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Ren would admit that being able to recall information exactly the way he learned, faster than a snap of a finger, was really nice.
He wished he had this kind of ability in his previous life. He could've achieved so much if he did. Hell, it would also help him focus and recall every damn thing about this story he found himself in.
Because honestly, even with his enhanced memories and his unparalleled comprehension, Ren's information about this world was patchy, especially at the latter half of the story since he had gotten bored by then and had completely skimmed it to the end, just to say he finished it.
The enhanced memory and mental activity brought by this gift of his, sadly, doesn't allow him to magically fill in the blanks of his original memories. It doesn't work that way. He could only work with what he had.
Anyway...
A week has passed since he graduated from prep school. Today was the day his training officially begins in earnest.
Ren didn't spend the past week in vain. Although one week isn't long, there were many things for him to do, things that would allow him to start stacking bonuses to make him truly powerful.
The first one he could think of, and something that not even the 'hero' of this story had the pleasure to take advantage of, was the great secret within the Letter Kingdom.
Yes. The whole setup about the Letter Kingdom was more than just a 'clever idea' of the author. There is an underlying secret in here that, even to this day, nobody managed to unveil.
You see, according to the myth surrounding this kingdom, it wasn't originally supposed to be called the Letter Kingdom. The monarchs had a different name planned for it, but it was vetoed because of a single person's idea.
And this person was the mysterious Martial God—a man that has no name, never shows his face, supposedly has a deep and rumbling voice whenever he speaks, and has an aura that intimidates everybody.
It was this man that proposed the idea of calling it the Letter Empire, and because of his strength, even the monarchs have to acquiesce to his wishes to flatter him.
Legends said that the Martial God donated martial arts techniques to each city lord of the kingdom. And it just so happens that the names of each technique also begin with the same letter as the cities they were given to.
For the Alpha City, he donated the Alpha Pulse Fist. He gave the Blossom Burst Step to the beautiful city, Core Axis Breathing to the central city, and so on...
And apparently, he had an intention for doing it this way. They said that gathering all 26 techniques will unlock a bombastic secret that would overturn the world.
No one knows who the source of these rumors was, and nobody had truly been able to confirm whether this information was true since after his donation, the Martial God just vanished and never returned.
But it sure didn't stop people from trying...
Many people were taken by the tale, believing that there was, indeed, some world-shaking and heaven-defying secret within the tomes the Martial God left behind.
Alas, all of them failed.
Combining all 26 techniques into one wasn't the answer; gathering all origin copies of the tomes in an attempt to fuse them didn't work either. They tried to read between the lines, but it never produced anything that made sense. Some tried mastering every single technique for their army and had nothing to say at the end of it.
In short, all attempts turned out to be a massive waste of time.
At least, that's the long and foregone conclusion. The hero's 'grandpa in the ring' said so.
But, before the second half of the story started, the truth was revealed.
As it turns out, everybody was looking the wrong way. There was, indeed, a secret hidden within the tomes. It doesn't require any rituals, original copies, or mastering every single one either.
The secret is a formula. More specifically, a forged martial physique formula is hidden across all tomes.
You see, there are three main types of martial physiques: innate, forged, and aberrant.
An innate martial physique is something a person was born with. Although this doesn't always mean that the physique is in effect the moment a child is born, innate martial physiques truly influence the growth of their owners.
They stay latent until the initiation ceremony. Actually, even after the ceremony, some of the innate martial physiques are still not fully awakened. It's either because they lack resources or because their owners aren't simply strong enough to bear their full power just yet. But overall, having an innate martial physique was a good thing.
Those who are born with it are usually cherished and highly valued in human society. The system detects them and sends people to directly supervise their growth so as to not waste their potential.
Aberrant martial physiques, such as the Banished Arsenal Physique that all members of the Banished Arms Clan had, usually take restrictions to the extremes.
While some innate or forged martial physiques do have tendencies or biases, they don't 'punish' or completely 'ban' their owners from doing the opposite. Abberant Martial Physiques, however? They do.
The lacerations that appear on the arms of someone who had the Banished Arsenal Physique when using weapons, or its act of completely severing its owner's limb should he/she insist on using a weapon, was only one of the many examples of that.
And finally, there's the Forged Martial Physique.
Forged martial physiques act like some kind of an equalizer. At least, that's its origin intention, the idea behind its discovery and invention.
Martial physiques are graded by common, rare, epic, legendary, mythic, sacred, and divine.
Having rare-grade martial physiques practically ensures a decent future for the practitioner, but what about the common grade?
After all, it wouldn't be called 'common grade' if it wasn't so 'common,' right? At least 70-75% of the human population awakens with a common grade physique. If it stays that way, the human race will forever fall behind and be harassed and killed by the monsters that are constantly knocking at their door.
This is where the Forged Martial Physique comes in.
With the right formula, resources, patience, effort, and belief, one could possess a martial physique that could be life-changing.
The Iron Body Martial Physique was one of the many but also among the first forged martial physiques to be released in public.
It's a rare-grade martial physique that boosts the user's physical defenses and durability by 50% for each breakthrough.
Don't look down on this. The first of the three main sections of human martial arts, the Human Realm, has a total of five stages. If the Iron Body Martial Physique bestows a 50% boost in the user's toughness and durability, by the time that same user reaches the peak of the 5th Stage in the Human Realm, they are enjoying a total of a 250% boost. That's huge already! Life-changing, even, for the common folk.
That said, having the full 250% bonus isn't always realistic. Due to the changes that happened in the past, formulas are now regulated and usually take time before they are approved to be shared.
Martial practice takes time. People can't always afford to postpone their practice just to wait for something.
The bonuses that the Iron Body Martial Physique gives only take effect when it's successfully forged. Meaning that if one forged this physique at the 2nd Stage of the Human Realm, they'd miss out on a whole 50% bonus at the end.
Simply put, the earlier forged martial physiques are built, the more beneficial they'll be.
And the formula for this forged martial physique used to be commonly available to the masses.
Now though, they are regulated by the Grand Martial Union (GMU), the main governance body of this world. People have to apply and 'purchase' the formula for forged martial physiques, most of the time through merit.
All information, real or fake, on the internet is banned and wiped out cleanly. Nowadays, if someone wants to see a formula for forging innate physiques, they have to go through official channels. And this usually takes a lot of time.
And for forged martial physiques, the earlier they are forged, the more benefits one can enjoy later.
So far, if Ren's memories serve him right, the highest grade of forged martial physique invented was mythic grade. And you best believe that the GMU guards this information very closely to their chest. Unless you're one of them, it's very unlikely that they'd allow you to access any information related to this.
It's equal parts hoarding and security. The GMU doesn't want any 'untrustworthy' people to get their hands on sensitive information like this, lest it cause chaos to the masses.
Alas, digression aside...
The big secret that the Letter Kingdom had? It's a formula for a forged martial physique. And if memory serves him right, Ren believes that it's called
[The Limitless Martial Physique].