That fat one has talent... Ryan thought as he watched Ronnie retreat after their race... But he is too sly for his own good... I cannot let him get too comfortable... I will deal with him slowly...
Ronnie might have looked Ryan's age... but he was already a mid-level trainee... That meant talent... and talent was rare... A fat kid with real potential... Ryan had already decided—Ronnie would make the perfect long-term sparring partner...
The other students, nervous after what they had witnessed earlier, quickly scattered to the sides... None of them wanted to get caught up with Ryan... Still, as they whispered among themselves, a new thought crept into their heads... If they did not train harder... they would fall behind...
Across the second floor, attribute bubbles glittered everywhere... like drops of rain after a storm... Ryan strolled through, sweeping them up with a grin... even tossing casual greetings to passing students...
"Speed plus six... Strength plus seven... Basic Fist Technique plus three... Strength plus five... Basic Sword Technique plus six..."
The numbers stacked inside his mind like a scoreboard climbing higher...
Then he paused near a student hammering away at a punching routine...
"Hey, brother..." Ryan said with an easy smile... "How about a duel..."
The guy stopped mid-punch, surprised... He was older, maybe around twenty... After a moment, recognition lit his face...
"You are Ryan Miller, right... I am William... I saw your match against Ronnie earlier... Honestly, I have been curious ever since... If you are asking me personally... hell yes, let us fight..."
"Then let us not waste time..." Ryan replied with a polite gesture... "You can start..."
They squared off in an open space...
William clenched his fists and launched forward without hesitation...
Thud... Crack... Their bodies collided in a flurry of blows...
Ryan did not use any special techniques... No tricks... no hidden aces... Just raw movement and pure fistwork... His strikes landed solidly on muscle, each impact echoing like steel clashing against steel...
William's eyes widened... His build was heavy, his muscles strong, and his punches powerful... But Ryan—who looked like an average, relaxed kid with slouched shoulders—hit like a damn monster once the fight started... His movements were sharp, his fistwork refined...
What the hell... This kid is a genius... William thought, gritting his teeth...
Neither of them gained ground... Blow for blow, they were equals...
"William's basic fist technique is already at the advanced stage..." someone whispered from the sidelines... "But Ryan is keeping up with him..."
The crowd was stunned... Everyone had assumed the fight would end in two minutes flat...
"Maybe William is holding back..."
"Are you blind... Look at his face... He is giving it everything..."
Finally, William threw up his hands and stepped back... "I am done..."
Ryan frowned... "Why quit now... We are dead even..."
"If we keep this up, I will burn through my energy for the whole day..." William admitted... "Honestly, if you had not fought Ronnie first, I might have lost outright..."
Ryan chuckled... "Fair enough... Next time, then..."
"Yeah..." William said with a respectful nod... "I actually learned a lot just trading blows with you..."
Ryan eased himself onto a bench, breathing steadily, and mentally tallied the gains...
"Basic Fist Technique plus two... plus three... Strength plus four... plus five..."
A grin tugged at his lips...
So fighting head-to-head gives way more attributes than just watching... This... This is the real path forward...
Ryan paced slowly around the Evergreen Martial Arts Academy's training hall... His breathing steadied as his stamina recovered... Every step... every casual glance toward the other students pulled more attribute bubbles into him like a magnet...
Half an hour later, fully refreshed, he strolled into the weapons chamber and grabbed a sword... Approaching a student, he gave a sharp grin...
"Mind helping me test my blade..."
"Sure thing..." the student replied immediately...
The clash was instant... Steel against steel, sparks scattering in the air... Even though sword duels could turn deadly fast, both men respected the boundaries... After a few minutes, they stepped back...
"Basic Sword Technique plus two... plus six... Strength plus three..."
Ryan smirked, pleased at the gains...
An hour later, he was at it again... This time, a short blade gleamed in his hand... He faced another student and called out... "Alright, I have tested my sword... Now my knife is itching for some action... Up for a duel..."
The student's eyes lit with the same hunger... "Absolutely... My knife has been craving blood too..."
They locked eyes, serious this time... Around them, the other trainees sagged, worn out after the endless challenges... Ryan was the only one who seemed tireless... The poor student who had caught his attention looked doomed...
This guy is insane... one of them thought, watching Ryan... He challenges anyone, in any skill... Footwork, fists, sword, knife... it does not matter... He is a monster...
By mid-morning, Ryan had not just collected the fallen attribute bubbles... He had deliberately challenged student after student in duels across every discipline he could touch... Word spread quickly through the training floor...
A new nickname stuck to him like wildfire...
"The Duel Maniac..."
No one knew who coined it first... but once Ryan overheard someone whisper it, his face darkened with fury...
"If I find out who the hell started that..." he growled under his breath, fists tightening... "They are dead meat... What was the point of spreading trash like that..."
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Academy cafeteria, Vincent—the chubby one—was hunched over a tray of food... Out of nowhere, he sneezed so violently that rice shot out of his nose... clinging messily to the handkerchief he scrambled to wipe with... Disgusted, he muttered... "The hell... Why did I sneeze like that... Someone talking trash about me..."
Back in the training hall, Ryan pulled up his status screen... The numbers made his chest tighten with excitement... His harvest on the second floor had been massive... By noon, his stats were pushing the limits of an advanced-level trainee...
Intelligence... forty-three...
Physique... eighty-four...
Strength... nine hundred sixty-four...
Speed... five hundred thirty-three...
Combat Skills...
Basic Fist Technique... Mastered...
Basic Footwork... Mastered...
Basic Sword Technique... Mastered...
Basic Knife Technique... Advanced...
To be recognized as an advanced trainee required a physique of seventy... strength of seven hundred kilos... and sprinting a hundred meters in five seconds...
Ryan had blown past all three thresholds before lunch...
On top of that, three of his combat skills were already perfected... His knife technique had reached the advanced stage...
The only disappointment... He had not gained any new techniques today... Most students seemed to only focus on a few arts... and he had already wrung them dry...
Still, he could not help the grin tugging at his lips...
I have already surpassed the limit... I am not just catching up anymore... I am leaving everyone else in the dust...