The Iron Den smelled nothing like a gym.
It smelled like rust, mold, blood, and bad investments.
There was no mirrored shine, no bannered displays, no trap music track thumping from ceiling speakers. Just the buzz of cheap bulbs, the soft hiss of rain into the busted skylight, and the distant thump of leather on leather a heavy bag being worked over in the other room.
Jace sat on a sloping wooden bench in the corner, shirt off, body still bruised and taped up from the Pit. His ribs were wrapped in what looked like old battlefield gauze, and his knuckles still bore the skinless reminders of last night's fight.
His vision blurred a little. His entire nervous system vibrated like a city grid after a blackout.
But his eyes never wavered from the glowing panel floating in front of him.
[Martial Ascension System – v0.8 Beta]
User: Jace Takeda
Age: 25
Height: 6'0
Weight:160kg
Weight class:
Fights: 0
Stats:
Strength: D (injured)
Speed: D-
Endurance: E+
Fight IQ: E
Reflex: D
Passive Skill: Pain Tolerance I
Resistance to minor damage under pressure
Temporary Buff: Iron Reboot (23h 11m remaining)
+10% Strength
+20% Recovery Rate
Active Objective:
Test of Iron – Survive 3 Days of Training
Progress: [0%]
Reward: Full System Activation
Penalty: Lockout and Probable Death
[WARNING: Body Status – 46% Damage | Risk of Complications]
Jace gazed.
He'd arrived battered close to death…
to this.
A shattered video game screen. With stats. Buffs. Objectives. A penalty that just read "death."
He'd passed out in a pool of blood, not a VR pod. This wasn't some fantasy, right?
"This…"
he breathed,
"ain't a dream."
The moment the words left his mouth, the UI glowed faintly, like the voice had awakened it. The screen rippled and restructured slightly at his focus.
Too smooth. Too clean. No lag. It was real. Real like a punch to the throat had been real.
[Cognitive Stability: 87%]
[Synaptic Binding – Stable]
Jace blinked. "What the—"
"Already chatting yourself up?" a gravelly voice asked from behind him.
He sat bolt upright in agony striking down the side of his body and the system screen disappeared in an instant, as if it had never been.
Ryuu stood bracing himself in the doorway, chewing on a toothpick, eyes shaded. His sweatshirt was wet with perspiration and his hands curled not for training, but the way they always had been.
Jace gazed. "You… saw it too?"
Ryuu didn't move. Just sat there chewing his toothpick like it was the only thing that would prevent him from chewing on glass.
"I saw it once," he said after a long moment. "Years ago. Thought it was a hallucination. Then I tried to forget it… and it almost killed me."
Jace's heart thudded. "What is it?"
"No idea," Ryuu said. "But it doesn't lie."
He looked away, down to the training floor.
"You have 3 days to wow it or kill yourself trying. You make it, it opens up. You don't, well."
He shrugged nonchalantly.
"That's your final snooze on that bed."
Ryuu handed him a gray hoodie. It smelled of sweat and rain-dampened stench. "Welcome to hell, kid. Let's see if the System is willing to keep you around."
One hour later.
Jace was standing barefoot on chilly mats, the air fresh with the scent of disinfectant and un-washed blood.
Standing before him was a man constructed like a riot shield.
Bald. Thick brow. Pillar-like arms of concrete. No neck, no smile, and eyes that had seen worse than incarceration. His name was stitched on his sweat-soaked shirt.
ABE.
Ryuu leaned outside the chainlink cage, arms crossed. "Survive for one minute. That's all."
Jace cracked his neck. Wraps still around his ribs. No mouthguard. No shin guards. No cup.
"Is this even legal?"
Ryuu grunted. "Who the hell said we were legal?"
Abe shrugged. "You're the guy who pissed blood all over the back lot, right?"
Jace flapped his hands out. "No pressure."
The whistle blew.
Abe burst out.
No feints. No setup. Straight aggression.
Jace barely dodged the first poke but the second slammed into his gut like a sledgehammer. He doubled up, gasping.
[Damage Taken: -6 HP]
[Passive Skill Activated: Pain Tolerance I]
Numbing minor blunt trauma. Adrenaline boosted.
[XP Gained: +3]
He retreated, gasping for air.
Abe didn't give up. He replied with a left hook Jace sidestepped it reflexively and delivered a sloppy counterattack. It brushed Abe's jaw
[XP Earned: +1]
[Strike Logged: Ineffective]
Note: Your stance is lacking in torque. Adjust your stance.
Even while dying, the System criticized him.
"Fuck you too," Jace thought.
Abe smiled, and kicked a knee into Jace's side right on the ribcage.
Jace gasped choked, the agony blinding
[ Critical Hit – Ribs Aggravated: -11 HP]
[System Alert: Internal Bleeding Detected]
Muscle memory stress threshold reached
[XP Gained: +5]
But he didn't fall down.
Instinct took over.
He shot a panicked wrestler's takedown from muscle memory.
Abe sprawled fast, spun his hips, and stuffed it. Jace dropped to the mat.
"Cute," Abe growled.
But Jace didn't stay down.
He rolled, jumped up. The world careened. His lungs burned. The blood in his mouth was thick and tinny.
He threw up his fists again.
Twenty seconds left.
Abe came in again more cautious now. Jace exhausted his gas tank spinning, bending under, throwing a short jab at the liver.
It barely moved Abe.
But it moved something inside the UI.
[XP Gained: +4]
[Note: Target winced. Effective pressure point registered.]
[Muscle Memory Fragment Detected: Takedown Timing I (Locked)]
Then the whistle sounded.
Jace collapsed onto the ground.
He shoved to his knees, head thrown back, mouth agape. Sweat dripped from his jaw like a faucet. He coughed, and blood bubbled up.
He looked down at his hand.
Red.
So red.
"Didn't… expect to last," Ryuu stated, moving closer.
"Neither did I," Jace panted, his whole torso shuddering.
[Test of Iron – Progress: 4%]
[Condition Upgraded: Minor Internal Bleeding | Cough Suppression Recommended]
[Pain XP: +17]
[System Commentary: Resilience observed. Combat reflexes confirmed.]
Ryuu showed no mercy. Just looked at the locker room.
"You spar again in one hour. Then again. Then again. After that maybe we begin real training."
Jace snarled, spat on the floor, and heaved himself to his feet.
"Good," he breathed. "I'm just getting started."
Later that evening.
Jace lay on the mat, t-shirt wet, body convulsing.
He'd done four rounds of sparring, and each had been worse than the last. No wins. Only second-by-second survival. Double vision, split lips, and the world seemed to have a heartbeat that wasn't in sync with his.
His system display hovered above him like a judge at sentencing.
[Test of Iron – Progress: 11%]
[XP Gained: +52]
[New Passive Unlocked: Endure I]
Grants stun resistance in low health states
[Body Status: 62% Damage | Warning: System fatigue rising]