Kill The Old Ones!

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It only took three days for Ren to be a well-rounded beginner martial artist.

Three days doesn’t mean 72 hours in the context. Ren mastered the Basic Movement Technique and the Chakra Sensing Technique within their respective training hours of his schedule. He mastered them to perfection in that little amount of time.

This meant that Ren was now a well-rounded martial artist, for a beginner that is. The only exception is that he’s banned from using weapons.

Ren could now move fluently. He’s agile, dextrous, and nimble. He could also release chakra pulses to sense his immediate environment, though he can’t cover wide ranges just yet; it’s already pretty impressive for someone at his level.

On the third day, Ren focused on using all three basic techniques together. Not just in a transitional way, but making it so that they were drilled to his instincts.

He did this to condition his physique into his, almost certainly, very demanding future. He had to be more than just a warrior; he needed to turn his entire body into a weapon since that’s all he had. This was something that every member of the Banished Arms Clan must do so that they could fend for themselves outside, especially inside those dangerous dungeons.

Ren succeeded, somehow...but without any actual battle, he can’t truly test its efficiency. He’s got nobody to spar with. For the most part, he was left to train alone.

The good thing is that, with his diligence and discipline, nearly 25% of his entire body had been moisturized by chakra. The pulses of his chakra seed were becoming more and more frequent the more he trained, and it was recently that he began to start exerting some control over it.

This was thanks to the Chakra Sensing Technique, which taught him how to efficiently release chakra pulses. Now that he had mastered it to perfection, he was now able to gain a little bit of control over the pulsation of his chakra seed.

He can’t really force it, per se. The thing is, chakra seeds absorb the chakra produced by the user first. It retains at least 50% of the total amount of chakra converted for its own nourishment and growth and releases the other half to nourish the body of its owner.

The chakra seed won’t release a pulse unless it’s saturated first. It will prioritize its own growth before nourishing its owner’s body. This was normal; all chakra seeds do this. It doesn’t matter what type or rank of martial arts one used to create the seed; it will always behave like this.

This is where martial artists begin to segregate. There are some who would succumb to their disappointment for their bad talents and will only do what is necessary to keep the chakra seed fed, and there will be those who will continue to push and hone themselves to seek a better future.

Those who are lazy will fail. This world doesn’t tolerate fence-sitters or losers. It’s actually particularly cruel and vile to them.

Those who are determined and put in the effort will be observed and will be rewarded based on their decisions and hard work.

There’s also a difference between quantitative and qualitative practice. In some ways, this difference becomes even more obvious the further one goes.

Ren, knowing how this world works, was more than aware of this. That’s why he’s starting to build a healthy habit. The earlier he gets used to this, the better it’ll be for his future. This was more than just staying consistent; it’s his proof that he’s willing to put in effort for real and tangible results, not something fake and fragile.

Truth to be told, Ren’s progress was nothing short of amazing.

It’d take others months to get to where he is now. And that’s with consistent effort rain or shine. It could be shortened with a good tutor to teach them concepts and theories and form healthy habits. But even then, Ren was still faster. And he did it all on his own.

Mikel and Alex know what Ren has achieved. They watched him from afar and couldn’t hide the shock in their eyes.

Alex was right; Ren was a freak. He barely needed supervision at all. He doesn’t have an astonishing comprehension; he’s also diligent and disciplined, and it’s those qualities that truly set him apart from the majority of beginner martial artists.

Even Mikel, the clan leader who had seen the majority of young practitioners in both his clan and outside, seriously can’t find any flaws in Ren’s practice. He doesn’t need correction because before there’s even a chance to point it out, Ren would’ve already figured it out and would fix it on his own.

It’s incredible, really. And it makes Mikel seriously look forward to his nephew’s achievements.

Alas, even though this was already impressive, it’s not conclusive just yet. Ren’s performance was, undoubtedly, incredibly good...for a beginner that is.

He has yet to be in contact with the more complicated side of martial arts. He also hasn’t started with the clan’s inherited martial arts yet, and honestly, Mikel feels a little dread with that.

Mikel, as the clan leader, knew better than most how awful the clan’s inherited martial arts was. And the idea that his dear nephew will soon start with those hurts him a little bit.

Alas, there’s nothing he could do. This was a path that every member of the Banished Arms Clan must tread at some point in their lives. As awful the clan’s martial arts were, it’s their only equalizer for the blasted curse they’re born with.

Mikel had seen how that martial art broke a lot of his relatives. He himself remembers the nightmares he faced during his initial training with it.

But it’s all they have. If they don’t use it, the disadvantages brought by the cursed bodies will soon bury the clan.

So Mikel could only hope that his nephew manages to endure it.

**

Aside from his martial art practice, Ren also had been tested by Mikel for his knowledge with the previous material he sent.

An elder was present during the test to ensure that he wouldn’t cheat. And the results? Perfect, of course! Ren never even doubted himself for a second.

The elder who supervised his exam was shocked by how fast he cleared the exam. He was shocked once again with Ren’s results. And once again, Mikel informed him that Ren only learned the material a few days ago.

If the clan weren’t so busy concocting tons of potions to assist with the raids, Ren would’ve started his apprenticeship right away. Alas, the clan was short in manpower right now, so the best thing Mikel could do was to send additional study materials for his nephew.

There’s additional material as well, one that actually includes practice for healing arts, not just theory.

Although it’s the healing art itself, just a practice tool that will help him familiarize himself with the technique later on, it’s already better compared to the pile of thick books Ren found on his desk.

The practice taught him how to emit chakra with his palms.

Yes, it’s nothing revolutionary. In fact, it’s quite boring, actually. But this was the premise of what would later be the healing art he was supposed to learn.

Actually, Ren recognizes this...at least he thinks he does.

If he isn’t wrong, then this healing art should be the ’Vital Pulse Art,’ which converts one’s chakra into a ’life-attuned chakra’ that is suitable for healing.

The Vital Pulse Art heals anything from minor cuts to severe physical trauma and/or failing organs, depending on the level of mastery, of course.

This art requires extreme finesse in chakra control; it demands skill and expertise, not just some superficial mastery. The cost is high and taxing to the user, but the art itself is extremely effective.

The reason why Ren recognized it was because this art made multiple appearances in the story. It’s been used many times by the hero’s leading lady on him on multiple occasions. Even the ’grandpa in the ring’ recognizes this art and called it a ’life saving martial art’.

Sure, it can’t reattach or regenerate severed limbs; it couldn’t bring anybody back to life nor guarantee that the target becomes immune to hurt and pain, but since its creation, it has saved a lot of lives. It saved more than surgeries and operations, even.

What most people don’t know, and something that Ren only found out recently, was that the Vital Pulse Art was created by the 2nd generation clan leader of the Banished Arms Clan.

Surprising, right?

Why was this not widely known? It’s because the Vital Pulse Art was donated anonymously to the public. The 2nd-generation Clan Leader arranged it this way, keeping his name from being attached to his creation.

He donated it to the system and asked for his name to be detached from it. As for why he did this, that part was never revealed in the clan history.

But yes, the very art that saved millions of lives and still continues to do so up to this day was created by Ren’s ancestor. And he never took credit for it.