Free Web NovelChapter 14: First Steps in Combat
Standing in the middle of the training room, Ren took a slow breath.
Before starting, he wanted to organize his time. He was still too weak to waste hours on random practice, and his cultivation path was far too demanding for careless training.
After thinking it through, he came up with a schedule.
From morning to evening, he would focus on the Basic Fist Technique. From evening to night, the Basic Footwork Technique. After that, two hours on the Basic Evasion Technique.
That last part was unavoidable. Unlike fist training or footwork, evasion was much harder to practice properly alone. The manual itself said real progress required either an actual opponent or a changing environment — the technique was not just about dodging blows, but about reading terrain, obstacles, timing, angles, blind spots, and shifting surroundings.
He could still study it and practice the core body movements, but without pressure from a real enemy, the results would naturally be limited.
After that, late at night, he would use the remaining time for energy cultivation with the Energy Cores.
That part was the foundation. Techniques mattered, but they were not more important than improving his cultivation stage. Better skills could help him fight above his level — cultivation was what raised the level itself.
And since he had already rented the room for two full days, there was no reason to waste time going back home. He would stay here.
"Alright," Ren muttered. "Morning to evening, fists. Evening to night, footwork. Two hours for evasion. After that, cultivation."
Simple. Direct.
He walked over to the side terminal and checked the room’s basic functions. There were options for timer settings, light adjustment, dummy placement activation, surface hardness presets within a limited range, and a few basic safety notices. Public room, standard price. Nothing fancy.
Still, more than enough for a beginner like him.
He set a general training timer, adjusted the light slightly brighter, then returned to the center of the room.
The first thing he did was open his status screen again.
Name: Ren Valis
Age: 18
Talent: Bloodline Plant Lord
Lifeform Tier: 1
Evolution Pathway Level: Germination Stage
Skills: Basic Fist Technique (Not Started), Basic Footwork Technique (Not Started), Basic Evasion Technique (Not Started) ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
He looked at the words "Not Started" for a second and smirked.
"Yeah. Not for long."
The status screen disappeared.
— • —
Ren closed his eyes for a few breaths and recalled the Basic Fist Combat Training (Ren Valis Version). freeωebnovēl.c૦m
Because of the optimization, the structure of the technique had become much cleaner than the original school manual. Fewer unnecessary explanations, fewer wasteful motions, a much more direct training method.
At the same time, he understood something important.
These basic techniques were made specifically for Stage 2 pathway users. Not because Stage 2 cultivators had full energy control — they didn’t. At this stage, although a cultivator had begun to accumulate energy, most of that energy was still being consumed by the seed as it expanded its roots throughout the body.
That meant a Germination Stage cultivator could not yet freely manipulate energy in battle the way stronger cultivators could. Instead, the energy they absorbed mainly strengthened their body’s existing functions — strength, speed, senses, recovery, reflexes, balance.
That was why the school’s basic combat techniques did not require any direct energy manipulation. They were designed to teach cultivators how to effectively use and amplify their enhanced physical abilities. In simple terms, they taught people how to actually fight with the body they were building.
They also explained a principle Ren found especially interesting: ordinary people often could not use their full physical power properly. In moments of panic or desperation, some people could suddenly produce far more force than they normally could. The manual said these techniques taught a controlled and repeatable version of that idea — how to bring out more of one’s strength, speed, and movement efficiency in a stable way instead of only by accident.
That was why the optimized versions were so valuable. They did not just shorten learning time. They also increased the actual effect of the training.
Ren opened his eyes again.
"...Alright."
No more reading. Time to practice.
He took his stance according to the first section of the manual. Feet shoulder-width apart. Knees slightly bent. Back straight, but not stiff. Hands raised naturally, elbows relaxed.
The first thing the manual emphasized was not power. It was posture. Without the right posture, even a strong punch would waste energy, expose openings, and destabilize the body.
Ren slowly adjusted himself. Too stiff. He loosened up. Too loose. He corrected again.
The first ten minutes passed with almost no real striking at all. He was just trying to stand properly.
At first that felt stupid. But after a while, Ren began to understand why the manual insisted on it. The moment his stance became even slightly more correct, his balance improved noticeably. His center felt steadier. His shoulders aligned more naturally. Even breathing became easier.
So he kept adjusting. Again. And again.
After that came the first punching motion. A simple straight punch. Nothing fancy. No dramatic burst of power, no secret martial mystery — just a direct line from the shoulder through the arm, using the twist of the waist and the grounding of the legs.
Ren threw the first punch.
It looked awkward. He immediately knew it. The movement had force, but it was scattered. Shoulder too tense. Waist turning too late. The fist landing in empty air with more effort than effect.
"...Ugly."
He reset and tried again. The second was a little better. The third slightly cleaner. The fourth felt wrong in a different way. The fifth almost pulled his posture off balance.
Ren frowned, then kept going.
The optimized technique did not magically make him skilled. It gave him a better manual, faster learning, and greater return on effort. But he still had to put in the work. So that was exactly what he did.
Straight punch. Reset. Straight punch. Reset. Again, and again, and again.
At first, he focused only on form. Then he added breathing. Then timing. Then waist movement. Then how the legs supported the strike.
Soon, sweat began to form on his forehead. The room was quiet except for his movement, breath, and the occasional dull sound of air being cut by his fist.
After some time, he activated one of the basic dummies using the side terminal. A humanoid training dummy slid upward from the floor near the wall — simple, no movement, no reactions, no simulation, but it gave him an actual target.
"Better than punching air."
He took his stance again and threw a straight punch.
Thud.
The impact felt different immediately. There was resistance now. Feedback. He could feel where his force landed, how much of it transferred properly, and where it leaked out uselessly.
The first few hits were disappointing. Too much shoulder. Not enough hip drive. Foot placement slightly off. But with every strike, the manual’s instructions began to make more sense in practice. Ren adjusted, then hit again. And again. And again.
Time passed.
At some point, the first awkwardness began to fade. The punch was still basic — very basic — but now there were moments when it felt right. Not perfect. Just right. A brief alignment of stance, waist, timing, and fist that produced a noticeably stronger impact than before.
Whenever that happened, Ren immediately tried to remember the exact feeling. The manual called it the beginning of proper force transmission — instead of throwing strength outward in a loose burst, the body had to deliver it as one connected motion.
By afternoon, his whole upper body was sore. But the soreness was not meaningless. It came with familiarity.
Now when he moved into stance, it took less thinking. When he punched, the structure formed faster. When he struck the dummy, the impact sounded a little sharper than before. Not because he had suddenly become strong — because he was starting to become less wasteful. That mattered. A lot.
Eventually, evening approached.
Ren stepped back, breathing heavily, and opened his status screen again.
Skills: Basic Fist Technique (Beginner), Basic Footwork Technique (Not Started), Basic Evasion Technique (Not Started)
Ren blinked once. Then smiled.
"Beginner already?"
The optimization really was absurd. A normal person would have needed much longer just to cross from "Not Started" into the lowest real level.
— • —
He closed the screen and stretched his arms slowly.
"Alright. Next up... footwork."
Compared to fists, the Basic Footwork Technique felt more tiring in a different way. Punching stressed the upper body. Footwork stressed everything else.
The manual focused on positioning, direction changes, center of gravity control, and how to move without wasting energy.
At first Ren thought it would be easier than fists. He was wrong. Punching awkwardly still let him feel he was doing something. Bad footwork made him feel clumsy. Every mistake showed up immediately — steps too long, weight too high, turn too slow, center drifting, heel landing too hard, posture breaking during transitions.
It was irritating. And because it was irritating, Ren ended up concentrating even harder.
The optimized footwork manual was, again, simpler and sharper than the original. The core idea was not to move a lot. It was to move correctly. A bad step could lose balance, timing, and position all at once. A good step could avoid danger before the danger fully arrived.
Ren used the floor markers to train directional movement — forward, back, angled retreats and advances, half-step shifts, weight transfers. Again and again, until his thighs burned and his feet felt heavy.
After a while, he began to feel tiny improvements. His turns got cleaner. His stopping point got steadier. His weight transfer became smoother. Instead of feeling like he was dragging himself around the room, he slowly began to feel like he was moving with intention.
By the time night had fully settled outside, his legs felt like lead.
Then came the Basic Evasion Technique. Just as expected, this was the hardest to train alone. The manual itself admitted as much — real evasion required reading pressure, reacting to attacks, using terrain, exploiting blind spots.
Alone in a plain room, he could only train body angles, head movement, torso shifts, and emergency repositioning habits. He used the wall, the dummy, and imaginary attack lines to drill slips, side-steps, and partial torso turns. It was frustrating. More than once, he stopped and clicked his tongue.
"Yeah... this one definitely needs a real opponent."
Still, he learned enough to understand the logic of it. Evasion was not random movement. It was calculated survival. And that made it worth practicing even if his progress tonight would be limited.
After two hours, Ren finally stopped, drenched in sweat, arms aching, legs exhausted. His body felt like it had been taken apart and reassembled badly. And yet — he felt good. Tired, yes. But good.
He checked his status one more time.
Skills: Basic Fist Technique (Beginner), Basic Footwork Technique (Beginner), Basic Evasion Technique (Not Started)
Ren stared at the panel and laughed softly. "Not bad. Footwork reached Beginner too."
Evasion had not changed yet, which was annoying but expected. Without an opponent or a more dynamic environment, it would be slower.
Now came the final part of the day. Cultivation.
Ren sat down cross-legged on the training room floor, took out an Energy Core, and began the Energy Meditation Method (Ren Valis Version). After the combat training, his body felt hot and opened up. The energy entered more easily than before.
He absorbed from both the atmosphere and the core, mixed the energy with his blood, and guided it into the seed. As the seed absorbed it, the roots continued extending through his body. The soreness in his muscles did not disappear, but the energy seemed to soothe it from the inside.
That strange warmth returned. Growth. Strengthening. Recovery. The familiar process settled him again.
Hours passed quietly.
When Ren finally opened his eyes, the room was dimmer, and the terminal clock showed it was deep into the night. His body was exhausted. But the roots had grown further. That alone made the day worthwhile.
Tomorrow, he would do it all again. Fists. Footwork. Evasion. Cultivation. Again and again until the basics stopped being basic — until they became instinct, muscle memory.
A small smile appeared on his face.
For the first time since arriving in this world, he felt like he had actually begun moving forward with his own two feet. Not just surviving. Not just reading. Not just planning.
Actually moving.
And the feeling... was good.
