Ian chose a good day to set sail. It was a sunny day. With weather like that, the sky was a deep blue, with wandering clouds occasionally adding to the beauty of the scene. Gazing at the endless sea and feeling the gentle caress of the sea breeze gave one a sense of relaxation and happiness.
When Ian grew tired of rowing, he unfurled the small sails of the fishing boat and let the sea breeze propel him forward. He leaned back in the boat, watching unfamiliar birds soar overhead as he checked the System. In truth, his decision to go out to sea wasn't just to find a way to cure Kuina—it was also because he'd hit a wall!
Upon opening the System's attributes interface, Ian's current level was displayed: Level 5. This was the experience he had gained after six years of constant practice with Zoro in Shimotsuki Village. Taking advantage of Zoro's presence, Ian learned more about using his Nen and dedicated more time to training his swordsmanship than Zoro himself. During that long period, they had fought many times, and Ian had won most of the battles.
The reason the victories outnumbered the defeats was that Zoro was, indeed, incredibly talented. In these few years, he had truly begun to master his swordsmanship. Although at first he was only able to use Tora Gari (Tiger Hunt) and Ushi Bari (Bull Horns), Ian sensed the power of Nen in his swords. Of course, in this world's terms, this was the fluctuation of Haki. With those two moves, Zoro had gradually taken control of his inner strength, so for a time, even Ian could only match his two thrusts. If he wasn't careful enough, he could be defeated by Zoro.
Zoro's strength increased slightly. When Ian defeated him, he gained a little more experience. You could say that Ian's current level was entirely thanks to Zoro's defeats. However, upon reaching level 5, he discovered that even defeating Zoro no longer granted him experience. The system seemed incapable of gaining much experience from a single opponent.
Shimotsuki Village is located on an island where there are no ferocious beasts or anything of the sort, which meant he couldn't level up for two years. That was one of the reasons he wanted to go to sea two years ago, but Master Koshiro stopped him.
It is estimated that, within the System, the host Ian also counted as a card, and based on the number of stars and abilities, he should now be a one-star green card, as evidenced by the attribute points gained after leveling up. For each level he gains, he gains +5 power and +5 speed. Upon reaching level 5, each attribute increased by 20 points.
This could be the "aptitude" issue mentioned in the System, because when Ian upgraded Samanosuke Akechi's card to Level 5 using his experience book, he discovered that the Samanosuke Akechi card (a three-star card) could gain 15 points of strength and speed, and 20 points of life and Nen for each promotion level. This card may be of the balanced type, meaning the improved attributes have the same increase in strength and speed, which is a good point of comparison.
Ian also tried asking the System if the host could use the "advanced stone" to improve their star rating and abilities, but he was told that they couldn't and that they needed other special items. As for what those special items were, the System didn't tell him. Although somewhat disappointing, the System's response was a good thing: it gave Ian a glimmer of hope.
According to the 30% ratio, each level of Samanosuke Akechi's card can only provide 5 points in all attributes, so Ian's attributes are now as follows:
Name: Ian
Level: 5
Doriki (Power Level): 217
Strength: 82 (Base 5 + Upgrades 20 + Cards 35 + Own Exercise 22)
Speed: 78 (Basic 5 + Upgrades 20 + Cards 35 + Self-Training 18)
Vitality: 89 (Basic 10 + Upgrades 40 + Cards 39)
Nen (Mental Strength): 99 (Basic 0 + Upgrades 40 + Card 39 + Nen Practice 20)
->Skills: * [Advanced Fencing]: Fencing Speed +30%, Destructive Power +30%. Mastery (10,000,000/10,000,000).
[Intermediate Nen Practice]: Increases the amount of Nen restoration per hour; current restoration value: 5 points. Increases total Nen value by 25%. Mastery (6,811/50,000).
Of the two skills Ian now possesses, the 10 million in advanced fencing mastery was already maxed out, but strangely, advanced fencing could no longer be improved. It's a bottleneck! Ian knows there must be a higher level of fencing, but he lacks the insight and the opportunity to improve.
However, his Nen training was supplemented by his daily swordsmanship practice. Being limited by his Nen pool, he couldn't improve as quickly as his swordsmanship skills. So now, he was only at an intermediate level. Nevertheless, after improving his practice skills, he could increase Ian's total Nen value by a percentage. This wasn't a huge surprise.
Whether it's advanced swordsmanship or intermediate Nen practice, these two skills impact Ian's Doriki value. Otherwise, with his current attribute value, it would be impossible to have more than 200 Doriki. Of course, it's said that around 500 points are needed to be called "Superman." Ian has just over two hundred, which seems quite low, but this wasn't the case. Through long-term swordsmanship practice, Ian discovered something strange: when he consumes Nen to use his Flash skills, his power level value changes instantly!
This change, of course, was an increase, and depending on the amount of Nen Ian summoned, the increase in Doriki's value also varied. For example, if he channeled all 99 of his Nen into his sword and struck with Bullet Flash, his Doriki value at that instant at least doubled! Because flash abilities are instantaneous, it was difficult for him to observe it closely. Ian also discovered this in an unexpected situation.
After reading his attributes, Ian checked his bag of cards and looked at the ones he had drawn. He can draw one free card every 100 days. Over the past six years, Ian has drawn a total of 21 cards. Although the odds of winning on a single draw are very low, the number of attempts has been high, so there's still a chance of success. In these 21 draws, Ian has drawn three complete cards in a row.
It's a good thing to have a lot of cards, but the problem was that those cards were one and two stars: Rando (one star green card, origin: Yu Yu Hakusho), Shimura Shinpachi (one star green card, origin: Gintama) and Jabu (two star blue card, origin: Saint Seiya).
When he drew these cards, Ian was confused. Although he knew such low-level cards weren't worth cultivating, after seeing their attributes and skills, he truly understood why he shouldn't upgrade them. Even if their base attributes were too low, they still only had one skill. Rando's card was a little better; it had Shrinking Curse spells, though Ian didn't know what kind of effect they had. What left Ian most speechless was that Shimura Shinpachi's card only had one skill: Make Complaints!
Furthermore, there's Jabu of the Unicorn, who comes from a "small universe" (Cosmos). Was he good or bad? But in the card's attributes, he unexpectedly also had the same Nen attribute! So Ian understood that, no matter what kind of cards were drawn from the System, their abilities were classified according to Nen... It seems that, in the System's concept, Nen has unified the entire universe...
Ian still has one card slot to use, but he doesn't want to waste it on these cards. The bonus percentage is low, and the cards' base attributes are very few. Even if these cards are equipped, the attribute bonus gained isn't significant. It's better to save it for the first ten consecutive draws and equip a four-star orange card.
After drifting at sea for a long time, Ian grew hungry, so he sat up and opened his package. This bundle was a gift for him. It contained some clothes. In addition, there was enough dried food to last him three days. Ian had overheard Uncle Hull in the village telling him it would take three days to reach the nearest island by boat, so he had prepared this dried food.
Taking out the dry food and a bottle of water, Ian sat in the boat and ate, but at that moment, he found a small cloth bag in his pack. He remembered he hadn't put it there, so, curious, he took it out and opened it.
What Ian didn't expect was that this cloth bag would turn out to be filled with a wad of green bills and a white envelope. Ian counted the money and discovered it totaled 20,000 Berries. It was the first time he'd ever held so much money in his hands. Then he opened the envelope. Sure enough, there was a letter left by Master Koshiro!
Although he didn't go to see him off, Master Koshiro was still thinking about him all the time. These 20,000 Berries were all of Master Koshiro's current savings, and he gave them all to Ian for his trip. Ian was touched. Although 20,000 Berries wasn't much, it represented Master Koshiro's concern for him.
Just as Ian sighed, he suddenly heard the voice coming from the System in his mind:
"Money detected, host would like to recharge? With your first recharge, you can get your first big gift package!"