A month later.
Ichiro and Azura were gathered on top of a small hill that overlooked the whole City of Irio.
Tomorrow, their flight to Coldland arrives.
Azura sighed while moving the strands of hair to the side, ''Mom won't be coming.''
Ichiro nodded, ''Good.''
''Good?'' She frowned and turned to look at his boyfriend.
''Yes, Coldland is a terrible place to be at.'' Ichiro rubbed his neck, ''He would be safe here and much happier. She opened a shop lately, didn't she?''
''Right…'' Azura sighed and felt slightly lonely, ''I just feel lonely without her.''
Ichiro nodded and took a large breath of the fresh air, ''What would you say… If you stayed too?''
''No!'' Azura instantly snapped back, ''Never!''
''Yeah… Thought so.'' Ichiro wryly smiled, ''If I had a choice, I would just lock you up here.''
Azura harrumphed with anger, ''Hmph, of course, I am coming.''
Ichiro shrugged and stood up, ''I wish you weren't so stubborn…''
''Only someone stubborn could be with you,'' Azura replied.
''Right.'' Ichiro moved his hand across his jet black hair, ''I used to be so excited when I moved to Coldland first time. Now however, I feel annoyed to go back there.''
''Well… No one is forcing you.'' Azura said. She didn't want to go there either. However, they have their own responsibilities there.
''That's right… No one is.'' Ichiro knew that he didn't have to go there, but he would show again why his name was so feared within other schools.
''Why… Why are you going there?'' Azura asked, and the past six months had been very relaxing to her. They had done nothing except train, train, and have some private time behind closed doors; it was something she enjoyed and wouldn't mind if they would continue to do so.
Her mastery in Iron Style had increased by miles. However, she couldn't use the full strength of Iron Smash, not yet at least.
''I promised Giron that I would be there.'' Ichiro put his arms behind his back and puffed his chest, ''I won't betray them for my selfish desires.''
Azura sighed and murmured, ''It's okay to be selfish sometimes…''
Ichiro heard her clearly, even under her quiet voice, ''That's right, it's okay to be selfish at times. However, this isn't the correct time.''
He offered his hand to Azura, who grabbed it and stood up with his help.
''Your eyes…'' Azura narrowed her eyes and saw the glowing within Ichiro's gray eyes being increased in intensity.
Ichiro took out his phone and saw his reflection, and the intensity was greater than ever before.
''I see…'' He slipped his phone back into his pocket and moved Azura to the side, ''Excuse me for a moment.''
''Eh?'' Azura watched as Ichiro sat down on the ground and started meditating.
She opened her mouth, wanting to ask what he was doing, but suddenly, her answers got answers.
Ichiro's muscles started bulging, with veins popping up from his hands all the way to his forehead.
''Haahh… Haahh…'' Ichiro took a quick and deep breaths. Inside him, his heartbeat started becoming faster and faster.
At first glance, it didn't look safe, not at all, and however, soon, the heartbeat calmed down.
The beads of sweat melted away, and Ichiro's trembling figure calmed down.
''Y-You…'' Azura covered her mouth in shock with visible happiness in her eyes.
Ichiro opened his eyes and saw the notification in front of him, ''That was… Unexpected.''
[Martial General Reached!] This chapter is updated by
[Rewards: 10000 XP - 10000 Coins - New Stat: Power Trait (Limited)]
''Eh…?'' Ichiro was shocked at the new stat he received, ''H-How..?''
[Host, this is excellent! You removing your Power Limited gave you unexpected rewards. While others can use an only fraction of their Power Traits once they are Half-Step Martial King, you can already use them as Martial General!]
''Wow…'' Ichiro opened the interface, and the familiar holographic screen popped up.
___________
[Name: Kurogami Ichiro]
[System Level: Expert]
[Martial Rank: Peak Martial Commander]
[Trait: Calm Nature]
[Title: King Slayer]
[Age: 17]
[Level: 10]
[SP: 0]
[Coins: 10000]
[XP: 10000/17500]
[HP: 650/650]
[Strength: 600]
[Agility: 600]
[Stamina: 600]
[Vitality: 600]
[Charm: 600]
[Dexterity: 600]
[Power Trait: 600]
[Lottery Spins: 0]
[Quests]
[Shop]
[Lottery]
[Inventory]
[Martial Arts: True Iron Style (Unranked), Iron Style (Beyond Mythical), Taekwondo, Karate, Muay Thai, Boxing]
[Weapon Mastery: Knife Throwing - Dual Swordsmanship Expert - Swordsmanship Expert - Spearsmanship Master I - Hatchet Throwing - Hatchet Wielding]
[Weakness Detection Eye Lv2: It allows you to see any weakness of the person with the rank of Martial General and below!]
[Expert Blacksmithing Mastery: Gives you abilities of Master Blacksmith - You will be able to create weapons which this world has never seen before!]
[Kurogami Ichiro's Legacy: The Legacy of Earth's Strongest Warrior - You can use one attack per week with the same strength as Kurogami Ichiro had in his prime!]
[Beast Slayer: Deals 10% more damage when fighting against Mutated Beasts!]
[King Slayer: Deals 10% more damage when fighting against Martial Kings!]
_____________
Ichiro glanced at his fingers and saw a layer of metal appearing; however, it was very feeble, barely showing itself.
Still, a grin appeared on his face, ''Nice…''
''You did it!'' Azura knew her boyfriend reached Martial General only at the age of 17!
It was a monumental achievement!
Ichiro stood up and took a glance at his elbow; he focused his Power Trait on it and saw a thin layer of metal appearing.
He used his other hand and touched it. He could still feel his flesh. However, it was more durable, with slight texture of metal apparent.
''Yep… I am now ready… Maybe, I can already defeat Martial Kings…'' Ichiro enclosed his fist and looked toward the sky.
Clouds slowly moved forward. However, one of the clouds started showing a figure of a muscular man with muscles with the size of basketballs and undeniable confidence in his strength.
Pride, strength, arrogance, everything was visible within the muscular man.
Ichiro lowered his arms and closed his eyes with drips of tears falling down, ''I did it… I am now stronger than my past self…''
''However… This isn't the end.''
Ichiro turned to look at Azura and whispered, ''Only the beginning…''
__________
THE END OF THE FIRST PART.
Author Note: Thanks to everyone who has reached this far in the story. I decided to end Martial Arts System at this part, because I felt very stressed and unhappy of writing this story.
I owe a lot for this story, it brought me to heights I never thought about reaching, however, when the story reached 70th chapter, I already felt like writing this was an chore and not what writing was all about, to feel happy to create a story of your own liking.
Past hundred chapters were very difficult to me mentally, and few days ago was when my mood reached rock bottom concerning the story.
I just can't feel happiness, only exhaustion.
In a day, I have 6000 words to be written, and I always start the morning by writing MAS chapters, and I never enjoyed waking up because of it.
I already knew it wasn't normal, it was very dangerous for my own well-being.
My other story, White Online, was nothing like that. I enjoyed it greatly, and I still am.
New ideas keep popping out, and the story keeps me energetic.
However, my ideas ran out concerning Martial Arts System long time ago, and I am sure many of you noticed. I couldn't put my utmost effort for this and that's why, I think this story could have been so much better, however, when you write something that seems a chore, it is also incredibly difficult to write something good.
I never thought that this story was good one, some said it was and I never could understand them. I never thought that this story was good one, not the moment I started writing it.
This was first proper story I started writing, improved my writing, made mistakes and learned.
Now, the first part is over, and I decided to continue this story in the future and continue the story of Kurogami Ichiro.
Before that, I will improve my writing, my plot creation and everything.
I will now fully focus on White Online, my current masterpiece, and I hope you all well.
