In the days after gaining the ability to manipulate Inner Energy, I had learned a lot about the Energy itself , how to use it, and in what ways to apply it through combat.

The more I used Inner Energy, like in my Shadow Fighting Training I learned from Kemoro, or in my Inner Movement Training I learned from Yupow, the more mysteries and weird phenomena I encountered.

I noticed sometimes I felt fuller of Inner Energy than other times.

Yupow explained to me that this was the nature of Inner Energy since it never truly resided in the physical or the spiritual world.

Because of that feature it is never truly physical energy nor spiritual energy, and due to that limbo it never truly becomes part of my physical body, and so the reason for my detection of varying levels of energy within me.

That is also the reason Inner Energy is so hard to sense, perceive, and interact with, even more so than Mana or Pure Spiritual Energy.

I also found myself becoming more and more hungry the deeper into my Inner Energy training I got.

Yupow also explained to me that that was because my Inner Energy Well resided at the base of my stomach and extended to its top, and the more Inner Energy I could store and use through my Inner Energy Training, the more fuel, which helped me produce Inner Energy, did my body ask for.

Inner Energy was Naturally produced through the act of breathing, but just like a man's food dictates his physique, to a certain extent it also dictates the characteristics of your Inner Energy.

All the Inner Energy of my body always gravitates and temporarily pools at the base of my stomach, mixing and interacting with the food I consumed.

The more food I consumed the more I would help my Inner Energy grow, as it was a positive feedback loop between breath, holding capacity, energy usage, and food consumption.

Or in simpler terms the more efficiently I breathed, the more Inner Energy I would produce and store, the more Inner Energy I produced and stored, the more Inner Energy my body learned to hold, the more I could hold the more Inner Energy I could use, the more Inner Energy I used, the higher my efficiency of Inner Energy production was required, which the body tapped into my natural energy reserves to make happen.

My learning to sense and use Inner Energy at a decent level, was akin to gaining control and activating the functions of a vestigial limb.

The more I used it the more the muscles would grow, but now I had added one more body part that consumed energy from the body.

And the more that body part grew the more energy It required.

And so ultimately I found myself tapping into the preserved animal meat reserves that I had.

If things continued like this there would come a day when I could see myself eating an entire large animal completely by myself.

Eventually I reached a level of Inner Energy control to which Yupow said, I could finally be called an Amateur and by extension a true Practitioner.

I always thought Practitioner was just another name used for an Expert.

As it turned out, it was an Official Combat Class acknowledged by the Seeier himself, just like a Magon or a Warrior.

By becoming an Inner Martial Artist I had entered a special subclass of fighters that qualified as both Warriors and Practitioners.

Being a dual class Expert was right up my alley and it made me wonder, whether I also Qualified to be a Marksman because of the use of my slingshot to fight and to hunt.

I had actually earned my Rank by killing a Ranker with my slingshot, so if anything that should probably be my primary class.

Before I started to get confused with how or who was classifying me, or how even I would classify myself, I moved on from that topic and focused on getting better at the “Inner Breath”.

Eventually after learning multiple Inner Breath Techniques, I started adapting them with many of the Martial Moves I had already learned.

Through that process I managed to innovate on what I had been taught, creating my own special move, the “Inner Combo Circle”.

It consisted of a Striking Combination that I learned from the “Lost Art of Boxing” Manual, and that I modified slightly to include leg strikes and striking techniques from one of Kemoros favorite Martial styles, “ The Art of the Nine Headed Dragon”, which included knee and elbow strikes.

If I would be given the chance, with this move, I would be able to target an opponent's vital spots of the liver, kidney, stomach, neck, temple, back skull, and lower back, and cause internal damage through my use of Inner Energy.

By delaying the flow of Inner Energy slightly, I noticed I would cause wave-like ripples upon contact, both on the surface of the water and on hardwood.

I had plans to make a long distance version of this move, but I still hadn’t learned how to project Inner Energy outside of my body upon executing a striking motion.

I could sense the energy leaving my body, but once it exited it, I could no longer sense it, and could not make out any visual cue that it was there.

All I could conclude was that it would disperse almost immediately after it left my body.

I ended up getting the chance to test the move out sooner than I thought.

During one of my return trips from the Bank, in which I deposited the large amounts of common currency I would earn through my Market Business, a group of Martial Artists approached me in a menacing way.

This scene had already become all too familiar to me, as during the last month the amount of challenges to a Martial Duel I received were ridiculous.

Everyone wanted a piece of me, the fear and respect people had for Yupow as my backer was basically nonexistent by this point.

The people in front of me wore Martial Robes that were impeccably white and they all looked extremely tough, as if their muscles and bones were fused together.

Soon the group arrived in front of me and blocked my way.

Unlike previous times the kids in front of me said nothing.

They only stared me down.

After some time a Young Martial Artist in the center of the group, who wasn’t the biggest, but looked like his skin had stretched to its utmost limit, stepped forward.

He walked forward until he was only meters away from me before he stopped.

People around the surrounding street had already noticed the commotion and found spots to view the spectacle from a safe distance.

The Guy in front of me made sure everyone around the street could hear his challenge loud and clear.

“Guso! I Yanho, of the Diamond Bones School, Challenge you not only to a Martial Duel, but also to a Ranker Duel. Do you accept or will you be a coward and run?”

Suddenly I heard a familiar voice in my head.

“Destiny has Chosen a worthy Challenger, FF Warrior Ranker Yanho wishes to erase you from the Ranker world. The only way out is Death, Mercy, or Victory! Let the strongest Ranker Win!”

It seemed according to the Seeier I had no choice but to accept.

To me it didn’t matter though as although Yanho looked strong, and was a Rank higher than me, he wasn’t on my blacklist.

Kemoro had given me some knowledge on the Diamond Bones School, and Yupow had later confirmed to me what kind of school they were.

In Martial Citadel, with some weird exceptions, their basically only was 7 Paths for Martial Art mastery, Physical Martial Arts, Weapon Martial Arts, Skill Mastering Martial Arts, Mental Martial Arts, Body Forging Martial Arts, Outer Martial Art, and Inner Martial Arts.

Most Martial Organizations in Martial Citadel focused on mastering one of these paths but several also focused their efforts on two or more with varying results.

After Yupows clarification, and Kemoro’s brief overview over some of the details on Diamond Bone Schools Martial Techniques which he “borrowed”; I could tell their school focused on Physical and Body Forging Martial Arts.

Upon seeing Yanho’s Physique, I could tell it was to an unprecedented level of dedication, but I still felt confident in my abilities before him.

The only people whom I feared and had blacklisted mostly belonged to the Mental, Weapon, and Inner Martial Arts Path.

Regardless, I fully prepared myself mentally and did not underestimate my opponent one bit.

There was a reason he was a high level F Ranker after all.

“There is no Coward before you Yanho, show me your strength.”