Doctor Rein, All Talk and No Skill

Plague Marsh Base.

On the ring in the training hall, Rein was sparring with a fighter named Mike. The wind howled, and every punch landed hard. The fight was incredibly intense.

Below the stage, a crowd of onlookers cheered and applauded enthusiastically.

Just then, at the entrance of the training hall, three elegantly dressed young people—two men and one woman—entered the hall.

Their attire stood out from the rest of the people in the training facility.

The three of them clearly resembled the noble young masters and ladies living in "Mechanical City" rather than the lowly hunters.

The hunters saw the three people, but none of them paid them any attention.

They knew very well that this nationwide hunting campaign was a chance to make a fortune for the hunters. But for the young masters and ladies of wealthy families who had no worries about food and clothing, it was merely a "picnic" that they were forced to take because of the rules of the "City of Radiance".

Even after entering the room, the woman in the tight-fitting clothes had a red veil covering her face.

This was a habit of some noble ladies of the empire, because they felt that vulgar commoners had no right to see their faces, as if being looked at by the eyes of the poor was a desecration of their noble status.

"Brother, what's so great about this camp training hall? The truly skilled hunters have all gone out hunting; how many capable fighters are left in the camp?"

The masked woman seemed bored and tugged at the sleeve of the young man in black beside her.

She paused, a mischievous glint in her eyes, and suggested, "How about we sneak out and go hunting in the wilderness too?"

The young man in black glanced at his sister with annoyance and said, "Fia, don't get any wild ideas. If Mother finds out you're trying to sneak out of the base, she'll lock you up and won't even let you come down from the Mechanical City!"

He paused, then added, "Also, don't underestimate the Lie Hunters of City of Radiance. Didn't our teacher say that these hunters spend years roaming the wastelands, developing a ruthless streak? Their martial arts skills might not be the most advanced, but they've honed many practical killing moves through real combat. Since we've made it a rare trip away from the capital to this martial arts-flourishing City of Radiance, seeing more and broadening our horizons will help us hone our skills."

"Hmph! How boring!"

The masked woman scoffed, saying, "I've mastered the Ten Hands now, and I'm almost at the beginner level with Storm Slash and Wind Walk. Among First Tier fighters, who can beat me? Look at these low-level hunters' crude martial arts; they're not even as good as me practicing in the training room."

"."

Upon hearing this, the young man in black shook his head.

He was about to say something when the other pale-faced youth beside him chuckled and spoke up, "Brother Uhm, actually, Fia isn't wrong. The fighters in this training hall are all ordinary disciples from various martial arts schools, not even registered disciples, so their skill level is indeed limited. Not to mention Profound Martial Technique, there aren't many who even know basic martial arts techniques."

At this point, he glanced at the masked girl beside him, a hint of flattery flashing in his eyes, and continued, "For a fighting genius like Fia, these crude moves are naturally of little use. It doesn't matter whether she watches or not."

The girl in red seemed quite pleased with what she heard, her snow-white neck slightly raised as she haughtily said, "Hmph, that's right!"

"."

The young man in black named Uhm shook his head and said nothing more.

This pale-faced young man was none other than August Winster, the eldest son of the Winst Family, the head of the Five Great Families of "City of Radiance".

He was the same guy who got whipped for trying to torture Rein.

If it weren't for the elders of the Winst Family going to the prison to fetch him and sending him here to participate in land reclamation, he would still be locked up in jail right now.

Of course, there's a deeper meaning as well.

Sending August was also meant to keep him company.

Because Fia and Uhm have very special identities; they are the eldest son and daughter of the president of the Omar government-run "Sunflower Merchant Guild"!

The black-robed youth named Uhm ignored his sister and August and walked directly to the arena where they were sparring.

He stared at the fiercely fighting Rein and Mike on the stage, his eyes flashing, and muttered to himself, "As expected, fighters who spend their years hunting in the wilderness are much more ruthless than their fellow disciples in the dojo. This kind of sparring is what a real battle should be."

Because it was a gambling match, Mike on stage did not hold back. His punches and kicks were powerful and fierce, like a snarling tiger.

This is completely different from the polite, aristocratic sparring at the Imperial Capital Martial Arts Hall.

Rough and ruthless, yet closer to real combat.

Uhm seemed to understand. "Is this what the teacher wanted me to see?"

Since her brother wouldn't leave, the masked girl was also forced to watch the sparring match on the stage.

She glanced at it a few times and said disdainfully, "Hmph, what's so interesting about the Fierce Tiger Fist being performed like this?"

August chimed in at the opportune moment, "Indeed, Fia's ultimate technique, [Cannon Fist], is almost at the beginner level. This kind of regressive martial art is really nothing to watch."

Uhm, standing to the side, pursed his lips as he watched the young master Winster, who was trying to woo his sister.

The families are well-matched, and although he's a bit glib, there's not much to say.

He simply shook his head and said, "Although their martial arts skills are not of a high grade, their keen intuition honed through actual combat and their ingenious integration of basic martial arts techniques are definitely something we should learn from."

The masked girl clearly didn't listen, and snorted coldly, "Hmph, I don't see anything about them that I can learn from."

Uhm didn't say anything more and watched the fight on the ring intently.

Suddenly, as if he had noticed something different, he asked his sister next to him, "Fia, who do you think will win between the two on stage?"

"It must be that big guy who knows the Fierce Tiger Fist!"

The masked girl said without hesitation, "He's so burly, a natural-born fighter. At the same level, he has an absolute advantage in strength and such; that masked guy has no chance of winning."

Uhm raised an eyebrow slightly. "But I think the guy with the Crow Mask has a better chance of winning."

"How is that possible?"

Upon hearing this, the masked girl also showed some surprise on her face.

Although he didn't like his brother interfering, his brother was, after all, a once-in-a-century fighting genius recognized by the teachers, so his vision was naturally excellent.

She carefully examined Rein's physique, blinked, and said, "That masked guy is so much smaller, brother, do you think he'll win?"

Uhm, who had clearly observed more closely, pointed at Rein and said, "Didn't you see that even with such intense fighting, the guy in the Crow Mask never lost his breathing or footwork? This situation either means he's too familiar with the opponent's attack patterns, or he still has energy to spare."

The masked girl didn't notice anything amiss and said dismissively, "Tch~ How come I didn't see it? I could tell he didn't dare to fight that big guy head-on. He obviously knows he's no match for him in strength and can only try to wear him down by moving around."

Look closely.

Uhm carefully observed Rein's breathing rhythm on the stage, a glint of light flashing in his eyes. He then said, "Didn't you notice? Both of them clearly follow the powerful path of the 'Martial Artist,' but the masked guy's breathing is much longer and more sustained. It feels like his breathing technique is more like that of a 'Qi Master.'"

The masked girl glanced at it and said sullenly, "Hunters of this level aren't as powerful as you say. Brother, you're overthinking it."

If you pick out one who isn't so bad from a group of noobs, isn't he still a noob?

"Mike, didn't you say you were going to beat Doctor Rein's ass to a pulp? Why aren't you done yet!"

"Tsk tsk, Doctor Rein's dodging skills have improved a lot. He was able to hold his own against Mike for so long."

"Hehe. The [Fierce Tiger Fist] is fierce, but you need to be able to land a hit even after charging up. Without a quick movement to Movement Technique, Mike won't have a good time winning."

"."

The game was played at a very fast pace.

The onlookers below the stage also joined in the discussion, exclaiming that it was quite exciting.

On the platform, Rein was also slightly out of breath from the intense fighting. He glanced at Mike, who was gathering his strength, and thought to himself, "If this guy misses again, he'll probably be exhausted."

The Fierce Tiger Fist is powerful, but it also consumes a lot of battle qi.

The missed punches had already left Mike panting heavily.

Having had a good time, Rein knew that if he continued to avoid the fight, Mike would undoubtedly lose.

Ten contribution points meant nothing to him, but for hunters like Mike who were truly at the bottom of the hierarchy, it was equivalent to the reward for a day or two of guard duty, and losing it would be quite painful.

Thinking that things would last a long time and that he would still have someone to spar with in the future, Rein deliberately exposed an opening, just like he always did, and rushed forward. He was then punched in the chest and spat out a mouthful of blood.

His acting skills became increasingly superb, and no one noticed anything unusual about him.

Rein coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground, immediately admitting defeat. "I'm not fighting anymore, I'm not fighting anymore, Mike, you win!"

As he surrendered, he didn't forget to deliberately complain, "Damn it, couldn't you have gone a little easier?"

This level of injury, which looks like he coughed up blood, is just a matter of taking a recovery potion for him.

Mike finally breathed a sigh of relief; he had managed to retain his ten contribution points.

He helped Rein up, patted him on the shoulder, and asked with a smile, "Haha, Doctor Rein, are you alright?"

Seeing that Rein was alright and stood up, the guy said cheekily, "If I'd known you were going to get beaten up today, I would have booked a hospital bed for you. You could have just gone straight there."

Rein rolled his eyes. "Give me two more days of practice, and next time I'll beat you into a pig's head!"

"Hey, I'm waiting for you!"

With a victor's smile, Mike said magnanimously, "Putting everything else aside, the drinks are on me tonight! After all, we won ten contribution points!"

The onlookers were delighted and burst into laughter.

Doctor Rein, who's terrible at games and addicted to playing, has lost again, as expected.

Meanwhile, in the audience, the masked girl watched Mike win, as if she herself had won.

"Haha, brother, you guessed wrong!"

She cheered, "That masked guy lost! While strength can be compensated for somewhat by Movement Technique and technique, this fighting style leaves too little room for error. He only needed to take one punch to lose!"

"."

Uhm glanced at Rein on the ground, pursed his lips, and said nothing.

He felt that this masked guy shouldn't have lost, but he did.

Perhaps I'm just overthinking things?

There shouldn't be any particularly powerful beings in the lower-level hunter tier.

At that moment, the masked girl looked at the Mike that the onlookers were cheering for, tossing it around like a champion, and a look of eager anticipation flashed in her eyes.

Her competitive spirit was also ignited, and she suggested, "Brother, why don't we go up on stage and give it a try?"

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