It had been seven days since Jun Wu began his training, pushing his body to the limit every time. His previously slim body had grown firm muscles.
Standing in the center of the workshop, he stared at the floating panel with a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
Previously, he did not understand the floating panel. But after a week, he had begun to understand it. This thing could track his progress and his current stats:
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┃ 🛠️ Innate Weapon: Hammer.
┃ Level: 0 ( 0 / 100 EXP )
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┏━━━━━━━ Stats ━━━━━━━┓
┃ 🧱 Endurance : 5
┃ ⚡ Stamina : 6
┃ 💪 Strength : 4
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Three days ago, he unlocked the strength stat. With the strength stat, he knew he had gotten stronger.
Now, he did not need to lift the heavy hammer with two hands. He could lift it up with a single hand.
Looking at the heavy hammer, he held the handle and lifted it up. His muscles bulged and a slight groan escaped his lips.
Slowly, he lifted the hammer above his head.
Suddenly, the door to the workshop was pushed open and Uncle Kai walked in.
Huh!
A gasp escaped his lips when he saw the scene before him. How could this be possible?! he screamed in his mind.
He had expected Jun Wu to spend a month to two months on the heavy hammer, but he had never expected him to lift the hammer in just one week.
Fucking One Week!
While his thoughts were in disarray, Jun Wu dropped the heavy hammer and turned to look at Uncle Kai. The previous smile on his face had long vanished.
"Good morning, Uncle Kai…" he greeted.
"Hmm! Morning. I can see you are now able to lift the hammer," Uncle Kai responded, masking his shock with an air of indifference.
"That took you long enough." He moved forward and picked the heavy hammer as if it was nothing.
"Now, your next training is to wield the hammer." He turned and looked at him. He picked a dark reddish ore and placed it on the anvil.
Bang!
He hit the dark reddish ore with the heavy hammer and a deep dent appeared on the ore. "You're going to remove all its impurities by beating it until it becomes smaller like a baby's fist."
"Do you understand?" he asked with a solemn voice.
"I understand." Jun Wu nodded, his eyes burning with fierce determination. No matter what was thrown at him, as long as it made him stronger—
He would do it.
"Good. Get on with it."
With that, Uncle Kai focused on the furnace.
Jun Wu looked at the dark reddish ore and picked up the heavy hammer. With all his strength, he lifted the hammer and struck, hitting the dark reddish ore.
Bang!
His hand trembled, a gasp escaped from his mouth, and he almost lost his grip on the hammer.
From the corner of his eyes, Uncle Kai watched his first strike and smiled before he resumed his work.
Jun Wu gripped the hammer firmly and controlled his breath as he lifted the hammer again.
Bang!
Sparks flew everywhere, but the hammer failed to leave any mark on the dark reddish ore. Jun Wu was not disappointed. On the contrary, his determination grew stronger.
With each strike, sweat fell from his forehead like a broken dam, his breathing uneven and his legs trembled. Yet, he continued to lift the hammer and strike the ore.
Each drop of sweat was a vow — one step closer to vengeance, one swing closer to justice.
Justice for his parents.
At the tenth strike, he heard a notification in his mind and the floating panel changed.
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┃ +10 EXP | Lv 0: 10/100
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┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
┃ New Skill Unlocked: Heavy Swing Lv 0
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Heavy Swing Lv 0 – Deliver a powerful overhead strike with increased force, dealing massive impact damage to sturdy targets.
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Hmm!
Jun Wu was stunned for a second but recovered quickly. He dropped the heavy hammer and took a seat on the hard ground, wiping off the sweat on his forehead.
'Is this a new skill?' He thought for a moment, then his gaze focused on the Level.
His EXP had increased by 10.
'Hmm… So for me to progress, I must use the hammer.' He mused, but he was not sure.
'I need to test it to confirm my guess.'
With that thought, he concentrated on recovering his strength and stamina. After ten minutes, he was back on his feet, he gripped the heavy hammer and raised it above.
As he swung the hammer, he discovered something was different from his previous swing.
Bang!
The dark reddish ore shook slightly and numerous sparks flew everywhere. Although he did not leave a dent on the ore, this strike had more power compared to before.
With firm determination, he raised the hammer and swung it. Inside the workshop, the continuous sound of Jun Wu's hammer echoed.
Uncle Kai had stopped his work and looked at Jun Wu as if he was looking at a monster.
'This strike! How could his swing have such power?' His confusion deepened.
This was not supposed to happen. Jun Wu should have spent three to four months before he could have such a powerful swing.
His mind was full of confusion, but he did not utter any word as he acted as if he saw nothing.
As for Jun Wu, he was lost in the euphoria of the hammer. To him, the more power he had, the more he could make his enemy pay.
Finally, he was exhausted and fell to the ground, breathing heavily. Just then, he heard the notification.
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┃ +20 EXP | Lv 0: 30/100
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┃ Stamina + 1
┃ Strength + 2
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┃ New Skill Unlocked: One-Handed Wield Lv 0
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One-Handed Wield Lv 0 – Allows basic control and balance when using heavy hammers with one hand, reducing stamina drain and recoil.
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Looking at the notification, Jun Wu had a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
Although he did not know what this strange floating panel was, he had a feeling that this thing would aid him in exacting his revenge.
Then he remembered a poem.
Vengeance calls with fire in our veins.
Justice demands its final sweep.
Wisdom whispers, calm and be patient.