Every time Fang Wen completed a mission, he got one chance to draw one of his own skills.
So more skills was not always better. Too many useless skills would also lower the odds of pulling something important.
That was why he had been saving Morning Star's draws and hadn't used them yet.
"What are you spacing out for?"
"Oh—right, Senior Qingyi, please continue."
Fang Wen snapped back to attention and fixed his gaze on Qingyi's movements.
He had to admit Qingyi's perception was absurd. A teacher like her could notice a distracted student even without turning around.
Crystal-Clear Senses was just way too useful.
Qingyi shot him another glance, and Fang Wen immediately sat up straighter.
Come to think of it, both he and Qingyi were currently wearing rather loose trainee-style martial arts robes, which still felt a bit strange to him.
Partly because it really was his first time wearing clothes like this—the loose fabric rubbing against his skin made him uncomfortable.
And partly because…
Qingyi! Could you at least wear underwear?! You're flashing me!
As Qingyi kept swinging the wooden spear, her sleeves flew up with the motion, and every now and then Fang Wen's line of sight could slip through the wide sleeves into what he mentally called the realm of the gods.
Sure, there wasn't much in the way of curves—which cost a few points—but overall, still highly rated!
"Where exactly are you looking?"
"Uh… haha, the weather's really nice today~"
"…Have you forgotten we're underground right now?"
Qingyi sighed.
"Never mind. Start with the basics."
Fang Wen nodded, finally forcing aside the distracting thoughts in his head and focusing on the movements.
Horse stance.
"This posture strengthens the stability of your lower body. For a spear user, footwork and bodily stability are extremely important."
Mm. Don't really get it, but whatever—just do it.
Fang Wen spread his legs, sank his waist, tried to get his thighs parallel to the ground, and fixed his eyes straight ahead.
"Not bad. Looks like you haven't forgotten everything."
Back at the police academy, this sort of foundational drill had been part of daily training in the early phase. The sessions usually weren't too long, since there were so many other classes to take.
After that, it depended entirely on self-discipline.
Fang Wen had actually done alright. At the very least, he had kept it up every day without missing a session.
For a simple horse stance, he could usually hold for about fifteen minutes in one go. The price was that his legs would shake for days afterward.
After correcting a few small flaws in Fang Wen's posture, Qingyi calmly brewed herself another pot of tea.
"By the way, why are we wearing this sort of outfit?" Fang Wen finally asked, using the brief moment when they could both still speak.
"Oh? So you've been thinking about that?" Qingyi tugged lightly at her pure white robe.
"In the old era, when a master taught a disciple, they would usually dress like this."
Fang Wen raised an eyebrow.
"So the master dressed the same as the student?"
"There may have been some differences, perhaps, but…" Qingyi took a sip of tea. "On the endless road of spearsmanship, I cannot truly be called your master."
"At most, I suppose I'm just a senior sister helping you along."
"Uh, but Qingyi, you're a woman old enough to be my martial great-grandmaster…"
"Mm, very good. You can stay in that stance for another half hour."
Qingyi drained the rest of her tea and smiled as she tapped the floor with the butt of her spear.
"The day is still young. Your fundamentals must be solid."
"…I was wrong."
Hearing that, Fang Wen immediately pulled a long face.
Training was suffering.
By the time Fang Wen walked out of the police station, his legs were shaking so hard they were practically breakdancing.
When the warm sunlight hit his body, he felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude.
Praise the sun. It's good to be alive!
[Completed "Qingyi's Special Training."]
[Reward: Denny x3000, Qingyi Affection +0. Current Affection: 39.]
Hm? That one was stuck at 39 too.
Fang Wen guessed that breaking past 39 probably required some special condition or event. But for now, as long as friendship didn't start mutating, that was a good thing.
As for special events… he'd deal with them when they came.
"Welcome! What can I get for you?" The moment he walked in, Fang Wen heard Belle's bright, energetic voice.
"Yo, I'm here to return some stuff." Fang Wen forced out a smile. If his legs hadn't still been trembling, he would have looked perfectly normal.
He still had quite a few borrowed things he hadn't returned yet.
"This is the videotape Qingyi borrowed, and this old projector too."
"Sorry, I'm a few days late." Even though the relationship between the three of them was probably better than outsiders could imagine, exceptions like this still couldn't become a norm. Otherwise everything would descend into chaos.
"Wen-ge, your timing's perfect. There are actually a few things we wanted to talk to you about."
"Mm, sure. I'll take the chance to rest a bit too." Fang Wen nodded and headed upstairs with the ease of someone familiar with the place.
Zhe's room was locked, so Fang Wen turned and went straight into Belle's bedroom.
The moment he dropped onto the sofa, all strength seemed to drain out of him. He melted bonelessly into the soft cushions like a limp strip of fried chicken.
Right now, he genuinely did not want to move another inch.
Figuring Zhe and Belle would still need a while before they came upstairs, Fang Wen decided to check today's gains.
[Learned Skill: White — Spear Basics (Proficiency 5/100)]
This was the first time Fang Wen had seen a skill with an explicit proficiency meter. According to the panel, once proficiency hit the cap, there was a chance the skill could break through to the next rank.
Compared to ordinary skill upgrades, it was far more troublesome.
But at the same time, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
[Proficiency is an exclusive marker for skills with at least Epic-tier potential.]
If that was the case, then it made sense—because this was the first and only skill he had obtained so far that could potentially reach Epic tier.
Still, why other skills couldn't reach Epic tier was a question worth thinking about.
"After all that suffering, at least it wasn't for nothing." Fang Wen smacked his lips and let out a sigh.
High potential was a good thing, but improving it was painfully slow.
To make sure he gained something every day, Fang Wen decisively used up both of today's self-skill draws from the two completed missions.
[Drew duplicate skill — Driving Basics (White).]
[Driving Basics (White) → Driving Proficiency (Green)]
[Driving Proficiency (Green): You can skillfully operate all vehicles with ease—whether they fly in the sky, swim in water, or run on land.]
A huge flood of driving experience instantly poured into Fang Wen's mind, so much that he had to rub his temples. But after half a minute, he recovered.
Fang Wen merely raised an eyebrow at the appearance of this skill, then quickly accepted it.
It wasn't something he relied on to make a living. At best, it might come in handy under certain circumstances. Overall, not especially useful.
[Drew duplicate skill — Master Coordination (Blue)]
[Master Coordination (Blue) → Master Coordination (Blue+1)]
[Master Coordination (Blue+1): Your body moves exactly as you command it. Your coordination is on par with a professional acrobat. (You can easily perform high-difficulty movements.)]
Good!
This was the first time he had ever pulled a blue-tier skill from himself!
And it was directly related to the thing he cared about most—his ability to control the strength he had gained.
In truth, during his last sparring match, Fang Wen had already realized something: the fact that he could fully master his rapidly improved combat skills within a month already counted as fast.
But now, he could clearly feel that his control over his own body had gone up another level.
At most five days.
In five days, Fang Wen could become the third strongest combatant in the Janus District Public Security Bureau.
Quietly getting stronger. No gunfire, no noise.
Fang Wen grinned to himself, then casually opened the skill panel to examine all of the abilities he currently possessed.
More accurately, this was the first time Fang Wen had systematically reviewed all of his skills, so he read them with unusual seriousness.
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