Battle Stance

Battle Stance

Aoduo quickly sensed that something was wrong. Dole seemed to be in a bad mood after returning.

Not knowing what had happened, he could only stand before Dole and wag his tail in confusion.

Dole looked at Aoduo. The boy's face carried the weariness of a man in his forties. He sighed and said to Aoduo, "Eat up. After today, there won't be anything left to eat tomorrow. Damn you, Aoduo. I'm definitely going to teach you a lesson."

Hellhound Aoduo immediately understood. This was probably because Dole had offended those youths who often robbed him. Had he lost his job?

The Hellhound immediately came up with an idea. He hurried to Dole's bed, pawed aside the pillow and tattered old clothes, found the book Dole had been reading yesterday, and carried it over to him.

As long as this little fellow could learn even a little from it and become a warrior, he would no longer have to worry about food or clothes.

Dole was only venting a few complaints and had not expected Aoduo to help him with anything. But then he noticed Aoduo acting strangely. The dog had actually brought him the book he had read yesterday. What did that mean? The book truly was a good one. If he could master it, he would surely have a promising future. But he could barely afford to eat now and was about to starve to death. What use was reading this book?

He had run all the way back today, and it was not dark yet, so he could still read a few pages. Dole did not dwell on Aoduo's strange behavior. He took the book from Aoduo's mouth, walked to the bed, lazily lay down in a comfortable position, and continued from where he had left off yesterday.

As a legendary magic warrior, Naluye's introduction took up many pages: his abilities, achievements, way of thinking, contributions to humanity, and final accomplishments. Even centuries later, Dole had heard of this name. After reading of his historical feats, he could not help feeling stirred.

Human War God, legendary mage, legendary magic warrior—having all those titles on one person was unimaginable. In the modern world, an empire having even one such powerhouse was already extraordinary. In the entire Northern Kingdom, only the legendary mage Aojia held such a title, bearing the kingdom's greatest burden of strength. She was the idol, dream lover, or pursuit of countless people.

Dole's blood boiled, but only for a moment. Whether it was Naluye or the legendary mage Aojia, they were existences far beyond his reach. It was enough just to look.

Turning to a new page, a line of words appeared on the page: Basic Body Tempering Technique.

Below was a row of text introducing the origins, creator, and historical revisions of the Basic Body Tempering Technique. But the words had already become blurred. Dole did not know many characters to begin with, and now he was completely at a loss.

He skipped over those words and continued reading below.

The first exercise: Battle Stance.

There was an illustration in the book, labeled Figure One. It showed a person sitting cross-legged on a bed, hands pressed together before the chest, feet folded on the ground in a strange position. It looked very peculiar.

After studying the pose carefully, Dole climbed off the bed and tried it himself. He could barely manage it, but his legs quickly became sore and numb, making it impossible to maintain for long. After playing around with it for a bit, he continued reading. Below the image was an explanation of the pose's purpose.

It steadied the mind, calmed the heart, consolidated strength, adjusted body posture, regulated bone development, and more. At the same time, it prepared the body for the next stance.

Dole became somewhat interested when he read this. Looking at the explanation below, he saw that it was a posture meant to be held for a long time, so he followed the instructions and began practicing it.

The movement was not difficult. With a little care, anyone could do it. But maintaining it was hard. After holding it for a while, Dole felt his legs going numb, as though they would be ruined if he did not move them soon, so he relaxed.

After memorizing all the key points, he picked up the book and looked at the next stance.

The next stance was a standing posture. His feet were separated front to back in a figure-eight shape, his hands positioned one forward and one back. The front hand was open, the rear hand clenched into a fist, and both elbows hung straight down. It resembled someone standing on the ground preparing to strike, but it had many details: the back slightly bent, fist and palm seeming ready to move yet not moving. It was quite an interesting posture.

Dole studied it for a few moments, memorized the essentials, then put down the book, climbed off the bed, and copied the stance.

The movements were not difficult, and the key points were simple. The only problem was that it was hard to endure. Like the sitting posture, after standing for three to five minutes, his shoulders and thighs began to ache.

But that only made Dole more interested. He had spent the past few years in the mines, swinging hammers every day, and his body had already developed well. Yet this stance could make him tired. Clearly, it was beneficial.

He stood for a while, then sat for a while, and soon it was dark.

The people of the slums were very quiet. After nightfall, aside from the occasional hushed conversation, there was no sound at all. This place was so poor that even rats and stray dogs would not come here, much less thieves. A thief would probably starve to death in the slums.

The people of the slums were numb and rarely interacted with one another.

At nine that night, just as Dole was practicing enthusiastically, Aoduo, who had been sitting in the doghouse admiring Dole's training, suddenly turned his head and rose from the ground.

Aoduo's sudden movement startled Dole as well. Seeing him stare toward the door, Dole became alert and instinctively asked, "Someone's coming?"

Aoduo lightly dipped his chin, then raised it again. He was not afraid of anyone coming. After absorbing the mineral vein for two days, his strength had recovered to around the second level. As long as the intruder was not above the second level, he could make sure they never returned.

Dole froze at Aoduo's humanlike response. He cautiously approached the door, pricked up his ears, and listened to the movement outside.

Very soon, he heard several sets of footsteps rapidly approaching his home.

Dole did not know whether the owners of those footsteps were coming for him. He had only offended that bastard Aoduo during the day. If it was him, then things would be troublesome.

He looked at Dog Aoduo, then turned his gaze toward the window. An idea immediately came to him.

He quietly went to the window and opened it. Dole silently jumped out first, then gestured for Dog Aoduo to follow.

Aoduo naturally followed along, jumping out from inside. Then man and dog stood beneath the window with their ears perked high, listening to the sounds outside together. They looked rather comical.

The owners of those footsteps soon reached Dole's door. After less than a second of pause, Dole heard the sound of the door being kicked open. Then a flash of firelight appeared as someone lit a torch, followed by an exasperated voice.

"He's not here. That brat ran away."

It was Aoduo's voice.

Dole was slightly alarmed. It seemed he could not stay here any longer.

Perhaps the sound of the door being kicked open had been too loud. Along the dark streets of the slums, doors began opening one after another as people looked in this direction.

Dole's home was simple, consisting of only one small room. Inside was a table and a bed, and everything could be seen at a glance. Unable to find Dole, Aoduo did not want to cause more trouble. The situation in the slums was complicated. If he merely came looking for trouble with Dole, probably no one would stop him. But if he caused a disturbance here, it would likely become very troublesome.