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Ren queued up for more matches, and it was a disappointment after another.

He faced people who thought too highly of themselves. Ones that haven’t taken their basics seriously, those that are lugging weapons that are bigger, sharper, and larger than they could ever handle.

All of them looked at him in disdain when they saw him unarmed, yet all their arrogance evaporated when his punches and kicks started landing on their fragile bodies.

It’s ridiculous how they thought so highly of themselves, disdaining the very basic essence of combat itself and rushing to wield sharp and/or large weapons right away.

Their instincts suck, their pacing, movement, and spacing are horrible, and they’re still too slow to gather chakra and are easily interruptible.

Ren was speechless, really. He wouldn’t have been so disappointed if he were only facing against commoners. After all, they’re truly at a disadvantage.

But the thing is, Ren also discovered some people from notable backgrounds showing up before him.

He didn’t recognize them right away, but as soon as they started gathering momentum to build their chakra, he immediately recognized the martial arts they were using.

There’s one from an elite clan specializing in swordsmanship. The other was good with spears. There’s also one who was so flamboyant that he began dancing, which turned out to be a martial art technique too.

Even if Ren couldn’t name every martial art they used, he could tell which one was inherited or not. Unparalleled Comprehension, remember? Ren sees everything.

He could identify those who had only started practicing from those whose chakras were already tainted by breathing techniques.

Alas, regardless of this, Ren still defeated them all. This isn’t to say that all his victories were one-sided, though. There were some who were able to put up a fight. But there was nobody who had forced him to show his actual edge.

Ren’s victories mostly came from his mind games, because his opponents were that terrible and had overestimated themselves.

He even began receiving hate mail because of it. Fortunately, there’s an option for him to block those users and report them from their use of foul language.

But yes, Ren hasn’t actually had the pleasure of feeling pressured or going all out just yet. His enemies were all trash so far; they’re aiming for things that are way beyond their capabilities. Instead of bolstering their foundation, they kept reaching for the stars despite it being incredibly distant for them.

It’s not like they’re too talented either. Most of these people only had a common-grade martial physique, not even a rare grade, just a common grade. How dare they, really? They’re seriously thinking too highly of themselves.

But then, Ren remembered. This has always been the problem of this world.

In the story, the hero’s ’grandpa in the ring,’ on numerous occasions, scolded him for aiming high when his foundations and qualifications were too poor.

Those who had poor talents think that they’d get the chance to change their fate if they could practice some high-level martial arts. Which is simply not true at all.

Forget about practicing then; they’d be lucky to be alive if they could even use it once.

Most people think that high-level martial arts are kept away from their reach simply because the strong people were trying to be selfish or wanted to monopolize them. And while that’s not entirely false, it’s not entirely true either.

It’s naive of them to think that just about everyone could practice high-level martial arts. They don’t know that high-level martial arts often had strict and stiff requirements for those who wanted to practice them.

There’s one thing in this world that will always ring true, something that Ren believed and held onto even in his previous life.

’Nothing is free. If it is, then you can bet your ass it’s the most expensive one.’

Power has a cost. It’s not something that can be given or taken for free. This also applies for high-level martial arts.

Often times, practitioners had to sacrifice something just to gain more power. There are pros and cons to everything. There’s no such thing as free in this world.

This was a lesson that had been repeated over and over in the story. Something that the hero himself forgets all the damn time with his unstable emotions.

Alas, only those that are serious about martial arts will get to understand what it’s like to stay humble and grounded.

The more talented you are, the more this world expects something out of you. And if you don’t play along, the world itself will begin rejecting you.

Unfortunately, this isn’t something that Ren could just reveal to everybody. He only knows this because of his unique situation.

So, as much as he was disappointed about the skewed priorities of his fellow beginners.

He could only continue beating up these delusional people until the matchmaking system itself says ’enough’ and sends him someone who could actually push him to exert some real effort.

**

About a week passed since Ren began diving into the arena every night.

And while he still hadn’t found anybody who he could take seriously, Ren’s progress had been well.

Even though he mostly faced some trash who had no idea of what they were doing just yet, experience is still experience. Even morsels will eventually accumulate at some point and give him some real benefit.

As for his progress in his martial practice, it’s also going well. Almost 50% of Ren’s entire body had been moisturized by chakra at this point.

It’s slower than he anticipated, but that’s only because his body demanded more chakra compared to other practitioners.

Ren wasn’t really too concerned about the speed of his progress. What he cares about is being thorough and pursuing perfect progress and breakthrough since that’s what the Limitless Martial Physique demands.

His total strength was already equal to someone who has reached the peak of the Foundation Strength Stage, but Ren’s actual realm was only halfway through. Once again, that’s because of his martial physique helping him.

But enough about that. Today, something different was about to happen.

You see, the clan were finally able to catch their breaths. The frantic concoction of potions had passed; they’ve gathered and made enough potions to support the raiding party and have already sent the crates of potions on the way.

The healers are still away at the hospitals, but that’s to be expected; their work was still not done.

But for the clan, though, at the very least, they can finally relax a bit.

With things finally calming down, there were people who were available to begin teaching Ren how to brew potions.

The healing art comes later since the majority of the clan’s healers are away, but for potions, Ren could finally start with them now.

And Mikel told him this last night. Ren had long since memorized the material he sent, more thanks to his regular perusal in the clan’s Martial Hall.

Today, he’s on his way for his formal apprenticeship. Ren was hoping that it would go well. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

The Apothecary Hall was located near the core of the compound. This is where the clan’s herbal gardens are located too, just behind the hall itself. It’s one of the busiest and strictest places in the compound; not just anybody could enter this place because they might ruin the gardens.

"Little Ren? Is that you, child?"

Ren was momentarily taken aback by such an address. He recalled who the owner of this voice was, and a soft smile subconsciously appeared on his face.

"Hi, Grandma Allen. Yes, it’s me."

"Goodness gracious! You’ve gotten so tall!" The old lady with a kind face and a gentle smile reached out to pat his head and his shoulders.

Ren was not much taller than this old lady, but he still bent down a bit to make it easier for her to reach him.

"Hmm, vigorous blood, active mind, and less wasted motion. Your chakra is abundant, reactive, and definitely vigorous. Well done, child. Very well done!"

The old lady wasn’t one to hold back on her praises. Her usually clouded and reminiscent eyes turned bright and speculative once she began inspecting Ren’s current state. And her gaze became even warmer, gentler, and kinder once she discovered how healthy and strong Ren was.

This old woman was Lucretia Allen, one of the clan elders of the Banished Arms Clan who’s also responsible for the Apothecary Hall. She’s also one of the oldest veteran healers in the clan and also a potion maker.

Grandma Allen, who could only be addressed as such by people and children she’s fond of, was generally a kind and warm person. But when it comes to clan matters, especially in terms of handing out responsibilities, she becomes so strict that she becomes everybody’s nightmare.

While she’s fond of kids being kids, when it comes to business and responsibilities, she has no patience for the immature and incompetent. Even Mikel, the clan leader, had to bow to her when she got riled up because more often than not, she was right.

Seeing her here, Ren didn’t think that this was a coincidence. And to be honest, he doesn’t really hate it.