A beautiful, silver-haired young woman ran down the sidewalk with her hair tied in a ponytail. She wore light clothing suitable for warm weather and a pair of running shoes.
She glanced at her wristwatch and slowly stopped running in front of a white building surrounded by a fence and a well-kept yard. It was the house of the Kraham family.
She then started stretching her limbs while enjoying the wind in her hair.
After a short while, the door of the building opened.
Alice stopped stretching and turned to the open door with a smile. “Good morning!”
“Morning…” Jesse replied with a quiet tone as he closed the door behind him. He was holding a small ball in his left hand, and he often squeezed it as if it were a stress ball.
He wore black clothes with worn out running shoes, which he hadn’t used for a very long time and they were quite tight on his feet.
Jesse then walked out of the yard, feeling very unfamiliar. It had been a long time since he had walked outdoors in Nocklund. It was a different experience from Martial Online.
Mostly because his body was weak and he could feel it.
“Hmm, you are looking more healthy now.” Alice tiptoed and stared at Jesse’s dull eyes intensely. She then scanned his face and nodded with a smile. “Yes, you clearly look more healthy. I am glad.”
“Ahem, right.” Jesse stepped away from her and cleared his throat. He wasn’t sure whether she was just acting kindly or if he had actually grown more healthy. ‘I am feeling better these days, but it must be some mental thing. After all, I have now Martial Online.’
“Let’s start walking, shall we?” Alice said. “Let’s move at your pace and say if you are feeling pain, then we will return immediately.”
“Alright.” Jesse said and started walking beside her while squeezing the ball in his left hand. It was one of the ambidextrous exercises he had read online.
Squeezing the ball would increase his hand strength, and he would learn to use his non-dominant hand better. It was a long process, but he planned to take it very seriously.
“What is that?” Alice noticed the ball and asked curiously.
“Ah, this is to increase hand strength.” Jesse replied. He didn’t give the actual reason for it since he thought it would seem nerdy to put so much effort into a video game.
“That is good. I am happy that you are putting effort into improving your health.” Alice said as she smiled at him.
Jesse nodded and looked straight across the neighborhood. It had been a long time since he had seen this neighborhood from his height.
He then side-glanced at Alice. She had been his physical therapist for half a year now. His previous one wasn’t as nice, and he didn’t really enjoy any of the visits before, but Alice was very nice.
Alice’s parents were Head doctor and nurse at a local hospital, which made her family’s reputation extremely good. She, of course, followed in their footsteps, but she wanted to start as something else first before moving onto a bigger job in the hospital.
With a stroke of luck, she ended up being his physical therapist.
“How are you feeling?” Alice turned to look at Jesse and saw him quickly turn his gaze back to the sidewalk. “Any pain?”
“No, I am feeling good.” Jesse tossed the ball into the air, then caught it. “Sorry for having you waste time with me. I will be fine if you have some more urgent things to do. I doubt I will die now, hah.”
“Don’t be silly. It is my duty to ensure your wellbeing!” Alice pushed her chest forward proudly. “Also, walking under the sunlight with wind on our backs is an amazing feeling. Don’t you think so?”
“Hmm…” Jesse looked at the blue sky, but to him, it looked oddly gray, as if there were no other color present. He had been stuck in his room for so long that being outside was an uncomfortable feeling.
“Has anything interesting happened in Martial Online lately?” Alice asked. “Are you doing fine?”
“Well, the World Quest was something else, and it seems like the game is picking up pace in terms of difficulty.” Jesse became more enthusiastic when talking about Martial Online, and Alice could sense it.
Alice smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Soon, there will be more dojos and parties created, so playing solo will be disadvantageous. If you want, you can join mine and my friends party. We thought about creating our own dojo as well.”
“How come you are so sure I am a solo player?” Jesse asked with a slight sad smile.
“Ah, I didn’t mean it like that!” Alice panicked and quickly waved her hands. “I meant, if you want a permanent party, we would accept you.”
“Thanks, but I will be fine…” Jesse said and looked at his left hand. He was squeezing the ball very hard. “I was also thinking about creating my own dojo.”
“Oh, really?” Alice looked surprised. She then put her hands behind her back and stopped walking. “What kind of dojo?”
“Swordsmanship.” Jesse replied and stopped walking.
“I see…” Alice’s smile had vanished, and she looked silently at Jesse for a moment before she smiled again. “Shall we return now? We must have walked for fifteen minutes by now. We shouldn’t push it too much.”
“Alright.” Jesse nodded and followed after Alice as they began walking in the same direction they came from.
‘Strange. When I wasn’t thinking about my legs, I couldn’t even feel the pain.’ Jesse touched the side of his thigh.
He could still feel a burning sensation on the soles of his feet, but it wasn’t a stabbing feeling as if he were walking on top of knives.
‘Weird, really weird.’ Jesse thought with a frown.
They soon arrived at the yard of the Kraham family’s building. Smoke was rising from the chimney, and the smell of cooking food was coming from inside. 𝑜𝓋𝒩xt.𝒞𝑂𝗆
“You did very well.” Alice said and asked. “How are you feeling?”
“Good, only a small amount of pain.” Jesse replied.
“That is good. Maybe one day we can try jogging.” Alice then glanced at her wristwatch and said. “I have to go now.”
“Mm, see you tomorrow.” Jesse opened the metal gate and walked to the front door.
Alice stood behind the white fence, looking at his retreating back.
She then shouted. “What is your name in Martial Online?”
Jesse stopped moving when his hand touched the door handle. He then turned around and said.
“Ambrose…”
“Ambrose…” Alice whispered gently and smiled. “Be careful out there. There will be many dojos created by players in the following weeks and months. There might be more fighting happening inside the city of Amaterasu.
“If the battle is happening inside the dojo, the Watchmen of Amaterasu won’t punish anyone, so be careful.
“Oh, thank you for the warning.” Jesse nodded and watched as Alice left while jogging with her ponytail swaying behind her. ‘No wonder they didn’t come to arrest Ken or me. I guess it’s not completely safe inside Amaterasu after all.
‘Time to go back to Martial Online. I can’t stop the grind. I have already gained some distance from most of the player base. Gotta keep pushing…’