After completing his set of fist techniques, Garen was starting to sweat slightly as well. It was not tiring to practice his punches, but it took quite a lot of mental energy to slowly adjust the vibrations. Different areas required different frequencies of vibrations so that they could be unearthed properly, these were the Ten Thousand True Technique’s strict requirements. To the outsider’s eye, it looked like a very simple, very standard fighting method, but only Garen knew that the various vibrations inside were the truly difficult part.
With a smack, he steadied the sandbag that swung at him. Only then did Garen notice that someone had been standing next to him and watching him. He looked like a well-mannered, fair and clean boy. He did not say anything, just smiling at Garen, then he walked to the side and started taking off his clothes. This revealed the tight white singlet underneath, followed by the fair but powerful and well-defined muscles. It looked like he was here to train as well.
The boy shook out his joints a little on the spot, and then found another sandbag and started practicing as well.
Garen watched him nonchalantly. This person had very good basics, and was very serious in his training, his attention fully focused on one point.
He could not be too bothered with others as well, so Garen rested for a while and then began his next round of training.
Time ticked by, and Garen took another short break. He picked up the saltwater he brought and drank a few sips from it, wiping the sweat from his body.
All the students were gathered on these large drill grounds, there were too many students from the other courses, so not many people noticed that he, the mech genius, was training his body here in the corner. It ended up being pretty quiet.
He used the heaviest metal sandbag, so the boy training next to him gave him occasional glances of envy. He was evidently very surprised at Garen’s strength. To think Garen could move several hundred kilos worth of a metal sandbag.
Soon enough, it seemed to be time for group training. More and more people arrived to train hitting and punching with their arms.
Garen sensed that one small team was here specifically to train the Crouched Eagle Talon training method. The Crouched Eagle Talon was a very accessible training method, like Outbreak of Rain and Wind Words, it was a Level Three version of the training method that was available in the market. These few types of training methods were very popular in the academy, because they had higher worth for the money. So out of the mech school students, 90%n of them used one of these training methods.
After that, only the poorer students used the Blackboard training method, that was something only students who could not afford any of the other training methods at all used. Any students with just a little bit of fortune would choose training methods like Outbreak of Rain, Wind Words or Crouched Eagle Talon. Compared to the free Blackboard training method, these training methods were slightly better, and had that slight edge when it came to building foundations. As their levels increased, the difference would become huge by the end.
This was the reason you must not fall behind at the starting line.
Garen himself cultivated the Crouched Eagle Talon, so he quickly noticed that group of people among all the students, because they were all cultivating the Crouched Eagle Talon. There were other teams who all practiced Wind Words, or Outbreak of Rain. Students who used the same training method would instinctively gather together, so that they could discuss their problems.
These students were mostly all just Basic Level, the slightly better ones were only Upper Level One. But there were many older students who looked like they were in their third or fourth year, leading the team as they answered the others’ questions.
Garen had experience with aura, so it was very easy for him to sense their level through their spirits.
Since they all trained with the Crouched Eagle Talon, Garen was very intrigued by this world’s own matter of cultivation. Everything he learned was from the Internet. The textbooks only spoke about the Blackboard training method.
Wiping the sweat from his body, Garen picked up his clothes and bottle, walking towards that group.
The small group was standing in the middle of the large field, forming their own little circle like everyone else. Every so often, some people would leave, but others would join.
“…When you enter Level One from the Basic Level, there would be a small leap. Your Willpower would make a small leap. It sounds very abstract, but in truth, that feeling is like going up a step. After taking one step upwards, if you turn around and look back again, you’ll be seeing a world from a higher perspective. Following the same logic, the Crouched Eagle Talon is better than most training methods at training the arms, and this shows in your control of the mech…” The only older girl was explaining the basics of training to her juniors and freshmen, dressed in a white blouse with puffy sleeves, and dark blue faded long jeans. She looked simple, clean, and professional.
Garen walked over and looked at the circle of juniors, sighing slightly in his heart. Not long ago he had been one of the freshmen as well, but now he was a senior to these students.
This group of students all had young and innocent faces, their eyes full of curiosity and patience. Evidently, they had full confidence in their training method paths.
“Before coming into contact with training methods, everyone dreams that they might be that prodigy, one in ten thousand, but reality is cruel…” Garen shook his head slightly. Standing at the side quietly, he listened to that senior explain the process of training, and compared each step to his own process. He also noticed a lot of things he had missed out, as this senior mentioned some little ways to use the Crouched Eagle Talon in battle that also opened Garen’s eyes. He was pretty impressed, these were evidently the special tricks passed down through generations of students, so they were naturally unique in their own ways.
“Hey, handsome, do you practice the Crouched Eagle Talon as well?” A young girl with curly black hair patted Garen’s back lightly. “What bulging muscles…!” she exclaimed.
“They’re okay, my basics aren’t that strong,” Garen nodded. “What’s that senior sister’s name? I didn’t know so many girls liked the Crouched Eagle Talon.”
“She’s Sofia, a fourth-year senior in the mech course. Her Crouched Eagle Talon is really powerful, and she’s in the top ten of the Eagle’s Nest in her grade. She and Senior Soron take time out of their schedules every two days to teach everyone here on this field,” explained the girl softly.
“What’s the Eagle’s Nest?”
“It’s the group society formed by all the students in the academy who cultivate the Crouched Eagle Talon. The Wind Words, the Outbreak of Rain Club, they’re all like that. You actually don’t know?” The girl seemed slightly shocked. “No wonder your basics aren’t good, we need to communicate with our fellow students a lot if we want to progress together. If you’re free, come attend class from now on, or you can join our Eagle’s Nest too.”
“Are there a lot of strong fighters in there?” asked Garen.
“Of course, I hear that a Level Five instructor would occasionally come and teach the inner members and higher-ups too. No one else gets this treatment outside,” said the girl dreamily.
“Level Five instructor…” Garen’s heart twinged. He had risen too quickly, so his roots were not strong. This might just be his chance to learn from everyone’s experience and skills.
“Whaddaya say, tempted, right? I’ll talk to them for you,” said the girl without waiting for a response, hurriedly dragging Garen into the crowd.
Soon enough, the two of them reached a table that was set up inside.
“I brought a newbie for registration! Hurry, hurry, don’t delay!” the little girl yelled, smacking the table.
The table was placed inside the crowd, and when everyone was blocking it, even Garen did not notice it. Only when he walked in did he see that there were two young people sitting behind it. It was one boy and one girl, the boy was handsome and gentle, while the girl was pretty and cute. They were clearly walking ads here to recruit newbies.
“Come, my friend, register your name, class, and Willpower level.” Seeing that it was a boy who arrived, the cute girl stood up and began to greet him, handing Garen a form.
“This is so…” Garen felt something in his heart. In the previous world, he had joined the combat club, but now he was joining the Eagle’s nest in this world instead. It gave him a strange sense of familiarity.
Filling up the form quickly, he handed it over.
The girl glanced at it, and her eyes immediately lit up.
“Oh, so it’s Nonosiva. I never thought that you would switch to the Crouched Eagle Talon. You’re the First Seat prodigy from the freshmen ranking competition!” The girl was slightly excited. “Come, come, let me introduce you to Senior Sofia!”
The little girl who brought Garen here was slightly surprised as well, she did not think that the person she just randomly dragged here would be the First Seat of the freshmen last year.
The boy who had been sitting got up as well, smiling.
“Welcome, Nono, to the Eagle’s Nest. We’re one of the most populated clubs in the academy, because a lot of people chose the Crouched Eagle Talon. I didn’t think that you would choose the Eagle Talon too.”
The two of them shook hands, both very friendly.
Garen could sense that this guy was a fourth-year senior as well. His Willpower was slightly hidden, as though something was blocking it, so he could not tell what level the boy was just based on his spirit. But Garen could tell that he was at least Level Two.
The Crouched Eagle Talon advanced very quickly, and was very easy to learn. The first few levels were all relatively doable, so it was the most normal and commonly-used among the accessible training methods. It was equivalent to the Iron Skin technique or the Tongbeiquan from martial arts novels, the skills everyone knew. Since it had a naturally low level, it would always be slightly weaker than other training methods that were slightly stronger, even at the same level of Willpower.
“It’s last year’s First Seat of the freshmen, Nonosiva!”
“Even he’s chosen our Eagle’s Nest, the Crouched Eagle Talon must have its strengths!”
“Yeah, it must be good since the most people chose it, otherwise why would so many people choose it?”
The students around him were getting excited. Nono’s reputation was considerably widespread, even those who did not watch the competition felt as though they had to look up at him once they heard the title of Freshmen’s First Seat. Instantly, Nono’s image was rapidly magnified. Once they heard Nono’s level, they were even more shocked.
He was only in second-year, but he had already reached Level One, the standard people achieved at or after the fourth year. Level One was already the minimum requirement for graduation, but of course Blackboard Academy’s students all had more ambition than that, so most of them aimed for a higher level. This was equivalent to normal undergraduates and Masters students or Ph.D. students. The higher you studied, the stronger you were, and naturally the treatment you received after graduating was vastly different.
In academies, it was very common for first-years to be at the Basic level, most of them studied and trained properly. A majority of the students studied just so that they could pass the semester exams. Only a few of them really pushed hard, and never stopped working. Just imagine, how many people could earn enough credits to graduate within the first year? It was practically a miracle.
There were very few Levels Ones in second year as well, but by then there would be individual elites. Still, they would rarely even reach Level One. Even now, Garen did not actually meet the graduation requirements. Even if his Willpower was at a high enough level, he still needed to meet the mark with many other subjects.
Only in third year would you find some students who had accumulated enough credits. Garen had also planned to complete all his exams and subjects by third year. Students studied at Blackboard Academy for eight years in total, and to obtain enough credits by third year, you needed to take many, many subjects. It would total up to more than a hundred and ten subjects, and you had to reach Level One in all of them. Many subjects had overlapping study hours, which was also why it was very hard to gather enough credits.