Crimson Ladder
Needless to say, Mike had SEVERELY underestimated just how much of an impact his actions would cause.
He was correct about people looking into him after what he did, but the implications of this were a lot worse than he had originally anticipated.
Once more, the seniors could not be bothered by what was happening to their juniors, and the teachers weren’t overly concerned as most of them knew about soone coming in with a scholarship anyway, even if they didn’t know it was Mike specifically.
But the freshers?
"You an to tell that so no-na was acting so presumptuous in front of two people from peak families?!?!"
"This Academy is just accepting anyone. What do you an soone without any backing was allowed to school here?"
"He was so bold each ti. To think he truly doesn’t co from any family. Does he have a death wish?"
"If that’s the case, he screwed! Without an adequate background, no one will have any qualms in offending him since no one can stand up for him."
"You say offend like he is in any position to feel offended by anything we do. I’d say we’d rely be putting him in his place by allowing him to understand he can’t just stand next to us because we are in the sa institution."
"Hey, maybe that’s why he hangs out with that Theresa girl. She’s also a reject. They seem to mix quite well."
As it turns out, Namor had dug into Mike’s background shortly after classes ended and ca up with results pretty quickly. As soon as he learned everything, he didn’t hesitate to post it on the school forums. His status naturally caused his post to be read by a lot of students, and when they understood its contents, they were stunned and outraged.
The idea of schooling with soone who didn’t even co from a family was a notion they found insulting, and now, they were determined to raise hell.
As for the culprit in all this?
Well, once Mike returned to his dorm and–thankfully–didn’t need to interact with his roommate, he went straight into his room and took a shower as he had quite a bit of dirt on himself after the day. He also liked the shower.
He then wore sothing more casual and made himself his dinner, feeling a lot less restricted on what he made now that he knew the school would restock the fridge free of charge every week.
Once he was done eating, he entered his room and lay on his bed, and without hesitation, he opened his watch and entered his main profile.
From the mont he got the ’gift’ from Masha, there had been this faint itch at the back of his mind, urging him to check out what it was. However, he managed to put it off until classes were over.
Not anymore, though.
He saw his student’s profile which was just a picture of him along with the courses he was doing, and under each was a checkbox that had a green arrow, indicating that he’d gone to each class successfully.
He then saw at the top corner of the profile was a notification icon with the number 2 on it, and when he selected that, he saw two notifications.
One was a friend request from Masha with an attachnt under it, and another was from Alice. He knew this because they just used their nas, so it wasn’t hard to differentiate.
Mike completely ignored the one from Alice and focused on what Masha sent. Opening the ssage, he first read the introductory paragraph.
"If you decided to open this, then good. The ’gift’ I sent is in the attachnt below. Other than being unable to see you waste such a good physique, u
I genuinely think your body would be suited for this. So go ahead and open the file, it’s a little sothing I created." Mike blinked at the ssage before looking down.
The attachnt simply said ’Crimson Ladder’. He lingered for a second before he decided to open it.
[Attachnt: Crimson Ladder]
Crimson Ladder is not complicated. That’s what makes it dangerous.
At its core, it’s a combat style with a progressive rhythm that focuses on building montum. Each form is a "step", and with each step taken, both speed and power increase exponentially. The catch? The strain rises just as quickly. If your body isn’t durable enough, it will collapse before the second step. Only soone with a physique tailored to withstand pressure can climb higher.
The Ladder is simple in principle. Keep moving. Keep building. The cleaner the motions, the more power compounds, and the more devastating the damage becos.
Do note that hesitating or pausing will break the chain and set back all your progress. Flow sustained it.
• First Step – Awakening: The entry form. Light acceleration and movent to warm up your body and get it into the groove.
• Second Step – Surge: Speed and Power spikes, and hits beco more potent, but the strain begins.
• Third Step – Crimson Peak: Speed and Power reach inhuman levels. Without good control or a durable body, the user risks ripping their muscles apart.
These are the three forms I’ve made. However, don’t think that ans it is a limit. You can keep the montum going forever in theory, but sustained usage cos at a cost.
Mike read through the introductory part of the attachnt curiously, his eyes widening as he took in every word.
’A combat style...’ He thought with surprise and glee.
How much had he lanted over his lack of a proper combat style? Sothing his fellow classmates all seed to possess but him?
He’d been saying that he would open the virtual library to check out sothing he could use, but this was pretty much a free al on his lap.
’Wait, that’s not right. If what Masha said in this attachnt is true, then while this style is simple, it doesn’t make it easy.’ He temporarily quelled his excitent as he tilted his head, thinking about the style a bit more logically.
Then again, there really wasn’t that much to think about. Masha had explained it all with that introductory part. It was a combat style built on montum. The more montum he had, the stronger and faster he beca, but in return, the higher the strain on his body would be.
’Well, she did say my body seems strong enough, which is why she gave the style in the first place. So I should be able to handle it a little, right?’ He thought as he got off his bed and walked to the door next to his bathroom door. The one that led to the small training room he had.
Mike entered, and the lights automatically ca on. The room wasn’t too big. It was enough for maybe 6 people to stand inside without problems, with a rack by the side for weapons and a control panel near the door.
Mike didn’t know what it did, so he didn’t bother with it for now as he was more focused on the style.
Within the attachnt, there were several instructions pertaining to each "step", and Mike decided to start simple by understanding and executing the first form
[Awakening]
There is no predetermined set of motions one needs to follow when deploying the Crimson Ladder. Instead, one must follow a certain set of core concepts tailored to the style specifically, involving the flow of one’s energy and applying pressure on specific muscles at the beginning that aid in accumulating montum...
It then went on to talk about how one should allow their energy to flow and use it to supplent certain muscles in the body, and, in theory, the rest should co naturally.
Mike read through it and few tis, ensuring he read every step carefully until he had it committed to mory.
’Alright. Seems doable.’ He thought before deactivating his watch and closing his eyes.
He took a few deep breaths and ensured his mind was calm, then, according to the instructions, he focused inward as he began to move his energy.
He didn’t activate his aura, but he channeled his energy through specific parts of his Energy Pathways with a specific motion while focusing on the parts of his body where it said certain muscles were.
It took him a few tries, but he slowly got the hang of it, and it was... slow.
The beginning parts were quite slow, but Mike wasn’t discouraged as the instructions said it would be like this.
Multitasking, Mike kept moving his energy the sa way as he slowly moved his body. When the energy flowed through one of the required muscles, he would move, and to his surprise, his movents were oddly... precise.
It was a bit hard to explain, but whenever he moved a part of his body according to the flow of energy, it was like the energy was guiding his movents, brushing out the inconsistencies and setting him straight.
However, it wasn’t rigid. Energy could flow through a specific part and Mike could choose not to move that part, and nothing would happen, the energy would just keep moving until he moved the next part.
Slowly, ticulously, Mike moved. Punches, kicks, stomps, it was like a slow, heavy dance that was rapidly picking up speed, and Mike had to stop himself from grinning.
’It’s working.’ He thought as he felt the flow of his energy start to pick up, and his movents started to get faster and stronger.
What Mike didn’t know was that a lot of people would get stuck on the first part which was making his energy move in a certain way, as controlling one’s inner energy to flow within specific Pathways at certain speeds was out of the ability of most ability users his age, but he’d started doing it unconsciously.
Sure, it was straightforward, but that didn’t make it easy.
It was a sha that Mike wasn’t aware of what he was capable of. But in ti.
For now, he was gradually picking up speed and power, and when it started going, it would start going.
But that also ant he would soon understand the ’Crimson’ part of the na.
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