The ice storm raged without mercy.
Winds tore across the village, spraying frozen shards like razors. Snow piled halfway up the wooden fences, and the sky churned with a thick, gray fury. Most people didn't dare leave their homes.
But Ren stepped out anyway.
His breath turned white before it left his lips.
The cold gnawed into his bones.The storm pressed against him like a living beast.His muscles tensed from instinct alone.
Perfect…This was exactly the environment he needed.
Ren removed the outer layer of his cloak, letting the cold slam into him fully.
If he wanted to raise Endurance…If he wanted to strengthen his instincts…If he wanted to sharpen mana control…
Then he needed pressure.
He began with controlled breathing.
Not meditation — not magic.
Just breath training.
Inhale for two steps.
Hold for one.
xhale for three.
The storm made it harder, the air stabbing at his lungs, but the rhythm never broke.
His muscles gradually loosened.
His senses expanded.
[ Endurance +1 ]
[ Endurance +1 ]
Ren planted his feet in the deep snow and began moving.
Slow.Precise.Repeating the same movements hundreds of times.
Stance transitions.
Guard shifts.
Weight redistribution on unstable ground.
Each movement fought against the wind and ice.
A sudden gust?
Shift balance.
A snow clump slipping beneath his boot?Redirect momentum.
Ice cracking under him?
Jump lightly, land soft.
Combat Instinct sharpened every second.
Not through battle — but through adaptation.
It wasn't flashy.
It wasn't heroic.
It was repetition.
Thousands of repetitions.
His sword arm burned, numb from cold.
His legs trembled from pushing against the wind.
His fingers stiffened, but he never stopped.
[ Combat Instinct (Expert) — Progress: 94% → 97% ]
Almost there.
Ren stepped deeper into the storm.
Mana responded to emotions, pressure, and control — not chanting, not forced imagination.His affinity reacted instinctively.
He started with the element he understood best.
The freezing wind made fire unstable.
Perfect practice material.
Ren raised his hand and let mana flow into his palm.
A spark flickered — weak, fragile, fighting against the storm's fury.
He didn't "visualize flame."
He didn't chant "fireball."
He simply controlled the mana's temperature.
He pushed, hardened it, forced it hotter.
The spark grew — steady, not bright.
The wind tried to extinguish it.
But Ren held it in place through pure control.
Heat surged against the storm.
The magic trembled…Resisted…Strengthened.
And the moment the flame grew too wild, he compressed it again.
Over and over.
Suppress.
Stabilize.
Reignite.
Stabilize.
Each repetition built a deeper bond with the element.
[ Elemental Magic (Fire Control): 21% → 34% ]
Water was everywhere — snow, air moisture, ice crystals.
Perfect.
Ren shifted mana through his arm and brushed it across the falling snow. The flakes slowed for a heartbeat, moving in a strange arc around him.
Not a spell.
Not an attack.
Just manipulation of surrounding water.
He closed his fist.
Mana tightened.
Snow near him compacted into frost.
He released it.
The frost broke into powder.
Water magic stabilized.
He repeated it hundreds of times until the motion felt instinctive.
[ Elemental Magic (Water Control): 17% → 29% ]
Wind magic aligned naturally with the storm.
He nudged it.
Redirected a gust by a mere centimeter.
Shifted pressure around his shoulders to reduce drag.
Small movements.
Barely noticeable.
But each micro-adjustment improved micro-control.
[ Elemental Magic (Wind Control): 13% → 22% ]
Earth was the hardest.
He stomped lightly, letting mana seep downward. He felt the ground's faint vibration beneath the ice — grainy, uneven, heavy.
He focused on that density and strengthened the mana in his legs.
A rough, thin layer of hardened mana coated his boots for a moment before breaking off.
Not good enough.
Again.
And again.
[ Elemental Magic (Earth Control): 9% → 16% ]
Ren repeated the cycle:
Fire → Water → Wind → Earth
Fire → Water → Wind → Earth
Over and over.
Hours passed.
Mana drained.
His fingers bled from cold.
His muscles screamed.
But the storm made each element harder — and therefore, more effective.
Eventually, his entire mana pool felt stretched thin.
Not exhausted — sharpened.
[ Elemental Magic Lv.1 — Overall Elemental Control: 19% → 41% ]
Still far from the 100% needed to reach Level 2.
But for a single day?
The progress was terrifying.
Ren exhaled deeply.
One last push.
He raised both hands.
Fire in one palm.
Water in the other.
Two opposite elements.
The storm around him warped — heat and cold colliding violently. The pressure was enormous. The natural world pushed back.
Ren clenched his teeth.
Held both spells stable.
His mana roared inside him — heavy, burning, freezing, wild.
Finally, after nearly a minute of resistance, he let the magic collapse gently rather than explode.
Snow blasted outward.
He fell to one knee, panting.
And the system chimed softly—
[ Combat Instinct (Expert) → Progress: 100% ]
[ Combat Instinct evolved to: Master proficienecy]
[ Elemental Magic — Fire: 34% → 39% ]
[ Elemental Magic — Water: 29% → 35% ]
[ Elemental Magic — Wind: 22% → 28% ]
[ Elemental Magic — Earth: 16% → 25% ]
When Ren finally limped back through the door, he was soaked in sleet and frost.
Lyra was waiting with firewood.
The siblings were waiting with blankets.
They all froze when they saw him.
"R-Ren?!"
"You look like a snow spirit!"
"Are you even alive?!" Mira shouted.
Ren gave a weak grin.
"Training."
Lyra stomped forward."You're INSANE!"
But she still wrapped a warm cloth around his hands, worry pouring from her eyes.
He didn't argue.
He was too tired.
Tomorrow… would be even harder.
But today, he carved another layer of strength into himself.
The room was dim except for the faint glow of the moon spilling through the fox-carved window. Ren lay buried beneath the heavy winter blanket, Lyra pressed against his left shoulder, his three younger siblings curled around him like a nest of sleepy animals. Their soft breathing filled the quiet room.
Ren should have slept. His body demanded it—aching muscles, fatigued mind, mana pathways tender from overuse. But even as his eyelids drooped, a thought nudged at him, refusing to let go.
What did I gain… after Master Proficiency awakened?
He breathed out slowly, careful not to wake anyone, and summoned the familiar blue panel in silence.
A whisper flickered in front of him.
[Master Proficiency — Combat Instinct (Evolution Complete)]
Type: Mixed (Passive + Active)
Active Effects
• Hand-to-Hand Combat Style (Modern Earth – Tier 1)A complete foundational skill derived from Earth's military close-quarters training:– Proper stance & weight distribution– Joint locking fundamentals– Power-efficient striking motions– Grappling control basics
• Classic Swordsmanship Style (Tier 1)A traditional sword combat style using footwork, controlled momentum, single-target efficiency, and precision-based movement.
Passive Effects
• Iron Fist+1 Strength per level
• Conquerer Body+1 Endurance per level
• Reflex+1 Agility per level
• Overflowing Might+25% bonus physical damage
Ren blinked.
Then blinked again.
"…Holy…" he mouthed silently.
He felt none of the usual system hum or glow. No rush of energy. No magical flare. It was quiet—like something inside him had simply clicked into the correct place.
But the difference was there.
Deep.
Fundamental.
This wasn't just a skill. It was a foundation.A complete combat base that Earth's elite soldiers trained years for—compressed into structured instinctual knowledge.
Ren subtly flexed his hand beneath the blanket.
The weight distribution in his shoulders effortlessly corrected itself.
His fingers curled with the exact angle needed for a stabilized first knuckle strike.
His breathing slowed into the rhythm used to maintain adrenaline control and maximize oxygen flow.
Everything flowed naturally… subconsciously… without forcing it.
So this is Master Proficiency…
Even without moving, he could feel where his center of gravity should be, where to tighten his core, how his hips should rotate for maximum output.It wasn't power—it was technique. Technique that multiplied whatever power he had.
A faint smile touched the corner of his lips.
But the moment he looked deeper, the smile faded.
The stat increases weren't small.They would compound with every level.
And yet…
He needed more. Much more.
The Earth Golem fight replayed in his mind—the weight, the crushing force, the moment he almost lost control of his Water Spiral, the exhaustion that nearly killed him.
Ren exhaled carefully.His siblings shifted slightly, and he froze until they settled again.
Tomorrow… training starts again. Harder.
Elemental Control had to reach 100% mastery for all elemental branches before it could evolve to Elemental Magic Lv.2.
Fire.Water.Earth.Wind.Lightning.Ice.Light.Darkness.Nature.
And maybe more he hadn't unlocked yet.
Even now, lying in bed, he could feel the faint pull of fire and water the strongest—his natural affinity burned brightly with those two. But the other elements sat faintly in the background like distant echoes, harder to move, harder to grasp.
"I need all of them…"He mouthed the words.
Because next time, it wouldn't just be a Earth Golem.And not all enemies would have fire or water weakness.Some might resist them.Some might be immune.Some might even use them better than him.
Full mastery wasn't an option.It was a requirement.
His hand gently brushed Lyra's head as she snuggled closer.
A warmth bloomed in his chest.
Not magic—just emotion.
A quiet vow formed inside him:
"I'll become strong enough that we never get cornered again."
Not just for himself.Not for pride.But for these people—the ones who depended on him.
He needed stronger mana control.
More refined elemental shaping.
A deeper subconscious understanding of all nine elements.
And physical strength that matched it.
Master Proficiency had given him the first step—but it was only a step.
His eyes drooped again.
This time, sleep slowly—hesitantly—accepted him.
Right before he drifted off, the system flickered one last time.
[You have awakened the foundation of True Combat Arts.]
[Training efficiency increased by 15%.]
Ren barely registered it as his breathing deepened and the warm pile of siblings pulled him into a peaceful slumber.
Tomorrow… the real grind begins.