[LP CYOA] 傳

Maniac Training Part Two

“Jing…”

Cao’er crawls over to you on her hands and feet, dressed in nothing but a gossamer-thin gown. Her gaze is intense; it transfixes you from underneath her long bangs. Your mouth feels very dry, and you gulp. She raises her hand… she is holding something.

Something wooden, of a very familiar shape, set on a wheel attached to a hand-crank. Cao’er turns the crank. It goes round and round, and up and down. “I spent that whole month we were apart… just researching this…” She pauses and lets off a creepy giggle. “…I modeled it after yours.” Breathing heavily, Cao’er points her gadget at you. You try to back away, but you find yourself unable to move your limbs. The sheets fall away to reveal your nakedness, and you see that you have been bound with the spider silk in an elaborate pattern. Qilin drapes herself over your back, pressing her own body up against yours tightly. “Do the ropes feel good?” whispers Qilin seductively. She twitches her finger and the threads begin to bite into your skin gently, causing you to shiver.

Still giggling, Cao’er approaches you with that wooden horror of hers, turning the crank.

Round and round.

Up and down.

In and out.

You scream.

***

You open your eyes, sitting up with a start. Your clothes are wet with sweat… you hope that is all that they are wet with. You are back in your room on Maniac Island. Standing up, you walk over to the window. The island has changed a lot since you left it: the Minamoto have made it a much more lively and hospitable place to live in. Zhang Jue had knocked you out when he found you, and by the time you woke up, you were tied to the bottom of a carriage on its way south. Qilin and Cao’er had been sent off to see what they could do for Abbess Miecao and Qi Liuwu, but apparently they had told Master Zhang that since he refused to take them with him, they would visit Maniac Island later to find you.

You step out of the mansion, and into the garden. You see the former Emperor tending the plants caringly and happily, convinced that he is in paradise… you cannot believe that this was the same man that tortured his greatest general over immortality. You had recounted your encounter with Yang Xue to Master Zhang, but strangely enough he seemed to be unconcerned about the whole affair, even when you told him of the techniques Yang Xue left behind; you had expected him to be interested in those, at least.

A carrier dove flies overhead, reminding you that you had asked Yoriwaka to convey a message to Shun about the Tufan plot soon after your arrival. Your royal friend had replied that he would look into it. That would be his business to deal with, you suppose.

For now, you had a test to take.

Though, rather than a test, it felt more like an assignment. Master Zhang had tasked you with creating your own training regimen: it would take as long as you liked. If you wished, he had said, you could stay here for five years until you felt ready to leave the island. However, the both of you knew that the world would move on without you, and that you had other commitments you had to keep.

In that way, it is a test: a test of how much time you are willing to give up to devote to training. For Master Zhang the answer would be simple – he would devote as much time as was necessary, regardless of how the world turned… but he is asking for your answer, not his.

“I would have expected you to demand that I reach the same answer as you, Master,” you said.

“You are not me,” he replied. “Your adventures out in the world have showed me that much.” He paused, before continuing. “I encountered Wang Zhengchong shortly before he fought the Fire Temple’s master.”

You grinned. “So that is why you are using this approach?”

Zhang only smiled sinisterly, looking down at you. “Come to your own conclusions about the path you must take.”

That was yesterday. You look at the untamed jungle, wondering what you should do next.

Then, you hear a shout from behind you. Turning, you see Qilin and Cao’er running towards you, waving and smiling.

Cao’er is holding something…

***

Create your own training package:

Basic weapons training

1. Intensive basic axe training. (Axe +4, 1 month)

2. Intensive basic bow training. (Bow +4, 1 month)

3. Intensive basic saber training. (Saber +4, 1 month)

4. Intensive basic spear training. (Spear +4, 1 month)

5. Intensive basic thrown weapons training. (Thrown Weapons +4, 1 month)

Training of miscellaneous skills

6. Practice art with Zhang Jue. (Artistic Skill +2, 2 months)

7. Have Cao’er teach you more about herbalism. (Herbalism +1, 2 months)

8. ‘Practice’ sleight-of-hand with Qilin... (Sleight-of-Hand +1, 1 month)

9. Undergo sneaking training with Yoriwaka. (Sneak +2, 3 months)

10. Intensive traps training with the tigers. (Traps +4, 1 months)

11. Intensive drinking sessions with the Minamoto clan. (Drinking +2, 1 month)

12. Peruse Zhang’s library and pursue self-study. (Scholarly Knowledge +1, 1 month)

Advanced combat skills and techniques

13. Intensive sword training with Zhang Jue (Sword +1, 2 months)

14. Intensive hand-to-hand combat sessions with Zhang Jue. (Unarmed +1, 6 months)

15. Learn the rare Minamoto-style Kenjutsu focusing on quick draws and flowing attacks from Yorimitsu. (+1 Sword, 3 months)

16. Learn the Fanfeng Feixue Sword technique devised to counter Huashan. (+1 Sword, 3 months)

17. Learn the Wuni Fist technique devised to counter Shaolin. (3 months)

18. Improve your understanding of the Chuzhan Fist technique. (2 months)

19. Improve your understanding of the Shouwang Mad Claws technique. (2 months)

20. Train to create a new self-taught sword technique based off the Yuchang Sword. (+1 Sword, 3 months)

21. Attempt to learn a random new technique of Zhang Jue’s choosing, that he created from his travels in Nippon. (2 months)

22. Further improve your mastery of Reikan by training with Yoriwaka. (+1 Reikan PER, 1 month)

23. Learn Wudu Fushun: animal handling and rearing from Qilin. (2 months)

24. Further improve your handling of Ruanhong Zhusuo, the spider silk threads. (2 months)

Outer and inner training

25. Undergo strenuous neigong training to unlock your potential (Neigong +2, 6 months, Yuanshi Hundun now gives +2 to STR, AGI and END)

26. Learn how to absorb qi from other people at a faster rate by ‘practicing’ with Qilin and Cao’er. (3 months)

27. Focus on qinggong practice by running around the island with the tigers, naked. (Qinggong +2, 6 months, Kuanglang Step now gives +2 to agility and increased ability to shrug off grabs)

28. Intensive strength training. (+1 STR, 5 months)

29. Intensive perception training. (+1 PER, 5 months)

30. Intensive endurance training. (+1 END, 5 months)

31. Intensive charisma training. (+1 CHA, 5 months)

32. Intensive intelligence training. (+1 INT, 5 months)

33. Intensive agility training. (+1 AGI, 5 months)

34. Pray to the gods for better luck. (???)

35. Learn Yuhe Finger from Cao'er. (3 months)

*Note: only one +1 sword bonus can be obtained even if you pick multiple sword techniques. +1 sword does not stack except with sword training and one (1) technique.

 

How pressing is the situation in the world? What are the news about the Fire Temple? When does our invitation expire? When is the prince going to claim his toll? What is Shun's opinion on this external threat? Will we be able to react to it in time? What of the Abbess' condition?

It is tempting to train for as long as possible, but do we have the time for that? Training for 3 years only to find out there is no China anymore would be rather disappointing.

We can't be going full recluse without any contact with the outside world? Surely Cao'er and Qilin would come and go as they please, and they are bound to bring news.

 

1,8>9>11,20>14,27>25.


No luck increase. EVER.


*braces for inevitable torrent of DISCUSS!*

 

What I am talking about is, ok, if no spoilers are allowed, then at least please hint at certain deadlines.

Like, some major events that we might want to hear of are going to happen in 6 months time, or in a year, or maybe somewhere in-between.

It is very hard to choose meaningfully otherwise.

 

Better for you guys to come up with some packages, then vote on that, I figure.

As for things going on in the world, if you stay quiet on your island there will not be any massive, irreversible changes (from my point of view) till the third year in which the Huashan Summit arrives, but whether or not you want to train up to then and beyond, or jump back into the plot earlier, is up to you. There will be minor events from a narrative perspective that might yield good power-ups out in the world, but I won't reveal when those are going to happen. Also, devoting your time to training also means more time for your enemies to entrench themselves, and less time building good relationships with the various factions. Or spoiling those relationships, as it may.

 

That awkward moment when you wake up on Maniac Island and your first thought is "I'm safe!"

 

4 - Let's hope we come across Yang Xue one day and after we feed Bai Jiutan to him, he teaches us that Manly Spear. Seriously that is THE most powerful techinque we encountered up till now, at least from what treave said.
9 - Sneaking will one day save our life. Or end someone's life. Really, sneaking has so many applications it would be a shame to pass it.
14 - Let's maximize that unarmed skill
21 - Random things usually come of for the best
25 - Seems the most combat oriented

All in all 1 year and a half. Also please don't go over 2 years, guys. We might miss on things.

EDIT: However if we have about 3 years until irreversible changes happen

I would also add:

8 - Sleight of hand seems useful combined with sneak
26 - we can't have enough of that "practice"
22 - Our perception is really horrible
24 - We have used them on nearly every occasion up till now, and would go good with the Sleight of hand upgrade.
19 - goes good with the unarmed maximization

It really all depends how fast changes happen, after some DISCUSS!!! and seeing what you guys vote, I'll consider if we should train for only 1 year and a half or 2-3 years.

 

This is going to take a long time...

 

I'd rather stay under 1 year. We train pretty fast on our own.

Outer and inner training is the most important here. The rest is nice, but superficial.

 

I like the sound of this.

 

Maybe we should vote first how long we want to train and after that choose skills? 0-0.5, 0.5-1, 1-2 years and so on?

 

Yes, not only it sounds hilarious, but the practical applications of the choice are obvious for a lighning fast fighter like Jing.
Besides, it's faster to master. I am liking it very much.

But damn, 25 looks tasty, too.

1 year sounds very reasonable.

1 month + 2 months + 3 months + 6 months, or 1 month + 2 months + 6 months + 3 months.

Spending more feels greedy to me. We have gone from +5 Unarmed to +7 in half a year on our own.

 

Well Kipeci, here's our chance to become a badass swordsman.

This is a lot of choice, so let's first narrow things down into what we don't want. Also, we should DISCUSS!!! a limit in terms of time-frame. For example, we definitely should not spend more than a year on training, IMO. Even that is probably too much, in fact. But let's stick to that time limit for now so that we can organize things better. I think we should forget about basic weapons training and stick to Swords and Unarmed. I don't have much interest in branching out and there are way too many cool options here.

The only miscellaneous skill option that really interests me is Artistic Skill, so we can fulfill our destiny, but a two month investment seems a lot to bump up our skills from a paltry 2 --> 4.

Given our recent encounter with Bai Jiutian, we definitely should go for the counter-Huashan Sword technique. We are bound to be in conflict with them sooner or later, and having Zhang's technique to fall back on will be a tremendous help for us, even if that technique remains untested. I am also feeling a bit willing to roll the dice on this, so I'd like to see what techniques Zhang has cooked up from his trip to Nippon.

As for the outer and inner training, that is the most crucial part. Since it demands a huge time investment, we should probably only pick 1 choice from this section. A time investment of half a year is a big deal.

As a result, I am tentatively going with 13, 16, 21, 25. I'm going with the qinggong upgrade because we have neglected improving that particular skill for quite a while now. Overall, this build will give us +2 SWORDS and a solid base in swordsmanship, plus we'd be taking advantage of the Sword Saint's cap-increasing technique. The random technique from Zhang is a two month investment, but I think it has potential to give us a real gem.

The inner and outer training choice is definitely the toughest, and I'm much less certain about this, but I think we ought to shore up our qinggong skills further. If we go for a stat boost choice, I am leaning towards END so that we can heal up quicker if/when we get hurt again. What benefits would an END boost confer upon a living qi battery like Jing, treave? Could we utilize our qi more safely that way?

Overall, my setup here would require an investment of 1 year, 1 month. Just over the limit, I know, but still somewhat reasonable.

 

Nasty? 25 is an absolute must for us.
I think another 1.5 years should be enough, neiggong+mastering our unarmed technique+qi drain+a sword technique with +1 sword. Or we can go to twenty months and learn a Lord Zhang's special surprise.

I understand the rush to get back out there 'just in time,' but we really have to make the most of our time here and pick up the rarest and most difficult skills. It's a tough sacrifice to make, but some things we really must sacrifice time for.

On a side note, treave, was Cao'er able to do anything for the Abbess and Qi Liuwu.

 

It gives you greater durability so you don't tear yourself to pieces as quickly when your qi runs wild. Also you can kick Vairya for longer before you break your own leg.

And take as much time as you want to discuss, guys. As much time as you want.

Edit: Abbess is awake but weakened because of her age and Qi is still armless. You can go chat them up when you leave.

 

Not to go all +1 SWORDS here, but I really do think we ought to invest in Swords, in large part due to our natural potential, and partially due to the awesome technique that Shangguan gave us. You just can't let a skill with a cap of 9 be neglected.

 

I'm just unwilling to neglect our neiggong, it is our most valuable asset as a fighter. And if you're saying we can't ignore a skill with a cap of nine, well, our neiggong cap is fifteen. That, and sucking BJ dry faster will be a good way to take the prig down.

 

As long as it does not take more than a year, I am fine with it.

Also, you might want to look at the chart again:

Because this is not 26.

True.

So how about leeching it from others? Is it possible to raise the level that way? Or do we have to drain people to death?

 

I prefer if we invest in unarmed and let Yandi with the swords. We already have a ton of unarmed techniques, one of which is maximized (the kick), and the other we can probably maximize here and now (the claws). We could maximize unarmed faster than swords and then focus on swords on our off time while relying on unarmed in serious fights.

Also I think we could top swords if we go for all sword upgrades, but the bad thing with swords is that...well we need a sword, and a sword is something we can lose or can't carry just about everywhere. While our fists and legs are always with us (if they aren't then we're in deep shit, anyways)

 

Well, personally I'd only take a year or so for training. I would rather be out there doing stuff (or failing horribly).

So, here's what I like the most:

10. Intensive traps training with the tigers. (Traps +4, 1 months) - quick but large boost for a skill that can heavily benefit from a technique we already know
13. Intensive sword training with Zhang Jue (Sword +1, 2 months) - more sword training please, we really neglected it so far and this does stack with the bonus from one technique
16. Learn the Fanfeng Feixue Sword technique devised to counter Huashan. (+1 Sword, 3 months) - this will come in handy
21. Attempt to learn a random new technique of Zhang Jue’s choosing, that he created from his travels in Nippon. (2 months) - ok, this is just too interesting to pass up
26. Learn how to absorb qi from other people at a faster rate by ‘practicing’ with Qilin and Cao’er. (3 months) - not as impressive as a full neigong upgrade, but faster and potentially very useful (not to mention a lot more fun to train from the description)
34. Pray to the gods for better luck. (???) - no time estimate? does that mean we do it during regular training downtime or we just keep praying for months non-stop until we get an answer?

total - 11 months plus whatever ??? means?

edit: going with Nevill's proposal so far

 

We can get +1 swords from training with Zhang and another +1 from the sword song if we pick some technique?

 

It's going to take a long time to raise your level by draining unless you find more than a few people of a master level willing to stand there and let you suck them dry.

As for the luck, no time investment needed!

 

The +2 neigong boost looks devastating. I know I said we shouldn't stay for more than a year, but maybe 18 months is acceptable* - remember, our last stay at Maniac Island was also a year and a half, so this is a good benchmark - and go for the neigong boost as well as an END boost for maximum synergy. It seems like they would work well together.

That being said, we should first look into things that we can definitely ignore or scrap. I suggest ignoring everything 1-12, even though I'd really like the Artistic Skill boost. For advanced combat skills, stick only sword skill, as nice as a boost to the Shouwang Claws or our Chuzhan Fist would be. I think we really need to go with Zhang's Huashan counter, and the +1 SWORDS boost is an important way to make us skillful enough to actually utilize that counter.

True, both are important. However, if we focus on these two, then I think that provides us with a solid basis for what to pick. Sword techniques and neigong isn't a bad way to spend the next year.

* I promise not to go beyond that, however.

Not quite true, Shangguan's technique allows us to pick up swordsmanship faster. And well, we do have the Yuchang Sword, which is one hell of badass piece of weaponry. I don't agree with your logic about never being able to "lose" your unarmed weapons; look at Qi Liuwu, the guy was a fantastic Unarmed fighter, now he has no arms to strike with. If we gave away our arm to Yang Xue a while back, it would have affected our potential for unarmed skill greatly, but we still would have had a sword arm to fight with, so we probably wouldn't have been too affected there.

My point here is that there are plenty of downsides with anything.

 

I think so, yeah:

 

About that Huehueshan counter, don't forget that Lord Zhang's experimental techniques have never been tested against the intended targets, so that sword tech may well be a total dud against the Huehues.

I'd rather we go for Minamoto kenjutsu and utilize it with the tachi they gave us, or go for improving our own technique.