Viswa opened his eyes after fifteen minutes exactly.
The last guy he defeated, gave him ten more Karma points.
He is actually surprised that he got positive Karma points by defeating these kids. Of course, he knew that after this fight, any of them would rarely get back into fighting. But it is unfathomable to think that all these kids would have graduated and done a bunch of negative things.
Since he is getting a positive net from defeating them, that means their presence in this world is actually net negative. To think these fifteen-year-olds would be potential negative entities of the world and he came across two of them right from the start.
He stepped on the stage and looked at his opponent.
This guy is also a lackey. But not of Kai.
He is the lackey of a different noble kid and it seems like he is only here to test some waters.
The judge looked at this kid and then at Viswa.
"Viswa, I advise you to go easy on your opponents. You are all part of the same school and would be studying together for the next few years.
You are also part of the same race, humans and you are going to be future strength of our continent. There would be no benefit of exaggerating your petty disputes to this level."
Viswa said in a calm tone.
"Instructor, am I behaving against the rules?"
The instructor sighed and shook his head.
"No."
"Then, please proceed forward with the match. I appreciate your concern, but there is no way I would be getting 45 duel notices in a single day if all the humans thought the same way you did.
And it seems like even the experienced and old like you and the people above are not even thinking in the same line of thought, why would a fifteen-year-old brat like me worry about those things?
Practice before your preach. I always believe that."
Everyone just sighed.
The opponent started sweating and he held a sword with both of his hands.
He is shivering. His hands are shaking and his whole body is soaked in sweat.
He is in no shape to fight at all. Viswa looked at him and shook his head as he lunged forward.
*PAK*
A clear and crisp slap landed on the opponent's face.
The opponent stumbled backward and shook his head. His vision became blurry and the burning sensation on his face felt like a hot coal is burning through his cheek.
He touched the swollen cheek and looked at Viswa in surprise.
Viswa looked at him calmly.
The opponent immediately rushed to get out of the arena, but Viswa didn't let him.
He tripped him, making him fall face-first into the ground. Looking at his lifeless and helpless face drained out of color, Viswa sighed and just kicked him out of bounds.
This time, he didn't even get any Karma points. Seems like this fight didn't have much effect on the other party's life. That means he is a coward, to begin with. There is not much to do with a character like that.
After that fight was over, it is time for Viswa's combat class.
He checked out the next fights and there are two in the afternoon and three more in the night.
That would be eight fights that day. He nodded in satisfaction before he went to eat breakfast. This time, nobody dared to disturb him. Not even the orphanage gang.
All freshmen went to the basic combat class. That day the open class is also about foot work. A movement technique, which is a common lesson for any combat enthusiast.
When they arrived at the classroom, one of the instructors they saw previously is waiting for them. He greeted everyone with a smile. Only when his gaze met with Viswa, did a contempt-filled sneer escape his mouth.
"Today, we are going to learn the Black Sand Academy's signature footwork technique. The Sea Snake Step.
It is a very profound technique and can be paired with any kind of fighting technique. Whether you are a spearman, swordsman, a fist user, or a leg user. This is going to be useful for you.
It can also be paired with your regular running and you will see a significant rise in efficiency.
Now, I am going to call a senior to demonstrate the technique to you. This senior is the student that I took in last year's freshman drive. He advanced to Circle 2 in less than six months and he is on his way to advancing to Circle 3.
He is also a member of the Student Union."
He introduced his disciple proudly and a young man stepped in from another room. Viswa recognized this guy.
He is one of the five people in the student union when he went to submit the dual notices.
"Hello juniors, I am Mitra. Nice to meet you all. Looking forward to learning with you."
The teacher nodded and looked at the crowd. His gaze landed on Viswa and he said.
"Now, can we have this student volunteer here? We would be doing a practical demonstration of the Sea Snake Step so that you will have a better understanding."
Viswa frowned, but he nodded and stepped forward.
"Now, what fighting style are you familiar with student Viswa? What have you learned prior to entering the academy?"
"I.." Viswa was about to answer, but before he could even do that someone from the crowd cut him off.
"Instructor, he is a freeloading orphan, how can he learn anything from anywhere."
Viswa turned to look at the guy who spoke. It is Kai. It seems like this guy is still as cocky as ever.
"Oh, I am sorry. I always forget details about insignificant things. You at least know how to throw a punch right?"
The Instructor asked.
Viswa looked at him with a frown once again, but he nodded.
"That is good. Now, try to approach Mitra and try to attack him. He would only be dodging and he would only attack in the same technique as yours. For now, let's keep it to the fist technique. He would only use a jab or a cross and he would keep his strength to your level."
Viswa nodded and got into a fighting stance.
Mitra came forward and said with a cocky expression.
"Please make your move."
Viswa lunged forward and threw a punch. He took a complete boxing stance and threw a jab.
He could see things is slow motion, just when his jab was about to connect, the other party slipped. Not dodged, or moved, it felt like he slipped away and he came to the side.
*BAM*
A jab landed straight on Viswa's face from the side. Even though it landed, it was not a clean hit. Viswa pivoted to the side when he sensed the danger and almost avoided it.
The punch grazed past his face.
Mitra frowned at this.
As he sensed the jab coming at him, he once again slipped and threw a punch and this time when his jab was once again grazed past Viswa's cheek, he threw a cross with his other hand, only Viswa used his right hand to tap it before it could reach him.
The punch was deflected.
They each took a step back and when Mitra was about to attack, the instructor spoke.
"As you can see, the Sea Snake step is one that focuses on your agility and flexibility. You don't need to make very large movements when you are evading. Just like a sea snake. If you try to catch a sea snake, you will see that it doesn't just escape hurriedly and make the distance between you two.
Instead, it will slip away from your grip and attack you from the side.
Sea Snake Step is designed based on inspiration.
Now, let's see how Sea Snake Step could be used when you are the one initiating the attack."
The instructor gestured for Mitra.
Viswa noticed this and his eyes narrowed. Mitra had a wide grin on his face as he stepped forward.
Viswa finally understood how tricky the Sea Snake Step it. He got ready to defend himself, but he couldn't determine where this guy is coming from. When right before the fist was about to make contact, Mitra is slipping to the side like a snake and hitting Viswa was from a completely different angle.
*BAM*
*BAM*
*BAM*
Viswa took punch after punch. Even though he was told that the other party has the same strength as Viswa, he could guess that the other party is stronger.
His sense of danger is just tingling at this moment. So, Mitra is definitely stronger than him in the current state, but he wouldn't be able to kill him.
The only problem is that right now, his technique is way too low and he cannot use all the tricks in his arsenal to fight back.
After the instructor set the rules for combat in this teaching session.
All the students saw Viswa taking a beating like he was a training dummy. Some of them heaved a sigh, they suddenly felt like Viswa is not as scary anymore.
He could be hit at the same level, he could even be played around. That is all they could think of now.
When the instructor looked at their expression, he understood what they thought and nodded in satisfaction.
"That's enough for now."
Mitra stopped and looked at Viswa with a smirk.
The Instructor looked at Viswa and said with a smile.
"I thought the first ranker would be something, but you are a lot weaker than the first ranker of the previous batch. But I guess, it can't be helped, since you don't have any prior training. Anyway, try to improve or you will be crushed. Particularly, when you don't have any instructor teaching you."
Viswa just looked at him without saying anything.
Suddenly Mitra intervened and spoke.
"Come on, Instructor. You can't judge him by those standards. After all, there are levels to everything. How can a guy who is born on the streets and born to live on the streets get any better than this?
In fact, he is doing better for what life has given him. He knew not to ask for more and knew his place when he made that decision.
He also decided to take the small moments of glory he has and tried to maximize the benefits. After all, by the end of the week, he would be left behind and he has to use this small gap to hoard as much as he can."
Viswa's eyes flashed.
This guy definitely didn't like Viswa, same goes for Viswa as well. He didn't particularly like him.
For the rest of the class, they all practiced the basics of the Sea Snake Step and it was done.
After that, it was time for students to have classes privately with their instructors. This means, it is time for Viswa to go and cultivate and practice with Mr. Guide.
As Viswa went into the forest and cultivated he noticed that the more he cultivated, the easier it became for him. Now, he is gathering energy almost twice as fast as when he started and the additional increase in energy absorption is an added bonus on top of it all.
He also recovered all the energy he expended in the training.
His spiritual energy capacity increased from 10 to 14 just like that.
After that was done, he called out Mr. Guide.
The familiar square appeared around him and they started the game of tag. Viswa hasn't even won a single round yet, but this time he is determined to do that.
When Mr.Guide came at him, he tried to use the Sea Snake step's technique to dodge. But the next moment…
*BUZZ*
He felt a shock in his head as he stopped in his tracks.
*BAM*
A punch landed on his face and he crashed into the ground.
[What the hell is that weird leg movement?]
Viswa scratched his head and said slowly.
"It's the Sea Snake Step of Black Sand Academy."
[And who told you to learn that stupid technique? Didn't I explicitly tell you not to learn these fancy techniques? They are flashy with no substance.]
"But you told me to attend the combat class. Mr. Guide."
[Of course, you just need to go there and observe. So, that you could understand different techniques and how people in this world fight. Not to learn and mess up your foundation.]
Viswa was dumbfounded, Mr. Guide sighed and said.
[Forget it, it is my fault to think that a numbskull like you would understand this. Let me dumb it down for you.
No matter what kind of combat skill is, it is made up on very basic moves.
For example, you will see sword techniques like Earth Shattering Sword or Heaven Severing Sword or something like that. But no matter how fancy and powerful they appear to be, they are only consisted of stab, slash, chop, and block.
You wouldn't use anything other than those basic moves.
So, technically, if you know these basic moves and perfected them enough, you should be able to use Earth Shattering Sword. But in the current world, only those people who learned the Earth Shattering Sword Exclusively can use it.
All of this happened because the martial arts of this world evolved in the wrong direction.
As you can see in the system interface, your current skills are not marked with fancy names. Only Basic Hand to hand combat, basic knife skills, and such.
As you advance further, your basic skills will be advanced to intermediate level and then advanced level and so on.
And in the basic level, you will understand the very core principle of a basic technique. You will touch the foundation of that technique and drill it into your memory and as you move further, you would be able to use these techniques with the inspiration you derived from nature.
Earth Shattering Sword is basically channeling the spiritual energy through their meridians in such a way that the sword has explosive destructive power. When you slash with it, not only would the slash cut, the surrounding areas of the slash will be destroyed.
That is the principle of it. Its inspiration comes from the destructive energy of a massive brunt force hitting solid ground making it crash.
So, if you understand the concept of a slash and then understand the concept of destructive brunt force, you should be able to combine the two.
In such a way, you should be able to use any technique in any form.]
Mr. Guide stopped and took a stance.
He lunged forward and touched Viswa.
Viswa was stunned. It is the Sea Snake Step. He hurriedly took a step back, but Mr. Guide jumped once again. It was explosive and fast, he looked like a cobra striking at him.
Mr. Guide stopped and said.
[If you truly grasp this concept. Sea-Snake, Cobra, or whatever snake you want, you can move like it.]
"Then why are martial arts passed down like this?"
[Because people are dumb like you.]