For the last two hours, I had been standing in the purple-grassed meadow, swinging my sword through the air as I continued to hone my skill.

"Congratulations! Your Swordsmanship has reached level 2!" "Congratulations! Your Swordsmanship has reached level 3!" "Congratulations! Your Swordsmanship has reached level 4! A bonus will be unlocked at your next level of Swordsmanship."

With each level, I felt a noticeable improvement in the control and the precision of my movements. The sword also felt lighter, somehow, as if I had grown stronger in the last few hours.

I hadn’t, of course, as a simple glance at my status screen had quickly confirmed. But it did seem that my new skill was helping me to utilize the strength that I did have more effectively.

I had also noticed that, despite the long amount of time that I had been swinging this heavy blade through the air, I didn’t actually seem to be getting tired. Even when my arms had finally started to badly ache after about an hour of use, I had recovered after a few minutes of rest, and then I had felt just as fresh and as ready for work as if I hadn’t been exercising at all.

Maybe all of that was related to the blessing of Kalia, and the speed at which I naturally regenerated from any sort of damage to my body?

I didn’t really know. But it certainly felt like I could stay out here for a very long time, if I wished to.

Of course, I was beginning to feel quite hungry, and a little tired too. But for now, I just wanted to keep pushing myself forward. There really was something almost intoxicating about increasing my power in this way – the simplicity and the mathematical elegance of it all – and it was also wonderful to feel more and more comfortable with this large weapon that I had acquired.

Before, when I had first equipped that armor and that blade, I had felt a bit like a scarecrow come to life - good for frightening off a foe or two perhaps, but hardly able to protect myself, or to do any real sort of harm.

But now, after beginning to really learn something about how to wield a sword of this size, I felt as if I would have a chance in an actual battle if it ever came to that.

I hoped that it wouldn’t come to that, of course. But, it soothed my spirits to know that the option was there.

I wasn’t quite as helpless as I had been before.

I could get through this.

As I continued to swing my blade through the fresh morning air, I started to feel something that was swelling up from deep inside of me. I remembered the message that I had seen when I had reached level four in Swordsmanship: “a bonus will be unlocked at your next level.” Was that what I was feeling right now, surging up from within? Excitedly, I focused completely in and practiced with my whole body and mind, eager to unlock whatever power might be awaiting me. A few minutes later, I felt the blade becoming even more supple in my hands, and a slew of messages informed me of all of the new powers that I had just unlocked.

"Congratulations! Your Swordsmanship has reached level 5!" "You have now learned basic proficiency with a sword! All penalties to sword use have been removed." "You have earned the achievement: Novice Weapon User! Your Strength has increased by one.” "You can now select an enhancement to your Swordsmanship skill. Would you like to see which enhancements you can now select?"

Absolutely, I thought.

"The following enhancements are available:” “Lethal Swordsmanship. Deal 10% more damage with every blow of your blade." “Strong Swordsmanship. Strength requirements for large or giant swords are reduced by 25%.” “Enchanted Swordsmanship. A fraction of your magical power is added to every blow of your blade.” “Refined Swordsmanship. Significantly increase your reaction time and precision when wielding a skill-based sword, such as a katana or a rapier.” “Defensive Swordsmanship. Increases the power of your Blocking skill while wielding a sword and shield.”

I hesitated for a little while. What I really wanted to know was just how viable all of these different skills were. I would hate to choose one that was fairly weak, and then not be able to undo the choice later on once I had realized my mistake. But unfortunately, I didn’t have anyone out here that I could talk to, who could help to inform me of the value of each of these different enhancements.

Unless - ?

System. Are any of these enhancements much better than the others?

"Every path that you take is viable, if only you pursue that path with your whole heart and soul. Each, in its own way, may help you to be happy, though some may help you more now, and others may help you more later. But with time, experience, and dedication, every road that you take shall gladden your heart, and you will find something of such value that you will never regret the journey."

I was a little taken aback by the length and the emotion of the system’s speech. Then, I laughed softly to myself.

Guess that you think pretty highly of your own balancing and design, huh, system?

The “system” did not respond, of course. But still, that was enough for me. What I needed right now was to last long enough to get into town. If every road was viable so long as you stuck to it and worked it out, then there was no reason to worry too much about which to choose. But there was a reason to choose an enhancement as soon as possible for me, since I really didn’t know just what might be waiting for me over those hills beyond, or what might saunter into this quiet meadow. So I looked once again at the top two entries – the only two that I could make use of for the moment.

Lethal Swordsmanship sounded like it was the most obviously useful of the bunch. A flat 10% increase to damage would always help, no matter what kind of blade I used, or how I used it. But at the same time, if it really was true that every path was viable, then Lethal Swordsmanship couldn't just be the strongest enhancement in every possible case. Probably for a magic wielder, Enchanted Swordsmanship would be more useful, and for a dedicated blocker, Defensive Swordsmanship might be helpful. That meant that for right now – when I was currently holding a larger sword that it was still a little difficult for me to wield – Strong Swordsmanship was probably the better choice.

Of course, I didn't want to be too locked into the use of two-handed weapons for the rest of my time in this world. But while the sword that I was holding was large, it certainly wasn't enormous. And if this weapon counted as a "large" blade - as the system had told me that it had - then I imagined that it would be quite feasible for me to wield a large sword in a single hand later on. That meant that even if I selected "Strong Swordsmanship" for the present, I would still probably be able to use a shield if I wished to, or even to dual wield two larger swords if my strength significantly improved.

And so after deliberating about things in just about that sort of way for a little while, I had at last managed to think it through enough that I felt as if I had a good idea of what to select.

Select enhancement,“Strong Swordsmanship."

"Enhancement selected! Your Swordsmanship skill has now grown and evolved. It has become the skill, Strong Swordsmanship!” “You have lost the skill, Swordsmanship.” "You have acquired the skill, Strong Swordsmanship. Each level will increase your ability to fight with any sword of medium size or larger. In addition, Strength requirements for large or giant swords are reduced by 25%." "Your Strong Swordsmanship skill is now level 5!"

I looked around again at the beautiful meadow, and soaked in the brightly-purple colored grass, the extraordinarily blue and golden flowers, and the emerald green hills that stretched out as far as the eye could see.

I swung my sword through the air. It was faster and lighter. I swung again, and again, and again. My movements were more precise now, and more controlled.

I grabbed the hilt with a single hand, and tried to use the weapon as a one-handed sword. It was still too heavy to really wield effectively that way, but it was at least possible to do so now. If I became a little more powerful, I had little doubt that I would be able to wield a sword of this size single-handed – and maybe even a giant sword, if I really trained and improved.

Then, I just smiled, as I allowed these beautiful lands and this sudden influx of potential and of magic to gladden my heart, and to snap some of the shackles of fear and of despair that had been binding my heart for far too long.

For a moment, I felt myself getting lost in idle daydreams, as I thought about everything that this beautiful new world might hold in store.

But then, after a few moments, my mind began to come back to earth.

As things stood right now, I was very thirsty, and very hungry too. And while the grassy meadow that I was situated in felt considerably less dangerous than the dark forest that I had recently left behind, I had started to feel more and more restless the longer that I had stayed out here.

At first, the sheer beauty of the place had helped to calm my nerves. But for the last hour or so, I had felt myself becoming more tense and alert, as I heard some occasional sounds which I couldn’t quite explain, and which might be the sign of some danger brewing off in the distance.

And so, with these sorts of thoughts in mind, I lowered my blade back towards the ground, and really began to look around.

Behind me was the huge forest that I had just escaped from.

In front of me was a seemingly endless expanse of large green hills, which obscured most of the view further out, but which didn’t look too difficult to climb.

I was standing in a beautiful purple meadow with a little stream running through the middle, but nothing else that seemed to be of interest. That meant that I should probably just choose one of the hills, climb over it, and take things from there.

I looked out again at the huge sapphire-blue tower in the distance. It sat almost directly ahead of where I was currently standing, and my instincts told me that it would be best to avoid it for now. The forest was behind me, so that meant that I would be heading towards the left or the right. There was really no reason at all that I could see to pick one rather than the other... and so after a few moments, I just happened to turn towards my right, and began to walk, eager to see what might be waiting for me just ahead.