, that would truly harm an enemy when needed.”

Ghost nodded, understanding everything that the master explained. This was the same general lecture that her dad had given her when she trained with him, so it wasn’t too difficult to follow. The master then brought her to a particular door in the back of his home, opening the shoji door to reveal her training area.

[Ghostie 0]

It was a large open balcony of sorts, some lanterns and bamboo wind chimes decorating the sides. The balcony overlooked the steeper side of the mountain, providing a grand view of the peaks of other mountaintops poking through the cloud line. As far as her training equipment went, there was a wooden Wing Chun dummy built into the flooring, an air filled dummy next to it, a large ball held in place by guard rails with a water kanji printed onto it, and a shrine off to the side.

‘What is the shrine for?’ Ghost signed to the master. Master YunXiang chuckled quietly before responding. “The shrine is for praying, my pupil. After each challenge has been completed within this room, you will pray at the shrine. Should nothing happen, then you will have not improved enough. However, should the shrine illuminate itself, that will mean that you have successfully improved yourself from the individual challenge. After the third challenge, I will return.”

On that notion, Ghost and the master bowed to each other respectfully, and master YunXiang walked back inside, closing the shoji door behind himself. Ghost took the moment of solitude to examine and study the exercises in front of her, trying to get a feel of what exactly each exercise was for. The Wing Chun dummy was probably intended for reflexive reaction time, modeled spin when stuck and to strike back when spinning back around. The air filled dummy was possibly for both testing impact and endurance. But the last one, the large ball that was probably filled with water or something similar, was confusing.