23 Richie Lee

New Era City.

As the central hub of the recently built man-made continent, there were a plethora of opportunities that could be sought in this bustling city.

However, similar to the other countries around the world, the competition was just as fierce.

Now that humanity has been focusing on fitness and health, there were numerous dojos and schools that taught martial arts, competing against each other.

Some of them were already settled for a long time, becoming reputed, while some being established only recently.

However, the one thing they had in common was that they taught martial arts and fighting techniques to the masses.

There were countless martial arts created in history. Some of them even dating back thousands of years, becoming a part of humanity for a long, long time.

Unfortunately, martial arts that survived such a long passing of time were but a few amongst the few. Boxing and Wrestling were such examples. They were most likely among the very first martial arts to be created, dating back to 2000 to 3000 BCE or even older.

There was also the Bokator, which translates to 'pounding a lion'. It was an ancient martial art that originated from the battlefield of Cambodia from at least 1,700 years ago.

The famous Shaolin Kung Fu, which was born 1,500 years ago in Central China, was also fortunate to survive till this day.

While a lot of martial arts were lost in the long history of time, quite a number of them persevered. They were practiced and passed on for generations, inherited for years, allowing them to survive until the present day.

Of course, there were ones that were developed and created hundreds of years ago, a bit more recent than the said formers.

To name a few:

Dim Mak, or 'Touch of Death', was known as pressure-point fighting. It was introduced around the 1300s and was an incredibly lethal martial art that targeted an opponent's acupoints, it was dangerous enough to kill.

Muay Thai, which dated around the 14th century, was also known as the 'Art of Eight Limbs' for its use of elbow and knee strikes. Popularized for hundreds of years, it has proven to be effective in both sports and streetfighting.

There were also some recent ones that were only developed a century ago, such as Jeet Kun Do, Keysi Fighting Method, Brazillian Jujitsu, Vale Tudo, Krav Maga, and so on.

With the entrance of martial arts, the people of Earth, who had utilized the body-enhancement serums and health-improving medicines developed by the Global Health Care and Pharmaceuticals, started practicing martial arts, which benefited one's health while improving the physique.

Certainly, not everyone taught and practiced in such lethal martial arts, most of them simply practiced for the sake of working out and exercising.

Of course, with the rise of martial arts, the crime rate didn't decrease but increased instead, as most of the criminals were versed in combat themselves. This then led the masses to further practice martial arts, for its benefits in health and self-protection, killing two birds in one stone; it lead to a worldwide circulation of martial arts

At this moment, a dilapidated, worn-out dojo barely stood in the capital city.

A signboard could be seen atop the rustic building displaying the words, [Unparalleled Martial Arts and Combat].

The domineering name contrasted that of the poor and penniless state of the dojo.

At this moment, a young man could be seen on the entrance, standing in front of a crude wooden door.

This young man had an average build and an ordinary appearance. Wearing branded clothes and shoes, alongside with a sports car that he just exited, he seemed to come from a wealthy family.

"Is this the place?" he whispered as he stared at the crumpled sheet of paper in his hand. "The people in the neighborhood said that he lives here."

He then glanced at the placard above that displayed the awesome dojo's name.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Hello! Is anyone there?!"

* * * * *

At this moment, inside the dojo, a whooshing sound could be heard as the surface of the black gaming capsule parted.

A figure rose from within. He removed his gaming helmet and shook his head before stepping out of the capsule.

"What an amazing game." Jaden thought as soon as he logged out of Everlasting World.

"The game feels so real, be it my actions, the other players, the NPCs, the buildings, or the world itself, everything looks so real that it would be hard to differentiate it with reality."

He laughed. "Whoever created this game, you are a genius!"

He then stretched his body before glancing at the wall clock in his room. He was surprised when he saw that it was 10 in the morning.

"I can't believe I played for a whole day. I didn't even eat or drink anything!"

The game launched at exactly 12:00 yesterday. This means that he's been playing for nearly 24 hours without even noticing the time.

He seemed to not have noticed his hunger during that time as well as he rubbed his grumbling stomach.

However, just as he was thinking about what to eat, he heard a knocking sound.

"Hm?"

Jaden frowned as he walked towards the door.

He then opened it and saw a young man around the same age as him.

Black hair and brown eyes, Jaden swept a glance at his clothes then towards the piece of paper in his hands.

"Who are you?"

The young man's face turned to that of excitement as he stared eagerly at Jaden.

'Yes, it's him, that face is impossible to mistake for someone else's!'

Noticing those strangely bright eyes and that face that was as red as a tomato, Jaden's brows creased.

"Hey man, I don't swing that—"

Just as he was about to chase away the stranger, Jaden suddenly saw him kneel.

Putong!

"Master!" the young man cried.

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I have a disciple?

Jaden's face turned strange. "Umm, what—"

But before he could even talk, he was interrupted again.

"Master, you probably don't remember such a trivial moment but you saved my life a few days ago. " the young man said emotionally as tears brimmed down his eyes. "I came here to thank you for saving my measly life..."

"I saved your life...?"

Taken aback, Jaden tried to remember what happened a few days ago.

A few moments later, he finally recalled a certain time when he passed by an alleyway on his way back to the dojo.

During that time, he saw a young man around his age crying with a black and blue face and was surrounded by three men who all happened to have a mohawk haircut.

Those three gangsters all had jungles knives in their hands as they squared up on the poor young man.

"Ah, you were that guy who called me brother, shifting those gangster's attention towards me." Jaden didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he remembered that moment.

He was just walking home then. Since the area was isolated, there were only a few people in the street, so, when he heard someone calling out 'Help me big bro!' from the alleyway where he was the only person nearby, he unconsciously looked back.

Naturally, the gangsters glanced at him before delivering a punch on the young man's stomach, hindering the hope of his diversion-run away tactic.

Those gangsters seemed to have thought that he was the young man's real brother. They probably thought that he was from a super-rich family due to his unique face that one wouldn't come across even for a lifetime.

When the three gangsters came up at him waving their knives menacingly, Jaden looked at them as if he was looking at a bunch of clowns and wiped the floor with them.

How could he be scared of a few grown wannabe gangsters when he's wrestled with saltwater crocodiles and even hippos, some of the world's baddest animals? How could he be scared of a small knife when he even held open a lion's jaws barehanded?

The whole ordeal only took a few seconds so he went home instantly afterward, ignoring the nearly naked young man whose top and shoes were stripped away.

"Yes, yes, that was me. Master, please forgive me for doing such a cowardly act." the young man howled as he grabbed Jaden's leg. He felt indignant since he was desperate at that moment.

Wait.

Right then, an idea suddenly hit Jaden.

His strange eyes turned to that of seriousness as he looked at the crying lad.

"How 'bout this. If you don't want to experience such humiliation again, why don't you apply—"

"Master, please teach me martial arts! I only know how to spend money! In this day and age where one can't even spend his money safely, please give me the strength!"

* * * * *

The next day.

Standing beside a sandbag with improved outer leather were Jaden and Lee, the new student of [Unparalleled Martial Arts and Combat].

"Ehem, let master demonstrate 1% of his strength." Jaden coughed as he grinned.

Lee nodded his head like an obedient student.

"Watch." Jaden smiled as he held out his palm, turning it into a fist. "Modern martial artists tend to tunnel vision, focusing solely on the upper body and arm strength when punching."

He said as he tilted sideways, putting weight onto his left foot. "It's not wrong, but it's not enough. First, you will learn to train each of your muscles, both in the lower and upper body. This way, you can use entire body strength and weight in each punch."

As he said so, Jaden's arm tightened as he bent it back. Then, in a single flowing moment, his body twisted, his center of gravity and weight shifted, and his arm whipped as his fist came piercing towards the sandbag.

Thud!

'What the F***!' Lee's eyes widened in shock as he stared at Jaden's fist which came out on the other side of the sandbag.

He then stared at Jaden with heated eyes. "Master, when will I be able to do that?" as he asked his question, he couldn't help but fantasize about showing off his manliness in front of pretty girls.

His body shivered in excitement at the thought of it.

Jaden looked at Lee as he shook his head. "Your body is too weak. I assume that you've never practiced martial arts before, or even worked out or exercised for that matter."

"A strong body is the stablest foundation." His smile then shifted to an evil one, similar to the one his old master had when the latter was training him. "Until I say enough, you will do 500 push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, squats, plus 50 kilometers of daily running. This is while wearing a few weights that I'll be giving you."

"Oh right, do you play Everlasting World?"

* * * * *

Training Hall.

"Look, he's at it again.

"Damn, he's seriously insane! How can he not get bored or tired?"

"Is he holding a grudge against someone? Maybe a love rival in real life?"

"Or maybe someone took his money and refused to pay it back?"

"That's a good assumption. I would probably be holding a grudge too if that were to happen to me."

"It seems he'll never stop until he breaks the dummy, again."

Currently, probably due to either his looks or weird actions, Sky had become a celebrity amongst the players in the Training Hall.

"Is it just me or did that dummy tremble from fright just now?"

"Eh, so it wasn't just me?"

As Sky struck and smashed every inch of the wooden dummy, the same questions arose from the spectators as they watched.

"How long has it been today?"

"Hmm, 9 hours, give or take."

"He doesn't have any plans on stopping does he?"

"Maybe he's raising his sword mastery before hunting monsters?"

"But it's pointless to do that, I've tried already. My beginner sword mastery level 2 only increased by 1% after hitting a dummy for two hours..."

"Wow, you did that for two hours? Impressive."

"Hehe, no biggie, nothing compared to that crazy guy there. Anyway, if you're planning to raise your sword mastery, it's better to do it on a monster, like a slime or rabbit or something."