Mark Victor quickly arrived at the number 20 comprehensive training room.
He saw the sallow-faced youth, who had arrived even earlier than he had.
"Hello." Mark Victor greeted him.
Having already noticed him, Chen Mu responded, "Hello, Mr. Mark Victor."
"Then let's get started."
Mark Victor wasn't planning to waste any time. If he were to procrastinate for fifty points an hour, he would be letting down the pay.
"Show me all the close-combat card artisan skills you know." Mark Victor followed.
But contrary to his expectations, the youth shook his head, "I'm sorry, I'm a novice.
Mr. Mark Victor. "
Mark Victor was taken aback, and immediately stared at Chen Mu, saying with some displeasure, "Please don't joke around. Our time is very expensive." Fifty points an hour could naturally be considered expensive.
He felt that the youth in front of him was making fun of him. Novice?
Were there any novice at this base?
How could there be room for a novice to survive in such a place where aces ran amok?
"I'm not joking, I'm a card master."
Chen Mu's expression was calm, not the least bit flustered in front of Mark Victor, "I'm interested in close-combat card artisans, so I want to learn a bit."
"You're a card master?"
Mark Victor looked at the youth a little suspiciously, only then noticing that he didn't have the slightest bit of the aura of a card artisan on him.
He had to be a novice, and he couldn't help but frown.
Although he had given pointers to a few of the close-combat card artisans when he had been the head of the card artisan firm, he had never taught a complete novice.
"I suggest you find a novice close-combat card artisan who specializes in teaching newcomers. Although they aren't very powerful, they are more disciplined in their teaching, and more professional." Mark Victor gave a pertinent suggestion.
Chen Mu's eyes flashed a look of appreciation as he wasn't moved by the high pay, and on the contrary would give his employer a pertinent suggestion.
But he interrupted Mark Victor, "Are there any novice close-combat card artisans who specialize in teaching here?
Mr. Mark Victor. "
Mark Victor was taken aback, and then smiled bitterly. Yes, where would there be any novice close-combat card artisans?
Not to mention those who specialize in teaching close-combat card artisans.
He squinted at Chen Mu.
He found it a little strange that a card master would be interested in close-combat card artisans, which was a little incomprehensible.
To be willing to pay such a high price for it was even more inconceivable to him.
However, he didn't ask any more questions. This was the freedom of the employer.
Even if the employer wanted to waste his contribution points, he would not ask why.
He didn't mind teaching novices, as long as his profits didn't change.
"Alright." Mark Victor's expression became serious, "Since that's the case, I'll accept this commission.
However, I can only draw up a training plan for you based on my understanding of close combat.
If either of us finds it inappropriate, both of us have the right to terminate this commission. What do you think? "
The implication was that if Chen Mu didn't cooperate, then he wouldn't do it.
"No problem." Chen Mu readily agreed.
"Let's start with dodging in a small area."
Mark Victor was a very professional person, and he quickly got into the zone. "Perhaps you don't understand why, but from my experience, in actual combat, this is the most important point.
You need to know how to avoid the enemy's attacks and patiently close the distance between you and the opponent.
Of course, if you have a powerful defense card, you can naturally choose a more direct method.
But that's a meat shield, not a close-combat card artisan. "
He was starting from the point of view of actual combat.
That young card master clearly wasn't there for some fancy stuff.
Compared to close-combat, it was like comparing a bumpkin to a finely dressed aristocrat.
When a long-range card artisan fought, it was always accompanied by a dazzling light and shadow, as well as a soul-stirring shriek. Their dancing postures in the air were elegant and captivating.
But for close-combat card artisans, they had to be used to lurking in the mud, and they had to be used to dodging in a panic under the rain of attacks. Even in the split second that decided victory or defeat, that imperceptible glow was always hard to detect.
The Ning family had been so busy during that time that it could be seen from Ning Peng. He was so busy that his feet hardly touched the ground.
His shiny bald head shone even more brilliantly.
The Zuo family was a rival of similar strength to the Ning family.
It was like a beast suddenly swallowing a beast of the same size as itself. It would take a long time for the beast to digest.
The Ning family was in the same state of digestion.
Being the backbone of the power, Ning Peng's generation was naturally swamped.
Bo Wen was leisurely strolling around the base, his mind going back to the scene of Will's demonstration of that card that day.
A hundred blades wasn't a bad name, and it was a pretty good card.
He wasn't familiar with close-combat card artisans, and so he wasn't familiar with close-combat cards either.
Born in the Eastern Ning Family, he had seen countless cards. He had even seen five-star cards.
It was reasonable to say that such a card wouldn't mean much to him.
But the strange thing was that ever since Bo Wen had seen Will demonstrate that hundred blades card, he couldn't get it out of his mind.
Even though he was lost in thought, Bo Wen still had that charming smile on his face, which was so warm and gentle.
He had seen the entire process of Will demonstrating the hundred blades that day.
In his eyes, that level of performance naturally wouldn't be considered wonderful.
But he was still keenly aware of the potential of that hundred blades card!
If the user of the hundred blades card was a close-combat card artisan with strong perceptual control, then the power of that card wouldn't be too far off from the famous autumn moon narrow knife card.
He hadn't seen the autumn moon narrow knife card, but he was quite familiar with the records of that card.
And the most important thing was that it was only a three-star card!
Wait a minute..
All of a sudden, Bo Wen keenly captured what he seemed to have realized.
Three-star!
Three-star again!
From the raining shuttles card .II to the hundred blades, that young card master called Chen Mu seemed to be very good at making three-star cards with the performance that would only appear in high-star cards.
The raining shuttles card .II was like that, and so was the hundred blades.
Bo Wen's slightly squinted eyes flashed with a ray of light, and the smile on his face deepened.
He realized that what he had inadvertently discovered was Chen Mu's true value.
Right, that was Chen Mu's true value!
That young card master's value wasn't limited to the raining shuttles card .II.
The Amay Ning's had only focused on the raining shuttles card .II, and had ignored his true value.
That was a big opportunity for the Eastern Ning's.
Although the raining shuttles card .II was precious, if the price the Eastern Ning's were willing to pay was attractive enough, Bo Wen was sure that the Amay Ning's wouldn't refuse.
But Bo Wen clearly knew what the Eastern Ning's would get if they could get him.
Still, that was only his speculation.
Two cards wouldn't completely explain everything.
He needed to prove that Chen Mu really had that kind of ability.
The usually calm Mark Victor stared at the screen, and asked in disbelief, "Are you sure you're really a novice?"
"Without a doubt." Chen Mu's breathing was heavy as he answered.
He hadn't rested from the start of the training, and had completed five sets of close-range dodging and evading.
Could it be that Mark Victor was most adept at hellish training?
Chen Mu couldn't take such a high-intensity training regimen.
He felt that he had made quite a few low-level mistakes in the last set of training, which he would never have made under normal circumstances.
It was just that he had used up too much of his physical strength, and his control of his body was already lacking, which was why he had made so many mistakes.
Oh, maybe endurance is very important for a close-combat card artisan.
Chen Mu thought to himself as he panted.
He looked battered and exhausted just then, sweating profusely, with a few bruises on his face.
Although the facilities in the training room ensured the personal safety of the trainees, such minor injuries were unavoidable.
Those bruises were the result of Chen Mu having used up too much of his physical strength, and running into an obstacle.
"What kind of novice could get over 70 points on their first close-range dodging and evading with a difficulty level of 80?"
Mark Victor shot a glance at the panting Chen Mu, and spoke in a mocking tone.
He felt he had been cheated, since that guy wasn't a novice at all. If he had done it himself, he wouldn't have gotten much better.
The first time he had Chen Mu participate in a difficulty level of 40, who would have thought that such an unremarkable youth would actually complete it with full marks.
He immediately raised the difficulty level by 10, and who would have thought that the youth would complete it with full marks.
He then kept raising the difficulty level until it reached 80, when his score quickly dropped to 70. Before that, Chen Mu's score had never dropped below 90.
And those 70 points were achieved after Chen Mu had completed four sets of training in one go, without any rest in the middle.
Mark Victor estimated that if he had let Chen Mu do the close-range dodging and evading with a difficulty level of 80 at the beginning, his score would have been over 80.
In the entire base, the number of people who could achieve such a score could be counted on one hand.
How could such a person be a novice?
After resting for a while, Chen Mu's breath finally recovered.
Having persisted in the exercise gymnastics, all of his physiological functions had been outstanding, and his endurance was no exception.
"Isn't close-range dodging and evading training part of the training program for the jet stream card?" Chen Mu asked back in astonishment.
Mark Victor stared at Chen Mu's face, seeing that his expression didn't look fake.
"How did you practice flying?" Mark Victor asked after some thought.
Chen Mu pointed at the screen in front of Mark Victor, and said matter-of-factly, "I followed the training program on there."
"That?"
Mark Victor pointed at the screen, and said in astonishment, "Don't tell me you followed the training program to train yourself?" Seeing Chen Mu nod, he was suddenly speechless.
There were even such freaks these days?
It was the first time he had encountered someone who could train close-range dodging and evading to such a degree just by referring to the training program.
"What are your scores for the other training programs?" Mark Victor probed.
"High speed long-distance flight in the air has a difficulty level of 80, and its score is around 80.
Tail flight in the air has a difficulty level of 80, and its score is 80.
Precise drifting in the air has a difficulty level of 80, and its score is 75. "
Chen Mu counted on his fingers, and was suddenly a little embarrassed, "I only learned the tactical maneuvers in the air up to a difficulty level of 70.
The worst is multi-level tactics, and I can only do three in a row, with a success rate of only 50 percent for four. "
Mark Victor was silent for a while, and if you looked closely, you would find that his eyes were a little slack.
He was completely stupefied!
High speed long-distance flight in the air was all right, since that was something almost every card artisan would practice.
It didn't require much skill, and generally speaking, as long as your perceptual strength was high enough, your score wouldn't be low.
Tail flight in the air was a required skill for both long-range and close-combat card artisans.
Long-range card artisans needed to use it to pursue and attack the enemy, not letting the enemy get out of their range of fire.
And close-combat card artisans needed to use it to close the distance between themselves and the enemy.
Precise drifting in the air was a required skill for long-range card artisans, which enabled the card artisan to precisely control his position in the air and keep it stable.
Generally speaking, mid-air tactical maneuvers were mostly learned by close-combat card artisans, who needed them to confuse and evade their adversary's attacks.
As for multi-level tactics, only close-combat card artisans could learn them.
They referred to the continuous use of a number of tactical maneuvers in the air, and the so-called three in a row referred to the continuous use of three highly difficult tactical maneuvers.
That guy had already learned the three in a row!
Mark Victor stared at Chen Mu, who felt a little creeped out.
Freak!
That guy is definitely a super freak!
Mark Victor was suddenly a little excited. If he were to teach such a freak seriously, what kind of freak would he teach?
The more he thought about it, the more excited he got, since he hadn't run into anything so interesting in a long time.
Moreover, he had another more profound consideration. He was already forty-two that year, and of course he was at his peak.
But what would come after the peak?
He was very clear that in another two years, his condition would rapidly decline, and he would begin to enter a period of decline in his power.
What would he do if he ran into someone who challenged him then? That was a problem he had to consider.
He hadn't thought about it at first, since he had been prepared to die of old age ever since he had resigned from his position as commander of the regiment.
But he hadn't thought that such a freak would suddenly be delivered to him, which gave him an incomparable shock. His mind immediately became active.
He coughed lightly, "Not bad. It looks like you are more suited to be a close-combat card artisan." His expression returned to normal, without the least clue.
Chen Mu didn't feel anything unusual, but he was actually rejoicing that his performance wasn't too bad.