The Indomitable Martial King

Beneath a cliff that looks as if it were cut sharply, a waterfall cascaded down into a pond below, creating a loud noise of water.

Next to the water’s edge, where the noise and spray of water merge, a robust young man was throwing punches into the air.

“Hup!”

With a simple shout, his fist seemed to tear through the air, followed by a rapid succession of punches. The speed of the punches was so fast that afterimages remained, and the movements were flawless. If there had been an opponent, they would have been forced to despair at how the young man’s punches occupied every direction flawlessly.

Then, kicks, spinning kicks, and thrusts followed in basic movements. The young man’s limbs teared through the air as he continuously stepped, his movements becoming more complex. The intricacies of these movements, which involved pulling, pushing, raising, and sweeping, contained exquisite techniques that any martial artist would admire.

The punches and kicks split the air, and just the wind pressure alone caused the wind to whirl. The roaring sound of the wind filled the clearing.

Woooom!

After a while, the young man, who had been invested in shadow fighting (a practice method of imagining an imaginary enemy in the air), finally stopped his movements. Standing in place, he turned his head towards the cliff with his fist clenched. A dazzling golden aura began to ripple and flow out from his fist.

“Phewwww…….”

The young man took a deep breath. His whole body’s muscles twitched and swelled. In that state, he pulled his fist back and lowered his stance. The pose resembled a beast about to pounce on its prey, and the young man muttered softly.

“Calamity Horn.”

Boom!

Tearing through the atmosphere, the young man’s entire body lunged towards the cliff. The golden fist stretched out, creating dazzling waves of light. The fist continuously tore through the air, and waves of light spread out continuously. Surrounded by three waves of light, the young man drove his fist into the cliff.

Bang!

With a loud explosion, the atmosphere vibrated, and a huge crater was formed in the cliff, looking as if a meteorite had struck. The diameter seemed to be well over 10 meters.

Then, the waves of light converged towards the fist. The first, second, and third waves condensed into a single point, transforming into a destructive force. The condensed aura’s waves continuously pounded on the cliff.

Bang Bang Bang!

The surroundings shook as if an earthquake had occurred, dust billowing up and countless fragments scattering in every direction. Moments later, where the dust settled, a massive cave now gaped open, clearly not there just three seconds before. The cliff hadn’t even collapsed, owing to the concentrated nature of the destructive force that had pierced through it. The scene was too ghastly to be the work of a mere human fist.

Yet, the very person who wrought this miracle seemed unsatisfied. The young man, catching his breath and looking at the cliff, suddenly sighed deeply.

“Huh, is triple-layering still my limit? It feels like I could go a bit further if I just tried a bit harder…”

The youth, embodying the perfect form of a warrior from head to toe, was Repenhardt, who had reincarnated 5 years ago and was now 21 years old. Having awakened his aura three years ago, Repenhardt had been reluctantly following the path of the warrior and had gradually become accustomed to life in the mountains. Gerard, his master, no longer treated his disciple as harshly as before. Or, to be precise, while the intensity of his training remained the same, Repenhardt had become robust enough to endure it fairly well.

“If I could refine my Calamity Horn to a four-layered stack, I might finally be able to leave this place, ugh…”

Stretching slowly to loosen his muscles, Repenhardt muttered discontentedly.

Gym Unbreakable’s ultimate secret technique, Calamity Horn.

A secret martial technique that concentrates all the body’s strength into one point, transforming it into destructive power. The technique, named ‘Calamity Horn’ because its aura ripples converge like a horn, was extremely difficult, only possible for those who fully comprehend the martial arts of Gym Unbreakable.

Ultimately, achieving a nine-layer stack, capable of killing even gods, is a fearsome feat. Teslon in his memories could only manage up to a seven-layer stack, and even the current king of martial arts, Gerard, had only mastered up to an eight-layer stack. This technique truly represented the pinnacle of the martial path that Gym Unbreakable aspired to reach.

“And master said he won’t allow me to descend the mountain until I can perform at least a four-layer stack…”

With a clear goal in sight, Repenhardt committed himself more actively to training. Seeing his disciple’s changed attitude, Gerard didn’t stick to him as closely as before and significantly increased the time for personal training. Currently, he had left Repenhardt to train alone while he went down to the village to replenish their supplies.

Observing the position of the sun, Repenhardt estimated the time of the day.

“It’s been a while since he went down to the village. Perhaps he intends to leisurely enjoy a drink?”

Previously, Gerard would not even go down to the village. Instead, he would spend a considerable amount of money to have supplies delivered all the way to these deep mountains. He had to keep watch 24 hours a day, as there was always the chance of his disciple escaping. Moreover, the volume of supplies needed for the disciples’ training was enormous, requiring several carts for transportation. No matter how strong and well-built Gerard was, it was not feasible for him to carry it all by himself. (Though it was possible, it wouldn’t look good.)

However, now that Repenhardt’s physique had reached a new level, he no longer needed the recovery baths, nor did he need to replenish his spent energy with an absurd amount of food thanks to his awakened aura. Just buying a moderate amount of food supplies was enough, so Gerard had been personally going to the village for supplies lately.

“I would have seen this as an opportunity to escape before, but…”

Suddenly, Repenhardt smirked bitterly.

He no longer thought about escaping. Having endured so far, it felt unjust to escape. He wanted to be fully recognized for his efforts and then descend the mountain.

Anyway, having fully stretched, Repenhardt dusted off his hands and feet and walked towards the edge of the clearing.

“Today’s physical training ends here.”

Though he was at the last juncture on his way to descending the mountain, he was not in a hurry.

“Be it martial arts or magic, it’s all the same. Don’t rush, don’t slack.”

Hadn’t his master said the same? That in the end, all things are alike, and that diligently and steadily working hard is actually the shortcut. It seems a bit rich coming from the Gym Unbreakable, known for its brutal training method of awakening aura by beating someone to the brink of death.

Climbing onto a rock, Repenhardt casually brushed off the dust and sat down in a lotus position. Closing his eyes, he murmured to himself.

“As much as martial arts are important, one cannot neglect magic either.”

With his eyes closed, Repenhardt delved into meditation. After being reborn, he spent two years being beaten to unconsciousness, without a moment to revive the magic of his past life. However, after awakening his aura, he finally had some personal time to simultaneously practice magic.

“Sigh…”

Taking a deep breath, he slowly submerged into the depths of his mind, gradually recalling the realms of all the magic he had learned in his past life, that grand knowledge.

In truth, human memory is not entirely reliable. Especially since this body does not possess the brain of Repenhardt, renowned across the continent for his unparalleled memory. Moreover, for the first two years, he was too preoccupied with being beaten to even think about making records. There was no such thing as a book to record in either. To transcribe his vast knowledge of magic, which would fill at least ten volumes, would require more than an entire library.

It would be normal to have forgotten memories of a past life by now…

“Huuuuuu…”

With a simple deep breath, memories of Repenhardt’s past life flashed through his mind like a flashback.

What is a flashback?

It refers to when, at the moment of death, one’s entire past flashes before their eyes in a panoramic view. And Repenhardt, over the past five years, had seen this flashback countless times. How many times had he nearly died? Every day was a struggle on the brink of death.

Seeing the flashback so often, he gradually became adept at it. Consequently, Repenhardt developed a new, somewhat bizarre ability.

He had reached the point where he could ‘artificially’ see a flashback. This was a serendipitous result of a soul imbued with magical enlightenment, which even the original Teslon did not possess, and a muscular body that had survived countless brushes with death.

He could artificially unfold a ‘flashback’ in his mind and contemplate his past. From there, he would extract knowledge of magic, as if pulling books off a shelf in a library and carefully examining them.

Suddenly, Repenhardt raised his hand and stirred the air. A spell softly flowed from his mouth.

“Delphir la Stellin, I become a bullet that grasps the void to strike my enemy.”

The three major components of magic are the spell (文: spell), the somatic gesture (手印: somatic), and the catalyst (觸媒: catalysis). The catalyst for the magic he was casting now was air, so there was no need for preparation. After forming the somatic gestures continuously for about 20 seconds and barely completing the incantation, Repenhardt extended his hand forward and shouted the activation word.

“Aero Bullet!”

A bullet of wind flew and hit a tree across the way. Yes, it just hit. It didn’t break or snap; the tree just made a ‘puff’ sound and shook slightly.

Looking at the slightly shaking tree, Repenhardt clicked his tongue.

“This is… I remember all the magic, but my body can’t keep up.”

Repenhardt in Teslon’s body lamented the limitations of his magical powers and intellect. Despite possessing knowledge and understanding, he struggled to accumulate magical energy, and his spellcasting speed had significantly decreased. A basic 1st-circle spell, Aero Bullet, now took him at least 20 seconds to cast, and its power was insufficient, barely more effective than a strong adult throwing pebbles.

“Ah, can this blockhead Teslon truly become a mage?” he sighed.

However, Repenhardt wasn’t disheartened. Having been the strongest mage in his past life, he had already thought of several solutions to his predicament. The issue was that he needed to descend the mountain first…

“I must complete the Quadruple Stack to gain master’s approval,” Repenhardt muttered, naturally referring to Gerard as his master. Although their master-disciple relationship had formed under complicated circumstances, Gerard had indeed trained him and shared the secrets of great martial arts, making him worthy of the title.

Despite the hardships, Repenhardt’s training under Gerard continued, filled with extreme and bizarre methods of toughening up, including being thrown into ice-cold water in the middle of winter, dropped off cliffs, roasted over a campfire, and even thrown into a bear’s den with his limbs bound. Gerard cherished his disciple, going to lengths that seemed nearly demonic in their intensity, regretting only the lack of a nearby volcano for lava training.

‘Really, it’s a miracle I survived. No wonder the legendary technique known as ‘Artificial Flashback’ came to be.’

With a bitter smile, Repenhardt continued to practice his magic. Limited by his low magical power to only basic spells for now, he was content, knowing that maintaining his magical sense would eventually lead him back to his former glory.

“Della di Piana, stream of light, deceive those eyes…”

In the quiet of the mountains, his chant for a spell echoed softly.