*Author's Note*

A lot of people guessed that the MC's name was the clue. Well, technically you're not wrong. Only one person successfully guessed it and he was a fellow gnome. Gnome Power!

Chapter 55 The Swordsman

Red poured a glass of beer and slid it over to Rayleigh before shaking his head and chuckling under his breath. "No amount of points would allow us to set up a situation where Mihawk would be willing to teach you anything. Even if we made you his long lost son or something, he'd still kill you the moment you asked for lessons."

Rayleigh downed a third of the glass before asking, "Why? I thought you could do anything with enough points."

Red snorted, "Within reason. Mihawk isn't a babysitter. Do you know the difference between a first degree Black Belt and an 8th, 9th, and 10th degree one?"

Rayleigh shook his head in the negative.

Red explained, "A first degree blackbelt just means you have mastered the basics, that you have a foundation worth building on, that you have a full deck of usable cards. The highest degrees are the masters who know every variation, form, pattern, and style to flawlessly use that foundation without the slightest bit of error. Someone at the 8th degree has reached the mastery level to found their own school. Mihawk could be considered a 10th degree master of the sword while you don't even have a blackbelt since you are pretty far from converting your skill with a Lightsaber into swordsmanship. In order to teach you properly, he'd have to take the time to teach you the basics first. Asking him for a lesson would be an insult and waste of time, neither of which you'd be able to survive."

Rayleigh asked, "Where do I have to be skill-wise for him to even consider teaching me then?"

Red looked thoughtful for a moment before answering, "With your current strength, if you can kill Pitou with just your sword skills in a one on one, that would be enough to request an affordable lesson. And by affordable, I mean less than fifty thousand Mission Points. You must remember, Mihawk ain't like Roshi who is willing to teach the next generation because he is old and bored. Before Zoro, Mihawk had never taken a single student, and Zoro almost died countless times under his tutelage. Zoro was pretty much a 1st or 2nd degree master at the start of the series and could have been considered a 5th degree when he asked Mihawk for lessons and was trained to the 8th degree over the next two years and became a ninth degree after beating King. And don't even get me started on the philosophical heart of the sword stuff that real swordsmen have and at least right now, you don't. Regardless of your skill level, without a heart that belongs to the sword, asking for lessons from Mihawk would guarantee an instant, merciless death. He isn't weaker than Netero in his prime."

Rayleigh paled a bit at the explanation and price. He asked, "Is there anyone else in the Pirate World who would be willing to teach good swordsmanship?"

"There are plenty who can take you to the mastery level, but that's still just a first or second degree blackbelt. There are no schools that teach a greater mastery outside of the Marines. You could always join them, show off your sword skills, and disciple yourself under a swordmaster from them. That's what the Pirate Players are doing."

Rayleigh asked, "Are there no secret swordsman hermits living in a cave on secret islands waiting for their destined disciple to show up for them to pass on their knowledge to?"

Red snorted in amusement, "Even if there were, we wouldn't tell you. What's the point of granting you access to metaknowledge in the Tavern if you aren't going to use it during the one time it matters? You don't think you're the first person to ask something like that, do you? Using what you know, you have to make a plan, and then we drop you in the world with a background that will point you in the right direction."

Rayleigh asked with frustration, "Then how will I even know about Mihawk in the Pirate world?"

"Common knowledge isn't the same as metaknowledge. It is no secret that Mihawk is known as the strongest swordsman in that world. It won't cost a lot to add that knowledge to your background since you could have heard it while growing up or maybe you saw him yourself. He does get around."

Rayleigh sighed. "How much would it cost to go to the sword school Zoro attends?"

Red smiled, "A lot. I told you before, but anything to do with Main Characters is expensive, and the future first mate of the future pirate king is not an easy ticket to buy access to. Plus, there are other Pirate Players already at that school who probably won't appreciate the competition."

"Any recommendations you can give then?"

"Well, you could return to Tython and go back to wearing that amazing robe of yours."

Rayleigh's eyebrow involuntarily twitched as he directly stated, "No."

Red tapped twice on the countertop and said, "Shame. Then go to the MCU. You don't have anywhere near enough Mission Points to get a good teacher for the Pirate World anyways, but a basic MCU identity is free. The few points you do have are enough for some add-ons that will set you in the right direction."

Rayleigh nodded and asked, "What comes free with the MCU identity?"

"Parents if you want them. Otherwise, we can give you the identity of an orphaned emancipated minor that inherited enough to live off until you're older."

"Orphan, please. It might be the Jedi in me, but I don't feel comfortable gaining attachments if I can avoid it."

Red nodded, "Understandable. So did you want the basic package or did you want to spend a little for some add-ons?"

Rayleigh rolled his eyes at Red's smile. A little he says. Rayleigh was certain that the package Red made would zero out the Mission Points Rayleigh had made in the three months and everything else he had left since he spent nearly everything to convert the Paladin's Necklace into an inventory item. Still, he at least trusted that if Red said something was useful, it probably was. Everything went pretty well last time.

The moment Rayleigh nodded, a see-through screen appeared in front of him that showed all the details for a new identity that Red seemed to have already written up.

[MCU Identity

Rayleigh Rush

Lives in New York City, New York, USA.

Father: Reginald Rush

-Made good money in a lucky stock market gamble and used it wisely.

Mother: Leandra Rush

-SHIELD Agent that retired and got a new identity after her cover was blown and became a stay at home mom to avoid exposure.

Hydra discovered Leandra's real identity and arranged for her and her husband's assassination in what looked like a mugging gone wrong.

Neither Rayleigh nor his father has any idea of his mother's past. Due to being a stay at home mom, Leandra home schooled Rayleigh and taught him self-defense and martial arts. After their deaths, Rayleigh got himself tested and received a GED to avoid the requirement for High School and was able to get himself emancipated as a minor.

Before he turns 18, most of his accounts are held under a trusted attorney and friend of Reginald's that promised to help Rayleigh when he needed it and would not steal or betray him.

Cost: 2013 Mission Points

Purchase

Yes|No]

After looking over it for a bit, Rayleigh asked, "My mom was a SHIELD Agent killed by Hydra? Really?"

Red nodded, "That bit will help a lot for background stuff. Even if you stand out a bit, Hydra won't try to recruit you since you'd likely turn on them if you discovered the truth, and SHIELD will attribute the base human talents you show to your mother's training. It will be useful if you decide to join them later as well."

"Okay, what about the attorney? Can't I just own my own stuff like I did in the Hunter World?"

Red laughed, "Ha, not if you don't want a lot of hassle. There is no good way for a thirteen-year-old to be declared fully responsible for himself in 1993. Honestly, most of the cost of this identity comes from the fact that the guy who will be holding onto your assets is trustworthy and won't try to take it from you. Such would normally be the case for this kind of situation, especially in a comic book based world."

"Any family I have to worry about?"

Red nodded, "Your dad's father and siblings are alive and the latter will try to trick you into giving them money because they suck, but that just comes with the territory for this kind of identity. The money your dad invested to get rich was borrowed from his own father, and only a large, well-off family would allow that, so it would cost more to have no family in this situation since that would be more unnatural." Rayleigh asked, "If grandpa is rich, why are my aunties and uncles trying to steal from me?"

"Because they tried to get lucky in the stock market too and it didn't work out. Your father paid back what he borrowed from his old man, but his siblings were lucky if they broke even and are quite the disappointment."

"That's a lot of background. Did you already have this arranged?"

"Most of it. The MCU identity is free or cheaper to customize because we already set aside the resources needed for these identities prior to the game starting so we don't need to move or reallocate anything. Since you are spending a few Mission Points as well, I was able to add a few useful things that didn't come with the free package."

Rayleigh nodded and finished his glass of beer. "Well then, wish me luck." Rayleigh pushed the Yes icon to complete the purchase and walked back out of the Tavern. He could have hung out for two hours but was too curious about this new life of his to do so.

The world whited out as Rayleigh passed through the door and his senses blurred from out of focus to crystal clear as he gained a sense of self. Yeah, it was still weird.

Although he didn't want parents because he didn't want any attachments, that didn't mean the Rayleigh Rush that his new identity had been up to this point didn't love his mother and father and those emotions were completely real to him. What sucked more was the pain and regret that stemmed from the question, if he didn't ask to be an orphan, would his parents be alive? Did that mean he basically killed his parents?

After thinking about the issue for a few minutes, he decided that he did not kill his parents. This identity was saved and Red gave it to him. If Rayleigh didn't ask for dead parents, this identity and those parents would have been given to someone else. The man and woman from his memories would have died no matter what, even if no one requested a life without parents since the Tavern allocated the resources for the identities beforehand.

Still, it was painful. Rayleigh had little choice but to take out his Nensaber handle, cross his legs, and begin meditating. This life's Rayleigh had meditated a few times after being trained by his mother, so it wasn't a completely unfamiliar practice.

Unlike in his Hunter identity, this identity's parents had been killed only a week ago and this Rayleigh's mentality was still in a lot of pain from the loss. Due to having a young teen's brain chemistry, it was impossible for a few minutes of meditation to restrain the pain and grief, but at least he could organize around it so that it would not affect him as much.

Now was not the time to grieve. Now was the time to plan. Red had given Rayleigh a lot of subtle hints during their conversation and Rayleigh had paid close attention to them.

Without his metaknowledge, the fact that Rayleigh's mother was a SHIELD Agent and even the existence of SHIELD was sealed, but most of the conversation with Red, outside of specific names, was still in his memory. He did not remember who he asked to be a student of in the Pirate World but knew that he needed the skill to kill Pitou and a heart that belonged to the sword to do it. Both conditions were fine with him.

The first hint was Red's suggestion to return to Tython and wear that damnably itchy set of robes once more. It likely wouldn't fit him, but it was still a blatant and obvious hint. Why did he suggest it? And why did Red shoot down every attempt to make a Pirate Identity, but was very helpful in making an MCU identity?

Using clues from previous conversations, Rayleigh had a few guesses.

Red once said that when moving from the Jedi Galaxy to the Hunter World, the physical training Rayleigh did would be amplified. He also said that there would be another small amplification when he went to the Pirate World, but it would not be as big because the Pirate system was more focused on Willpower.

That conversation used to be sealed in his memories since it was metaknowledge, but it was unsealed once Rayleigh learned the details of Haki from Dragon Chef.

Rayleigh initially thought that Red was downplaying the magnification his training would grant when he went to the Pirate World, but now he had a different interpretation of Red's hint. What if Willpower training was also magnified when he went to the Pirate World?

What if training Willpower was easier as a Pirate due to the Pirate Power System? Rayleigh suspected that to be the case. That meant it was a good idea to train his Willpower as much as possible before going to the Pirate World.

He internally shuddered at the thought, but the fact that he did so meant his Willpower still had a lot of room for growth.

Something Rayleigh would only realize later was that the teen years were the best time for Willpower training. The brain chemistry of teenagers made them naturally rebellious, so it was like adding weights to hamper and reduce discipline and willpower. Any Willpower training during this age had a far greater effect than anything an adult could do, and there was a massive difference in skill between those who trained during their teens and those who did not.

As for how to train Willpower? Well, itching powder was a thing after all. Unlike his old robes, itching powder was made from tiny spikes covered in a film that caused severe itchiness when it came into contact with the skin, and would probably be even worse than the robes he used to wear. If he could get to the point where he would not be mentally affected by itching powder, he would say his training was complete.

After collecting himself, Rayleigh opened up his Player Menu and checked out the Chat Rooms.

[Select a Chat Room

General: 16 Users

MCU: 3 Users

Warrior: 16 Users

Wizard: 10 Users

Ninja: 10 Users

Hunter: 11 Users

Pirate: 16 Users

Jedi: 9 Users

The numbers didn't quite add up to 100, but that was because some were in the Tavern and some didn't keep the Chat Room open.

Seeing that the MCU chat room was empty, Rayleigh opened up the General Chat Room since the one he was looking for was probably hanging out in there.

[Swordsman has signed in.]

[Swordsman: Hey Book worm, you there?]

[Lord of Madness: You just missed her, she went to the library.]

[Book worm: I don't need to go to the library, I have my own. What's up Swordsman?]

[Wonder Woman: Must be nice to be rich. I wonder how much your parents would pay for ransom..]

[Swordsman: I just got here. Is that number still good?]

[Book worm: Ah. I see. Yes, it's good.]

Rayleigh then left his bedroom and walked over to his home's living room where a home phone was plugged in and picked it up. He missed smartphones and wondered if any of the Players intended to invent one themselves, though he highly doubted it.

When Book worm had come to the session where Rayleigh taught many Players how to use Nen, Book worm left an open invitation for additional lessons on Divine Script. If he either wrote a book on how to use it to teach her, she would locate the best teacher to give him sword lessons her family's money and connections could find. She also gave him her home phone number, the number he was dialing right now.

After a pair of rings, the other end picked up and a familiar voice sounded from the other end, [Swordsman?]

"Yeah, it's me. I'm in New York at the moment. Are you here too?" She told him she lived here but that was a few months ago.

[Yes, I'm still here. Did you accept my proposal?]

"Yeah, I can write everything I know about Divine Script down and give it to you and give you lessons in using it in exchange for a good teacher. Did you have anyone in mind?"

[I do. I even hired a PI to get a few more details from him and he's probably the best teacher you'll find.]

"Oh? Cool. Who is he?" [You'll find out later. Tell me your address and I'll head over tomorrow.]

"Alright." Rayleigh had moved into a small apartment after the death of his parents and sold his house since it was too big and had too many memories, so he had to find some mail on the counter and read it off for his current address.

[Okay. I'll be there at noon tomorrow.]

"See you then."

After hanging up, Rayleigh walked over to the window and looked out over the view of Central Park. Though he got an apartment, it was a nice apartment.

Rayleigh got some baggy clothes and headed outside after locking up. He lived on the 3rd floor, and only after heading down to street level and entering the park did he open his inventory and take out the Adjustable Weight set. The five piece set included a weighted vest, two weighted anklets, and two weighted wristbands. When he took them out, a slider appeared that showed from a scale of one to a hundred how much he could make them weigh. Each number represented another 5 kilograms. At max weight, if he wore them all, he would be carrying 2,500 kilograms.

Rayleigh could not carry that much without it slowing him down a lot, but he could set each piece to about a hundred and fifty kilograms and wear that. Rayleigh himself was far from weighing that much, so it was a good amount for his thirteen-year-old self to carry.

At least he thought so. Rayleigh heard that there was a Ninja their age who wore ankle weights that totaled over 2000 kilograms a piece. If Rayleigh went all out, he might be able to move wearing that, but he'd also probably destroy himself. He figured the Ninja power system must have granted better self recovery options than his own did if that guy hadn't crippled himself yet.

Rayleigh put the vest on under his shirt and then put on the ankle weights and wrist weights before he enabled his Second Level Zetsu, which not only removed his Nen abilities, but also completely cut himself off from the Force. Then he started jogging at a light pace. His goal was to tire himself out as much as possible, something that would be easier after sealing his Nen and Force abilities. The benefits of doing so were that healing and self recovery were magnified while in a state of Zetsu, so any wear and tear he experienced would recover quickly.

Rayleigh jogged for hours and continued long after the sun had set. His clothes were stained with sweat and his breathing was heavy. This was the first time he'd tried exercise this intensive while in 2nd Level Zetsu, so he had no idea how much he'd been relying on the subconscious aspects of Nen and the Force this whole time. Even when not doing so consciously, he'd always been using the Force to regulate his breathing and heart-rate. Completely sealing off the Force also ended anything he unconsciously did with the Force, and this was the result. That of course meant there was more to work on, something Rayleigh didn't mind.

Rayleigh didn't want to test his apartment building's stairs or elevator, so he disabled the weights from his Inventory menu so that their projection vanished and he would not have to carry them back upstairs. Since this was New York, there were plenty of places he could grab a bite to eat even after sundown, so he found one and had some dinner before returning back to his apartment where he got out a bunch of papers and started writing.

The next morning, Rayleigh's door sounded the arrival of his guest, so he set his pen down and answered the door.

As usual, Book worm was a shorter than average looking teen with a slim figure and brown hair cut short. She wore glasses but they were fake as she just liked the style.

"Hey Book."

She greeted back with a nod and replied, "Hey, so how's the new identity?"

"Are you gonna tell me anything about your identity, besides the fact that you're rich?"

"Nope."

"Fair enough. So, my parents were killed in a mugging last week. Getting over that is going to suck. I am an emancipated minor though."

"At thirteen? Who is your guardian?"

"A lawyer friend of my father's."

"What's his name and who does he work for?"

"My father or the lawyer?"

"The lawyer."

"Ah, Nathan Flanders. He works for Lukeman and Sacks."

Book smiled, "Ah. He should be fine then."

Rayleigh asked, "What, do you know every lawyer in New York?"

"Only the good ones," was her quick reply.

"Well, I paid extra for a trustworthy one, so I should be fine. So, tell me about this teacher you found."

Book opened the bag at her side and pulled out a folded, tattered paper, and unfolded it before placing it on the living room table and letting Rayleigh have a look.

It was a poster. On the poster was a picture of a French-looking guy wearing a purple uniform and holding a sword. The backdrop of the picture was clearly that of a circus. According to the caption on the bottom of the poster, this was one of the Main Attractions of the Carson Carnival of Traveling Wonders. The man's title on the poster was, Swordsman, the Most Daring Swashbuckler of All!

Rayleigh gave Book a disbelieving glance which made her roll her eyes.

She argued, "Hey, don't give me that look. This is a comic book world, right? Don't use normal logic. Besides, I told you I hired a PI to check this guy out, right? His name is Jacques Duquesne. He is a master of swords, knives, and pretty much anything with a sharp edge. He was born the prince of what was basically a French colony in a foreign country and he even joined a rebellion against his father's rule. But after the rebels won, they killed his father, so he left and wandered the world before joining the Circus. Doesn't that sound comic book-y to you?"

"Okay, I'll admit, he does sound like a comic book character. Is he moonlighting as a masked hero or something?"

"Nope. According to what my PI found, Duquesne is often hired by the local mob of wherever he goes for muscle work. He is a bad person other bad people pay to do things they aren't skilled enough to do themselves without getting caught, and since he doesn't use guns, he can get in and out without making a racket. By the time the police are even looking for a suspect outside of the mob, the circus has already left for another area."

"And you think he'd be a good teacher?"

"As long as he is paid, yes. Besides, he apparently has a large collection of different swords from all over the world that were once owned by famous masters."

"Okay, you sold me." Rayleigh was fully aware of what he could do with access to a collection like that.

"Good. The Carson Carnival will show up in New York in another two months, so you have until then to either teach me how to use Divine Script or finish writing a book on how to use it."

"No problem. I can start teaching you now if you have the time."

"Hmm. I can come over for an hour twice a week. That reminds me, were you still gonna write the Kingkiller Chronicles?"

"Yeah, if I don't finish writing it before the carnival comes, I'll finish later and mail it to you."

"Okay. Did you read any other good books from the Hunter World? I read a few and plan to plagiarize them, but you might have read some I did not."

"I did read some of the classics. I'll write up a list of titles I remember and you can tell me which ones you didn't read."

Besides training Nen, Book worm also read one or two different books every single day in the Hunter World and planned to plagiarize them all. The only reason Rayleigh may have read ones she did not was that he spent a few years in the equivalent of Japan which had stories and books she would not have been able to easily find while in Yorknew.

Even though the savings Rayleigh's parents left him were enough to live comfortably off, he still wanted some income, and Book worm said she would print any book given to her that didn't exist in this world and get the royalties to the writer. It would be a nice source of income that didn't require him to work.

For now, he started on giving lessons. He had a lot of work to do, but at least he had the time to do it.

*Author's Note*

So yeah, Rayleigh will be stealing the title of Marvel's Swordsman for himself, and in a Highlander fashion, will be taking down the original. THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE. So his Chat Room name was the clue. I'm surprised no one googled Marvel Swordsman. He's the first guy to pop up, and his Stats page confirms he is the best swordsman in the world. Not the strongest, but the most skilled. And Rayleigh will be stealing that skill.

Oh, I am changing the MCU timeline a bit. In the MCU, Hawkeye was 41 during Avengers. I'm changing that a bit. Instead of being born 1971, I'm setting it so that he was born 1978. He will be two years older than the Players and will be in the carnival until he is 18. He will then win various competitions in archery and be scouted by SHIELD later. Rayleigh won't stay in the MCU long (Chapter wise), just long enough to pick up some skills and establish a presence before he heads to the Pirate World.

For those wondering, yes, Rayleigh will be joining SHIELD at some point. Why? Because it lets me add more Nick Fury scenes which are always funny, and lets Rayleigh be sent to deal with other Players once they grow into a massive problem.

Stones Reviews = chapter fuel.