《Grinding in Vast Martial World》


 Chapter 0

    A ding from my phone reveals a new email. Sipping my soda I take a look.


    Pfft... ''SimDaddy It''s bin almost two years. open open open.'' Spitting out my soda I open the email


    From: SimDaddy47


    Hey It¡¯s bin a while Patriarch36. I still remember those grind runs we did back in Revify. Anyway This new game called Vast Martial World is coming out of closed beta you should play. I remembered how you loved Wuxia and Xianxai back in the day so it¡¯s perfect fit. Just watch out. Or my Beholders might beat you up.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    After cleaning up my computer I start installing the game.


    To: SimDaddy47


    I''m suprised you evan still have my email. I''ll meet you in game although if it''s a total flop i''ll crush you then deleat the account. MWA HA HA HA!!!

 Chapter 1

    ¡°Alrighty then let¡¯s get started¡¯¡±


    Clicking on the new link that formed on my desktopbrought me to the Vast Martial World site.


    Server Start in 12 minutes and 32 seconds


    ¡®Well I least I¡¯ll start at the same time as everyone else¡¯


    I pulled up a shogi app on my phone and started to play. I¡¯m still not very good.


    ¡°Fucking Rook!¡± I yelled as I lost the mach. ¡°Wait I was doing something¡­Shit the game¡±


    7


    ¡°Perfect timing¡± I smiled as the screen reflected on my glasses.


    6


    Stolen story; please report.


    5


    4


    3


    2


    1


    the screen went black for a second before a message appeared.


    Welcome to Vast Martial World! In this game, you take the role of a wounded ancestor, attempting to guide your descendants through to prominence as a powerful and influential sect! Your primary job is threefold. First, you will allocate resources between the disciples of the sect. As the sect grows, this will become increasingly difficult to do with specificity, so you will be forced to create scaffolding that will accomplish that for you. Your second job is to guide your disciples by assisting in their creation of techniques, through naming and by setting the nomological phrasings that form their power base. The final job is to assist your disciples in earning you Face, which can be used to send your disciples to powerful hidden dimensions, tournaments, or ancient tombs so they might gain good fortune!


    ¡°So it¡¯s kinda like ISSTH. Cool Cool Cool¡±


    We have detected this is your first time playing. Play with tips on?


    ¡°Why not.¡± Selecting the yes option made the screen change.


    A detailed image of a mountain base appeared on the screen. Surrounded by light foresting. The mountain wasn¡¯t very tall more of a large hill than anything else. There was a zoom but no pan which is a bit annoying. Athough since I had zoomed in I could til there was a creak pastthe mountain a little ways.


    ¡°Wow this looks nice. Please be mine¡±


    A menu popped up asking for a started race. There was an option of demon, human, or animal.


    ¡°Gotta be demons. Edgy. Strong. Cool. What more dose a guy need¡± my mouse moved over to the demon label and double clicked.


    ¡°So many options. Succubi, Incubi, Tengu oh Lottery,¡±


    Selecting lottery will randomly choose a demon race. An additional nomological phrase associated with your sect will be allowed. Additional, higher ranked options will be included. However, there is a chance that the species will not match your chosen Biome. Proceed anyway?


    ¡°Come on spin to win¡±


    ¡®Lion heart¡¯


    ¡®Forest nymph¡¯


    ¡®Pixie¡¯


    ¡°Come on something good please¡± I whispered to myself


    Congratulations! Your sect shall be the ¡°Ivory Oni Sect¡±.

 Chapter 2

    ¡°Alright¡± I yelled while jumping out of my chair. I had nearly 20 of the oni but the weird thing was they looked mostly human. Just bigger and with two white horns coming from there heads and red eyes. Each wore pelts halfhazardly stitched across there bodies. Although I¡¯m not sure if this is the computer graphic level or if it¡¯s supposed to be this way but their skin is flawless.


    They were just walking around and interacting with each other. It was so fun to watch.


    Then another pop up popped up right over them: Please select a location for your sect headquarters.


    ¡°Tch. Fine but I wanna watch more¡± After scanning the area for a bit I selected a somewhat flat section halfway up the hill.


    All of my little oni started to cut down trees and carrying them over one shoulder. After a bit a little long house was built and a smaller one even built a little fire pit in front of it a little ways from the house.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Good job guys,¡± I said with a little clap as three fireworks shot out above the house making the oni clap as well.


    Please enter your nomological truths of the sect. Due to lottery, you may choose 3 truths.


    ¡°I just wanna watch my cute oni,¡± I whined as a text box appeared. ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s see those are like riddles and rules I think,¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see demons are impatient so I should fix that,¡±


    ¡®1000 years is never to long and a day never to short¡¯


    1st Nomological Truth Accepted.


    ¡°Alright then let¡¯s balance a little more¡±


    ¡®the properties of heaven and earth are one¡¯


    2nd Nomological Truth Accepted.


    ¡°Yes! Know then maybe,¡±


    ¡®Elegance and strength are one and the same¡¯


    3rd Nomological Truth Accepted.


    Personality determined! The Ivory Oni will be: Patient, Volatile!, Clever, and Graceful


    ¡°Fuck ya. Wait volatile isn¡¯t good is it. Oh well patient will counter it,¡±


    As I said that a beam of light descended and hit the fire pit and defused into all 18 oni surrounding it.


    *Beep beep beep*


    Little exclamation points appeared over the heads of three oni. I clicked one.


    ''Hello honorable ancestor. I am Yanasaki Anushi. Our resources continue to go to waist while our young are cold. Please let us build some houses for our selves.'' An older oni with a bit of a slouch said/typed.


    ¡°Just a text box I can probably enter a response but then again maybe I should check the others first¡±

 Chapter 3

    ¡°Wait resources Why haven¡¯t I checked those yet¡± I said as I face palmed. ¡°Let¡¯s see here we got a leafy thing at +2, a log at+7, a stone brick at +1 , a smile face with horns at +1, and another face at 100.


    The other two were Aibu Kata a middle aged oni with severale scars, who wanted to send hunting parties out but needed the stone and wood to make weapons and Ms. Yanasaki Asami a older oni with the nicest pelts, who wanted to trade stone and herbs for better weapons and armor.


    ¡°So I have to talk to each and tell them weather we can or can¡¯t do what they want, and if I say something bad they might get angry.¡±


    First miss Asami.


    ¡® I thank you greatly for your idea but first we need a roof over our heads before we can worry about trade. But once we are able to do so we will certainly begin trading¡¯


    Now than mister Kata


    ¡®I¡¯m afraid we can¡¯t risk our young in hunting yet. We are to few perhaps instead we focus on trapping small animals for the time and then move to larger game once we have roofs over our heads¡¯


    Finally


    ¡®truly great minds think alike I was about to recommend this myself but I do have one request. Build the homes so as we can salvage the materials easily once we can build even better houses in the future.¡¯If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    With a large smile on the older oni¡¯s face they constructed five wooden houses around the camp fire each one had a different name over it. Aibu, Nakasato, Kojima, Yanasaki, and Teshigahara.


    ¡°So you guys have already split into your own family groups,¡± This might be troublesome later if they start a feud. But there was also really good news my horned smile faces increased to +3 which I¡¯m pretty sure means I get more oni. So now I have a population of 21 oni. Wait a timer 59:43. So I have an hour until the next major decision.


    ¡°Uh this is gonna be boring.¡± As I stared at the screen I noticed a mostly transparent question mark.


    As I clicked it there was a little gold sparkle and the view changed to show the back of my long house. A little oni girl the same one that had built the fire pit sat there shivering despite what looked like a warm summer afternoon on the screen. I clicked the blue exclamation point above her head.


    In every sect there are moments that define what it will become. Some sects go onto greatness, while others disappear from the annals of history. Others will continue as they were, but even then, some are slowly devoured from the inside while drifting forward based on inertia while others are slowly building up energy to explode into greatness. In those moments, leadership becomes pivotal.


    In This ¡°moment of fate¡± a young girl shivers in the warmth and the world stills for just a moment. How will you, as the wounded ancient of the Ivory Oni sect, respond? Hopefully you have prepared well.


    During ¡°moments of fate¡±, Face is an important resource. It will become more or less effective depending on your relationship with who you use it to affect. At the end of the ¡°moment of fate¡± some Face may be earned based on the outcome.


    This message is the last of the hints you shall receive as a new player of Vast Martial World. Further mechanics were not included and the beta, and current players may discover their wonders together. Good luck, and may you have many fortuitous encounters.


    ¡°Ah what do I do um a um,¡± I clicked the face and a new menu popped up. ¡° I need something ahh warmth no a blessing yes,¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s to many¡± I yelled after scrolling down to the B¡¯s ¡° Wait what if I do this one¡± I clicked on an option that seamed almost perfect.


    Anoint Dao child-75 face a Dao child is a part of an ancestor. Their power grows great with this blessing and they champion their sect


    ¡°Yes please work¡± My screen still framed.

 Chapter 4

    After five long seconds a golden light fell onto the girl. Her red eyes flashed and the shaking stopped.


    The raging yin qi in Aibu Takara has been controlled thanks to your connection to her. As long as she remains in the sect the yin qi will remain under control.


    ¡° So you can¡¯t leave know. That sucks¡± I mutter as I click the new blue exclamation point above her head.


    ¡®Thank you for your blessing honorable ancestor. If not for you I would have surely died.¡¯


    ¡°Alright time to type¡±


    ¡®It is my duty to protect my children. Please walk for with pride for we are now connected. I grow tired please watch over the others as I rest for a few moments. Do not tell the others you are my doa child yet it may inspire jealousy.¡¯ I typed hoping I could stop any further problems.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡®Of course sacred ancestor.¡¯ Was her curt response. Honestly she¡¯s kinda cute.


    The next forty or so minutes went on with no real incident. Just blue exclamation marks that were yes or no decisions.


    Then three exclamation marks appeared over Teshigahara Anushi, Aibu Kata, and two new ones Nakasato Kenji, Kojima Sato. The first a thin oni with glasses and the second a burly one with a large tree branch on his back.


    Anushi wanted to build a stone quarry while Kata wanted to start training some of the younger Oni. Kenji and Sato both wanted to build a wall around the village.


    First Anushi ¡® This is a great idea. We will be able to build a grand sect with the stone.¡¯ Second Kata ¡®We are unable to spare the young at this time to train like you would wish instead I would wish to have them strengthen there bodies thru stone labor¡¯ Finally Kenji and Sato ¡® This is a grand idea. Start with the little stone we do have and once the quarry is finished you will have plenty of stone¡¯


    ¡°Take that game. I¡¯ll get the best of both worlds.¡± My stone production went from +1 to +5 and the start of the walls appeared around the base of my mountain. ¡°I¡¯m gonna call it a mountain cause that sounds cooler than big hill. ¡°Just please no more disasters for right now¡±

 Chapter 5 Jinxed It

    There were a lot of small issues that I had to deal with. A wedding, arguments, and one especially interesting thing. A young boy named Nakasato Toru who had designed a new kind of shoe and wanted my opinion on it.


    The shoes were maid of three sections of wood and a bit of animal hide to form a sandal that looked suspiciously like a Japanese geta. I told him he should make a pair for everyone including my self. He turned bright red and for a second I would have sworn he was just an average red oni. He bowed several times to me and said how he wasn¡¯t worthy of such praise. But then told me he would need a unit of wood to make all of the shoes with I told him he could have once the quarry was finished.


    ¡°Uhh only five minutes left¡± I said as I stretched my arms over my head.


    Boom Boom The screen violently shook and exclamation marks appeared everywhere. I clicked the blood read one over the top of the mountain.


    As soon as I clicked the shaking grew stronger and a large boney hand emerged fallowed by a skull and ribs. Soon half of a giant skeleton emerged from the hill before it turned towards me. Great balls of blue light shone in his eyes.


    ¡®How dare you! How dare you build on my grate burial cairn! Give me one reason why I should not crush this pathetic sect.¡¯ It¡¯s text bubble proclaimed in a I presume arrogant tone.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°FUUUUUUCK,¡± I yelled as I tried to think. ¡°Wait skeletons are undead. Undead are related to cold. Cold and death are both part of yin so¡±


    ¡®Oh great ancestor. We mean you no offence. Before your appearance one of my children was effected by a great amount of yin qi. Could this have come from you?¡¯


    ¡°Come on take the bait.¡± I said as I typed furiously.


    ¡®So it¡¯s like that. I released some of my qi so as to freaze you away and a child absorbed it. How interesting. Where is this child now? I would like to meat it¡¯


    ¡®Very well. She is Aibu Takara my doa child I shall fetch her¡¯ I responded as I looked thru the exclamation marks till I found her and told her to come towards the skeleton. It took more than a little coaxing.


    ¡®Very interesting the qi should have destroyed your body yet it is forced down¡¯ The skeleton said as he gazed at Takara. ¡®Perhaps I could observe you people for a time.¡¯ With those words the skeleton rapidly shrank till it was stand at the same height as an average oni wich was still a bit taller than Takara.


    ¡®I thank you for your generosity and kindness you have shown¡¯ I typed to the skeleton. A little ass kissing never hurt.


    ¡®Pft. I only spared you because it seamed like a more entertaining option.¡¯


    ¡°THIS BASTARD!¡± I yelled witch caused hand to pound on by bedroom door.


    ¡°Keep it down in there!¡± My mother yelled in her usually annoying voice. (Author¡¯s note: Think Howard¡¯s mom from The Big Bang Theory)


    ¡°Sorry mom¡± I half yelled back at her. ¡°Fuck back to the game.¡±


    I had the oni build a home for the skeleton on top of the hill using all our stone and most of our wood. They didn¡¯t seem to mind trying to appease the creature evan if it meant pushing back the wall perduction. Although I saved enough wood for Toru to make his shoes.


    Once the house was built the skeleton named Kuro took Takara in so as he could teach her to use her yang qi better.


    Honestly I think I might be boned. Pun intended