2 Arriving On An Empty and Frozen World and Training

When my vision finally returned to me, I found myself in the middle of a street at night. The lights above me shined down, grinding at my eyes that had undergone a massive improvement which seemed to be the same for every other of my senses.

I could hear everything around me, smell everything--I could even feel everything within a certain radius to myself.

Which was why this entire situation was weird...I couldn't sense anything bigger than a house pet within a few dozen meters around me. Getting up, I looked around at what looked like a massive city but all the cars were parked neatly along the street instead of being on the road. It was night, sure, but for most cities of this size - having massive skyscrapers and what looked like massive office buildings everywhere - they usually had some level of activity no matter the day.

Fully getting up from my sitting position, I found myself pulled away from looking at the buildings and empty streets around me and toward my body. It was different. Different to the slightly chubby physique I once had, different to the average height I once had--I even had a different skin color. Instead of pale white, I had healthy bronze colored skin.

I was tall, muscular, brawny and broad. A complete opposite to what I was used to. What was also something I wasn't used to...was the utter power flooding through my body. I felt like I could casually take apart a car with my bare hands.

'This is a combination of all those wishes, huh? A hero with bloodlines that are the peak of the peak...for a Human, anyway,' I thought to myself before wondering why I only had some sweat pants on. It seemed like all my clothes had been removed and some sweatpants that fit my new body were put on me for decency's sake, 'Don't get why I don't have a shirt though,' I wondered before making the decision to look around. So, I started walking through the empty streets.

I saw that aside from the street lights, every other light was off. No lights in any of the houses or buildings I walked passed which was a statistical impossibility. Well, probably not impossible but incredibly improbably.

Especially considering this seemed to be New York. I'm pretty sure I'm in or at least near Harlem by one of the street names being that of a Black Civil Rights Activist/Protestor. A quick trip into a nearby bus stop showed me a small map of the surroundings and quickly confirmed that I was in Harlem and by proxy, New York City.

Just as this information was discovered and digested by yours truly, a screen appeared in front of me.

[Host, you have been placed into a frozen and empty version of Earth so you can gain control and mastery over your powers while also growing them through the help of the Training System. ETA of the end of this period...calculating...calculating...Information Restricted. Possible information given...At least an Earth century.]

'...What?' I found myself asking, 'I mean, I kinda had the suspicion this was the case but why? Why do I need to know how to control my powers? Couldn't I just do that in a normal setting?' I asked these questions to what I assumed was the Training System I was given before coming here.

The reply came quite rapidly and appeared in front of me a second after I asked, [You have been sent here for a mission. A mission that cannot be divulged as of yet. Said mission requires you to have strength. Strength you wouldn't have if you didn't know how to use your powers correctly. A normal setting would not suit the type of training you need either.]

Having read through the system's reply, I sent my hand through my now blue hair and gave it a scratch, "Huh," I said in a remarkably deeper and smoother voice than my old one before I wondered another question aloud, "So, you're my system right? What's the first course of training?"

[Fighting,] the screen said before elaborating further, [Learning the use of powers is best done through fighting. Your physical state and quality are good enough for now, so moving to fighting technique is the best course of action for right now.]

"Right...So, am I learning unarmed or will I get a weapon?" I questioned again, not feeling too embarrassed about speaking aloud to what amounts to a system that only I can see. Not like there's anyone else to see me doing this, is there? People can't think you're crazy if there aren't any people nearby to see you looking crazy, after all.

[Unarmed combat is the basis to all combat, so it will be where you start, Host,] and with that said, a black tear in space appeared in front of me before the screen continued, [Please walk into the entrance, if you will, Host.]

Seeing no reason to be afraid or distrusting of my own system, I took a step forward and felt a ripple of...something flood through me, making me feel somewhat nauseous. Like when you get travel sick mixed with the feeling of when the rollercoster you're on goes down the drop. Like your stomach starts doing flips.

I recovered uncannily quickly and found myself in what looked like a fighting arena. Like the one from Baki or Kengan Ashura. Opposite me was a dummy around the same size as me...in fact, it seemed to be a complete copy of my new body. It just didn't have any features and was a sleek metallic gray all over instead of the tanned bronze color my skin has.

[Fighting Training, Begin!]

The screen said and the dummy across from me sprung into action, flashing across the ground with a bestial grace before it appeared right in front of me, sending what looked like a simple jab at my head. I tipped my head back, barely dodging the dummy's punch, and without even a moment to relax, I felt my legs get swept from under me. I fell to the floor and saw an axe kick coming my way, so I rolled backward and without consciously ordering it, my foot shot out and caught the dummy's chin, sending it flying up and back.

I, meanwhile, continued my roll back and landed back on my knees. Looking over at where the dummy fell, unharmed, I felt surprised at my actions just now. Not even just the kick...the dodging, the way I could see the dummy moving clearly...I'd never experienced something like that before. Hell, I'd never even been in a fight before. But it was just like my body instinctively knew what to do.

Deciding to take the first move this time, I flexed my legs and used some of my new enhanced athleticism as I burst forward in the same beast-like way the dummy had earlier, 'I assume this is Cu Chulainn's beast-like agility slipping through into me, huh?' I had this thought as I sent a flurry of jabs at the dummy.

Though unlike my unseemly dodging, the dummy's dodging was simple yet effective as I couldn't even graze it with a punch let alone land one. Despite it's simplicity, it was also quite...graceful.

Deciding to change things up a bit, I tried my hand at sending a feint with a right cross but in truth I readied my leg for a kick. The dummy lifted it's arms to block the hit and I sent out a lightning fast kick that hit the side of the dummy. I winced at the pain of what felt like hitting a metal pole but I pushed through it and followed through on the kick, sending the dummy flying to the side of the arena where instead of landing gracefully like last time, it hit the wall of the arena getting buried in it.

Standing there, I took in a deep breath before swiping my hair out of the way, "How was that?" I asked the system, keeping an eye on the limp dummy that was still buried in the wall.

[Acceptable. We now have a decent understanding of your current capabilities and the instincts and talents given to you by your bloodlines and physiologies. Training Regimen...loading...completed,] the screen wrote before it emptied and was replaced by a bigger screen.

[Punches: 0/1000]

[Kicks: 0/1000]

[Knees: 0/1000]

[Elbows: 0/1000]

[Blocked Hits: 0/1000]

[Dodges: 0/1000]

[You will have to do these to the specifications of the system. Perfection is needed to progress. Good luck.]

With that said, the dummy buried in the wall was gone and I saw three new dummies appear in front of me.

...It was safe to say that I was about to get my ass beat by dummies made to fight me.

. . .

And that was how I spent the first...I really don't know how many years I spent just focusing on unarmed combat. More than a single year--maybe even a decade. The Training System continued to say it couldn't tell me the time, so I was pretty much on my own in that regard. Counting days was hard when I spent weeks inside the training grounds, fighting hordes of dummies, and I didn't really want to do it anyway. Counting days feels...morale destroying. I'd rather focus on my progress.

By now, I was able to fight massive amounts of dummies without breaking a sweat. I also discovered there was a ranking system to the dummies. The metallic grey ones I was fighting are, obviously, the lowest level. They're called Beginner-level Dummies. They're put on the same physical level as the person they're fighting and they have some skill in fighting.

Above the Beginner-level Dummies or Irons, as I call them, are the Silvers or the Intermediate-level Dummies. They're a bit above you in terms of physical ability and they're well-versed in fighting. Meaning they could see through my amateurish feints and kicked my ass the first time I saw them.

If an Iron was strong enough to take out a few gangsters, a Silver was capable of taking out a squad of well-trained soldiers, and above them was a Gold - my current opponents.

They were on the level of Master Martial Artists. They weren't the peak but they were enough to kick my ass very thoroughly the first time I fought them.

But alas, due to my two hero bloodlines, I was a bit of a battle maniac and I grew quickly enough to have fun while fighting all the time. So, while I was fighting right now, I was smiling as wide as a kid on Christmas morning opening their presents. '...However many years I've been here has definitely changed me,' I shrugged before ducking under the kick from the Gold dummy before I cockroach dashed into it's torso.

I got this idea from Baki and the training system allowed me to make it a reality. Basically, I spent a year learning how to relax my muscles to such a degree that it felt like they were liquid - well, not really, but they were incredibly languid and liquid-like - and then I'd rapidly snap them back together resulting in remarkable acceleration. I could go from standing still to my full speed within a millisecond or less.

And so, I instantly collided with the Gold dummy. It instantly latched onto my back and tried to lift me but I resisted and kept myself low as I started to push it back like a bull until we hit the arena wall with a tumultuous bang.

The Gold dummies were much stronger than me, physically. But, they didn't have Magic Energy which I had in droves.

According to the System I instantly awoke as a top-tier A-rank which gave me the destructive ability of a Tank and with Magic Energy I can pretty much be invulnerable to most conventional weaponry if I use it to coat my skin. So, over the years, I've gained more and more energy through meditation and cultivating what Magic Energy I had and now I'm an S-rank in terms of Magic Energy.

Basically, what Magic Energy does is takes my already absurd physical strength and overall cell quality...and improves it. Especially the former. It also has the power to increase my strength the more I flood my body with it. If I use 100% of my Magic Energy, I can see a boost of over 300% in all physical stats. Especially Defense. I'm semi-confident in being able to tank a Nuclear blast with my current physique boosted by Magic Energy.

Anyway, with me having pushed the dummy into the wall, I pulled back and broke it's hold on my torso before pummeling a fist into his face, sending out another tumultuous shockwave. Followed by another hit, too fast for the dummy to react, that slammed it even further into the arena wall.

And with that, the fight was other.

I mean, that wasn't the WHOLE fight. I'd been fighting this thing for, like, a few goddamn hours before I finally found an opening which allowed me to cockroach dash into a range where I could catch it off guard. My ever-growing physical strength due to my monstrous bloodline and the occasional boost from Magic Energy allowed me to hang on until I could defeat it.

Today being the first time I'd ever beaten a a Gold dummy, or as the system calls them, Advanced-level dummies.

[Good job, Nick. You're now up to an acceptable level of unarmed fighting proficiency. Next, we'll get started on Weapon Training mixed with Physical Training.]

'...And I'd just gotten used to the absurd unarmed practice. Welp, no rest for the wicked, right?'