The hidden courtyard lay silent, moonlight spilling over cracked stone and half-shattered training dummies. It was a place only Asura knew, tucked deep within the citadel's grounds. Here, he could experiment without Selene fussing or guards whispering.
He cracked his neck, rolled his shoulders, and exhaled. His golden eyes gleamed faintly in the dark.
"…Alright. Time to test a theory."
When he was younger—barely learning to swing a stick—he had shouted out every over-the-top anime attack he remembered. Energy beams, giant flares, world-ending bombs. Some had worked, some had blown holes in walls, and others… nothing. The Reminiscence Codex never lit up, never triggered, never acknowledged those attempts.
But now? Now he was thinking about something different. Something simpler.
"Not flashy attacks… but the movements themselves."
A grin tugged at his lips.
He stepped into the open courtyard and—without hesitation—spread his legs wide, arms stretched to either side, twisting his torso dramatically.
"HYAAAAH!"
It was ridiculous. The infamous warm-up stretch from his old world's favorite martial arts anime. He held it for a second, even bouncing lightly on his toes. Then he switched poses, rotating his arms, stretching one side then the other.
"…Okay," he muttered, "now I feel like an actual protagonist warming up for a tournament arc."
He raised his fists, took a stance, and lunged forward.
His first punches were sloppy—childlike swings that would've made Selene bury her face in her hands. But as he moved, something clicked. His arms stopped flailing, his strikes grew sharper. He flowed from punches into kicks, footwork adjusting naturally as if muscle memory was waking up from another life.
The air cracked with each strike. Sweat gathered on his brow. His golden eyes narrowed in focus.
Then—
DING!
New Skill Acquired – Martial Arts (Beginner Lv. 1)
Source: Reminiscence Codex
EXP Gained: +220
STR +10 | AGI +12 | VIT +5
Asura froze, his grin stretching wide. "It worked… it actually worked!"
He jumped back, laughing breathlessly. "All this time I thought it only worked on skills and flashy stuff—but it works on techniques too! Martial arts… unlocked from memory!"
He slammed his fists together, giddy as the system chimed softly with each repetition of practice, granting him little trickles of EXP. It wasn't much, but it was steady, and every boost nudged his stats higher.
"…This changes everything," he whispered, eyes gleaming like molten gold. "Not just beams or spells. Entire fighting styles. Every move I ever watched, every form I ever read… I can make them mine."
He dropped into a stance again, knuckles tightening, a grin splitting his face.
"Alright then. Round two."
✦ Round Two – Muscle Memory
Asura's bare feet padded across the cracked courtyard stone, the faint scrape of his black wooden geta sandals set aside at the edge. His chest rose and fell in steady rhythm, golden eyes gleaming in the moonlight. Sweat already slicked his skin from the warm-up, but his grin hadn't dimmed in the slightest.
"…Alright. Let's test the theory."
He raised his fists again—this time not just swinging randomly, but focusing. He remembered how it looked from anime, manga, even movies. But that was all in his head. His first martial arts breakthrough had come when he moved first, thought later. When his body engraved the motion and fed it back into his mind.
Not memory into muscle. Muscle into memory.
He stepped forward, bouncing on his toes like he'd seen in a kickboxing match years ago. Jab, jab, cross. A sloppy hook. His body swayed awkwardly, his weight off balance—until he forced himself to repeat. Over and over. Faster. Cleaner. He let the sweat drip, his shoulders loosen, his hips snap with each strike.
DING!
Skill Progression – Kickboxing (Beginner Lv. 1)
+350 EXP gained
AGI +800 | STR +500
He froze mid-combo, then burst out laughing. "It worked again! Okay, okay, don't think too hard—just keep going!"
He shifted. Feet apart. One hand raised higher, the other guarding lower. He inhaled and mimicked the rigid, sharp stances of taekwondo fighters. High kicks. Spinning kicks. His first attempts nearly spun him into the dirt, but he grit his teeth, repeating until his legs moved smoother, higher, sharper. His balance adjusted with each stumble.
DING!
Skill Acquired – Taekwondo (Beginner Lv. 1)
AGI +1200 | DEX +600
Asura pumped his fist. "Yes! That's two!"
He pivoted quickly, excitement buzzing in his veins. Next—judo. He remembered clips of throws, the way fighters used leverage, not raw strength. He grabbed a battered wooden dummy, hooked his arm, shifted his weight—only to topple himself over.
He groaned, sprawled flat on the cracked ground. "…That's… fine. Totally intentional. Protagonist fall gag."
He tried again. And again. Dozens of times until his breathing came ragged. Then—his body suddenly understood the rhythm. A hip twist, a sharp pull, and the dummy flipped cleanly over his shoulder, slamming into the stone.
DING!
Skill Acquired – Judo (Beginner Lv. 1)
VIT +800 | STR +400
Asura stood panting, sweat dripping into his eyes. His golden gaze burned hotter. So it's true. If I let my body carve the motion, my mind catches up. The Codex recognizes it… and engraves it as a skill.
He didn't stop. Karate strikes came next, his fists driving forward in clean, disciplined lines. Elbow smashes, knife-hand chops. Each repetition honed sharper until—
DING!
Skill Acquired – Karate (Beginner Lv. 1)
STR +1000 | WIS +300
Then came Muay Thai knees, vicious elbows, the grinding clinch work he had once seen in grainy matches. His shins slammed into a cracked pillar, pain shooting up his leg—until he forced himself again. And again. His bones screamed, but his grin never faltered.
DING!
Skill Acquired – Muay Thai (Beginner Lv. 1)
STR +600 | AGI +800
By now his body ached, trembling from strain, but he wasn't finished. He dropped low, remembering flashes of grappling matches—rolling, sweeping, twisting into holds. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. His small frame wrestled the dummy like a predator locking prey. Chokeholds, armbars, pins. He sweated, cursed, laughed through the fumbling awkwardness until finally—
DING!
Skill Acquired – Grappling (Beginner Lv. 1)
VIT +1000 | STR +500 | AGI +300
Asura collapsed onto his back, arms sprawled wide, chest heaving. The moon above shimmered through drifting clouds, and his system screen hovered faintly in golden text.
System Summary
Martial Arts Styles Unlocked: 6
• Kickboxing
• Taekwondo
• Judo
• Karate
• Muay Thai
• Grappling
EXP Gained: +8,600
Stats Increased Across Board
He wheezed, then started laughing uncontrollably. "Ha… hahaha! I knew it! I actually knew it! It's not about remembering—it's about engraving it here first!"
He tapped his chest, then pointed to his head. "Body writes it down. Brain copies the notes. Codex accepts. Boom—instant protagonist upgrade!"
His golden eyes flared in the moonlight. Despite his exhaustion, his grin stretched sharp and fierce.
"…If I can master styles just by training them out of memory… then I can forge my own martial arts from scratch."
The thought made him shiver with excitement. His bare feet pressed against the cracked stone as he sat up again, still aching, but already itching for more.
"…Round three's gonna be wild."
✦ The First Fusion – Flow and Strike
He slid into a loose kickboxing stance, bouncing lightly, then abruptly snapped into a karate chop—followed by a Muay Thai knee straight into the dummy's chest. The rhythm should have broken. But instead—something clicked. His body flowed between strikes with frightening ease.
DING!
Skill Fusion Detected – Flowing Strike Arts Lv. 1
(Mixes striking precision of Karate with the fluid aggression of Kickboxing and Muay Thai.)
STR +1200 | +AGI +1000
Asura's grin widened. "Yesss! I knew it would work!"
✦ The Second Fusion – Throw and Break
He grabbed the dummy again, hips turning for a judo throw. But as it hit the ground, he dropped into a jiu-jitsu lock, twisting its "arm" until the wood cracked. His body moved like it had been born for it.
DING!
Skill Fusion Detected – Submission Arts Lv. 1
(Utilizes throws to transition into devastating holds and locks.)
VIT +1000 | +STR +800
"Ha!" He pumped his fist. "Grappling DLC unlocked!"
✦ The Third Fusion – Kick of the Demon
He raised his leg for a taekwondo high kick—then spun midair, snapping the arc into a Muay Thai shin strike. The sound cracked through the courtyard as the pillar splintered.
DING!
Skill Fusion Detected – Demon Kick Style Lv. 1
(Fuses taekwondo's grace with Muay Thai's brutality. High kicks evolve into bone-crushing strikes.)
AGI +1500 | +STR +1600
Asura landed in a crouch, golden hair clinging to his forehead with sweat. His chest rose and fell with ragged breaths—but his grin was manic.
"…This is insane. I'm literally making my own fighting game character here."
✦ The Breakthrough – Martial Demon Arts
He didn't stop. His body shifted from punches to throws, from locks to kicks. A flurry of kickboxing jabs flowed into a judo throw. A high taekwondo spin crashed into a ground submission. His body blurred with movement, sweat flying, the courtyard cracking with each blow.
The system chimed again—louder this time.
DING!
Skill Evolution – Martial Demon Arts (Prototype Lv. 1)
(A fusion style born of instinct, memory, and raw demonic power. Allows seamless chaining of martial arts techniques across all known styles. Potential: Limitless.)
STR +1200 | +AGI +1200 | +VIT +1200
Asura collapsed to one knee, panting hard, his chest heaving like he'd run miles. But his golden eyes burned hotter than ever.
"…It worked." He whispered, voice trembling with both exhaustion and triumph. "I actually… made my own martial art."
He flopped back onto the cracked stone, arms sprawled out, staring at the moon. A chuckle bubbled up, turning into full-blown laughter.
"Ha…hahaha! Demon Martial Arts, huh? Guess I just leveled up from anime protagonist to final boss training arc!"
The system chimed again softly, almost like it was humoring him.
EXP +1,200 gained. Martial Demon Arts Lv. 1 → Lv. 2.
Asura's golden eyes flicked closed, but the grin never left his face. Even while aching and half-dead with exhaustion, he knew one truth:
This was only the beginning.
✦ Collapse in the Courtyard
The moon was high when Selene finally found him. The courtyard was cracked and scarred, training dummies splintered and pillars half-broken from relentless punishment.
And in the middle of it all lay Asura.
Flat on his back, arms sprawled wide, golden eyes half-lidded but still glowing faintly, his bare chest rising and falling with ragged breaths. A crooked grin played across his lips, even as sweat soaked his hair and his geta sandals had been kicked off somewhere mid-fight.
Selene's heart dropped.
"Young master!" she cried, rushing across the ruined stone. She dropped to her knees beside him, hands hovering as if she couldn't decide whether to shake him or heal him.
Asura tilted his head lazily toward her, that mischievous glint never quite leaving his eyes. "Oh hey, Selene. Guess what?" He coughed once, then chuckled. "I invented… Demon Martial Arts. Pretty cool, right?"
Her violet eyes narrowed with both fear and exasperation. "You look half-dead again, and you're smiling about it?!"
"I mean…" He weakly lifted a fist, then let it flop against the ground. "…it worked."
Selene pressed her lips tight, her anger smothered by the relief that washed through her. She gently brushed damp hair from his forehead, whispering, "One day, you will push yourself too far…"
Asura's eyes fluttered shut, but his voice was still playful, still childlike despite his exhaustion. "Nah. Protagonists don't die in training arcs…"
Selene stared at him in disbelief. "…What are you even talking about?"
But his breathing had already deepened into a tired, peaceful rhythm.
✦ The Demon King's Watch
Far above, in the highest tower of the citadel, the Demon King stood at the balcony. His crimson eyes burned as he gazed toward the training courtyard far below. He hadn't needed to see the fight to know what had happened. The ripples of Asura's mana had reached him—wild, unshaped, yet growing sharper with every day.
He clasped one clawed hand behind his back, his mantle stirring in the night air.
"…Martial arts now, is it?" he murmured, voice low as thunder. "That boy devours everything he touches."
For the first time in centuries, the Demon King felt something like unease curl in his chest. Pride, yes. But unease, too.
If the boy grew at this pace, he would surpass demons, humans, even the lords of heaven and hell.
The flames of the torches below bent subtly toward the throne tower, as if drawn by the weight of his thoughts. His voice rumbled like a promise to the world itself:
"Rise higher, Asura. But know this—power without control destroys more than enemies."
His gaze hardened, piercing the darkness beyond the horizon where human kingdoms whispered in secret.
"And if they move against you again… then all realms will remember why they fear demons."
The night wind howled, carrying his words into the void.