Swords, magic, and martial arts

The next day, as soon as Rod woke up, he saw a button in the corner of his field of vision.

Just as he was about to try touching the button, he heard a voice:

"Welcome to the Wuxia System"

Immediately afterward, a semi-transparent screen appeared in front of Rhodes' eyes. Thinking he was still half asleep, Rhodes closed his eyes again. After closing his eyes, the semi-transparent screen became even clearer.

Familiar Chinese characters began to appear on the screen. With a thought, Rod tapped on the function introduction on the screen.

The martial arts system will release multiple tasks to users each week, and users can choose one to complete. Only after a task is completed will a new task be released the following week.

Completing tasks will allow you to enter a lottery, with prizes including martial arts skills, equipment, and elixirs...

The martial arts skills awarded do not need to be learned; they can be directly added to the martial arts skill bar and upgraded through special methods.

Collect martial arts techniques and skills from this world, and the system will reward the user with martial arts skills.

"The user has mastered the martial art 'Nord War Cry,' which has been automatically added to the system's skill library. The user will be rewarded with one martial art; please select one."

Most Nords are born with the Nord War Cry, and Rhodes, the owner of this body, is no exception.

Using the Nord War Cry can dispel fear and enhance fighting spirit and strength. It can even make cowards weak in the knees when fighting against them.

Please choose one of the following three martial arts styles.

Taizu Changquan (Emperor Taizu's Long Fist): Also known as Thirty-Two Postures Long Fist, it is famous throughout the world and is known as the "Mother of a Hundred Fists".

Iron Shirt: Increases the body's defense, making the whole body as strong as steel and enhancing its ability to withstand blows.

Chain Kick: A leg technique that combines length, strength, and hardness, capable of both offense and defense, with comprehensive functions and rich content.

After examining the three martial arts styles, Rhodes hesitated briefly before choosing Iron Shirt. He inwardly lamented his cowardice, but realized that fist and leg techniques were impractical in this age of cold weapons. If he were to land a punch on a knight clad in steel plate armor, he might break a bone. Even worse, if his punch resulted in his hand being chopped off by a weapon, the outcome would be far more tragic.

After receiving the reward, Iron Shirt will be automatically added to your martial arts skill list.

The martial arts skill slot only has five slots, and after one was taken up by Iron Shirt, only four slots were left.

Iron Shirt Lv1: Increases defense and reduces physical damage taken. The skill's effect is related to strength and stamina. (Upgrade method: Damage taken)

Rhodes was speechless when he saw how Iron Shirt was upgraded. Taking damage was just getting beaten up, yet they put it so euphemistically. It seemed the road ahead was going to be very difficult.

Rhodes opened the taskbar again, where there were three tasks to choose from.

Task 1: The purpose of this system is to cultivate a true hero. A hero must have a heart that is willing to help others and stand up for the weak. Task requirement: Help three people solve their difficulties free of charge.

Task Two: As a chivalrous hero, you must keep your promise. You previously agreed to help the merchant Otto retrieve his goods. Task Requirements: Complete Otto's request or Otto dies.

Task 3: Reputation is just as important as your strength. Defeating a powerful opponent in a fair duel can make you famous. Task requirement: Fight a fair duel with Baron and defeat him.

All three tasks rewarded a chance to win a prize. Rhodes ultimately chose the second task.

The first task looks simple, but it will probably take a long time to complete.

The third task required him to fight Baron fairly and defeat him. Based on his memory, this was practically impossible; Baron was a man who had once killed a troll with his bare hands. Letting him fight was out of the question.

The second task could be completed incidentally as well. However, the task requirements puzzled Rhodes; it was the only one of the three tasks that could be completed in two different ways.

The system allows Otto to complete the mission upon death to prevent the mission from getting stuck if Otto dies before completing the task.

If Otto were to die, then he wouldn't have such a dark thought as breaking his promise.

There must be some secret hidden here.

After accepting the system's task, Rhodes began washing up and preparing to have breakfast.

In Nord, there are no toothbrushes or toothpaste; people brush their teeth by applying powder made from dried grass to tree branches after the bark has been removed. In other countries, people generally don't brush their teeth.

After washing up, Rhodes went to the first floor of the tavern for breakfast. He planned to train after breakfast so that his first adventure in two days wouldn't be a disaster.

Rhodes felt he was getting tired of eating roasted meat lately, so he had bread and mushroom soup for breakfast, while the adventurers next to him who were able to get up early for breakfast were drinking ale and eating roasted meat.

After finishing his meal, Rhodes went to train in the open space near the tavern. This open space was originally used for training by the guards of Icestone City.

However, because the weather was too cold, they were unwilling to train and only arranged for people to patrol in shifts. This area has been empty recently, and no one cares if someone "spars" here.

A few days ago, Rod tried to train and test his physical fitness, and found that his physical fitness was much better than before. His endurance and strength were even stronger than those of professional athletes.

Wearing thick winter clothes, I can easily run 100 meters in under 10 seconds. I can carry a box weighing over 200 pounds for dozens of meters by myself.

Even so, Rhodes' strength was still only at the level of a low-level adventurer. Baron could easily take on five people like Rhodes with one hand.

Rhodes is about 1.8 meters tall and weighs over 160 kilograms, but this is considered thin among Nords. Nords are generally around 1.9 meters tall and weigh over 200 kilograms.

Baron was over two meters tall, and looked like a stronger version of Kratos. He was a powerful figure among elite adventurers, and most adventurers in the area had heard of him.

Rod decided to start by running. He knew that if he couldn't beat someone in the future, he would have to run faster, so training in running was definitely the right thing to do.

Rod uses extreme interval running to train so that he can have both short bursts of speed and long-distance endurance when escaping. This way, he can train both of them.

After running for a while, Rod was panting heavily and thought that running like this didn't seem to be very useful. In the wild, the terrain was complex and the ground was uneven, but here it was flat.

Then, Rod prepared to do a few push-ups to build his strength. He had just done a few when he heard Baron's voice coming from not far away.

"What are you doing lying here so early in the morning?" Baron asked.

"Is it still early morning? It's almost noon!"

"That's not important. I just want to know what you're doing lying here?"

"I'm training my upper body strength."

"You mean like this, lying down and getting up again?" Baron said, then did several push-ups in one go, adding, "It's so easy, I don't feel a thing."

"So how do you usually train?" Rod asked curiously.

"I've never trained myself as deliberately as you have. If we have to talk about training, does punching someone count? Throwing a punch with all my might makes me feel good and resolves a lot of conflicts," Baron said earnestly.

Rod was speechless. "Try punching me."

"Are you sure? You won't be able to handle it if I use even a little force," Baron said.

"Stop talking nonsense and come on." As soon as Rod finished speaking, Baron threw a punch.

Rod was just about to raise his hand to block Baron's fist when he was sent flying several meters away.

"Are you alright? I only used a little force and you flew out," Baron said.

Rhodes got up from the ground and dusted himself off. When he was knocked away, the system notified him that his Iron Shirt skill proficiency had increased.

He rubbed his chest where he had just been hit and found that although he had been sent flying, it didn't hurt that much. It seemed that even a level one Iron Shirt technique was still quite effective.

"Keep hitting me, Baron," Rod said.

"Are you stupid? Someone as skinny as you shouldn't try to withstand attacks with your body. You should use your size advantage to dodge attacks as much as possible." Baron said, while doing a few somersaults like a gymnast.

Rhodes was dumbfounded, completely unable to imagine that a person as large as a bear could move so nimbly.

"I'm fine, Baron. I just wanted to know where my limits are. Hit me again, with a little more force than before," Rod said.

"Well then, watch out!" Baron said, throwing a punch.

This time, Rod didn't even see the shadow of a fist before he was sent flying again.

Rod got up and imitated the kung fu masters he had seen on TV, one hand in front and the other beside his head, assuming a horse stance and a defensive posture. "Again!" Rod said.

Rod had barely finished speaking when he was sent flying again. Each hit was more painful than the last. The pain from the previous punch was barely bearable, but this punch left him too weak to get up for a long time.

Rod knew that Baron had held back a lot; the three punches were not aimed at the same spot, nor at any vital points, but no matter where they were hit, Rod was sent flying.

"Rest on the ground for a bit. I think you should work on your lower body strength; I only used 30% of my strength and you were sent flying," Baron said. "I'm hungry, let's go to the tavern for something to eat."

"Then let's continue this afternoon. I think I'll be able to withstand your attacks after I eat something," Rod said.

……