Secret To True Strength

The summer ended pretty fast and Xander came face to face with something he never thought he'd have to go through again…

SCHOOL

He's in fifth grade so… it's easy as fu-

---

Xander used the time he had during the summer to raise his Drawing skill and was able to get the +10 he desperately wanted. Add to it the bonus exp he got from his now high Mind stat and you get

[Master Drawing_2(2%)]

Very few come close to your ability towards the art of drawing.

---

Of course Xander also invested into his physique, making his stats

[Stats]

Name: Kenichi (Xander)

Title: Prodigy of the arts

Level: 2 → 10 (33%)

Health: 90

Mana: 300

Body: 3 → 9

Mind: 9 → 27

Spirit: 25 → 30

[Title]

[Prodigy of the arts]

Obtained by reaching Master level in an aspect of the arts within a year

- All art related skills gain 10% bonus exp

- All art related products gain 10% increase in sale value

- Does not include non-fine arts

---

And when Xander reached level 10 he received a notification

*Ding*

[ID: Zombies is unlocked]

Which is great, but not fitting for a realy smart 10 year old.

---

In the world of History's strongest disciple Kenichi, martial artists are divided into levels. According to scarlet they are divided by physique and technique.

For physique it is simple to compare as they have an average amount Body points and it goes like this:

Low level disciple: 20

Middle level disciple: 30

High level disciple: 50

Expert: 100

Low Class Master: 150 + sensing Ki

Master: 200 + access to Ki

Grand Master: 400 + simple Ki control

Advanced Grand Master: 750 + High Ki control

Legendary Master: 1000 + Outstanding Ki control

This is without mentioning Technique, just simple stats. According to Scarlet, an average person needs a minimum of 15 points in the spirit stat to feel Ki and at least 50 to completely control it.

In that aspect Xander is not worried as it turns out, drawing is a spiritual activity. It's how he got his spirit stat to 30.

---

In order to gain the required physique, Xander decided to ask the system for a daily exercise routine to reach grand Master level in body and Ki in less than five years… and he got it.

[Daily Quest: Grand Master for fun]

100 push-ups

100 sit-ups

100 squats

& 10 km run

- Every single day for three year

Reward: Grand Master Body + follow up quest to achieve outstanding Ki control

"…"

[…]

"…Scarlet?"

[Yeah Boss]

"I feel we will be doing that a lot"

[Me too Boss]

"…"

[…]

---

It was as expected, the first week was hell, but Xander kept going and kept at it. It took him a month to be able to finish the entire set as every set gave him close to 5 points in Body and 1 in Mind and spirit for his unrelenting will.

Then as time went by, the amount of points he got was reduced till, by the last stretch of the three years he can no longer get a single point after a single set.

When the three years passed Kenichi was already in his first year of middle school. He kept to himself most of the time, but he still met his definitely alien friend, Niijima.

He's an annoying asshole alright, but the good kind of annoying asshole… ya'know

Anyways, today Xander finishes the three years, and so…

*Ding*

[Grand Master for fun (completed)]

Xander felt odd. Because of all the exercising his body was muscular, but this felt odd. He can feel the range of his body in terms of balance and flexibility catching up to the strength and speed. He can also feel his senses getting sharper like nothing before.

*Ding*

[Grand Master Physique] (Passive)

You have the physique of a grand master.

- Gain flexibility based on Body stat

- Gain improved senses based on Body stat

- Gain double the attack/defence properties of body stat based skills

- Gain double the exp for all martial arts based skills

*Ding*

[You can call me Ki Ki]

Clear [ID: zombies] within an hour of entering it

Reward: Ki Basics

---

"Wow, I thought all physical aspects were supposed to rise based on my Body stat, so what's this?"

[They did, what the Grand Master physique did was add to it things that are usually required in skills like [Flexibility] and [Heightened Senses] which most grand masters train specifically for and grant it to you for your three years effort]

Xander simply nodded then chuckled "I'm just glad I still have my hair. Some days I really thought I would lose it"

[Me too Xander, me too]

---

The next day Xander decided he needed to experiment a bit with his other skills.

"So first up is Mana" Xander spoke as he was now in an isolated part of the park

[May I suggest toggling [Magic distortion] off first?]

"Right", please do"

[Done]

"Thank you, now…" Xander calmed himself and closed his eyes. He directed his enhanced senses inwards and he felt it, the essence of power flowing in his veins.

Xander held on to that feeling, and once he was sure he wouldn't lose it, he tried to direct the flow towards his right hand.

Almost… almost… and…

*Ding*

[Basic Mana Manipulation_1(10%)]

Able to barely command Mana in a direction.

- Gain 0.5% bonus to all pure Mana skills

- Gain 0.5% bonus to Mana recovery

- Gain 0.25% reduction to all Mana spent

---

A light blue sphere that looks extremely unstable is hovering above Xander's hand.

"Let's see, if I follow what you are telling me scarlet, if I reach grand master in this, I will gain 50% bonuses and 25% reduction and if I finish the Grand Master stage I will double the numbers so 100% bonuses and 50% reduction in costs?"

[Yup]

"Does it stack with [Arcane Blessing]?"

[Unfortunately not. It will be considered 50% of the remaining 50%, equalling 75% total cost reduction]

"It was a bit much to expect a 100% removal of all Mana cost" Xander shrugged off his disappointment, then spent the day improving his Mana control

Due to various bonuses and so on, Xander was able to reach the intermediate level of Mana control by night time.

[Intermidiat Mana Manipulation_2(20%)]

Able to barely command Mana into a rough shape.

- Gain 6% bonus to all pure Mana skills

- Gain 6% bonus to Mana recovery

- Gain 3% reduction to all Mana spent

---

This was the level Xander wanted for his adventure into the ID: Zombies tomorrow.

He is finally summoning a drawing.