Chapter 6: Unlocking a New Career Path – [Fighter]!

Chapter 6: Unlocking a New Career Path – [Fighter]!

A young man, appearing to be around sixteen or seventeen, was seen repeatedly executing punching and kicking movements.

His gaze was focused, and every movement was precise. Although many of the actions seemed non-standard from Lin Zhiqin's perspective, it was evident that the young man was putting in his utmost effort.

One punch, two punches—it didn't matter; every punch from the young man was delivered with the same dedication. Sweat dampened his hair, sliding from his forehead to the tip of his nose, yet he seemed oblivious to it.

The concentration and seriousness emanating from him even moved Lin Zhiqin.

"Haven't seen such a dedicated student in a long time," Lin Zhiqin couldn't help but recall his own youth, a time when he trained vigorously, neglecting meals and sleep.

Back then, the martial arts school was flourishing under the peak of the old owner. Martial arts schools were much more popular compared to now.

With technological advancements, the number of people genuinely interested in martial arts had dwindled. Most who enrolled were seeking novelty, losing interest once the novelty wore off. Either that or they treated fighting as mere fitness, lacking the true spirit of a martial artist.

Who knows what the scene will be like in another ten or twenty years.

"Sigh," Lin Zhiqin suddenly felt a bit melancholic, losing interest in giving further guidance. He left with a casual "continue practicing freely."

"Huff, huff—"

After throwing a punch, Lu Yuan suddenly staggered, his limbs weakened, and he collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. Despite the exhaustion, he was immediately pulled out of the state of [Absolute Focus].

"How long have I been practicing?" Lu Yuan felt his arms sore, swollen, and numb as if they were useless.

"Are you okay?" A soft female voice came from the side.

Lu Yuan looked up to see a round-faced girl with glasses standing in front of him, offering a bottle of water.

"Thanks." Lu Yuan hesitated for a moment, then took the water without much ceremony and started drinking.

He was extremely thirsty, finishing most of the bottle in one go.

"What time is it now?" Lu Yuan noticed that many people on the training ground were already sitting down, some chatting, others busy with their phones. He was the last one to stop training.

"It's 9:50, ten more minutes until class is over," the round-faced girl replied, checking her phone.

"So, I practiced for less than an hour." Lu Yuan observed that most of the students had already taken a break. Some were chatting, while others were focused on their phones.

He was the last trainee to stop practicing.

"Good job, you were really focused. Coach Lin watched you for a long time," the round-faced girl admired, speaking to Lu Yuan.

"Oh, really?" Lu Yuan smiled and didn't say much.

"By the way, I'm Liu Yue. What's your name?" she asked.

"Lu Yuan."

"Are you from Erzhong? I think I've seen you at school."

"I'm from Sizhong."

"Sizhong? Many of my middle school classmates are also in Sizhong."

The round-faced girl seemed quite interested in Lu Yuan and continued talking to him.

Lu Yuan casually answered, keeping his attention on his character interface.

As soon as he summoned the character interface, Lu Yuan received an unexpected surprise.

"You focused on practicing for twenty minutes, enhancing your understanding of a new skill."

"You have gained a new skill—[Basic Boxing Level 1]."

"Your skill, Basic Boxing, has improved. Experience +3."

"Your skill, Basic Boxing, has improved. Experience +5."

"Congratulations, you have unlocked a new career path—[Fighter]!"

A brand-new career interface appeared in front of Lu Yuan.

On the hierarchical career interface, only the two bottom skills were illuminated—[Basic Boxing] and [Primary Fitness], both at level 1.

The latter was probably gained when Lin Zhiqin taught strength training, just hidden until now with the unlocking of the new career interface.

[Fighter]!

Lu Yuan felt excited about the newly unlocked career. This career seemed much more advanced than [Student], akin to a hidden profession in a game.

"If the ultimate goal of the [Student] career path is to cultivate me into a super student, then could the ultimate goal of the [Fighter] be a martial arts supreme, an unparalleled expert?" Various terms like "plucking flowers and flying leaves" and "breaking steel with a finger" flashed through Lu Yuan's mind.

This made him quite excited, feeling that the ten thousand yuan tuition was not spent in vain.

"What's your phone number? I'll jot it down, and if I have any questions after class, I can ask you," the round-faced girl hesitated and said.

Lu Yuan, in a good mood, replied with a smile, "Isn't there a group for us new students in the martial arts school? I'll add you later. Your name is Liu Yue, right?"

"Yeah, yeah." The girl nodded vigorously, looking very happy.

The two chatted casually for a while. When it was ten o'clock, someone came in to inform them that the class was over. The students dispersed as if granted amnesty.

Coach Lin Zhiqin, however, was nowhere to be seen.

Lu Yuan, dragging his tired body, entered the shower room. As the warm water sprayed down from the showerhead, the soreness in his arms eased slightly.

After washing up and changing clothes, he came out of the changing room with his backpack to find Cheng Peng waiting in the martial arts hall.

"Lu Yuan, you finally came out. Why did it take so long to shower? Acting like a girl. Took you so long?" Cheng Peng teased.

"Get lost!" Lu Yuan's physical strength had not fully recovered, his arms were sore, and he had no interest in bantering with Cheng Peng.

"Hehe." Cheng Peng put his arm around Lu Yuan's shoulder, smiling mischievously. "How was the first day of class? Feeling good?"

"It's fine, much more useful than I expected," Lu Yuan said seriously.

"That's good. I was afraid you wouldn't be able to stick with it," Cheng Peng said with a smile. "Hurry up and finish the basics, transfer to my class. I'm looking forward to thoroughly defeating you in sparring when the time comes."

"Haha, who knows who will defeat whom by then," Lu Yuan glanced at him with a disdainful look.

This gaze stimulated Cheng Peng, and he immediately exclaimed, "Wow, you're really showing off. My punch strength is already fifty kilograms. The coach said I could take the test for a rank in a while. Do you still want to defeat me?"

"Take the test?" Lu Yuan caught onto a new term in Cheng Peng's words and quickly asked.

"Don't you know that martial artists also have ranks? Let me explain as we walk."

Cheng Peng pulled Lu Yuan towards the exit, and on the way, they ran into Liu Yue, the round-faced girl who attended the class with them.

She had another girl with her, seeming to be in a situation similar to Lu Yuan—coming with a friend but not in the same class.

Liu Yue saw Lu Yuan and smiled at him but felt too shy to greet him.

After half an hour, Lu Yuan walked out of an internet cafe alone.

With Cheng Peng's introduction and some online research, he roughly understood the hierarchical distribution of martial artist ranks in this world.

(End of this chapter)