After walking around for half an hour, Jihoon finally found a small cave that was barely enough to fit two to three people.
He looked around the cave trying to find any tracks of animals or even people, fortunately, there were no.
No footprints, no eaten plants.
Next he checked whether any animal marked the area around the cave as its territory. He could however not smell anything nor see anything.
While walking around and making sure the area was safe he gathered enough firewood and even found a small stream of water.
As an F Rank Hunter, he would not need to worry about water well into a dozen days but it was always nice to have water especially since his mouth still was dry.
He looked down at the stream of water and there he saw his reflection.
A young teenager, with messy medium-length black hair that just reached his black eyes. He had a scar running down his left eye.
He was wearing a small overcoat with a black t-shirt and a bag slung across his shoulder.
Time to wash myself.
He quickly undressed himself and began cleaning himself. Washing away all the vomit and grime that his body had accumulated.
He was of average height, not too tall, not too short. His body was covered with scars, some were new, mostly from the Goblins. However, the majority were not.
These were mostly scars from sparring. One might think that they were from bullying but that was not the case, Jihoons only rule when sparring was that they would use real weapons as he believed that this was the fastest way to grow.
Of course a nice bonus was the classmates paying for his healing potions once he got hurt.
However one specific wound was not from sparring.
His hands stroked the giant scar that was across his chest as he reminisced melancholy. By now it was like a ritual every time he washed himself.
His breathing speeds up as adrenaline sept through his veins.
"Thank you, big sister, for this life."
He clenched his fist so hard that his knuckles whitened.
"I will not let it go to waste. I will keep mine promise!"
He took a couple of deep breaths and gathered himself as he quickly went back to his cave.
It was time to train!
He first started with the Ironblood Breathing Teqchnuie.
He put his body in different positions and started breathing in a specific rhythm.
There were 12 positions, each position had a different breathing rhythm, and each transition from one position to another had another rhythm.
He tried going through the technique in one go but noticed that did not work.
So he first focused on the first two movements and their transition.
Jihoon wanted to master the basics first before becoming cocky.
He tried again and again and after about an hour he could feel himself get comfortable with the two movements and even started the third position.
Jihoon stopped and looked at his body and tried to notice any changes.
He did feel stronger, it was minuscule, maybe half of a percent but it worked!
He started laughing, first slowly and then hysterically.
Times were about to change!
Not only for him but also for his good friend Amy. Ever since middle school they have trained together, both trying to become Hunters.
But like him, even though she was hardworking, her results have barely been mediocre.
While he became a Hunter a week ago, she still has not awakened and has begun losing hope slowly.
Knowing her she might do something stupid...like him.
Around one-fifth of the population never awakened, and even though they still could live quite a normal life they were treated worse and were on average part of the poor.
It was particularly devastating for people who wanted to become Hunters, with big dreams and aspirations.
But now…
It would be possible.
Jihoon was however not dumb enough to publicize these Martial and share them with the whole world.
Even though the Tower of Magic, one of the SSS Rank Guilds promised to guarantee the safety of people who publicize material that helps humanity.
He knew that the world was a lot darker than it seemed and even if he did publicize it the benefits would not outweigh the risks he would carry.
Especially if people noticed he somehow had stronger Martial Arts they would definitely hunt him down.
No…even if they were suspicious of him they would make sure to find out everything there is.
Especially the Dark Guilds...
A dark glint appeared in Jihoons eyes.
However, the real reason was the benefits.
His eyes shone with greed as he realized what he could lose by simply giving up this advantage.
He would monopolize the Martial Arts and only distribute it to people he trusted.
For that, he needed stronger ones and more variety. After all, a third-grade technique only allowed one to go to Third Rate Warrior. At least easily, he was pretty sure you could go above that but your strength would be beneath somebody who used and second-grade technique.
He wondered how the bandits got to second rate but there were many ways.
Maybe they used another technique or other means after all even in his world it was possible to enhance one's strength artificially.
After gathering the techniques he wanted and needed, he would learn more about cultivation. But that would probably go hand in hand.
Jihoon then moved on to the next technique.
The Iron Wind Draw is a sword drawing technique that focuses on power rather than speed.
Near the cave, Jihoon kept repeating the same motion of drawing and sheathing his sword.
He used certain muscles in a particular order as the Martial Art described.
His breathing followed a certain rhythm, every time he unsheathed his sword.
It was at that moment that Jihoon felt something surprising.
It was as if his blood began to stir, every time he used the technique it felt like his blood moved toward the muscles his technique used.
He felt something similar when he used the Ironblood Breath but he discarded it since he barely noticed it and he wanted to focus on his breathing instead of his blood.
But it made sense that breathing techniques allowed the strengthening of blood.
So he began repeating the motion more and more.
Tens of times.
He felt nothing.
Time flew by fast and he crossed the threshold to 100.
He felt a little bit tired.
Hundreds of times.
Now finally exhaustion began to set in and he decided to go for one last time but this time he aimed at a big tree he could barely wrap his arms around.
He sheathed his sword and angels his body as his breath became rhythmic.
He unsheathed his sword, smoothly, as it flowed through the sky he noticed that it was barely faster than a normal draw.
The sword whispered through the air as it vibrated with power.
Then it happened, his sword met the tree and a loud resonating boom echoed across the forest.
The sword left a big dent in the tree as Jihoon looked at it in wonder.
"That's…very interesting," Jihoon muttered under his breath. "It looks like I mastered the technique?"
It made sense, after all, he practised the technique hundreds of times.
Normally Martial Artists would only practice it a couple of times before getting exhausted and having to recover.
After all Second Grade Techniques would mostly be used by Martial artists at Second Rate and not somebody who had the body of an Innate Grandmaster.
One also had to keep in mind that they had jobs they had to look after and sometimes even family.
Most of the time they only trained in the mornings and maybe in the evenings and that amount of time only allowed for two sessions where they also trained in other techniques.
So what would take others months and even years Jihoon could do in an evening session.
His volume was a hundred times higher, let alone his talent.
Next Jihoon moved on to something he dreaded. His Mana.
Time to mediate and maybe find a solution? No, I have to. I will never be this weak again.
He thought as his chest tightened.
Even though Martial Arts increased his strength, it was only a small multiplier instead of a path forward.
After all even an E-Rank Hunter would ragdoll him let alone people multiple ranks higher than him.
As for cultivation he had no idea but did not think it could replace his Mana.
Jihoon stood there for a couple of minutes not wanting to face reality but he eventually decided to go for it.
He sat down and first tried to feel the Mana around.
Unfortunately, there was no Mana around.
Meaning there would be no Mana Beasts around for him to kill and advance his rank nor was there a possibility for him to regenerate his Mana or increase his Rank by using the Mana around.
He got nervous thinking there was no way to advance but he quickly calmed himself down.
I need to calm down! The information said I could travel back home, and that it only takes time.
He felt however another energy, that was probably Qi but he decided to discard it since using energy without the right technique could be dangerous.
There are cases back home where people thought they were geniuses and could create a new Meditation Technique and crippled themselves.
So he focused on the energy in his Mana circles. He looked at his Circles and Mana as his frown deepened.
His Mana Cirlce seemed thinner??