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The matchmaking for his online duels and team battles got better when he broke through the Muscle Forging Stage. Only slightly better, though.

At the very least, Ren was now fighting some people who actually know what they’re doing now, not complete beginners anymore. These people made the fights more interesting and fun for him.

Take this one that he’s fighting now, for example.

The enemy’s stage name was FaeLord, and he’s a swordsman. His avatar was that of an elf with exaggeratedly edited facial features that made him handsome and cool.

At first, Ren didn’t think much of the guy. But when they started fighting, FaeLord surprised him with some seriously decent sword skills.

He’s not just hacking away with that thing on hand. Ren sensed FaeLord observing his movements, reacting and anticipating his attacks. When he attacks, he’s decisive, and he aims at the jugular.

This was no newbie who flinches at the sight of blood; this one had experience. Of course, he’s not like the experts whose matches are being broadcasted for everybody to see, but for this level, this was already impressive.

If Ren were to use all of his strength to take his enemies down, though, every fight he participates in would lose its meaning. With the stacked bonuses of his martial physiques, Ren was practically peerless.

Nobody at the same martial realm would be able to overpower him. Unless of course they’re a cheater like Ren too.

This is why Ren tends to hold back most of his strength when fighting to enjoy the fights. He didn’t want to steamroll everybody with overwhelming force. He wants to have some fun and feel some pressure too.

If anything, at least this teaches Ren how to fight with a disadvantage.

Ren had so many opportunities to use the Nine Echoing Canons technique on FaeLord and blast him to oblivion. But Ren didn’t do so. Instead, he purposefully held back to prolong the fight and force his enemy to show more of his skills.

Even though Ren was destined to never be able to wield weapons, from all the martial arts theories he had been reading in the past few days, he could tell that FaeLord’s swordsmanship had a solid foundation, especially compared to most of the other swordsmen that Ren had fought in this very arena before.

Sure, there were still some wasted movements here and there, but that’s normal. FaeLord was also just above the beginner level. It’s normal for him to still have flaws.

FaeLord’s swordsmanship was accompanied by decent footwork too. Plus, his instincts, especially at this level, were really good. At the very least, he was able to avoid Ren’s deliberate leads and signs when he was going to attack...most of them at least.

And for fights like this, Ren wanted them to last longer. Not just to entertain himself, but also to add some pressure to his enemies to help them hone their skills.

Battle was, after all, a tried and tested way to swiftly improve a martial artist’s skills.

Ren doesn’t mind serving as a sharpening tool, provided that the other party entertains him well enough. He doesn’t see this as a bad thing, and he’s more than willing to participate for the sake of having a good time.

Of course, Ren won the battle.

FaeLord was able to leave some wounds on him, but nothing that crippled Ren’s ability or mobility. And with a low-powered three-echoing cannon kick, FaeLord collapsed and lost.

Honestly, Ren was hoping that he could endure that. But it seems that FaeLord’s physique wasn’t as tough as his sword skills. He’d need to temper his physique with chakra some more, because honestly, Ren’s attack shouldn’t have been enough to make him collapse like that.

It was a controlled attack, after all. Ren deliberately lowered its power, just enough to give FaeLord some reality check, but not enough to actually defeat him. But the latter still happened anyway. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

After FaeLord’s defeat, Ren participated in some more 1v1s in hopes of discovering more entertaining enemies. Alas, what followed were disappointments.

So instead, he switched to team battles. 3v3s for starters.

Ren had no more troubles with team fights; he had already discovered what he needed to do, so that’s no problem anymore. Because of that, he’s starting to have a genuinely good time participating in team fights.

In the first 3v3 team fight he participated in this night, he teamed up with random people on queue. His teammates were called Young Lord and Ghost Lady.

Young Lord was a man with another exaggeratedly handsome online avatar. He made his avatar’s skill so virtually flawless that it practically had no pores. He wore a set of fancy robes with golden dragons embroidered on them. He dressed like royalty—a prince, even. He uses a spear for his weapon choice, and Ren would admit that he looked rather heroic with it.

Ghost Lady looked a bit distinct though. She had bangs that covered her eyes. Seriously, Ren wondered if she did this because she’s actually blind, who therefore had no qualms about having her eyes covered, or just purely out of unique fashion sense. Anyway, Ren ended up not asking.

She wore this skin-tight outfit that reminded Ren of the kunoichi outfits back on earth. The ones that were common in games and media and historically inappropriate. The ones that are slightly revealing too.

Ren could see her cleavage in her upper garment, and he could almost tell that she wanted people to look at them, because why would she ever wear an outfit with a heart-shaped hole that deliberately exposes her cleavage? That’s not some coincidence; it’s a choice.

She also wore these netted black silk stockings and heels that looked way too uncomfortable and definitely unsuitable to fight in. She wore this tight skirt, which couldn’t even reach her knees, revealing a bit of a thigh gap between her skirt and her stockings.

Again, Ren held back whatever words he wanted to say about her choice of outfit. He just reasoned that everybody was free to design what their online avatars would look like without being overly judged out loud by others.

Following her kunoichi theme, Ghost Lady held two daggers for her weapon choice. Ren was also certain that she had some throwing weapons hidden in her body somewhere; he didn’t go looking for them because that would force him to ogle at her body, and she might misunderstand.

Against this team were Woody, Star-Lord, and Cowgirl.

Woody adopted the look of a lumberjack for his avatar. He’s wearing that same red checkered flannel, oversized, of course, with a tightly fitted tank top underneath. His body was jacked; his musculature was faintly visible under that tank top. He wore faded jeans and black boots. He chewed on a weed with that lopsided grin on his face. He had a full-faced beard and was wearing a camo bandana. There was a large age heaved on his shoulders for his weapon choice.

Star Lord looked weird. His avatar was wearing an astronaut’s helmet that made it impossible to see what he looked like underneath. Then, he wore a long brown trench coat, a white long-sleeved shirt with a black tie underneath, black slacks, and shiny black shoes, which seriously made him weird. He could’ve replaced the helmet with a top hat and monocle instead, and he’d be on theme, but he didn’t.

He was a swordsman with a preference for cane swords. That couldn’t be hidden from Ren.

And then, there’s Cowgirl. She wears a onesie with a cow’s design...with that fake udder and all. She’d be adorable if it weren’t so weird. Adding to that weirdness was the fact that she was an archer. She held a bow and had a quiver slung on her back.

Ren initially thought that his team was decent. They shouldn’t have difficulties facing these weirdos.

But when the match started, Ren quickly realized his blunder.

Young Lord dashed forward heroically, and Ghost Lady left several afterimages as she ran. It was a good charge, but it soon dawned on them that they’re not facing some random weirdos online.

They’re up against an actual team, one that knew each other and had made plans ahead of time.

Young Lord, for all his heroic energy, was swiftly eliminated. He met Woody, whose attack was so domineering that it severed the young lord’s spear. With the loss of his weapon, Young Lord’s combat strength plummeted.

Seriously, he had no idea what to do after that happened. He just stood there, flailing his arms in a pitiful attempt to punch Woody, but it was laughable.

In the end, he got sniped by Cowgirl. An arrow straight through his skull.

And since Ren’s got the gore on in his settings, Ren had a front-row seat in witnessing how Young Lord’s head blew up like an exploding watermelon.

Ren then paid attention to Ghost Lady, and what he saw shocked him.

Star Lord’s cane sword was drawn out at some point and was now embedded deeply into the heart-shaped hole on Ghost Lady’s top. She tried to flail around to no avail.

With a cruel twist of his hand, Star Lord ended Ghost Lady.

Seeing his teammates die before they could even warm up the stage made Ren’s heart sink.

’Well, not like I was expecting much anyway.’