Ugh.

I opened my eyes, but I was so sore all over that I didn't even want to move.

Suzie, why didn't you warn me about the pain? It hurt, like, a lot.

[It was inconsequential. I didn't know you were bothered by pain.]

[...Sorry.]

Did Suzie not understand the concept of pain…?

I sighed.

Open Status.

[Kwang-sik]

[Rank: Third-rate]

[Strength 60/100] [Agility 80/100] [Stamina 64/100] [Ki Level 70/100]

[Dexterity 8] [Ki Control 82] [Ki Resilience 4]

I sat up instantly. I knew forming my Dantian would raise my stats, but to this extent…!

[Now we just need to focus on strengthening your body.]

As I stood up, I realized my body was extremely light; even though I was sore, I felt full of energy, like I could run forever.

I walked outside- it was early morning and no one was in bed, so they must be eating breakfast.

"Come on in and eat already!"

It was Dae-sung. I smiled.

***

Breakfast was delicious, as usual. As I stood up, Dae-sung called out to me.

"Kwang-sik, can you help out with the dishes today?"

Everyone else cleared their plates, and I stayed in the kitchen, ready to start the dishes- I didn't really mind, since I had been living and eating here free of charge.

However, Dae-sung and Hae-won had sat back down at the dining room table.

"Sit down with us for a moment."

Dae-sung's presence was still great, but it wasn't as suffocating as usual.

"How did you form your Dantian in 5 days?"

…!

"We know you're hiding something from us, but we won't force you to answer. If you want to tell us, we're here to listen."

I wasn't really trying to hide my Dantian, but I don't think I can tell them everything. Who would even believe me anyways…?

"You said I could attend the Academy if I was as strong as Gi, so I'm giving it my all to be as strong as him!"

I had twisted Dae-sung's words a bit, but this was the truth, essentially. Hae-won looked over at Dae-sung, as if to say 'why did you tell him that?'

This was the first time I had ever seen Dae-sung flustered.

"T-that's not what I said exactly- anyways, the rate at which you formed your Dantian is astonishing. If you keep at it, you might actually be as strong as Gi at the end of the month."

"Does that mean I can attend the Academy?"

Dae-sung sighed, looking defeated.

"Yeah."

"Sweetie, is that really ok? Kids have ended up gravely injured in the entrance exam, I think it's too early…"

"Hae-won, he's a prodigy. Even if we don't let him attend now, he will be stronger than me in the next 5 years."

Hae-won was wide-eyed; what Dae-sung said seemed to give her an idea as to how strong I was.

"If you want to prepare for the entrance exam, you can ask Gi what last year's exam was like."

I wanted to ask Dae-sung to teach me, but I felt like I couldn't for some reason- I didn't really know why.

***

"Are you really gonna let Kwang-sik take the exam?"

As soon as I started asking Gi about it, he went straight to Dae-sung. That little rat.

"Yes, I'm letting him take it."

"You didn't let me take it until I was 15!"

"Kwang-sik formed his Dantian yesterday."

I could see the shock on Gi's face.

"H-how…? He's only like 8 or 9…"

"What's more, he wasn't even able to sense Ki a week ago. He got to that point in 5 days."

"F-five days…?"

Gi was staring at me in disbelief.

***

"I don't really know any martial arts, so I can't really teach you much on that front."

We were now outside, and Gi was giving me a run-down of what to expect.

There were at least 5 parts to the exam.

The 1st part was simple- you needed to demonstrate your control over your Ki, and if you didn't have a Dantian you'd fail instantly.

The next 3 parts, however, were different each year. Each part tested you on multiple fronts- your strength, your ability to problem-solve, how you handle pressure, and so on.

1 of those 3 was always a group effort, forcing you to cooperate with others.

The 5th part, which Gi had failed during, was a series of 1 on 1 fights between examinees.

It wasn't a tournament, however- you didn't even have to win- you just had to demonstrate your potential. Gi said that was probably the last part but he wasn't sure.

"How many people take the exam?"

I was more curious about the school itself- how great was it if it had people showing up an entire month early?

"Everyone."

"...Everyone?"

"Every aspiring martial artist takes the exam. At least 5,000 people attempt it every year."

"How many people pass?"

"...It varies from year to year, but around 200 passed last year."

That's less than 1 percent!

"Are there any other martial arts schools?"

Gi tilted his head, as if he was confused by the question. "It's the Martial Alliance Academy."

I racked my brain for information. From the martial arts novels I had read, I knew that there were the orthodox and unorthodox sects… and the demonic cult.

The Martial Alliance had encompassed all of the unorthodox sects… but that still left out almost 2/3rds of the martial arts world.

"What about the unorthodox sects?"

Gi stared at me blankly.

"...There are no unorthodox sects. The Martial Alliance absorbed everything 600 years ago."

What? Did that mean there were only the good guys left? The demonic cult was usually ruthless, so it was good news that the Martial Alliance was more powerful than ever.

I did find it odd that the main threats you'd find in martial arts novels- unorthodox sects and the demonic cult- weren't present here.

Now I just had to get myself ready for the exam.

***

Suzie, what's the fastest way to raise my stats?

[The fastest way would be to move all of your excess Ki out of your arms and legs, and to exercise at the same time.]

I thought about what I had seen on Gi's status screen- maybe I could help him out.

…Suzie, what's the best way to raise just your Ki level?

[To effectively raise your Ki level, you would need to push all of your Ki into 1 of your arms, and then repeat the process with all 4 limbs.]

[Raising Ki control provides great results when it comes to Ki level.]

"...Gi, you should stop practicing martial arts and work on controlling your Ki."

Gi had gone back to a mixture of martial arts and strength training; he needed to work on improving his Ki instead.

"Controlling my Ki?"

"Sit down and cross your legs, and lay your arms on each thigh."

Gi was hesitant, as anyone would be if a child suddenly ordered them around. But in the end, he sat down.

"Now close your eyes and try to push all of your Ki into your left arm."

Gi closed his eyes, and his face contorted as he concentrated.

"Now push all of your Ki into your right arm."

"Now do the left leg."

"Now the right leg."

"Your physical strength is good enough for the exam; your Ki is the only thing that needs work. You should repeat that Ki exercise until the day before the exam."

"Will this really help me pass?"

"Improving your Ki control is your best chance at passing."

"...Thank you." He was smiling.

I had never been thanked before- I froze for a second, unsure of how to respond.

"...Don't thank me yet."

[That was very kind of you.]

Oh, shut it.

***

I thought creating a Dantian was hard; so I wasn't very enthusiastic about this next step.

It was hard enough to keep all of my Ki out of my arms and legs- trying to do push-ups at the same time was brutal.

Exercising without using any Ki felt like trying to work out while sick.

"Why is Kwang-sik taking the exam! If he can take it, I can take it!"

"I want to take it too!"

News had spread to the younger children- Dae-sung was doing his best to calm them down.

"Kwang-sik is special- he's almost as strong as Gi."

"...I'm still stronger," Gi muttered.

Was this… a sense of rivalry?

"You said we had to wait to train! Why can't we train too?"

"Let us train!"

Dae-sung had given up. "Alright, if you want to train with them, you can."

"Thanks, Dae-sung!"

"Yeah, thanks Dae-sung!"

In-su and Kwang-sun ran over to us.

"We can do push-ups too!"

"Yeah!"

They got on all fours and started doing push-ups alongside me.

After about 5 minutes, however, both of them were laying on their backs, panting.

They then crawled back inside, with a look of defeat on their faces.

[You can stop now.]

I instantly fell to the ground and let out a loud groan.

"You ok?" Gi sounded concerned.

"Yeah, just tired." My breathing was heavy.

He was still sitting in that same position. It had been at least 3 hours- his legs must be killing him.

Open status.

[Kwang-sik]

[Rank: Third-rate]

[Strength 64/100] [Agility 82/100] [Stamina 68/100] [Ki Level 75/100]

[Dexterity 10] [Ki Control 90] [Ki Resilience 5]

It had gone up a decent amount- I might be able to reach second-rate before the exam.

I knew what dexterity was, so it made sense that it wasn't really going up. However, I had no idea what Ki resilience was.

Suzie, what's Ki resilience and why is my stat for it still so low?

[Ki resilience isn't very important. If someone tried to poison your Ki, that stat is a measurement of how well you'd resist.]

[To improve it you need to actively poison your Ki. It's quite painful.]

At least Suzie was warning me about the pain this time. However, if the stat wasn't important, I wasn't going to put myself through hell just to raise it.

So… no thanks.

Gi was still sitting there with his eyes closed, and his face contorted. I was curious about his progress.

Open Gi's status.

[Gi]

[Rank: Third-rate]

[Strength 105/100] [Agility 102/100] [Stamina 110/100] [Ki Level 75/100]

I smiled. He's definitely gonna reach second-rate before the exam.

***