''Four directions... That will make things easier.'' Ichiro trailed his finger on the coarse paper and turned to the seventh page, which actually has four moves ready to be first techniques for Four directions.
''First Direction of Attack... Iron Lance!'' Ichiro looked at his hand and clenched it tightly, he turned his gaze back to the notebook, and there were massive lines of texts which described Iron Lance and how to make the technique stronger.
''My hands need to be more durable and stronger...'' He murmured, he has done those kinds of training before to increase the strength of his flesh and bones, but he stopped doing it after reaching a maximum in his previous life; at least to him, it felt like maximum.
His body is almost as strong as in his previous life; that's why he ignored the importance of training his flesh and bones, because those will get stronger once he reaches Martial King, so it felt like a useless waste of time.
But, the enlightenment was telling how incredibly important it is.
Ichiro decided to start doing flesh training to improve his hand conditions and make them even more durable and stronger.
He stopped reading about Iron Lance and went to the second one.
''Second Direction of Defense... Iron Death, Fourth Move, Suicide...'' Ichiro grimaced and read the lines again, and it was indeed one of the techniques he made when he was drunk one night.
''Why was this chosen... What the hell, enlightenment?'' It is one of the moves Ichiro never planned to perform because it was a technique that would kill him.
He named it as Suicide because that's what it is.
No matter if he is being attacked by a weapon or hand-to-hand combatant, this defense technique is performed with his body. It is slightly different from one of his moves, Immortality, because Suicide is simply insane.
If he is being attacked by a knife and has to defend with Suicide, he would put his hand in the way and let his bones block the attack, completely ignoring flesh.
It is incredibly insane, but if he does it right, the knife will get sucked inside his flesh, and he has a variety of moves to end his opponent, so it has its uses, but it is simply insane.
''Why was this chosen...'' He started reading texts underneath Suicide technique, and it had simple words, ''Reach Martial King to find out its true potential...''
He shook his head and went to the third one, and the technique chosen wasn't a surprise.
It was his favorite technique, after all.
''Third Direction of Redirecting... Steel Edge!'' Ichiro was pleased with his choice and started reading the texts.
''To improve Steel Edge... I need to increase the durability and strength of my body...'' Ichiro sighed; it was quite similar to Iron Lance.
''I guess it is important after all...'' He turned his gaze towards the fourth one was again surprised.
''Fourth Direction of Movement... Iron Burst!''
Ichiro looked at the text, and it told how important it is to improve the strength of his legs and never stop improving it.
He decided to do what the notebook told him, and soon he finished the seventh page.
He glanced at the eighth page, but he didn't understand a single word; it was like they were blurry.
Ichiro rubbed his eyes, but the words were still blurry and obscure.
''I guess I am not allowed to look at the eight-page, yet...'' Ichiro murmured and closed the notebook. He put it inside his Inventory and stood up to start his training.
He left the room and saw over a dozen young men and women training with their faces filled with sweat and concentration. He also saw Aether almost in a half-dead state, but Abyss kept forcing him to continue.
After they saw the door opening, Aether's face had a sign of hope, while Abyss had a sadistic smile.
''Thief! You came on a good time—let me teach you!'' Abyss said with a grinning face.
Ichiro snorted and smirked, ''Sorry, I have my personal training routine.''
''Tsk.'' Abyss clicked his tongue and looked at Aether, who looked like a soul left his body after Ichiro's words.
Ichiro looked towards the man with golden robes and walked towards him.
''Master Lang, right?'' Ichiro asked after arriving next to him.
Lang turned his gaze towards Ichiro and nodded, ''Correct, may I be of assistance?'' He was also being more polite after Ichiro remembered to call him with his title.
''Yes, I need to train my hands, or more precisely, flesh and bones, any way to do that here?'' He asked.
Lang looked surprised at first, before nodding, ''Yes, follow me.''
Ichiro nodded with gratitude and followed behind Lang towards one of the doors, which was slightly ajar.
Once Lang opened it, Ichiro saw a dojo, which made him feel nostalgic.
The dojo had a yellowish floor, which didn't look hard or soft, it was perfect with enough space to fit over 30 men and women to train, but currently, it was unused.
The last place he visited in his previous life was a dojo, where he trained since childhood.
Lang walked towards a large cauldron, which was filled with sand.
''This is what few of the Masters are using.'' Lang patted the cauldron and said, ''They will hit the sand until their hand starts bleeding and stop before the bones become visible, some of them has done the same routine for over 20 years.'' He looked at Ichiro, who seemed interested.
''Thank you, this will do.'' Ichiro bowed and walked towards the cauldron.
''Infirmary is outside the courtyard, first door on the right.'' Lang mentioned it because he is sure that Ichiro will need it.
''Thanks,'' Ichiro said and watched as Lang left the dojo to continue training others.
Ichiro put his hand inside the cauldron and touched the coarse texture of the sand.
''Whew...'' He took a deep breath and took his shirt off, which left his bare chest visible.
*Crack*
He cracked his knuckles and went into a punching stance, but then he remembered...
His fist started changing until it became spear-like.
He decided to train his Iron Lance at the same time as he was improving his flesh and bones.
In the future, Iron Lance will be one of his strongest techniques, and the foremost reason is the training he is about to do.
And... Iron Lance in the future will be a nightmare to his opponents, and it will have another name, which will be widely used.
Lance of Nightmare.
