What Makes a Strong Person

The floor beneath his feet had changed again, this time to specially made composite material. The same beam of light enveloped the ten-meter radius around Mu Fan, while everything beyond remained pitch-black. A red glint flashed in Mu Fan's eyes. Using the night vision synchronized through his neural interface, he still could not see the end of that dense darkness!

A chill ran through him. This world always inspired such awe.

"You came early." A deep voice came from behind him.

Mu Fan was startled. He had already been on guard, yet he still could not sense the other man's presence.

The Fighter in the shadows seemed to know what Mu Fan was thinking and spoke again. "Don't be nervous. Yesterday was a greeting gift. Today, the training officially begins."

Only then did Mu Fan turn around. He widened his eyes and stared hard into the darkness before him.

There was only a shadowy figure there, one that had not stepped beneath the central light.

"An interesting little fellow. Are you trying to get a clear look at me?" The man seemed amused by the boy's actions, a trace of laughter in his voice.

"I can't see clearly," Mu Fan answered honestly.

Two dim green glows suddenly appeared in the darkness. They were eyes! They silently watched Mu Fan.

The Fighter's figure gradually emerged from the shadows. Though he stood within the same black mist, Mu Fan could now use his abilities to clearly see the Fighter's entire... outline, except for his face! The face beneath the hood remained nothing more than two faint green gleams.

A loose, somewhat tattered cloak covered his entire body, utterly out of place with the character design Mu Fan had seen on the PO Battle Network. At this distance, he could see that the coarse fabric was rather thick, marked with faint slashes from blades and swords—uneven, tiny tears scattered across it.

His hands hung at his sides, covered by metal gauntlets. His right hand held a Metal Short Rod. It seemed the Fighter Instructor had deliberately revealed himself now, allowing Mu Fan to clearly see the unusually heavy ends of the rod, its intricate metallic patterns wrapped around a pale green glow. No, there was also a glow on the backs of both hands, though dimmer. Every other part of him remained concealed beneath the ruined cloak.

The Fighter merely stood there naturally, yet an air of age, history, and iron-blooded battle washed over Mu Fan. Looking at the man before him, Mu Fan felt as if he were facing a Martial Arts Grandmaster who had crossed time and space to arrive here.

Shocking! The first person to place such immense pressure on Mu Fan was actually a virtual character from the PO Battle Network!

He was incredibly real. Had Black really arranged this for him? Whether it was his tone or the conversation, Mu Fan had been led along by him the entire time.

"Greetings, Fighter Instructor." Mu Fan did not dwell on anything else. He lowered his head respectfully.

"Very good." The person before him spoke, his voice deep and hoarse, yet sharp enough to pierce straight into the heart.

"You are weak." The man established the tone from the start, ignoring the defiance in Mu Fan's eyes. "I could kill you a thousand times with a single strike of this rod. Do you believe that?"

Mu Fan, who had been about to argue, fell silent. He believed it! But he was still unwilling to accept it.

Seeing the expression on Mu Fan's face, the two dim green lights flickered. The deep voice spoke again. "It is good to have ambition."

The figure clasped his hands behind his back and began pacing around him, yet his voice reached Mu Fan's ears with perfect clarity. "Starting today, you will gradually understand the gap between us. But"—his tone grew slightly heavier—"as long as you persist from today onward, I will make you stronger and stronger, until you surpass me..."

"Any more questions?" The figure turned again, his dim green eyes examining Mu Fan.

"No." Mu Fan was not someone who liked wasting words.

"Good. Then let us begin today's first training session. From now on, I will teach you for two hours every day. This is a virtual world, so all I can teach you are techniques—many kinds of techniques... But if you cannot keep up with the intensity of muscle training in reality, then everything you learn will be empty talk." The short rod in the Fighter's right hand suddenly began spinning upright in his palm. It was not fast, but it was incomparably steady. Mu Fan noticed that the fingers beneath the metal covering barely moved.

"However, your current state is wrong." The Fighter's right hand suddenly shot out like lightning, moving at least a dozen times faster than the Rubber Bullets in the Gravity Room. Mu Fan did not even see an afterimage. His field of vision had already been filled by the heavy short rod, its tip stopping directly between his brows, just a fraction away from touching him.

Suppressing the twitching and discomfort in the flesh between his brows, Mu Fan did not treat the man before him as a virtual character at all. He respectfully lowered his gaze. "I have been troubled by something since yesterday."

"Speak." A single simple word.

"I have something on my mind. Please instruct me, Instructor."

"Mm." The Fighter neither approved nor disapproved.

"I am a sparring partner. I can only take hits and cannot strike back." Mu Fan looked at the instructor before him with bright eyes. "But I want to stand up for my friend."

"Heh heh." As though he had heard something amusing, the Fighter's deep voice passed through the black curtain. "Then do it. Before you have the power to match your intentions, everything is empty talk."

"So you are anxious. You are anxious about what will happen after you make your move?" Like a wise elder, the Fighter had already seen through the truth.

"Fight your way out?" The Fighter asked and answered himself. "Ridiculous!"

"Let me ask you: what makes a strong person?"

Mu Fan was, after all, only a seventeen-year-old boy. He did not fully understand what the Fighter meant.

"You surely know Black. I know your relationship with him, so Black asked me to teach you."

At last, Mu Fan had someone with whom he could vent the words bottled up in his heart. "I want to become stronger. I have never been this driven before. Please guide me, Instructor!"

"Can you beat him?" The Fighter suddenly tossed out a seemingly casual question.

"I can!" Mu Fan answered without hesitation! He had a rough judgment of the other party's strength in his heart.

"Then go. But you have to endure it!! You are the sparring partner!! Then let him hit you—but let him hit you until he submits!! Use your brain more." He pointed his left hand at his forehead, mocking Mu Fan's weakness at the same time.

"Before you have the strength to survive, everything is empty talk! A strong person does not merely crush others with muscle. Strength is also the manifestation of will on a spiritual level!!"

"Of course, if you truly cannot endure it, then strike back. And if you still cannot beat him after striking back, then you will have truly disappointed me."

Mu Fan's face flushed red as he stared wide-eyed. "I can endure it!"

"Then go!!"

Mu Fan's heart instantly cleared! Then go!! All his previous irritation and frustration were cast aside.

Suddenly, Mu Fan's wristband began beeping, notifying him that someone was calling in reality.

Mu Fan steadied himself. It is here! He raised his head toward the Fighter Instructor. "I need to log off first, Instructor."

The dim green eyes watched Mu Fan for a while. Then the Fighter turned his back and vanished into the black mist.

"Go. Do not disappoint me."

The moment Mu Fan removed his Helmet, he heard the room's communicator ringing incessantly, repeating its voice prompt. "Sparring partner Mu Fan, please answer immediately."

"This is Mu Fan. Go ahead."

"Come to the fourth floor."

"Okay!"

*********

P.S. Many thanks to reader "Poetic Mood and Artistic Conception, Ren Xiaowei" for the generous donation!

Because I need to prepare for next week's recommendation, the update schedule will temporarily be adjusted to one chapter today, two chapters tomorrow, and three chapters the day after tomorrow. Please do not worry. Also, there will be an interesting event today, as follows.

(A little question for this chapter: Who was the Fighter Instructor based on?

Hahahaha, I am too evil. The answer is hard to find, but I did it anyway, because I know you cannot hit me. Um... put down your fists, we are still friends.

The first reader in the review section to answer correctly can receive a custom-made minor character role. This opportunity is absolutely one of a kind. Everyone, take a guess. Once someone answers correctly, the post containing the correct answer will be deleted, and then a dedicated topic will be opened to formally recruit minor characters. Whether the "Minor Character Building" opens or not depends entirely on all of you.)