Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 3: Chapter 2: Attribute Enhancement

As usual, the siblings left the stairwell, tossed the trash into a bin on their way out, and caught the school bus.

”Bro, over here, over here!” Wan Xiaoyu scrambled to the back row, shouting cheerfully to Wan Ze.

A few students were scattered around the bus, all wearing the uniform of Saint City Noble Academy. They were spread out in different sections, their laughter echoing through the vehicle.

When Wan Ze boarded the bus, he drew many intentional and unintentional glances from the girls. The sound of whispering noticeably increased, but his mind was completely preoccupied with his golden finger, so he didn’t notice any of it.

”Bro, what’s that in your hand?” Wan Xiaoyu suddenly leaned in close. Before Wan Ze could even speak, her expression turned to shock. ”A book? Wait, you’re reading a book?”

She reached out and felt Wan Ze’s forehead, utterly bewildered. ”You don’t have a fever... Why are you reading a book first thing in the morning? That’s seriously creepy, you know!”

”...” Wan Ze expressionlessly swatted his sister’s hand away. Without looking up, he said, ”I’ve always loved reading. Didn’t you know?”

Wan Xiaoyu was speechless.

’You?’

’Love to read?’

’You probably bombed an exam and now you’re trying to turn over a new leaf again.’

She fought the urge to roll her eyes and started playing with the fluffy keychain on her backpack. After a while, she curled up in her seat and fell fast asleep.

Wan Ze glanced over at her with a silent smile, then went back to flipping through his textbook.

A faint red set of data appeared at the bottom of his vision...

...

[Illustrated Guide: High School Language Arts]

[Skill Basic Satisfying Conditions: Read 10,000 characters] (1239/10000)

...

This task wasn’t difficult.

Soon, the text in Wan Ze’s vision changed rapidly.

...

[Illustrated Guide: High School Language Arts] (Basic Mastered)

[Skill Intermediate Satisfying Conditions: Read 30,000 characters]

...

Wan Ze slowly closed his eyes.

Sure enough, a new block of knowledge about high school language arts appeared in his mind.

This was the Basic level information for high school language arts. Because this world’s civilization was different from his previous one, the information left a deep impression on Wan Ze.

As for the conditions to reach the Intermediate stage, they weren’t difficult for him.

For a bookworm with fifteen years of experience, what was a mere hundred thousand characters? He could handle ten million!

And as he flipped through the textbook, he was also contemplating his own future.

In his past life, he would have unhesitatingly chosen to become a top student. He would have become a leading scientist as quickly as possible, devoting himself to his country to break through all foreign technological blockades with overwhelming dominance.

But this world... had the Martial Dao!

Besides, given his own disadvantaged background, Wan Ze was naturally unwilling to entrust his safety to others.

”So, I must have the ability to completely protect myself!”

”And the Martial Dao of this world... is far beyond anything from my past life!”

Letting out a long breath, the tension on Wan Ze’s face eased slightly. He continued to immerse himself in the ocean of knowledge.

The bus continued its stop-and-go journey, picking up more and more students. The noisy chatter and laughter woke Wan Xiaoyu. She rubbed her drowsy eyes and mumbled, ”Bro, are we there?”

”Almost,” Wan Ze replied without looking up.

Wan Xiaoyu suddenly said in astonishment, ”You haven’t been... reading this whole time, have you? Oh my god, bro, you’ve definitely lost it! You’re actually reading? Do you even recognize all the words in this textbook?”

A few nearby girls burst out laughing. When the siblings looked over, they quickly averted their gaze.

”Knock it off...” Dark lines formed on Wan Ze’s forehead. Just as he was about to speak, the bus suddenly stopped.

”We’re here, we’re here! Don’t forget your things!” the chubby driver shouted as he unbuckled his seatbelt and stood up.

A massive crowd of students began to file off the bus.

Wan Xiaoyu nudged Wan Ze, urging him to get up. He gave her an exasperated glance, put away his book, and stared thoughtfully at the data bar fading from the bottom of his vision.

...

[Illustrated Guide: High School Language Arts] (Intermediate Mastered)

[Effect: Enhances literary memory (Intelligence +0.01)]

[Skill High Level Satisfying Conditions: Read 100,000 characters and score at least 80 on a language arts test paper]

...

’The requirements for a High Level Skill are really starting to get harder...’

Wan Ze felt like this was a total pain.

’If I’d known back when I was designing this golden finger, I would have just made it a one-and-done deal!’

He glanced at the screen in front of him.

Detailed data appeared in his personal Attributes.

...

[Physical Strength: 0.62]

[Intelligence: 0.73]

[Agility: 0.65]

[Endurance: 0.66]

[Power: 0.61]

[Coordination: 0.62]

(Average range for peers: 0.65-0.67)

...

”I have a long way to go if I want to get stronger...”

Wan Ze took a deep breath.

Wan Xiaoyu, however, didn’t notice her brother’s strange behavior. After getting off the bus, she met a few of her good friends at the school gate, and the little girls huddled together, chattering away.

Finally seeming to remember her brother, she quickly turned, waved goodbye, and skipped off toward the elementary school division.

”Remember to wait for me after school.”

”I know, I know! You’re so naggy.”

”...”

Dark lines formed on Wan Ze’s forehead again as he turned and followed the crowd toward the high school division.

It was a collection of square buildings with white walls and orange patterns, all connected by stretches of lush green lawn.

Many students walked in groups along the tree-lined paths, their laughter echoing from time to time. They would only quiet down slightly upon seeing teachers in black uniforms, but this was often followed by even louder bursts of laughter, drawing frequent glances from others.

The second classroom on the right on the third floor of Ziyuan Building had a nameplate that read: ”First Year, Class (3).”

Wan Ze entered the classroom right after two girls in front of him. He found his seat with practiced ease, plopped down, and immediately bent over his desk to start copying exercises.

Even though he had decided to walk the Martial Dao, academics were still easy for him, something he could handle without much effort.

Before long, the bell rang.

The first class was Language Arts. The teacher was a balding, middle-aged man in his fifties who spoke with a slight accent and loved to quote from a wide range of sources.

In the past, Wan Ze had struggled to keep up with this kind of content, but now he found it completely effortless.

He couldn’t help but wonder: if this was just the knowledge from the Intermediate stage, how powerful would a High Level Skill be? And a high-level Martial Dao... wouldn’t that be even stronger?

In the blink of an eye, the morning’s classes were nearly over.

The last class was history. The slender history teacher slowly delivered a line: ”...therefore, looking at the progress of civilization throughout human history, our future journey is sure to be to the sea of stars... Class dismissed!”

BEEP!

The sharp electronic bell signaling the end of class rang out. The history teacher gathered his textbook from the desk and strode out of the room. The classroom, which had already been buzzing with anticipation, instantly erupted into a clamor.

Wan Ze was slumped over his desk, his wrist aching from copying so much material. However, when he looked at the data panel at the bottom of his vision, he couldn’t suppress the smile on his face.

...

[Illustrated Guide 1: Math] (Intermediate Mastered)

[Illustrated Guide 2: Language Arts] (Intermediate Mastered)

[Illustrated Guide 3: Foreign Language - Inpolan] (Intermediate Mastered)

[Illustrated Guide 4: History] (Intermediate Mastered)

...

The Intermediate tasks weren’t difficult; it was just a matter of time.

This little trial run had increased his Intelligence by 0.04 and his Endurance by 0.01. The feeling of getting stronger was incredible.

And Wan Ze’s understanding of the Illustrated Guide’s abilities was becoming clearer...

You needed at least an Intermediate Skill to trigger the bonus from a Skill’s Effect. The higher the Skill level, the more Effects you could trigger, and the stronger they would be!

Suddenly, an immense wave of hunger washed over him. He felt dizzy, propping himself up on his desk to take a deep breath.

PAT.

Suddenly, someone clapped him on the shoulder.

”Wan Ze, why aren’t you heading to the cafeteria yet?”

”Just about to.” Wan Ze looked back and saw a chubby kid with fair skin and a 70-30 side part. His name was Zhou Xianchuan, one of the few friends he was close with.

”Perfect, I was just looking for you to talk about something.” Zhou Xianchuan grinned and slung an arm around him. But when he saw the notebooks on Wan Ze’s desk, completely filled with writing, he froze. ”Holy crap, bro, what’s with you? Are you possessed?”

”...” Dark lines formed on Wan Ze’s forehead. ”Get to the point.”

”I asked about the Dragon Eagle Martial Arts Hall for you. My uncle said there’s a free trial class today. You wanna go? If you do, we can go together after school.”

Wan Ze froze.

He suddenly remembered how last week, after learning that Zhou Xianchuan’s second uncle worked at the Dragon Eagle Martial Arts Hall, he had impulsively wanted to sign up to learn martial arts. But he was deterred by the 800 silver coin registration fee—that was almost two months of his parents’ salary!

He hadn’t expected his friend to actually take his words to heart. Wan Ze was deeply moved.

”Bro...”

”Cut it out. It’s settled, then. We’ll go together after school.”

”Just let me see Xiaoyu off on her bus first, then we’ll go.”

”You got it!”