"Angelia, you actually lost!"
The students parted, and two white coaches walked out.
"Yes... I lost!"
Angelia gave a bitter smile, looking a little dejected.
Looking back, even if she hadn't let her guard down, Sulu's mastery of Krav Maga Combat Arts had completely exceeded her expectations. He was nothing like a beginner.
She said to Sulu, "There's nothing left for me to teach you. You don't need to come for private lessons anymore."
That would undoubtedly save him a considerable amount of money, but when Sulu saw Angelia's dejected expression, he suddenly felt a little embarrassed.
"Kid! You can fight. Come on, let's have a go!"
A coach suddenly jumped into the ring.
"Charlie, that's enough!" Angelia's expression darkened. "It was just a simple match. What are you doing?"
"Angelia, Charlie just got excited when he saw a good opponent. He only wants another round. Don't get so worked up..." The other coach came over with a grin, looking at Sulu with hostility.
So I've managed to get everyone riled up.
Sulu felt a prickling sensation on his scalp. "Sure... once I've rested a bit!"
He was itching for a fight, but he'd just finished sparring and wasn't in peak condition. He needed to rest properly.
This is also because my Constitution stat is too low...
Sulu went to a corner, twisted open a bottle of water, and took small sips.
It was a sports drink specially provided by the Combat Club, with a faint salty taste.
Just then, Angelia came over and helped massage his muscles. She said quietly, "Sorry... Charlie's one of my admirers. I don't like him, but I didn't expect this to cause you trouble..."
"I'm the one who should be sorry!"
Sulu didn't think much of it.
It was normal for young men to act on their hormones.
With the combat skills he'd mastered, even if he lost, it wouldn't be too embarrassing. He could treat it as a chance to gain some real-world experience.
"Charlie injured his right leg once! And... watch out for his chokehold!"
As she left, Angelia lowered her voice to warn him.
"Thanks..."
Sulu stretched his limbs and walked into the ring.
"Good. Let's get started!"
Charlie rolled his neck, his joints cracking. With a vicious grin, he rushed forward and threw a right hook.
Thud!
Sulu raised his left arm to block and clearly felt a pain in his arm. "Hmm... Charlie's arms are definitely stronger than Angelia's!"
This white coach was slightly stronger than Angelia.
Fortunately, Sulu had been warned, so he kept moving and avoided trading blows head-on.
He's going for a chokehold!
Suddenly, he saw Charlie charge at him like a black bear, arms spread wide, and immediately understood what was coming. He hooked his left leg out fast.
Thud!
Charlie's finishing move missed. He lost his balance instead and fell onto the ring, looking thoroughly frustrated.
"Huff... huff..."
Sulu panted and took the chance to leave the ring. "Charlie's a little tougher to deal with than Angelia... Good thing I still won. Huh?"
Suddenly, a screen appeared before his eyes, making him almost wonder if he was hallucinating:
[XP +10!]
There was... experience!!!
Sulu wiped his face with a towel, hiding his shock. Why?
He'd clearly beaten Angelia before, too, but hadn't received any experience points.
Could it be...
When he saw Charlie get to his feet and glare at him with hostility, Sulu suddenly understood. A certain guess came to mind: Does it depend on whether someone is judged an "enemy"? Angelia was just sparring with me, but Charlie's hostile toward me! In other words, it's the difference between green-name and red-name monsters. Green-name monsters don't give experience, but red-name monsters do!
With that thought, many things suddenly became clear.
If that's the case...
Sulu looked at the many students and several coaches in the Combat Club, his eyes practically glowing.
What was he looking at?
An endless pool of experience points!
"That last round doesn't count... Let's go again!"
Sure enough, the humiliation of losing made Charlie's eyes bloodshot as he blocked Sulu's path.
"Charlie!"
Angelia's expression changed at once.
If the previous match could still be considered a friendly exchange, this was now an open attempt at revenge. "You can't do this! I'm going to tell the club president!"
"Angelia... are you smitten with this kid?"
Charlie roared, "It won't make any difference if you tell the club president. I'm going to beat him today!"
"You..."
Angelia was furious and was about to say something, but a hand landed on her shoulder and turned her around.
"Coach, perfect... I want another round too!"
A faint curve touched Sulu's lips as he gave Charlie a challenging look. "I'll take you on as many times as you want today!"
"Good!"
During the brief rest before stepping into the ring, he quickly brought up the Attribute Panel:
Name: [Sulu Portley] Class: [None] Rank: [0] Title: [None] Strength: [1.2], Agility: [1.2], Constitution: [0.7], Spirit: [1.6] Skills: [Corpse Maiden Creation LV1], [Krav Maga Combat Arts LV1] Passives: [Universal Hebraic LV3], [Basic Physics LV4], [Demon Hunting Lore LV1], [Ancient Hebraic LV2] XP: [10]
A pale blue screen, visible only to Sulu, appeared. Some of its fields had changed slightly.
"Can't I directly use experience to raise the four basic stats because I don't have enough experience points?"
He recalled that learning even [Corpse Maiden Creation] last time had cost fifty experience points, and pondered the matter.
Fortunately, after looking through the panel, he found a faint "+" beside Krav Maga Combat Arts, indicating that he could spend experience points to improve it. He couldn't help feeling secretly pleased, and touched the "+" with his mind.
[Spend 10 XP to raise Krav Maga Combat Arts by one level? Yes/No]
A prompt immediately appeared.
"Yes!"
Sulu confirmed without hesitation, though inwardly he couldn't help sighing. Krav Maga Combat Arts was obviously no match for spellcasting abilities.
He only had 10 experience points. [Corpse Maiden Creation] LV1 remained untouched, which clearly meant improving it would cost far more experience.
[Krav Maga Combat Arts raised to LV2! Mastered the "Eight Forms"; Constitution +0.2, Strength +0.2!]
With a thought, the Attribute Panel changed rapidly.
So every time Krav Maga Combat Arts gains a level, it boosts Strength and Constitution by 0.1?
Sulu felt a faint wave of warmth spread through his body, and the Eight Forms became more familiar in his mind. He couldn't help smiling. He stepped into the ring and beckoned Charlie with a finger. "Come on! I hope you don't disappoint me!"
This was an experience-point jackpot. He couldn't let it slip by!
Before you continue