Chapter 66: Mission Challenge

In a narrow alleyway, usually deserted and rarely visited, a sudden outburst of screams and the thud of heavy bodies hitting the ground shattered the silence. Night Star clapped the dust from his hands and stepped out; behind him, a group of thugs with all manner of bizarrely colored hair lay unconscious, sprawled across the alley floor.

Straightening his clothes, which had become slightly rumpled during the scuffle, Night Dust stopped tossing the gemstone he’d been playing with, slipped it into his pocket, and continued on toward his apartment. With a hint of uncertainty, he asked Ruoxing, “Ruoxing, wasn’t my attack just now much faster than before?”

“Of course it was! Now that your Draw Sword Technique has reached intermediate level, you’ve gained a passive boost: your attack initiation speed is doubled, and your attack speed is tripled. Why do you think we had you choose the Draw Sword Technique in the first place? It was precisely for its passive effect.” A small head poked out from the Twin Swords of Fantasy; Ruoxing shot Night Star a look that said, “You’ve only just noticed?” and spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Triple attack speed, you say? Within Night Dust’s perception field, all his speeds can already be tripled, and with the Draw Sword Technique’s threefold boost, that should make it nine times faster. But when I fought Tianyu, I didn’t reach anything close to nine times my usual speed.” The passive bonus to attack speed was certainly enticing, but the first thing that came to Night Star’s mind was this.

“Did you really think it would be that easy? If you could multiply boosts like that, anyone could become invincible just by stacking a few effects. Here, your attack initiation speed is six times the original—not squared,” Ruoxing said, wrinkling her adorably pert nose at Night Star’s greed.

Realizing his own thoughts were a bit too ambitious, Night Star shook his head and asked, “So, is there any way to further improve the Draw Sword Technique now?”

“Of course. The Draw Sword Technique can be refined through your own practice. The next stage, advanced Draw Sword Technique, gives a passive effect of quadruple initiation speed and quintuple attack speed, which don’t stack with the previous bonuses. Add in your powerful cross-level skills, and your combat ability will definitely improve further!” Ruoxing nodded affirmatively.

“I see. That’s good.” Now returned to his room, Night Star eagerly resumed his Draw Sword Technique training. The Shadow Star Technique could be cultivated continuously at any time, and the unique ability unaffected by curses, which had not yet taken shape in his body, was slowly being developed as he communicated with Ruoxing and Ruocheng. Ruocheng’s technique hadn’t even begun to be conceived, so for now, the fastest way to improve was through the Draw Sword Technique.

He’d returned to his room around four in the afternoon. It wasn’t until dawn the next day that Night Star finally ended his frenzied training. Though his abilities had been greatly diminished by severe injury, he was still far from feeling fatigued from a night without sleep. Reviewing his progress, one night’s practice had only advanced him by two percent.

This was, in fact, already a rapid pace, but Night Star was still dissatisfied. After all, real growth comes from battle—just as, after the intense fight with Tianyu, both Night Star and Night Dust had instantly advanced from basic to intermediate Draw Sword Technique. Unfortunately, there seemed to be no one in this world capable of forcing him to fight with all his might.

“Mission: Train the Draw Sword Technique. Since there’s nothing urgent to do before the zombie crisis breaks out, here’s a task to keep you busy: Challenge the most renowned kendo dojos in Chuangzhu City. Defeat the ten strongest and the mission is complete. The reward: Draw Sword Technique advances to advanced level.”

Perhaps sensing his eagerness to improve, the system thoughtfully issued this mission right at that moment. Night Star glanced at his remaining progress—over fifty percent left. Without battles, and at the current rate, it would take over fifty days to reach advanced level. But if he challenged one dojo per day, it would take at most ten days, given his abilities.

Night Star accepted the mission without hesitation—he liked nothing better than not wasting time.

“Mission accepted: Challenge the ten strongest kendo dojos in Chuangzhu City. Current progress (0/10).” Once accepted, the system’s interface changed, displaying a 0/10 record. However, there was no information about which dojos to challenge or their specific locations.

“Ruocheng! Doesn’t the system provide any information? Am I supposed to find these dojos myself?” Knowing Ruoxing and Ruocheng took shifts, Night Star called out to Ruoxing.

“That’s right. The system won’t give the host too much information, or you’d become lazy. If you really need details, you’ll have to spend points to purchase them,” Ruocheng replied apologetically.

Night Star was well aware of the system’s prices—the cheapest information cost at least twenty points, and his current balance totaled barely five hundred. He certainly wouldn’t waste points just to save himself a bit of effort; he’d rather spend a little more time asking around.

After a shower and changing into comfortable sportswear, Night Star slung the Twin Swords of Fantasy—never allowed more than a meter away—across his back and set out to search for the strongest kendo dojos in Chuangzhu City. On the way, he asked a few people, who were all left stunned by his cold yet stunningly beautiful eyes. Yet their answers left Night Star somewhat dissatisfied.

For the single strongest dojo in Chuangzhu City, everyone unanimously named the Toxic Island Dojo. Though it didn’t have many members, its strength was second to none. But when it came to the top ten, opinions diverged, with several dojos vying for the last few spots.

In the end, Night Star gathered the names and addresses of twelve dojos—the ten strongest were surely among them. Not caring to split hairs, he decided to challenge all twelve just to be sure. He couldn’t quite fathom why a single city needed so many dojos.

Naturally, a challenge at a dojo couldn’t be fought with the Twin Swords of Fantasy; even real swords were not permitted, let alone such a divine weapon. To avoid unnecessary trouble, Night Dust found a shop selling wooden swords and bought one of decent quality.

Examining the wooden sword, Night Star muttered in puzzlement, “It’s called a kendo dojo, but their wooden swords are all in the style of Tang blades. I suppose ‘blade dojo’ doesn’t sound as pleasant, so they’re all called kendo dojos instead. It still counts, I guess.”

Not dwelling further on names, and following the information he’d gathered, Night Star set off with his wooden sword toward the nearest dojo. He decided to challenge one each day, starting today.