Cross Fist Technique

Cross Fist Technique

"Son of a bitch, that dog bastard ran pretty fast." Aoduo had come quickly and left just as quickly. He slammed the door hard and walked away without even looking back. He felt utterly stifled. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. The twisted expression on his face made the wounds there ache, so he lowered his head to hide his true emotions.

The group extinguished their torches and slunk out of the slums.

At this point, the people nearby began discussing what had happened. Whom had Dole offended to have someone come knocking in the middle of the night?

Voices of speculation drifted through the darkness.

Dole and Aoduo were still hiding beneath the window and did not come out. They waited a long time, until all the surrounding chatter had faded, before circling around and arriving at the front door.

By then, the door had been completely smashed and could no longer be used. Even if it were repaired, Aoduo would probably keep watching the place in the future. This home was no longer usable.

Dole looked at Aoduo by his feet and sighed. "We need to move."

Aoduo did not know what to say either. It opened its mouth, let out a howl, then fell silent.

The slums lacked everything except empty houses. There were many vacant homes around Dole's place, belonging either to dead vagrants or neighbors who had moved elsewhere. Though it was nighttime, Dole had grown up here and had no trouble finding a new place to live. Occupied houses and unoccupied houses were easy to tell apart.

He packed up his bedding and books. Dole did not have much furniture, so he simply took what he had and left. He quickly found a new place to stay.

As for the place he had just abandoned, though he had lived there for seven or eight years, Dole did not hesitate in the slightest when he moved out.

After moving, however, all he could think about was how much Aoduo hated him. Tomorrow's job at Bianchi Mine was probably completely ruined. He could not go back there.

If he could not work at the mine, then he would have no source of income. Dole felt as though he had fallen straight into hell. He only had three copper coins on him. Even if he survived tomorrow, he would starve to death the day after.

"Aoduo, one day you'll die by my hand." Dole hardened his heart. He now valued the book in his hands, The Legend of Naluye, even more. As long as he could become a warrior, the first thing he would do was kill Aoduo.

His new home was almost exactly the same as the old one, except that it was covered in dust. With mines all around Demon County, dust was normal. In the middle of the night, Dole was not picky. He spread his bedding over some rotten boards, prepared a dog bed for Aoduo, and got ready to practice the sitting posture.

Though things from centuries ago had been outdated by now, this was still the only martial skill knowledge he could currently learn. He had to practice it properly, Dole thought.

Soon, the night passed.

The next morning, Dole woke from his sleep and found his legs sore and numb, as if his blood was no longer circulating. He had stubbornly held the posture all night, and now both legs felt like they did not belong to him.

He let out a pained wail, stretched his legs flat, and pounded them hard with his fists. Only after a long while did the numbness finally subside.

Feeling normal again, Dole looked toward where Aoduo had been and was instantly startled. Aoduo was gone.

Just then, the door opened. Aoduo poked its sneaky head in from outside. Seeing that Dole was awake, it immediately trotted over and licked his face.

Feeling Aoduo's enthusiasm, Dole let out a breath of relief. As long as it did not run off randomly, that was enough.

He patted the dog's head. "Stay home and behave. Don't run around, or you might end up as dog meat on someone's table."

Today, he needed to find another mine and apply for work early.

Mines surrounded Demon County, and there were many workers. Every morning, crowds of people working in the mines poured out through the city gates like a tide and flooded into the various mines. The mines only complained about having too few workers, never too many. Demon County might have been poor, but it had plenty of people, all from different places and trying to make a living. Mine wages were stable, so the miners' lives had always been manageable.

Of course, that did not include pitiful children like Dole, who had no parents and were easily bullied.

Dole arrived at the city gate, looked over the job notices around him, casually chose one, and ran to the recruitment site to apply.

With his several years of experience at Bianchi Mine, the overseer easily approved his application. Just like that, Dole had found another job and happily went off to work.

This mine was called Cocoon Mine. The overseer leading Dole looked refined and scholarly. After assigning him a partner, he left.

His new partner was a middle-aged man who looked rather weathered. The muscles in his exposed arms bulged, and he looked immensely strong.

After assigning the work, the overseer left.

And so, another new day began.

His new partner did not like talking and only liked working. Dole had no choice but to follow along. Fortunately, although he had not slept properly all night, he was full of energy. After a full day, he actually managed to keep up with the energetic middle-aged man, Aobu, which made Aobu view him in a new light.

However, Cocoon Mine did not provide meals. Dole went hungry all day and nearly fainted when work ended. Still, although there was no food, Cocoon Mine paid three copper coins more than Bianchi Mine. His original wage had been six copper coins per day, so now he could earn nine copper coins a day, four more than at Bianchi Mine. It was still a good deal, except that he would need to bring his own lunch and afternoon meal.

Back at the market, he ate a hearty meal until he felt stuffed. He did not dare linger outside, afraid Aoduo might find him. After buying food for Dog Aoduo, he quickly returned to his little home.

The Legend of Naluye ended after the second posture. What came next was basic boxing.

Basic boxing had been standardized for thousands of years. Dole had learned it long ago, so there was nothing much to study. After flipping through its contents, he found nothing new and no explanations, so he skipped it and read the next section.

The legendary magic warrior Naluye cultivated both magic and martial arts. When Dole turned the page, the first thing he saw were three large words: Meditation Method.

He immediately became excited. This was something only wizards could learn. He carefully read on, only to become discouraged again. He did not recognize many of the words. How was he supposed to learn this?

With a sigh, Dole skipped that section too. What he thought was that he needed to save money quickly and buy a book. Now that he earned nine copper coins a day, he could probably save two copper coins per day. A dictionary cost around fifty copper coins, so he should have enough in about a month.

Thinking of this, he felt helpless.

But after turning the page, he found martial skills again. This time, it was a real fist technique, and Dole's spirits immediately rose.

Cross Fist Technique, a low-level fist technique.

He first skimmed through it. This fist technique had twelve moves in total, most of which were extended versions of basic boxing. The technique mainly focused on defense, with only one or two purely offensive moves. Its core principle was the Cross Guard: hand cross blocks, elbow cross blocks, shoulder-elbow cross blocks, elbow-back cross blocks, leg cross blocks, and foot cross blocks. It seemed to take defense to the extreme. The two offensive techniques were the Cross Thrust Fist and Cross Cannon Fist, both of which looked quite formidable.