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"Yo, cousin! You there?"
A loud knock on his door tore Ren out of the book he was reading. He stood up, walked to the door, and opened it, revealing a tall man sporting a wide grin on his face.
"Oh, good morning, Alex," Ren greeted with a small smile.
"Morning to you too, cousin."
Alexander Arden Vire, the oldest son of the clan leader. He's a free-spirited man who's loud, funny, sometimes obnoxious, but generally a decent man all along.
"What's up?" Ren asked.
"Well, Dad told me that your training begins today. Oh, congrats, by the way. Common Grade 1 Martial Physique is seriously tongue-click noice!" Alex winked at him before showing him an okay sign.
"Thank you."
"Well, Dad was supposed to get you started with the clan's crappy arts, but he was called into a meeting. There's been some disputes in the dungeons again, so he couldn't make it, so he sent me instead."
"..."
"Hey, what's that look on your face? Don't look down on me! I can definitely teach well! It's just the beginner's steps anyway! I'm not that incompetent, you know!"
'Damn, I really need to control my facial expressions better,' Ren thought bitterly to himself.
"No, uh...yeah, sure. Do we go now, or..."
"Yep! To the Training Hall 1, change into a training gi, and bring a huge tumbler for water, too. No, seriously, you're going to need it. And prepare to be in a world of pain. Hopefully, you won't return here limping and in tears."
Alex doesn't seem to be scaring him. It's like he's just stating something obvious like the weather. Honestly, Ren was a bit scared, but he can't back down now.
So, he changed into his training gi, got his tumbler that could carry 1.5 liters of water, and psyched himself out.
Once he was done, he went out of his house. Alex looked at him in approval and led him to Training Hall 1, which wasn't really that far from Ren's house.
On their way there, Ren couldn't help but recall a few things in the story.
Ten years in prep school, where they are taught everything they could possibly know about the world they live in, ending with the Initiation Ceremony. Afterwards, they are expected to fend for their own.
People like Ren, with the backing of a clan or adults that are more than willing to impart martial arts to them, had it easy. They won't even need to beg. But what about those who aren't as fortunate as them?
Well, most of them will try to join a martial arts school, a sect, or an organization.
Things are difficult, especially for the poor and the untalented. Some of them will have to sign some unfavorable terms for themselves just so that they can start practicing martial arts. It's not even guaranteed that they'd make it far.
As for those who were seen as trash, the world gives up on them immediately. Hardly anyone who has the common grade 5 martial physique decides to pursue martial arts. Instead, they'd just find another way to make a living and try to live peaceful but uneventful lives.
Such is the cruel truth of this world.
"Alright, we're here." Alex's declaration brought Ren back to reality.
Looking around, Ren was moderately satisfied with his new environment. For some reason, the air here was charged and energized. The ground was flat, there was plenty of shade from trees, and there were several training dummies around. There is also some equipment on the side but no weapons, which isn't surprising considering the clan's predicament.
"Have you read the Basic Combat Manual before?" Alex asked.
Ren nodded. He, indeed, had. Several times in the past, before his previous life's memories awakened, and a couple of times this past week.
"I don't sense any traces of chakra on you, which shows that you never tried to experiment. Very good, very patient, and very unlike me. I wasn't as patient as you; I tried to produce chakra before my Initiation Ceremony. Dad whooped my ass because of that, HAHAHAHA!"
The corners of Ren's lips twitched because of Alex's boisterousness. But honestly, he could see Alex doing that. He's always been impatient and excitable as a kid.
"You've got discipline, cousin. That's good. Very good. Hold on to that discipline because God knows you'd benefit from it. Don't be like me, angering Dad because of impatience and all other nonsense." Alex's voice sounded a bit off at the end, but he didn't linger on it for too long.
"Ahem, anyway. Now that we're here, you can start with this." Alex handed Ren a copy of the Basic Combat Technique.
"I don't think you need a copy, but just in case you do, here. Refer to this if you're unsure, or ask me questions. I'll be supervising you."
"If you're ready, give it a go. I'll make corrections when necessary."
Ren had no idea if Alex was just being lazy or if this was just the way he taught before, but he didn't think much about it.
He skimmed the book, and everything was written the same way as the others he viewed in the past. He already memorized it from cover to cover and doesn't really need to refer to it.
He put the book away and went into a stance. Alex stood on the side with arms crossed over his chest, nodding softly.
'His stance is good. He's got a good grasp of the idea. Now, let's see how sharp those instincts are,' he mused to himself.
And Ren didn't disappoint.
He moved with pinpoint accuracy from one stance to the next. Then, he began throwing punches and kicks. At first, they were hesitant. Ren was obviously holding back because he didn't want to pull a muscle or whatever.
But then, holding back felt wrong. The wrongness gnaws at the back of his head, urging him to do it in earnest instead and not to worry about injuries since he's more likely to injure himself by not doing it properly instead.
So, in his next cycle, he performed seriously.
Pak! Pak! Pak!
Slapping sounds were produced by his actions. It's his tendons that were producing the sound, not his act of punching and kicking.
On the side, Alex was floored. His jaw hung loose as he watched in disbelief as his cousin began producing that same sound that took him almost two weeks to do.
He then frowned and thought, 'It must be a coincidence, right? This cousin of mine isn't particularly studious, but he's diligent and patient. I guess he had everything memorized, and that discipline of his is what's causing him to reach this stage this fast? Surely it isn't because he's got a common grade 1 martial physique, because if it is, then I should've been this fast too.'
While Alex deliberated whether this was a coincidence or not. Ren was immersed in his practice.
While it's not a full immersion, since he's still vaguely aware of his surroundings, it's certainly heightened.
What got him was the movement within him. He could feel forces gathering in his chest, as if they were accumulating something.
Ren knew what this was; this was the initial production of his chakra.
Chakra is produced by combining intent, life force, and motion. Humans don't have 'meridians' or the 'dantian' here. There's also no spiritual energy, qi, or anything of the like in the air.
The energy sources they used to perform extraordinary feats with martial arts were energy forms that they already owned: mental energy (intent), physical energy (life force), and kinetic energy (motion). And a mixture of these three produces Chakra, which is the main energy source used to perform martial arts.
To practice martial arts is to move. Martial arts is movement. Practitioners of this world won't just sit down to absorb some invisible energy in the air to circulate inside their bodies.
If one wants to produce chakra for use, they must move. Becoming stronger requires a lot of movement.
The Basic Combat Technique is the simplest and most neutral way of learning how to fight and how to combine all three energy forms to produce chakra.
And what Ren was feeling right now was exactly that. And even though this was his first time mixing energy forms through practice to produce chakra, Ren was doing exceptionally well.
Alex himself could attest to that.
'Holy crap, cousin! You're a freak! '
Alex was already holding himself back from exclaiming in shock because he's afraid of shocking Ren and interrupting the conversion process.
It hasn't even been 15 minutes yet since Ren started his practice, yet he's already producing chakra. While this feat wasn't unique or overly insane, it's still freakish.
Alex, someone who also has a common grade 1 martial physique like Ren, took three days before he managed to accurately combine all three energy sources for the neutral chakra of the basic combat technique! And that's already, slightly, impressive.
But what about Ren? If this isn't freakish, then what is?
If only he knew that this was probably the least impressive miracle that he'd witness from Ren moving forward.