Change

Jude calmed down and stood there listening to the conversation between the two. It was almost noon and was getting brighter outside.

Uncle Sam finally stood up and saw the customer to the door.

"Uncle, I have to go now," Jude said while taking his scarf off the clothing stand.

"It’s still very early. You can leave after lunch if you want," Sam said, turning back to Jude.

"You rarely come to visit and Jimmy will be back shortly. You could have a chat with him," he continued.

"Maybe next time. Maria is waiting for me at home." Jude smiled.

"I promised her that I will be back for lunch," he added.

"Fine... Stay safe." Sam chuckled. He patted Jude’s head several times.

"I will," Jude said.

Jude put on his shoes and was about to leave. Suddenly, some warm paper was shoved into his right palm. It was a stack of hundred dollar bills. Jude turned back and saw his smiling uncle.

"Take it. I haven’t seen you in a long time. It’s just some pocket money. Make sure you work hard in school," Sam said.

"I will. Thank you, Uncle. Goodbye." Jude smiled and bowed in gratefulness.

"Come and visit me more often whenever you are free," Sam said.

"I will."

Jude said goodbye and walked down the stairs. He went back to the first floor, where he saw a blond boy wearing a tight white suit standing in the middle of the hall as a torrent of people walked past him. The boy was by a sculpture of a white angel. He saw Jude coming down the stairs and raised his eyebrows.

"Jude, get over here." The boy waved one of his hands while holding a white ball in the other. He dribbled it as he chatted with a black-haired girl who was next to him.

Jude knew the boy. It was his cousin, Jimmy, the son of Sam. He never liked Jimmy and hated his cousin’s self-centered and arrogant personality. Jude scowled and walked toward Jimmy, stopping when he stood about two meters away.

"What did my dad say to you?" Jimmy leaned toward Jude and asked with a light tone.

"Nothing special. He asked me how I was doing recently. I have to go if you have nothing important to say," Jude answered softly.

"Why are you nervous? I am your elder. Could it be that my words are annoying you?" Jimmy raised his eyebrows again and looked at the girl beside him. He felt like he was challenged by his younger cousin.

"I am leaving if you really have nothing else to say. It is lunchtime and Maria is waiting for me at home." Jude did not want to waste his time on Jimmy, so he walked toward the exit. He felt a bit speechless.

"Hey! I am your elder! Stop right there!" Jimmy yelled angrily.

"Jimmy, do you really want to do this?! You don’t want to mess with me!"Jude turned back and frowned as he raised his voice. Although the old Jude was weak, the new Jude would not back down from a situation like this.

"Ha... How dare you speak to me like that? I will teach you what respect is!" Jimmy suddenly tried to slap Jude’s face. He applied martial force to his palm. The strength of the slap was doubled with the use of his combat techniques.

Jimmy, with a roar, motioned toward the left side of Jude’s face.

*Pa*

Jude used his palm to block the attack, their palms colliding with each other in mid air. Their strength level was similar, neither had an advantage during the exchange.

Jude was a bit surprised that his playboy cousin knew any martial arts, but he himself had already reached the first level of professional martial artistry. He applied more force into his palm and angrily pushed it toward Jimmy.

Unable to handle this counterattack, Jimmy took the hit and toppled sideways. He crashed into a middle-aged man beside him and he flushed in embarrassment. Jimmy looked at his right hand, which was already swelling.

"Good... Jude... You are pretty good!" Jimmy said and looked at the girl beside him again.

"You just wait, I’ll make you pay for this!" he yelled.

Jude decided not to waste any more time. He knew that although Jimmy probably learned some martial arts growing up, that there was no way Jimmy could fight him. Jude had bitterly trained himself with incredible fervor. Even if Jimmy wanted to send someone else to beat Jude up, Sam would never allow such a thing to happen.

Save yourself some time. I can’t imagine how disappointed my uncle will be if he sees you fight like this," Jude said as he exited the hallway through a small wooden door. From behind, he could still hear Jimmy crazily yelling curses at him.

Jude returned to the district by the way he came. There were more people on the main road than before and he spent about half an hour getting back to Redtree Street.

He entered the district; the fourth building on the right with a red roof was his home. There was an old gentleman walking down the stairs slowly with a cane in his hand. The stairs were narrow, so Jude stood to the side and waited for the gentleman to exit the building.

The gentleman gave him a friendly smile, but did not say anything. He walked straight toward the parking lot on the right. Though the gentleman needed to support himself with the cane, he was walking carefully at his own pace. His crisp black suit gave him a solemn aura as he walked away.

Jude withdrew his gaze and stepped onto the stairs. He went up the dim stairway and heard footsteps from above, and he peaked through a gap in the stairway. He saw Maria walking upstairs slowly, it seemed she was carrying something very heavy.

"Maria!" he yelled.

"Jude? You’re back? Come help me. I bought a bunch of mangoes." Maria heard the voice, put the groceries down onto the ground, and peeked through the stairway back at Jude. She was still wearing her black dress, the hem of her skirt barely covering her thighs.

"Coming." Jude started to move, but from his angle, he could see something white through the black tights under Maria’s skirt. He started to blush.

"You fool, stop acting like Jimmy!" Maria realized where he was staring at and started to blush as well. She immediately closed her legs tightly.

"You should’ve been careful in the first place!" Jude tried to explain and ran toward her. He held the wooden yellow basket above his chest, holding about 20 fist-sized mangoes in it.

"Am I not being careful?!" Maria yelled with arms akimbo.

"Let’s talk after we get back home!" She realized she was being too loud and looked around to make sure that no one else was there.

Jude shrugged his shoulders and stepped up the stairs again. Maria opened the door with her keys and they quickly entered their home. Jude put the basket down from his hands and ran away after changing his shoes.

*BANG*

Maria slammed the door closed, and raised her fists while still blushing.

"You are dead, Jude!" she yelled and rushed toward Jude. She was faster than Jude, even after his hard training

Maria started to chase Jude in the living room. After about ten seconds, Jude was tripped by Maria and fell down hard to the floor

‘She knows intermediate level martial arts... and it’s even trained using some Secret Art.’ Jude thought while staring speechlessly at Maria. Even though he did not use any martial arts and wasn’t being serious, he could still tell how strong his sister was just by watching her moves. Maria’s martial arts were more about speed and dexterity, while the White Cloud Dojo’s arts were more about bursts of strength. Maria had probably already reached the intermediate level.

Different dojos had different focuses when developing their basic martial arts. Some focused more on strength, some focused more on bursts of damage, some on agility, and some had buffs to stamina, dodging skill, or innate resistances. Their basic martial arts had different names, but were just used for common fights, unlike Secret Arts.

Secret training arts referred to special ways of exercising the body, and different dojos usually developed different versions. For example, the basic martial arts from White Cloud Dojo was not its secret arts, it was just a strength burst technique. Compared to basic martial arts, secret training arts would only be passed down to the true disciples. If these disciples kept exercising their bodies with the secret training arts, most of their attributes, such as strength, burst, agility, resistance, and flexibility, would be constantly increasing.

Jude heard that the disciples of White Cloud Dojo showed their strength during various competitions and that their secret training arts were probably developed to increase their strength. Maria’s speed was ridiculously fast, she had probably used some sort of special training arts to attain this level of speed.

Jude stopped musing and turned his head to the side. From his previous angle, he could again clearly see what was under his sister’s skirt. Jude could see Maria’s long, slim legs through her sheer black tights.

"Of all the people to take after, why do you decide to be so much like Jimmy!" Maria was breathing heavily as she kicked Jude in the chest. Jude’s coat was thick, so Maria was not worried about him getting too hurt.

Jude blinked his eyes and suddenly fiercely pulled at her feet with his hands.

*PONG*

Maria fell on his body and they both groaned in pain.

Jude could smell the girl’s fragrance and her soft breast pushed at the area above his chest. Jude somehow felt a little excited.

"Come on!" Jude stood up while rubbing his stomach.

"What are we having for the lunch?" he asked.

Maria was not paying attention to Jude’s movement and accidentally fell on his chest. She was going to blame Jude, but she started to blush again after realizing she was right above his chest. Jude was much stronger than before and she could feel his chest muscles. Unlike the last time he was tripped by his sister, Jude acted like he did not care instead of getting angry. Maria felt surprised after hearing Jude ask her about lunch and she hesitated for a second before standing up.

"I made sweet bean cake, onion pancakes, and coconut with sweet melon soup," Maria answered as she brushed some dust off her dress.