Kill The Old Ones!

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Ren finished the additional reading materials that Mikel sent to him.

He also learned how to emit chakra on his palms. He can’t hold it for long, though, which is normal given how abysmal the amount of chakra he has.

Actually, nobody’s expecting him to begin practicing the Vital Pulse Art anytime soon due to the simple reason that he just doesn’t have enough chakra for it just yet.

Hell, he wouldn’t even be able to heal a scratch with it if he uses it now simply because he doesn’t have enough chakra for it.

He could only start once he reached the Muscle Forging Stage—a realm where he starts forging his muscles with chakra to not only strengthen them but also transform them, allowing him to store little bits of chakra in them. This kind of increases the amount of chakra he can use and also slows down the dissipation of his own chakra.

The training tool they gave him was nothing more than a tool to help him get started; it helps with chakra control, but that’s about it. It had no other uses beyond that.

Well, now that Ren could do it with just a mere thought, he had no use for it anymore. And since he had already memorized the recent material sent to him, Ren once again found himself focusing on his practice again.

But since he already mastered the basics to perfection and had even drilled them to his instincts, Ren figured that it was about time for him to learn a new one, something that had more substance and should keep him occupied for a while.

So, he went to the clan’s martial hall again. He didn’t stop at the 1st floor; he had already read everything in there, and he already knew that what he wanted wasn’t on that floor.

He went straight to the 2nd floor. This is where the martial arts that the clan made/collected over their history were showcased. The stronger ones with rare grades are further up the hall, but Ren knew better than to look for those.

While the basic combat technique did teach him how to throw proper punches and kicks and taught him how to fight in general, it’s only the basics of the basics.

What Ren needs right now is something more...decisive, something that has more substance and influence on his fighting style. One that could actually decide the result of the fight.

He won’t set his gaze upon the rarer grade of martial arts just yet. Ren knew his own condition better than anyone else. Even though learning those techniques early was possible, thanks to his unlimited access with his uncle’s badge, without the proper amount of chakra to use them, forget about succeeding; it’d be a miracle if he doesn’t get injured heavily after his first attempt.

There were plenty of martial arts techniques on the second floor. Some were complete, others weren’t. And everything was just a grade above beginner-friendly.

The grades of martial arts techniques are mortal, earth, heaven, king, emperor, and saint grades.

There are ranks beyond this, but those won’t show up anytime soon, so it’s useless to think about it for now.

Hell, Ren would be surprised if the clan even had a Heaven Grade Martial Art, because that’s already rare on this floor.

The ones he’s flipping through right now are all mortal-grade martial arts. They’re simple and easy and not very strong but will do for now.

One thing to note is that, starting from Mortal Grade Martial Arts, the techniques will begin ’influencing’ the user. Meaning that the more an individual practices a similar type of martial arts, the more ’biased’ they’d become towards it.

And this ’bias’ will reflect on their physical appearance too. Those who train with the sword and put in a decent amount of effort mastering more than one sword technique will have their bodies forged to be slender and more biased towards sword arts.

If they switch to spears, or other weapons for that matter, not only will their progress slow down, but they would also start feeling discomfort.

Why does this happen? It’s because of the ’breathing techniques’ that usually come with mortal-grade martial arts and above.

’Breathing techniques’ is a way to add ’substance’ to chakra, giving it ’color’ or ’theme.’

The chakra of someone who usually practices with a sword would feel sharp and pointed. Someone who prefers bows and arrows would find that their chakra would instinctively mark potential targets from afar to increase their precision and accuracy, and so on...

Once one’s chakra is ’tainted’ or ’painted’ with a ’color,’ it develops a bias. And since chakra nourishes the practitioner’s body, it sculpts the physique in a way that conforms with their chosen ’theme,’ thereby allowing the practitioner to gain the maximum amount of benefit they could get from the techniques they’ve chosen.

It’s for this very reason that martial artists tend to ’specialize’ in one thing. It’s very rare you’d see an actual ’jack of all trades’ since that is simply an inefficient way to practice martial arts.

Switching specialties was hard. Not impossible, sure, but the effort it takes to do so was simply not worth the time it requires to do so.

Even Ren, with his unparalleled comprehension, had no plans on becoming a jack of all trades. He had seen what happens in the story and knew that it’s simply not worth it.

Besides, even if he wanted to, he simply couldn’t. Aberrant physique, remember? He can’t use weapons. Even he, someone who’s familiar with the story of this world, couldn’t think of a way to break this curse, so why would he waste his time on fantasizing about learning everything?

The Mortal Grade martial arts he saw on the 2nd floor of the clan’s martial hall were mostly unarmed combat skills.

Punches, palms, fingers, grappling techniques, kicks, footwork...

Nothing here requires tools or weapons. Members of this clan can use tools, not weapons. But tools are tools; they’d never be weapons.

A hammer could serve as a tool and a weapon. Technically, someone with a Banished Arsenal Physique could make do with using a sledgehammer as a ’weapon’ so long as the system identifies it as a tool.

But again, tools are tools. They’d never be weapons. The stats of tools are different from the stats of weapons. Although the system doesn’t prevent tools from being used to bash monsters’ skulls, they’d never be as effective and as lethal as weapons.

People like them would find more success in punching and kicking monsters instead of hypnotizing themselves that they’re wielding weapons in the guise of tools.

Ren didn’t lament the fate of the Banished Arms Clan for too long. No matter how much he cried or wished to change their fate, it’s not going to happen. It would be much preferable for him to use this time to make himself stronger instead of spending it complaining endlessly.

Ren used the majority of his afternoon on the 2nd floor, flipping through mortal grade martial arts as if deliberating on his choice.

He felt the guardian of this floor giving him weird looks, but he decisively ignored that. He doesn’t know who that person is, and even if he does, it’s not like he’s going to know that Ren was actually memorizing everything in one go.

And even if that guy knew about it, so what? It’s not like he could stop Ren from doing so. Ren had the badge of the clan leader, giving him unlimited access to the clan’s Martial Hall. He could decide to sleep here, and they won’t be able to do anything against him so long as he has this badge.

Ren ignored the looks he’s receiving and focused on learning everything on the 2nd floor.

He’s truly weighing his options, you see. He decided that he would learn at least one of each martial art type: offensive, defensive, and auxiliary.

The three basics he learned previously were a given and almost don’t count. It’s a beginner-friendly package that prepares him for this moment, and they’re now serving this purpose.

Before the sun sets, Ren finished reading everything. And even though most of what he had seen was decent, Ren ultimately settled on his choices for now.

They are the Nine Echoes Technique, the Golden Fleece Technique, and the Calming Spirit Technique.

The Nine Echoes Technique makes it so that every strike he lands on his target will echo one to nine times. The Golden Fleece Technique is a defensive martial art that allows him to absorb and endure impacts while also allowing him to accumulate and release this force back to its sender.

And finally, the Calming Spirit Technique is an auxiliary martial art that doesn’t really carry any offensive or defensive effect. Instead, it hones the mind, allowing it to remain in a perpetual calm that improves one’s chakra flow, maintains focus and concentration, sharpens intent, and hones the user’s willpower.

These were more than good enough to start. They’re simple and direct and don’t exert too much influence on him just yet. They’re perfect for beginners like him without being worried about any adverse effects later on.