There were 5 days left before the exam, and Kwang-sik had surpassed my expectations.

I was checking his Ki constantly, and he was getting noticeably stronger every day.

He had reached Gi's level of strength.

Not only that, but he was only as strong as the Gi from a month ago- Gi had gotten stronger as well, at a rate I didn't think possible.

It made me wonder- was he helping Gi improve as well?

The idea was absurd, but it was a fact that the boy I had found left for dead on the side of the road, not even awakened to Ki, had become a peak third-rate warrior in 1 month- and at the age of nine, give or take.

I knew for a fact that Kwang-sik was hiding something, but I was afraid that if I confronted him about it, he'd disappear.

His rate of growth was frightening-

…It made me want to teach him martial arts.

"Dae-sung! D-Dae-sung!"

It was In-su; he was early to meals, asking when the food would be ready.

"Don't worry, breakfast will-"

I stopped mid-sentence- In-su was crying. I crouched down and turned towards him.

"In-su what's wrong?"

"Kwang-sik f-fought Gi a-and s-started c-coughing up b-blood-"

What?

"He's d-dying!"

***

I don't think I'm ready for this fight, Suzie.

[You are ready. His stats may be higher, but you've learned multiple martial arts.]

Thank you again for those- making them just for me, it was so nice of you.

[...I can't really make them for anyone else can I?]

Even though she had said that, her little pop-up window turned red- giving me a sense of satisfaction.

I had asked Gi to spar with me as soon as I woke up.

Suzie said it was better to spar now, with the martial arts I had learned still fresh in my mind.

But I couldn't help doubting myself- I had never been in a fight before.

[You need practical experience- if your first fight is during the exam, it's as good as failing.]

All of the kids were watching. I could tell they were filled to the brim with excitement- nothing really happened around here often, entertainment-wise.

"I know you're talented, but it's rather arrogant to think you could be my match in less than a month."

"I don't think I'm your match, I just wanted to fight you."

Hana seemed the most excited out of all the kids.

"I can count you guys down! On three! One, two… three!"

"You can get the first hit." Gi was grinning.

Who's being arrogant now?

I decided to start with the Basic Fist Art as I lunged forwards.

Gi dodged to the side and extended his palm into my chest- I wheezed. He was a lot faster than I had anticipated. I could see what he was doing, but I wasn't able to react.

I tried using the Basic Kick Art this time- he dodged to the side again. I had predicted this, but the kick had left me unbalanced.

I needed to dodge to the left as quickly as possible- I needed to dodge his fist. I evaded swiftly by leaning into the ground.

I had unconsciously used the middle of the Basic Footwork Art to dodge him.

[Kwang-sik, this is a good learning experience for you. You can't just use any martial art to win- you have to respond to your opponent with the best move possible.]

[The Basic Arts I made for you are designed to be picked apart and used in unison.]

Suzie was right- I had just been using martial arts- I needed to actually fight him.

"Is that all you've got?!" Gi seemed to love to talk it up when he was in a fight.

This time I started with the Basic Palm Art. I didn't expect this one to land, however- as he dodged to the side, I hit him with a roundhouse kick.

He stumbled backwards, but he looked unfazed by it.

"Alright, now it's on."

***

The problem was our age difference- he was 16, and I was only 9 or 10ish, so he was almost a foot taller. He had more reach, he was faster, and he was stronger.

My only chance of winning would be me reading his movement.

Gi would almost always strike right after an attack- he tended to dodge or block, then strike himself.

It was a good strategy- it let him exploit my attacks for weaknesses with minimal risks.

I thought this might make him susceptible to fakeouts.

I threw a punch, but as soon as he started to dodge I rescinded it and threw another punch.

I had aimed the first punch at his left shoulder, so he was forced to dodge to my right- the second punch was sure to hit him in the gut.

However, even if he couldn't dodge, he was able to brush off my punch with his forearm.

Then he palmed me in the chest again- I had jumped back to lessen the blow, but it still hurt like hell.

"...Ugh."

"It's a tie game! The next hit wins!"

"...Hana, you're keeping score?"

Hana looked like she was having the time of her life, more so than the younger kids.

Gi was just as bewildered as me.

I disagreed with Hana's assessment, however- it didn't feel like a tie game at all.

Gi and I might have taken a similar amount of hits, but I could tell he still wasn't giving it his all. He was also in much better condition, since the hits I did land weren't doing much, if anything at all.

I needed something more powerful- I was already using all of the Basic Arts I knew but I don't think I could win with just this.

Then I had an idea- this time, I led with a palm attack. Gi tended to block those instead of dodging, but at the last second, I closed my hand into a fist and used the end of the Ember's Flame Step 4-

[Kwang-sik stop…!]

As soon as I had thrown the punch, it felt like my stomach had exploded.

The pain was so much worse than when I had overworked my Ki- I coughed up blood and fell to the ground.

I tried to cry out but I couldn't- I was reminded of the pain I had felt when I died.

I was shaking.

I was scared. I didn't want to go through that again. Not again. Not again-

[Wyatt, listen to me. You're going to be fine.]

"S-Suzie what's-"

[Go to sleep.]

***

I sat up straight in an instant.

I reflexively grabbed my stomach, but the pain was gone.

…I think I was back in the medicine villa.

[Wyatt, are you okay?]

"...Yeah. What happened?"

[I told you that the Basic Arts were supposed to be picked apart and used together, but the Ember's Flame can't be used that way.]

[The Ember's Flame is complex- it uses Ki compression to produce fire, you can't skip any part of the Ki movement.]

[I-It's all my f-fault, if I had just p-properly explained it- it even t-tore apart y-your Dantian-]

…!

I tensed up.

From what I knew about the novels I had read, losing your Dantian was the same as losing everything- if it was destroyed, the chances of you using Ki again were close to none.

However, I could still feel my Dantian- I felt fine, actually.

[It m-must of been painful, you felt s-so scared-]

The pop-up windows were a darker blue than usual. What emotion was Suzie feeling now- was it sadness…?

"Suzie, I don't blame you."

[B-but I f-failed-]

"You saved my Dantian, right?"

[T-that's-]

"That's all that matters. I can still learn martial arts, right?"

[...Yes.]

"Then please keep teaching me."

[...Okay.]

The window had returned to its usual sky blue color.

"Kwang-sik, you're awake!"

Dae-sung had barged in, giving me a heart attack as usual- Gi had walked in with him.

"I was worried you weren't going to wake up, you've been out for 3 days."

"3 days?!"

I realized that Suzie must have been alone for 3 entire days, watching over me and blaming herself for what happened- it made my chest tighten.

That also meant the exam was just around the corner.

"Dae-sung, the exam…"

Dae-sung looked anxious.

"...During your fight with Gi, your Dantian-"

"I'm sorry!" Gi has tears in his eyes.

"B-because of me, you c-can't use Ki anymore…" Gi had lowered his head so low that I thought he was going to fall over.

I sighed- I must have actually broken my Dantian during the fight, but there was no reason to be so gloomy- I was fine now.

"What are you talking about? I can still use Ki just fine."

Dae-sung looked puzzled, and then he lowered his gaze towards my stomach-

He looked surprised for a second but it quickly left his face. "...I guess I was mistaken."

I thought that Gi would be happy with the news, but he was fuming-

He smacked Dae-sung across the back of the head. "Oww!"

"I thought I crippled him for life, you asshole!"

Gi stormed out of the hut.

As Dae-sung was rubbing the back of his head, I couldn't hold back my laughter.

"I'm glad that you're in a good mood. Do you want to stay here or go back? If you're still up for the exam, you're gonna have to leave by tomorrow morning."

The sun was already setting, but I felt like I owed Gi an explanation.

***

Gi was sitting outside all alone, with his eyes closed, and his face contorted.

I realized that he had put a lot of faith in me- he put off strength training for an entire month just because I suggested it.

"Gi."

"...Hey."

"I wanted to apologize."

Gi was confused. "Why are you apologizing…?"

"During our fight, I really wanted to win, so I tried using Ki compression- and it backfired on me. I made you worry, and for that I'm sorry."

Gi's expression was a sight to behold.

"Y-you tried to use Ki compression?"

It was as if I told him I tried to fight a grizzly bear with my fists.

"Yeah. Also, you can cut it out with the Ki control training. I was going to tell you after our match, but I, ya know, passed out and what not."

I told him about the Ki-control push-ups that Suzie had taught me.

"This whole time I thought you were just doing normal push-ups…"

Even though I had just slept for 3 days, I still felt exhausted and went straight to bed.

Tomorrow, Gi and I would be heading out for the exam.

***