In one of the rooms in the school dormitory
A black-haired boy wearing the white-blue school uniform was sitting in front of his bed and facing his table. He was flipping through the pages of a book with the title <<Blackboard Training Method>> on its cover.
Garen had been reading this book for over half an hour.
Putting down the book, he rubbed at his tired eyes.
“This body is too weak… It can’t even do a little bit of reading, I must exercise as soon as possible,” he gently placed the book upside down on the table, leaned back and relaxed his waist.
“The book has roughly explained the situation about the latest training methods and introduced all the Blackboard training methods. It’s considered quite good overall,” Garen clapped this book that had been collected by the original Nonosiva.
“But the problem is a little tricky….” Garen gently stroked the cover of the book and fell into deep thought.
‘If the contents of the book conform to reality, then the only way I can access this world’s mainstream system is through the academy,’ Garen recalled the contents of the book.
‘The Federal laws, the Local laws, and even all the other laws and regulations which specify that the training methods for Willpower which are eligible to be classified at the Levels of at least Level One and above, cannot be circulated. Only some people with certain identities are qualified to train and view them but they still cannot be circulated. Only the academy’s students are eligible to trade and exchange the training methods, including purchasing and giving them away. Once a member of the general public is found practicing these training methods, they would be treated as felons directly and most of them would face the death penalty. This penalty is even stricter than the gun control in China on Earth.’
Garen rubbed the cover of the book, feeling the delicate cool surface.
‘The formal training methods classified by Levels can only be purchased by students that are qualified, otherwise, it is illegal and they will be apprehended by the government. The legal ways to practice the training methods are through the Blackboard Academy and twelve other academies. Other than them, no one is allowed to practice or trade the training methods. Without the academies’ permission to learn the training methods for Level 3 and above, the foundation for Willpower will be directly destroyed once discovered. Vicious!’
Garen was not someone who did not understand anything, he somewhat understood how this society worked.
Once the Willpower was totally destroyed, the victim would completely enter a vegetative state. This was a life worse than death as even their self-awareness would be totally lost.
“From how it looks, my identity as the best student of the Blackboard Academy is quite an advantage, although I still owe Instructor Hamm a large sum of money.”
Garen turned his head sideways and looked out the window. Through the window, he could see a large tree outside the dormitory. The tree was very tall and thick, and its leaves covered most of the gray sky, leaving only tiny gaps and dimming his room.
“This identity as a student must not be lost,” he decided on the direction he would take. “Otherwise, purchasing the training methods would become illegal.”
If a free legal identity that provided such an advantage was not well used, it would be totally outrageous. Besides, with the constant merging of his soul with this body, he had thoroughly integrated into this body with no side effects.
It was just that the original Nonosiva’s Willpower was only at Middle Basic Level, and no matter how powerful Garen was, it was impossible to turn it into Advanced Basic Level, not to mention Level 1. He himself was a cheater who relied on the Moonfang.
This was a tricky problem.
Garen recalled the training methods that Nonosiva had studied in the past.
“<<Universal Basic Willpower Training Method>>,” Garen pulled out a tattered booklet with a yellow cover from the bookshelf at the side.
“This is the basic training method Nono had used previously. Generally, all the students have used this basic training method booklet. The highest it can reach is Level One and only then can they start to choose training methods that are classified by Levels. Almost reaching Level 1 is the highest that normal people are able to achieve legally.”
The relevant memories flashed through Garen’s mind.
He moved a white tablet from the edge of the gray table’s surface and pressed down on its power button. A rotating Rubik’s Cube appeared on the screen and soon disappeared. A white window background replaced the cube, with all sorts of colorful icons on it just like an ordinary computer desktop.
“Welcome to the Blackboard client terminal,” a sweet female voice sounded from the computer. This notebook-sized tablet actually had a sound system that rivaled a home theater.
“Student c534 auto login complete, please select the entry option,” the female voice continued.
Garen quickly tapped on the icon of the training methods market.
Soon the screen displayed rows upon rows of small icons. Each small icon was a different training method, making people dizzy with the sheer amount.
He scanned from the top downwards and from left to right.
‘Six Flower Training Method’ ‘Master Carseland’s Personal Training Method’ ‘Aquamarine Training Method’ ‘Maxwell Collar Method’ ‘Laser Charging Method’ ‘Willpower Stream Training’….
All sorts of strange names appeared and every single icon there was beautiful, making people feel that there were no regular things on this market.
However, when Garen glanced at the left sidebar, it was indicated that this page contained only Level 3 training methods.
“Level 3 training method means that the highest attainable Level is 3 and these training methods have to be purchased layer by layer,” Taking a look at the prices, Garen was slightly speechless.
An ordinary Aquamarine training method was priced at a hundred and fifty thousand Universal Points. According to his observation in this one month, it was equivalent to three hundred thousand RMB on Earth and this was only the price for one layer; the price for Level 1. After opening it, there was a follow-up instruction that in order to get the Level 2 training method, he had to pay two hundred thousand Universal Points and two hundred and fifty thousand for Level 3.
“This market seemed to be linked to the entire federal market,” Garen pressed on other training methods. It seemed that the price for Aquamarine Training Methods was considered reasonable and low.
All of these were training methods that could reach Level 3 at most and each of them had their own strengths and advantages. There were also detailed descriptions of what might happen during different periods for people with different constitutions. They truly had excellent services.
Garen took a look at the transaction records below. Every user who bought Level 3 training methods would have their username displayed below. The username was not fully displayed though; only the last name was displayed.
Garen slowly looked through the Level 3 training methods market.
After the direction of the training methods was set, it would be difficult to change it, because the Willpower that developed according to the training methods had taken shape according to its development. Even if the person succeeded in changing their direction, it would be hard to reach a very high level.
And now that he had gotten Nonosiva’s body, on the surface he had chosen a Level 1 training method as his direction, but the truth was that it had not taken shape yet.
Because Nonosiva could not afford to buy any training methods that were classified by Levels.
Garen randomly browsed through the market’s catalog. After a dozen pages, they were all basically the same, just with slight differences.Never mind the outrageous pricing, some training methods even demanded that the identity of the buyer needed to have certain criteria. They were basically picky. Some were layered thickly with a merchant’s vibe; as long as it was convenient for the buyer, anything went.
After he had roughly looked through, he turned to the Level 4 training methods.
In the market menu that was opened, there were only a few icons to pick from.
‘Hurricane Roar’ ‘Cassis Hammer’ ‘Precise Aiming Device’
There were even a bunch of restrictions on the buyer. They had to be registered in the Federal Academies Union. According to the instructions above, the market for Level 3 training methods was relatively loose. The training methods on the market were also generally Level 3 at the highest. However, those who were able to reach Level 3, they were already considered the top elites even in the Blackboard Academy. The teaching staff was also mostly at this level. This was the accumulation of training for many years until they were so old. Most of the people were unlikely to ever reach Level 3 in their lifetime.
When he came to his senses, Garen proceeded to the Level 5 menu.
There was nothing in it and there was nothing after that too.
Exiting the training methods market, Garen entered his personal center and gave a bitter smile at the remaining Universal Units in his account: 9854.
“No wonder Nono’s room did not have even a single Level-classified training method. It’s all so expensive. This bit of money can’t even pay for a single Level-classified training method…”
Nonosiva had been a child from an ordinary family who had entered the academy with excellent results from an ordinary high school. His Willpower reached Level 1 and he received the opportunity to study in Blackboard Region’s Blackboard Academy by squeezing out other competitors.
Ordinary civilian students like him were numerous in the academy. Their only chance at getting Level-classified training methods was by entering the academy and received the academy’s exclusive basic training method.
Blackboard Academy’s exclusive basic training method was <<Blackboard Manipulation>> which could allow the learners to enter Level 1 and aim for Level 2, and it was the students’ openhanded benefits. Though this was the most common Level-classified training method which did not have any advantages and special abilities, it was the only chance for the civilian students to change their fates.
“What a brutal blockade,” Garen sighed.
He stood up and began the everyday exercise that recovered his body.
He pulled the curtains shut, switched off the computer and began to slowly move the fingers on both his hands to tap certain points on his body.
Each time, the tap was done using the sharpest point on his fingertips. The moment he tapped, Garen’s expression was as though he had gone through a very laborious work. Soon, after more than ten minutes, every tap caused his forehead to slightly ooze with sweat.
After more than half an hour, he slowly stopped and breathed out on the spot.
“If it wasn’t for the fact that I can’t practice any secret techniques, it would be impossible for me to resort to practicing this outer technique filled with loopholes,” Garen helplessly sighed.
In this one month’s time, he had tried practicing all kinds of secret techniques, whether it was the White Cloud Secret Technique, Black Water True Technique, original Waterbird Fist or Slaughtering Hand. He tried a dozen advanced secret techniques and the end result was the same as what he’d expected; there was no way for secret techniques to grow here because the structure of this body was fundamentally different from the structure of the creator of secret techniques.
So, all the secret techniques were useless here. He tried the higher level Living Secret Technique from the previous world. Without the rare materials he needed, he just gave up and forgot about it. The previous world’s Peacock Technique was stuck at the beginner level from the start until the end, and up until the moment he left, he still could not break through.
Under such circumstances, Garen could only keep checking and reviewing his body during the hospitalization period and create a new secret technique with loopholes everywhere for himself.
He named this secret technique <<Imprint of Steel>>.