The Roleplayer

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was 12:32pm when Riley finished his lunch. Stepping out of the house and into his backyard, Riley breathed in the fresh air.

"Ah. What great weather today. Gotta love cloudy skies. Ideal for some training."

As he said this, he dropped his baseball beside a nearby tree, then started climbing it.

After climbing for about five or so meters, he produced a ball of string from his pocket.

It was an ordinary piece of string that he had tied to a rectangular piece of wood beforehand. He proceeded to tie one end of the string to the nearest branch, making sure it was secure before he slid down.

After reaching the bottom, he picked up the ball. It was a standard baseball, with a tiny slit that had been pierced through one end and out the other. It was basically a rectangular hole with a width of around three millimetres. Riley took the piece of wood, then slid it through and out the other end of the hole. Letting go of the ball, he let it dangle in the air to test the firmness of the string.

"Alright, this should be good enough."

After a couple of warm-up exercises and practise swings, Riley took his stance. Taking a deep breath, he swung.

Riley cursed under his breath as he saw the ball fly upwards. He had struck too low, and the ball had almost hit the tree branch it was tied to. He caught the ball as it came down, and then prepared for another try.

This time, he smiled with satisfaction. The ball had flown at an almost perfect 35 degree angle. He nodded to himself as the string went taut, forcing the ball to bounce backwards slightly instead of flying away.

"Alright, just need to keep at it for a few more hours."

It wasn't until Riley had eight more "homeruns" when it happened.

As soon as he had struck the ball, two windows popped up in front of him. Startled, he dropped his bat.

"Rats. I was so absorbed in my training that I completely forgot about this."

The first window was a simple stat increase.

"Due to diligent training, your strength has increased by 1 point."

The second window was a notification which stated: "Through thorough training, you have gained the skill [Blunt Weapon Proficiency]."

After reading through, he clicked on the button that said "Details." The window disappeared, and a new one popped up.

This one was the details of the skill from the "Skills" window. The icon was an image of two staffs crossed together in the shape of an "X".

The details of the skill were indicated below the icon:

"You deal 5% more damage."

"You gain 5% extra attack speed."

"You lose 5% less energy per strike."

"Your attacks are 5% more accurate."

"Your weapon loses 5% less durability on hit."

"Only applicable when a blunt weapon has been equipped"

"Awesome! Now my swinging and performance on the field will definitely improve!"

Riley fist bumped the air and did a mini celebration dance.

"Alright! Now to practise more swings. I should be able to level up this skill a lot more in the next few hours."

After another hour, a window popped up.