After the speech ended, the others signaled for me to check the message in the chat system. I was requested to have a few talks with important members of my faction in the council room. After two very, utterly, crazily long hours, I was done. Funnily enough, it only took me five minutes to realize how much I lacked in political knowledge and management skills. Ruling a faction of thousands as a young teen was a tedious and complex task.
After those 2 hours, I was mentally spent. Even so, I knew exactly how to wake myself up and have fun at the same time: training.
I said to my friends and colleagues that I'd need at least 20 days off just so I could enter a good training rhythm, which everyone accepted. Apparently, I was still not needed. But that was a good thing for me; hence, I didn't dwell too much on the matter; now it was time for something more exciting.
19 days later...
[System update: The dummy has been constantly hitting you for 5 minutes and hasn't touched you once. It will therefore increase its speed by 10% as per your instructions.]
[The level-1 Karate and Boxing dummy went from 80% of its original speed to 90%; Dummy's strength level has risen to 55.]
[The fight continues right away.]
The dummy rammed at Aiden like a famished lion would on a prey. The hungry lion swept a lightning-fast left-calf kick, and pursued with a combination of mixed blows, fast and heavy, to the body and the head.
Aiden easily blocked the calf kick and then retreated to tire his opponent. A few hits were dodged, like the heavy right hook that Aiden evaded so smoothly it felt like he saw the punch in slow motion. After evading another kick, this time a right-spinning back kick, Aiden set his pace. The dummy had now entered Aiden's domain. Aiden began to enter a sort of trance, completely blocking, dodging, or sidestepping every attack like a mighty warrior who had immersed himself in bloody battles for years.
Swoosh!
Aiden barely escaped the terrific secret technique of the karate martial arts that the dummy performed. It was akin to a steel axe's blade, a monstrous axe kick.
"Alright stop''
I was not actually tired. At least, not enough to call it quits and stop the fight. I could still carry on. But it had been too long since I fought the dummy using that method and felt my progress slowing down. That is why I felt the urge to try a new way of training, one that would force my reflexes to grow tremendously so long as I survived.
''Please keep the karate and boxing martial arts, but set the speed to 100% of its... Wait no, select the level-2 training dummy instead. And keep the rest as I said before.''
[System Notice] - [Are you sure you want to train your dodging and blocking abilities against a level-2 dummy? Its strength will far surpass that of a level-1. Remember, not only does its strength increase, but also its speed, agility, endurance, and technique refinement.]
"I know what I am doing, and I am very much aware of what kind of dangers lie ahead from facing it since this is exactly what I need in order to achieve my next growth phase.''
[Alright then: Level-2 Dummy, utilizing boxing and karate martial arts at master-level, has been created.]
[You can start whenever you are ready.]
"Start.''
I knew it was somewhat impatient of me to engage without having rested much, but I wasn't that tired anyway, so it didn't matter. As the dummy rushed at me, I glanced at its new combat power: 102... This was way more than I had anticipated. It seemed that going up one level almost doubled the dummy's overall combat power.
But before I could even regret my decision, I was met with something I had never felt before.
True fear. A primal, instinctive fear. I saw death and I met its gaze. The dummy had initiated the fight by launching the most powerful punch in its arsenal, catching me off guard at the same time.
The right cross approached like a fierce tiger, assured of its victory over the weak prey it had set its eyes on. If I were to be compared to a wolf or a tiny puppy, then it was the king of tigers—proud and strong, standing atop the mountain. Scaring enemies with a mere look, it knew it stood at the apex of the food chain and shouldn't even care about a measly weakling like me, yet it was forced to fight me as if I were its equal. This made it furious.
And so the furious beast had given its all into that first punch in order to end the fight quickly. The punch was so fast I could barely think. Could I dodge it? Could I block it? What was I supposed to do? My mind raced as fast as the cross, but my body was frozen. My mind screamed at every muscle, urging my body to move. MOVE, MOVE, MOVE, FOR GOD'S SAKE MOVE!
My elbow listened, and I lifted it, meeting my opponent's strike and blocking it. Now only my elbow screamed, in pain from the aftershock it had just received, but surprisingly enough, the wild beast in front of me had also stopped. Its right hand was broken.
By luck, I had the reflex to block that hit with the exact part of my arms, which was the sturdiest one. But I knew it wouldn't change much; his strength was most likely still in the 80-85, despite the injury. So I acknowledged the need to change my plans a little bit; if I wanted to survive, I'd need to fight that thing.
''Switch to combat mode now!''
[Accorded]
Hence, my first fight against the level-2 dummy began...
The dummy was not reset, retaining its injured hand.
This time, it hesitated, so I seized the opportunity to assert my dominance. Here's what I learned from the numerous fights and training I've undergone during the past nineteen days: against a stronger opponent, do not allow yourself to be cornered, and do not let them set the rhythm and control the fight. You must fight with the resolve to kill, despite their superior strength. So, you should feel no fear.
With my fear now gone, I leaped at the dazzled dummy, catching it off-guard this time. I sent a very fast low-kick to its left leg. It blocked it, but that was part of the plan. Retracting my leg, I also caught its injured arm, pressing on it with all of my strength. The dummy was in pain and severely infuriated. I propelled myself forward, sending in my strongest left-straight with all of my weight behind it, directly aimed at its throat—the nemesis of all fighters.
But that strategy only worked between equal fighters or those with a tiny difference in skills and strength. Here we were worlds apart in those areas. I had completely ignored the power number I saw previously... It was above 100. This meant that the guy in front of me could lift over five hundred kilos of weight, move as fast and for as long as a top-level boxer and a black belt karate practitioner, and had the fighting experience, knowledge, and technique of the greatest fighters as well, combined with impressive leg endurance, body endurance, and a will of steel. Even wolves were weak in comparison to that son of a bitch.
My elbow had been badly hurt too, and my ribs were soon to be ripped apart by the right counter that the dummy was now poised to strike me with. My will to fight kept diminishing with every passing millisecond as I shuddered uselessly at the overwhelming power that my opponent held.
His swing landed, and I couldn't do anything to stop it. The hit made me fly five meters or so away from him. I spewed blood from my mouth onto the ground. My head was dizzy, and my eyes saw white and black, like an old, broken television.
Hubris seemed to be the sole reason for my current demise. But I couldn't just say stop; I still wanted to win even though it should have been clear from the beginning that it was impossible. But I had no choice. I was not even able to speak with my bloodied mouth, so I stood up instead.
I glared coldly and tiredly at the proud dummy, who was slowly making his way toward me. It knew it was going to win against me, so it took its time to make fun of me before crushing my body. That arrogance would be the receptacle that would lead to my victory.
I knew my body was nowhere near strong enough to contend against him, nor were my basic martial arts skills. But I still had one more area where I was superior to him, one that I had been hiding away: vital points and meridians.
I could win by striking a few vital points and meridians and then going all in for the kill.
The dummy felt annoyed by my glare and rushed at me. On my side, my body limped, and my mind blinked. Upon seeing that god of death two meters away from me, I knew that I should never be complacent or even close my eyes. But here, it was too late.
When my eyes reopened, I saw the dummy taking position to land the first strike, and that's when I snapped.
All that knowledge and training in Wing Chun and Dim Mak, although it had only been for over 3 weeks, those 3 weeks translated to over 100 hours. I recalled the most sensitive areas that the practice dummy had shown me, and my body began to act on its own.
I parried his first attack with two arms, and before that, I had positioned myself slightly to the right of the dummy. The force of the blow pushed me even more to its right, placing me in its blind spot. I used the momentum of the force from its attack to attack its stomach with a left back-kick, straight onto its vital point. It curled up its stomach from the impact, yet I was not going to let it rest.
I feinted a throat-palm strike, which was meant to make it step back. It lost a little of its balance, so I bolted at it and tried to hit its solar plexus vital points with a powerful underhand. It blocked it, but my body, once again in a state of trance, continued to fight. My right arm sneakily hurdled at its neck, using my five fingers like a sword to pierce through it. I was so fast that it couldn't do anything to stop it, except hitting me with a body hit.
Blood was coming out of my mouth again, and my eyes were getting darker and darker, but I kept on going. I hit the dummy with an unexpected spinning back-elbow strike to the chin, followed by another elbow strike to his throat. He spun back in pain, and I chased after him. As the dummy struggled to even breathe, he started to launch a myriad of attacks.
I met each and every single one of them with either a block, a dodge, or a counter. I broke him second by second, minute after minute, but I paid an equivalent price in return. My body was torn apart; muscles, nerves—everything was overused to the point where even my blood started boiling. The dummy slowed down; I could have done the same to rest; however, a better idea traversed my mind... POKING HIS EYES WHILE HE'S RESTING!
My mind continuously oscillated between a conscious state and a blank state. Too tired to process the overload of muscle usage, my brain automatically turned off and let my instinct control my body.
I struck him in the nuts, the neck, and the eyes. Blow after blow, I was getting weaker and weaker, he was getting slower and slower, and on my side, I was getting crazier.
I started laughing madly, consumed by a desperate frenzy to vanquish my enemy. I utilized every part of my body in the endeavor. Every millimeter of my flesh was employed, and every millisecond was crucial, so I refrained from overthinking, as it would only lead to further mental fatigue. Instead, I allowed my instincts to guide me.
He tried to push me away every time he fell since I'd always jump on him. But that didn't stop me from gouging out his eyes and breaking his arms and shoulders. This was necessary; if I didn't do that, then he would have killed me. And since this was but a mere machine that I was battling to the death with, I held no remorse for my actions.
I didn't realize it during my rampage, but I had really grown immensely in just 19 days. The dummy may have been stronger than me physically, but my strength and endurance had also grown, hence why I was able to hurt it while hitting its vital points and meridians.
The dummy who was now on the ground struggled to defend against my attacks; I had fully adopted the fighting style of a beast and became a savage, bloodthirsty monster. And after long minutes, which felt like hours, I felled my enemy...
The fight ended after 11 minutes.
[System-Notice]: [Congratulations for being able to beat the level-2 dummy for the first time while having twice as little battle power, a special reward will be given as such.]
For a moment, Aiden was puzzled; he didn't understand a single word that the system said. He was too tired to hear or listen to anything. He just stood there atop the red dummy, in a daze. He didn't budge one bit and looked into the nothingness; it felt like he was engulfed in a dark-red transcendental aura that made him look like a king, a warrior who had defeated a powerful foe.
And a few seconds later, this king-like warrior fell unconscious.
[System-Notice]: [The user has fallen unconscious due to extreme mental fatigue, muscle overuse, and injuries. Thus the reward will automatically be given to repair and strengthen your body while you are in this state.]
The dummy was reset, and a new one appeared. It took Aiden in his arms gently and carried him to a place nearby. It was a wall at the right corner of the dummy's area; it opened and led to what seemed to be a secret place. There was another secret in this room that even Aiden didn't know about.
There were stairs going far down; the door closed behind the dummy as he walked down. At the end of the stairs was a mid-sized room, perhaps 20 cubic meters, with almost nothing in it aside from a weird pool or basin. It was a square basin filled with glowing, icy-colored, neon-like water. Or was it? Was this liquid truly water?
The dummy placed Aiden inside the basin, and for a moment nothing occurred, but after thirty seconds, Aiden's body began absorbing the unknown, pernicious liquid. His wound healed, his muscles were being repaired, and he even grew in strength, flexibility, and endurance by the second. This pound was not only healing Aiden's body, but it was also restructuring it, transforming it bit by bit into a more perfect version of his former body. After about 10% of the liquid had been absorbed, Aiden was taken away from the basin and carried back up to his former place.
[Automatic Deactivation of the Dummy]
2 hours later...
''Ughh, what the hell happened? Did I seriously pass out...''
''Shit.''
'Wait, why is my body not hurting at all? Why does it instead feel full of strength?'
After slapping my face a few times to wake up, I stood up.
''Open Status-Window,'' I said aloud.
[Status window]: 'Aiden Glain, 17Y, Male'
[Social Status]: 'Leader of Region 7'
[Number of followers in total]: '2758'
[Martial Art user]: Boxing 'Mid-Tier Expert' - Wing Chun 'Low-Tier Expert' - Dim Mak 'Mid-Tier Expert' - Karate 'Low-tier Amateur' - Muay Tai 'Mid-tier Amateur'
[Battle Score: 54]
''What the hell??!'' I yelled in shock.
'How did my combat score improve from 42 to 54 just like that??'
Indeed, it was quite a shocking news. Aiden's strength had originally been at 42 when he initiated his fight against the level-2 dummy, and now it had grown to 54.
Whatever the reason as to why and how it happened, it didn't matter in Aiden's eyes. This only indicated one thing: He could grow stronger even more.
But something felt wrong...