“You…, you! I can’t believe it’s you!” Morales exclaimed exaggeratedly, losing his cool for a moment.
“Wait! You’re here too?” The girl standing at the door asked in a surprised tone, she seemed even more shocked than Morales.
Dave and Chloe were left gawking, speechlessly looking at the 2 people that stood before them. It took some time before they finally recovered as Chloe asked, her voice reverting to its normal cheerful tone.
“You guys knew each other before?” She pumped her fists on the air excitedly. “That’s great, it would bring more cohesiveness among us”.
“Do you know that there’s an award given yearly for the best roommates? I think we have a good chance of winning it this time…”
As Chloe was about to continue blabbering on, Dave quickly covered her mouth with his hands while directing an embarrassed smile at their newest roommate.
“Hi, I’m Dave”. He waved cheekily at her even though she just stood a few inches away from him.
“Umm…, hi, I’m Rose”. The girl finally answered after shifting uncomfortably a bit on her position. She secretly directed a look at Morales but when he looked her way, her head quickly shrank.
Seeing this, Morales shook his head with a helpless smile lining his face. What a twist of fate this was.
He never guessed that his new roommate would be the black-haired girl that was his teammate yesterday. No, calling her the black-haired girl was no longer correct, it was now Rose.
“What a contradictory name for a girl with such personality”. He shrugged.
There was nothing he could do even if he didn’t want to have such a roommate. Their rooms were randomly designated as soon as they take their dojo cards, there was no way to influence it in your favor.
“Ah, I’m sorry, please come inside”. Dave finally remembered as he smacked his head in apology and invited her in.
“Ok, thank you”. Rose nodded, directed another brief glance at Morales before entering the room.
“What’s your relationship? I mean the both of you”. Chloe was not relenting. She asked again as soon as Rose stepped into the room.
“We just met for the first time yesterday, there’s no special relationship between us”. Morales twitched his lips helplessly but he still quickly answered.
“Yeah”. Rose hastily consented.
Seeing how hastily she agreed, Chloe gave Morales a suspicious look. “I understand, I perfectly understand”. She smiled brightly the next moment, waving her hands casually.
It did not take 10 seconds before Rose quickly got initiated into the room properly, all the rules were deeply ingrained in her mind by no other person but Chloe herself.
Seeing the dark-haired and blonde-haired girl speaking fluently like they knew each other thousands of years ago before now, Morales sighed. Chloe was really the most cheerful girl that he had ever met in both worlds.
“Ok, that’s all. Are you ready to go on the tour with us, or do you have something else doing?” Chloe probed.
Seeing the cute expectant expression on her face, Rose could not bring herself to reject her.
“Ok, let’s go, I’m ready. My plan for today was to go scale the dojo dungeon, but I guess that can wait”. She smiled.
“Great”. Chloe beamed. “Zero, Dave, I hope you’re both ready?”
“Yeah”. Morales and Dave replied more or less in unison.
“His name is Zero?” Rose hesitated, but she still asked in the end.
“Yeah, weird right?” Chloe laughed. “Perhaps, he has a super-duper secret that no one should know of that’s why he’s hiding his real name from us”.
“Stop talking and let’s go”. Morales urged helplessly.
“Secret keeper”. She pouted at him but still stood up to leave.
Seeing this scene left Morales even more light-headed. His brain could not wrap around the fact that a grade E superhuman was acting so easygoing, what the hell is happening?
As soon as they left their room, as expected, Chloe became their temporary tour guide. Dave only added input here and there if he noticed that she missed a point.
The Border town dojo was really big despite being built in such a backward town, the perimeter of its land boundary was about a kilometer long and 800m wide.
The 5-story building was the main dojo building, but other small structures were built around it with various functions.
At the main gate of the dojo stood a large watchtower, the tower was the main watchpoint of the dojo for enemies. And according to Chloe, 5 Pugilists were always stationed there to watch every day.
At the front of the main dojo building stood a battle arena. This was where the Pugilist students spar against themselves, the atmosphere was conducive to any Pugilist.
An extremely tall reinforced concrete fence surrounded the dojo, keeping it from prying eyes with evil intentions outside.
On the left side, opposite the main building was the main territory of the dojo which was completely filled with green grass all about. Most of the structures were also erected here.
This part took up most of the whole space of the dojo.
At the middle of the green field stood a medium-sized bungalow, this was the apartment of the head instructor of the dojo- headmaster Daria Cinnabar.
According to Rose, the head instructor was a grade D- Pugilist expert. Despite the Border town being close to the forbidden forest, this man was the main reason why the beasts don’t dare attack here.
The forbidden forest was just treated as a place with an abundant number of beasts roaming around, but Morales knew better that this forest would be the main focus of version 1.
Beside the headmaster’s bungalow stood a big erected podium with a small shade, covering and protecting it from the direct glare of the sun.
At the front of the podium stood 20 iron chairs, making the place seem like a secret coven of vampires.
This was the headmaster’s lecture quarters. Like most of the dojo instructors, Mr. Cinnabar also takes some time from his training schedule to lecture the students on his insight into the Pugilist system.
Attending a lecture anchored by him was one of the most expensive endeavors for all the Pugilist students, one class with him cost an astonishing 1000 dojo points.
And not only points, a lot of other factors needed to be fulfilled before you can have the privilege of attending his lectures. Also, the chairs placed around were not for fancy, his rule was only 20 students can enter his class.
A few meters away from the headmaster’s bungalow stood a structure that was built like a hall, it is the virtual simulation hall.
According to Chloe, when the dojo was built, the dojo alliance spent a great amount of money to get one of the best mechanics to create the virtual application used in the hall.
It’s been 20 years already but as an application built a grade D mechanic, it was still efficient and in use.
At the perimeters of the green field stood 5 other architectural structures that looked like pyramids. All 5 structures were heavy gravity buildings where the Pugilists train their strength and endurance.
When under the heavy pressure of the heavy gravity-induced in the buildings, Pugilists tend to react positively to the stimulation, with a high chance of increasing their attributes.
Apart from the 5 structures, there were other such structures built around to train other attributes such as dexterity. Overall, the dojo was a real training hub.
After taking them to some other parts of the dojo, Chloe and Dave finally led them to one of the most important structures of the dojo, the underground dungeon.
The dojo dungeon was surprisingly built at the back of the main building where it could not be easily seen.
Getting there, they could not get inside as burly Pugilists stood guard around the entrance with stern expressions on their faces. According to Chloe, this was another place that is guarded 24/7 in the dojo.
They could not see much but the majesty of the dojo dungeon still reflected outwards to them. A dungeon holding hundreds of mutated beasts was not to be trifled with.
“I think that’s all the notable parts of the dojo, excluding the library of course”. Chloe finally said with a satisfied smile on her face.
Seeing her bright smile, it was easy to think that she just saved the whole world from an apocalypse even though it was just leading her new roommates on a tour.
“How about the library, can’t we go there?” Rose finally asked. Her eyes were now twinkling a bit, it was evident that the tour impacted her enormously. A strong yearning was now in her eyes.
“Yes, we can. It’s just that for us Pugilists, that’s the most boring place ever. Reading books is for those Mechanic and Mage nerds, not us. But if you insist, let’s go then”. Chloe relented in the end.
Just like she said, the library was just filled with books. Nothing too exciting, but to Morales, this was his best discovery so far.
According to Chloe, the lowest-ranked book there cost 2 dojo points while the highest cost was as high as thousands of dojo points.
These meant nothing though as Morales just discovered that he could learn the knowledge in the books through his interface without even needing to open them, this was really cheating.
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You have comprehended and completed one session of basic self-learning of the Pugilist system.
[Brain Liberation]
Progress rate: 100%
You have comprehended and completed one session of basic self-learning of the Pugilist system.
[Cell Control]
Progress rate: 100%
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Without paying, they were not allowed to take out any of the books, but just touching was allowed. And through touching, Morales just learned 2 of the most essential basic Pugilist knowledge.
His eyes gleamed sharply in excitement. “I’m really a dragon waiting to be released”.
“What?”
“Nothing”. He lied with a straight face.
Due to this discovery, he already started cooking up lots of new plans on the spot on how to accelerate his progress.
Unlike the other places where they’ve been to, the library was built on the lowest floor of the main dojo building where everyone could access it. Because the others were bored, they left the library soon after.
Rose bid farewell before leaving, she intended to take on the dojo dungeon immediately.
Morales also bid farewell, but he had no intentions of going to the dungeon immediately. He wanted to consolidate his power well before going to shock the whole dojo with one brilliant feat.
That way, the best resources would be allocated to him.
Thanks for reading, you're the best!
2 days later, Morales woke up early in the morning again as he got set to go for his daily training. After these few days together, he already integrated completely with his other roommates. And they already grasped each other’s personalities completely. Fortunately, they were all compatible. With the cheerful Chloe around, they could not fall out with each other even if they wanted. Just the next day after their tour around the dojo, Chloe noticed that he and Rose were keeping a certain distance from each other. She was puzzled at first but she quickly deduced that it was probably an old grudge. When she probed and they didn’t react as she liked, she pestered them for the whole day till they revealed everything to her. Morales was like. “She bullies boys that are weaker than her only to cower before those stronger than her. I hate people with such personalities, they are evil seeds”. While Rose was like. “I’ve tried to make up to him but he k
Morales’s final preparation was complete, so he had no need of staying in the simulated forest any longer. He gave a mental order which the hall’s A. I acknowledged as the world before him quickly disappeared. It took him a few seconds before his sight finally recovered completely but darkness was what stared back at him. He blinked a few times in the darkness before he understood. After removing the simulation helmet from his head, his sight finally returned before the familiar hall again. Despite the intense movements he performed just a moment ago, he didn’t feel anything, rather he felt light and relaxed as the special couch gently massaged his back. The only defect was that he felt mentally drained. He could only rest back on the couch and wait it out till his energy recovered. He slightly inclined his head to the side, where Chloe’s beautiful face presented itself before him. Her eyelids twitched a bit, indicating that she was do
“He’s crossed into the 4th level already! Which monster exactly is scaling the dojo dungeon?” A student dressed in red tight-fitting combat clothes exclaimed exaggeratedly. “And I heard that he’s among the newbies that were admitted just a few days ago. What a monster!”. Another one quickly chimed in excitedly. When a student is scaling the dungeon levels, there is an indicator outside that shows the number of levels that he/she has crossed and the current level he/she was in. This was Morales’s 4th hour inside the dungeon, and he was now in the 4th level. He spent only about an hour for the first 2 levels, but he spent about 3 hours just to clear the 3rd level. Despite this, his speed was still record-breaking and already attracted the attention of the whole dojo. Hundreds of students stood outside the entrance of the dojo, attentively watching the orange light that represented the 4th level. This crowd started from a student that als
Outside the dojo dungeon, silence reigned like the lord supreme as the atmosphere became tranquil like that of a graveyard. The sound of a pin dropping could even be heard in such an atmosphere. “What am I seeing?” The hundreds of students standing and waiting outside rubbed their eyes in disbelief, the notification currently flashing on top of the dungeon entrance’s wall was too eye-catching to be ignored. “F*ck, the kid broke the newbie record”. One of the more mature students finally broke the silence with a curse. This seemed to be the fuse switch as the other students immediately started discussing excitedly. “I can’t believe that he did it. I really want to see this genius kid; does he have a face like us?” One of the students asked excitedly. “No, he has your anus as his face”. Another one retorted immediately but the other did not care, he still reveled in the joy brought by this historic moment in the history of the Border tow
Being the closest to Morales, the 4 beast leaders were also the first that felt the change in his aura. They immediately adopted wary attitudes, but this could not still suppress their bestial instincts. The mutated Black panther, being the fastest rushed out in the front at Morales who gladly welcomed it with opened hands. Ptui!! Breeze swiftly blew past first, then the heavy sword cut down tyrannically the next moment. An unpleasant glaring sound of metal cutting through flesh reverberated, followed by a painful whimper, which formed a stark contrast to the originally chaotic noise from the battle. The Black panther dodged after detecting the danger, but Morales’s sword still cut a deep injury across its back. The flesh underneath that was exposed heaved up and down as the mutated beast cried out in pain. It was bloody. ------------------------------------------------- Critical hit -340 You have inflicted your
Morales’s vision spun a bit, rendering his perception temporarily distorted and disoriented. When he finally opened his eyes, he was not outside the dojo dungeon’s entrance like he expected. He was surprisingly in a room. The room had a sci-fi look to it, its grey metallic walls that were gleaming under the light illumination stole his breath away. “Where is this? Why was I transported here?” He frowned. As he did a 360-degree turn to check out the room and to confirm that he was not in any danger, he saw something horrifying. A pair of eyeballs hovered at a corner of the room, focused and looking at him so intently like they wanted to peer through him. The sight was eerie-looking and could induce goosebumps in anyone. Seeing this, Morales shuddered immediately. “Oh, great eyeball, forgive my travesty for I have sinned. It was not my intention to barge into your humble abode”. He improvised on the spot, spilling a bunch of nonsense imm
“How did you do it?” Chloe asked curiously as soon as they got back to their room to meet their genius teammate. “Zero, you’re so awesome. I’m completely blown away, now I can brag of having a genius as my roommate”. Dave didn’t care about Chloe’s question; he expressed his excitement without restraints. “Congratulations”. Rose simply said. She hid her complicated emotions to herself and located her chair to sit down. “Zero, tell me, I’m really curious. How did you do it?” Chloe did not relent despite the interruption from her other roommates. Morales shrugged. “I did it the exact way that it’s done by others. I hacked left and right with my sword, that’s all. Oh…, and I also used my race abilities to kill most of them”. “Dammit, you didn’t use any special strateg
When the sun started peeping through the veil of the night, Morales finally stopped his cultivation. After a whole night of cultivation, he discovered a few more surprises. Though he did not level up, he detected a visible increase in proficiency of his main and sub-class skills like basic body control and basic energy control. As he slowly pulled himself out of the fuzzy feeling brought by cultivating, he heard a knock on the door. He didn’t even have to think, he knew that his wayward roommates were back. “You guys finally decided to come back”. He said flatly after opening the door. “Hey, how did it feel staying alone without us? Did you miss us? Oh, I almost forgot, thank you for the dojo points. The night was a blast, we really enjoyed ourselves”. Chloe quickly pushed Morales aside and entered after he opened the door, with her mouth already shooting off words at the pace of a machine gun. “Good morning”. Rose and Dave finally gre