Martial Arts System

In the backyard that was cleaned from the snow.

A black-haired youth stood in front of a tree while cold wind blew harder and harder.

Surprisingly, the black-haired youth wore only a t-shirt and sweatpants, not wearing any winter clothing.

Every inch of his body trembled because of the cold, but he had no intention of returning to the warmth.

From one of the windows.

Azura looked at the sight with confusion visible on her beautiful face.

''What is he doing?'' She asked, and she could imagine how Ichiro was currently feeling.

A hatred for cold has been rising inside her because of her previous living conditions, where she had to tremble in cold many times.

Seeing the scene currently in front of her eyes made her remember the pain she had to suffer.

''He is a dummy.'' But suddenly, a voice came next to her.

Azura turned her head and saw Ayako peeking outside from the same window.

''He indeed is.'' Azura giggled and looked back at the black-haired youth.

Ayako's eyes sparkled, ''R-Really, you think so?''

Azura nodded with a smile.

''Whenever I call him dummy, my teachers always tell me to be nice towards the legend.'' She pouted while telling the story of her school days, ''My friends usually look at his picture, and I don't understand why… He is a dummy.''

Azura smiled and turned around to look at her mother, who was sitting behind the dining table, ''Mom, do you know what he is trying to do?''

''He is trying to get used to fighting in the cold.'' Alena replied and changed pages in the newspaper, ''It is what Abyss… Used to do.'' Her voice became quiet once she said his name.

Azura nodded and turned around to look at Ichiro.

Back in the backyard.

''F-F-Fucking cold!'' Ichiro tried to look at the notebook in his hand, but his hand trembled, making it almost impossible to read the words he had written.

He was currently standing and freezing because he wanted to create a new technique for his True Iron Style.

''D-D-Damn…'' Looking towards the building and seeing the warm-looking interior, he really wants to return to the house, but that would hinder the progress he was about to have.

'T-Think… Think!' Ichiro closed his eyes, which was rather tricky because his eyelashes were about to get frozen.

The only thought in his mind was about the freezing cold, but that also gave him another idea.

'Cold… M-Maybe… I need to create a technique that allows me to defend against cold… M-Maybe something that allows my body to get warmer…'

He had an idea.

''Whoo… Whoo…'' Ichiro took quick and shaky breaths, but then his muscles bulged explosively, and his veins started popping.

*Ba-Thump!*

*Ba-Thump!*

His heart started pounding rapidly.

Soon, his body started slowly getting warmer, but the cold was still overwhelming.

''M-More!'' Ichiro clenched his right hand into a fist and punched the tree in front of him!

*BAM!*

The thin layer of ice got smashed into pieces.

He wasn't done and punched again!

*BAM!*

Soon, he felt his heartbeat pounding with such speed that it was becoming dangerous.

''Haaahhh… Haahhh…'' Ichiro fell down on his knees, and tiny beads of sweatdrops kept appearing from his pores.

''W-What should I do…'' He gritted his teeth and knew that simply increasing his heartbeat wasn't a long-term solution and might cause more harm than good.

The warmth around his body slowly left him, and the cold was returning.

''Think…'' Ichiro slowly stood up and thought about increasing his heartbeat pace to increase body temperature.

''Wait… Using High Human, my body starts smoking… That happens because my heart is pounding faster… Way faster.'' He remembered about the weird phenomenon of using High Human.

He had done all sorts of tests to ensure that using it won't be harmful to him and knew about the increase in heart rate.

Using it was dangerous, but so were most of Ichiro's techniques.

He knew he needed it to defeat opponents stronger than him and risked everything by using High Human.

''Yes… I already have a technique that allows me to fight against cold…'' A smirk found its way to his face.

He never thought about using High Human to fight against cold, but now it was painfully obvious when he thought about it.

Ichiro patted the snow from his knees and ran back to the building.

He swiftly entered the house and fell down on the kitchen floor with a trembling body.

''F-Fuck…'' He lay on his back while looking at the ceiling.

''You alright?'' Azura crouched next to him and poked his cheek.

''Yup… Cold.'' Ichiro took a sigh and said, ''Well… I now know how to fight in the cold.''

…

New Year passed.

Another year in the Calendar of Titan began.

For weeks without end, Ichiro had trained in the cold and created the basic version of Iron Style.

Iron Style of Fundamentals.

He has already created a training routine for it, and in a matter of days, Azura can start training it.

And he also managed to finish Iron Style of Core and decided to teach only four very crucial techniques at first.

Ironic Edge.

Ironical Destruction.

Ironical Slayer.

Iron Swift.

Mastering those techniques will be an enormous mountain to cross for everyone who wishes to learn Iron Style, but Ichiro knows that a selected few will be able to understand them and go way beyond.

He decided to only add four techniques at first and slowly increase the amount.

Azura was rather excited to start training, but Ichiro wanted to master the Iron Style of Fundamental first and write notes about each technique.

The snow around Irio had started melting away, and the cold weather was slowly leaving.

The rumors about Ichiro returning had spread far, even to nearby Cities, and many had traveled to Irio to see a glimpse of him, but no one saw him.

Rumors about him leaving already had spread, but Kurogami Family's neighbors saw glimpses of him.

Everyone was rather excited about his return, but few were very nervous about what he will do next.

One of them was Police Commissioner, who was, for the first time in a long time, fearful.