The roar of the waterfall drowned the mountain range. No one came here expecting to be heard.Mist clung to the air like ghostly smoke, drifting across the stones and bones at the riverbank. Near the edge of the torrent, a long black-haired boy stood barefoot on cold rock, his feet planted wide, his shoulders steady.His fist struck the boulder.Thud.The stone barely trembled. His knuckles were split, skin raw and swollen from repeated practice.He breathed out slowly and struck again.Thud.This boulder had been here longer than he had. He knew every crack on its surface. For many months, he had returned to it every other day, even when his hands bled, even when his clan members laughed at him openly.A shadow passed over the ground.“Mm?” The boy paused and looked up.High above the waterfall, something vast drifted across the sky. It looked like a wandering cloud at first sight. Then wings beat once, scattering the mist.It was actually a gargantuan swan gliding through invisible

If you believe in your fists, you shall find freedom here.“Who wrote these words on this boulder?” the boy’s voice barely stirred the damp air. He stood before the big stone slab embedded at the heart of the chamber. Time had gnawed at its edges, smoothing the corners, yet the words carved into it remained sharp, as though they refused to fade.“Fists…” he murmured. “Not weapons… Not weapon techniques…”Something in his chest stirred.Beyond the slab, the walls stretched outward, carved from pitch-black stone. The surface wasn’t smooth. It was scarred with fist marks.Hundreds, no, thousands of them.Some shallow. Some deep. Some so violent they seemed to have crushed the stone inward rather than struck it. It was like watching a painting come to life.The boy’s heartbeat quickened.“The Seven-Stellar Mountains used to belong to the Fist Clan,” he muttered, piecing together half-forgotten stories. “Before weapons ruled everything.”“Does that mean these words were written by one of

“What? You don’t want to go with me?” Raha’s face was stricken by confusion. “Are you stupid? There’ll likely be monsters outside. You think you can fight them and make it back home by yourself?”Gunnar’s mouth turned down. “The people at my home won’t miss me.”“Huh?” She stared at him, baffled. “What are you saying? Don’t you have parents and siblings and friends?”“They won’t miss me,” he added. “I want to stay here and become stronger.”“There are no martial art manuals here,” she said. “And you don’t have an instructor, either. How are you going to get stronger, huh?”“I don’t know,” Gunnar said, looking like a stubborn child. “But I think I’m feeling hotter ever since I ate the bananas.”Raha’s eyes widened. “That means… the immortium is affecting you now! The fruits are not just a blessing to you! They’re also a curse! You shouldn’t stay here for long, or your body will break.”“My body is already broken,” Gunnar said. “You should go. I’ve decided to stay here since there’s foo

A few weeks later.POW! POW! POW!Gunnar was moving all around the chamber. He was jumping high and was hitting the fist imprints at all angles without fail.His fists were covered with aura whenever he wanted, and the more he struck the wall, the stronger the crystal lights were flickering.In the past, only one crystal flickered its light with every punch, but his punches now made multiple lights flicker at a time.And the sounds his fists made were matching the noise the water jet made.Ripples formed in the pool even though he was punching the walls dozens of feet away.With every passing day, his strength, power, and skill was significantly improving.He was eating more and putting in more effort than ever before.He was shouting at the top of his lungs as he was giving it his all with every punch.It was extremely draining, but his stamina was now incomparable to when he just started. He could keep going for nearly an hour without stopping.By the time he finished, all the light

Gunnar was a member of the Fist Clan.The Fist Clan’s territory used to be vast in the past, but with every year, they kept losing more and more of their land to the other clans.Even recently, an entire street was taken away overnight by the neighboring Devil Knife clan, which was known for being the home of bandits.Losing this street was a big deal because the Fist Clan had been keeping 11 streets for nearly a decade, and now, losing a commercial street was a big blow to them.This naturally caused a commotion in the clan of nearly 3200 people.At the clanhead’s meeting hall, the four elders were having a heated discussion with the patriarch.“The Devil Knife Clan bastards are acting up like jackals in heat!” the fourth elder hissed.“They got the backing of the Woodcutter Clan,” the third elder growled, “which is why they dared to snatch the Potter street!”“Losing Potter Street is not just some border lost,” the second elder seriously insisted. “Without that street, we’ll lose a