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The booklet where the ’Pain Demon Art’ was written wasn’t hidden in the clan’s Martial Hall.

It’s not some incredible secret hidden behind inane manuals that had to be pieced or stitched together to form the whole. It’s not some guarded secret that needs the Clan Leader’s permission or must be paid with merit points, either.

The book was located on the 3rd floor of the Martial Hall. It’s not hidden at all. It’s there at the very first bookshelf next to the door; the name of the art is written in bold and italics on its spine, and it’s a bright yellow book surrounded with black and grey books.

If, somehow, one still couldn’t find it, asking the librarian will help too. They’d just point at it from where they are; they won’t hide it or replace it with a fake one.

It’s right there, accessible to anybody who is allowed to reach the 3rd floor of the clan’s Martial Hall.

And everybody in the Banished Arms Clan knew that this was their unique martial inheritance, one that the founder of the clan himself invented and had been passed down ever since.

Neither Mikel nor Raymond urged Ren to search for it. They also didn’t tell him to practice it either. Nobody was forcing him to learn this, other than himself, of course. And since he’s got the Clan Leader’s badge, he’s more than qualified to view its contents.

’Wow...what in the fresh hell is this!? ’

That’s what Ren thought after finishing it. Ren didn’t have high expectations in the first place. In fact, he has already seen more than enough in his observations to set his expectations.

Simply put, he had been spoiled already, so he went here thinking that he wouldn’t be surprised by it anymore. But to his surprise, well...he did, but not in a pleasant way. Definitely not pleasant at all.

It’s trash. There’s no way around it, really.

Ren could confidently say that as inexperienced as he was. Of course, he wouldn’t dare to say it out loud, for now, at least, but he could definitely declare it as such in his mind.

Hell, even the basic combat technique was much better than this. Sure, it doesn’t amplify his strength that much compared to this technique, but at the very least, the former wasn’t a hilarious attempt at suicide. The same cannot be said for the latter, though.

The ’Pain Demon Art’ is a crude and inefficient technique that infuses one’s chakra with the element of ’pain.’ When chakra laced with ’pain’ lands on an enemy, it amplifies their pain sensitivity by two times at base. As one’s experience and mastery over the technique increase, the base amplifier could peak at 10×, which is definitely something; Ren wouldn’t lie.

The problem is that lacing one’s chakra with the element of ’pain’ was no simple matter.

Apparently, the founder of the clan created this technique after learning ’intimately’ about pain demons, whose innate ability was the very same thing he re-created and turned into a martial art technique.

And the method to convert one’s chakra into ’painful chakra’ was to be familiar with the concept of ’pain’ itself. And to do this, the creator of this technique created a breathing technique that induces pain and suffering in the user.

He says that practicing this technique allows one to not only become more familiar with the concept of pain but also to sharpen their willpower. The longer one practices this technique and the better their mastery is, the more pain they will feel.

In exchange, they could ’control’ this ’pain,’ lace their chakras with it, and share this ’pain’ with their enemies.

’Oh, my dead ancestor! Did you do drugs before writing this down? What exactly was going on with your head when you made this thing? ’

’There are a fuck ton of demons out there! Why, in the name of martial arts, did you hyperfixate on something as horrid as a Pain Demon? Even the Slaughter Demons would be way better compared to this one! ’ 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

’Hell, even Glutton Demons would’ve been better! At least they’d teach you how to devour more food and resources more efficiently to convert them into nutrients and material progress! ’

’Why in the world did you choose the Pain Demon of all things!? ’

The concept of humans mimicking nature and creatures to create martial arts is a tale as old as time. Humans do this all the time; it’s the origin behind so many martial arts.

Learning was, after all, one of humanity’s strongest traits.

Ren wasn’t surprised to learn that the founder of the clan had been inspired by demons to create this art. Hell, he didn’t even bat an eye that his ancestor took inspiration from demons of all things!

What he took issue with was his ancestor’s choice of the Pain Demon. There are literally dozens of demon types out there; why in the world would he pick a pain demon?

Did a pain demon torture him so badly that he developed some kind of Stockholm syndrome? What exactly were his reasons?

Actually, no, Ren really doesn’t want to know. He also decided that even if he could find out, he doesn’t want to.

What matters now is whether to practice this or not.

Honestly, the fact that the clan’s ancestor made something like this was already impressive.

Especially when you consider how long the clan’s been around. Perhaps, during their ancestor’s era, this technique must’ve been iconic and strong.

But that’s the problem, isn’t it?

The days and the era of their ancestor had long passed. It’s been tens of thousands of years since then. That era was long over.

The trend back then isn’t the same as the ones they have now. The limitations that stopped their ancestors once upon a time were no longer an issue to the current era.

To be fair, their ancestor probably never thought that the clan would hold on for this long. He probably also never intended this art to be passed down as is to begin with.

Ren wouldn’t be too surprised if the truth turns out that their ancestor wasn’t the one who stated that this technique must be learned and practiced by the clan. It has probably been decided by his successors.

Anyway, regardless of his intentions, the truth doesn’t change. The Pain Demon Art persisted to this day and is still being practiced by the clan for better or for worse.

The book he’s holding right now isn’t the original copy; that one’s been locked into a vault to be preserved. This is a copy, but it’s one that’s been copied word per word. So, everything that’s written in here is the same as the one that could be found on the original.

Ren was admittedly very reluctant. Although his expectations weren’t high to begin with, he still couldn’t accept that the clan’s unique martial art inheritance was this...trash.

He could believe that, with the clan’s long and extensive history, nobody tried to improve this at all. It’s not like everybody’s dumb. What is it exactly that forces them to practice this technique according to the original text?

Did the following generation after the era of the founder are so incompetent that they can’t even leave behind some insights to improve this thing?

The real issue isn’t the pain itself, the same pain that the user must experience first and understand so that their chakra can turn into it.

No, the real issue is the injuries that happen while practicing this technique.

Sure, it starts off mild and minuscule. But over time, the pain and the hurt will continue to increase and will aggregate these injuries again and again.

As tiny and inconsequential as these injuries begin, eventually, they will accumulate into something huge that will seriously hinder the practitioner’s progress!

The most horrible part is that by the time the practitioner discovers these injuries, it’ll already be too late. These injuries would’ve gone past the point of being healed through normal means. They’d be so deeply entrenched in their physique that they become part of it, and removing them will no longer be possible or beneficial to the practitioner.

Sure, the pain hones the practitioner’s willpower, but that’s hardly a benefit! Ren could think of much better ways to train willpower, and there are already plenty of means available out there! Safe ones, too!

That’s why Ren finds this unacceptable.

In his mind, he couldn’t believe that the clan relied on their inheritance to last this long. He didn’t want to believe that this is the defining martial art of the Banished Arms Clan.

It’s only after seeing this that it truly sunk into him how utterly unfair their situation was.

For him, he’d feel more at ease believing that the clan lasted for so long because of their healing arts and potion-making expertise. To him, this makes way more sense, rather than relying on this trashy martial art.

But whether he likes this or not, the truth doesn’t change. This was, indeed, the defining martial art of the clan. As part of the clan, he must learn this too.

However, Ren wasn’t an ordinary practitioner.

What’s the use of having the gift of unparalleled comprehension if he’s not going to use it to his advantage?