Ignoring the rest of the weights for now, he walked over to the training dummy. It exuded a strange light to his vision and he scanned it.

Training Automaton

G-Rank Magical Item

A robot made for the purpose of training with. It can be set to multiple different modes within the parameters of an average G Rank’s strength.

Sam raised his eyebrow. This was not an ordinary dummy. Apparently he could use it to fight with. Now that he saw where it was situated, it was abundantly clear to him how it worked. It was in the middle of an area cleared of weights and there was a button on the ground that was labeled ‘force field’. He pressed it and a blue field shot up around the area. It looked the same as the one that had been used in the arena to prevent attacks from reaching the audience.

He slammed his fist into it to test how strong it was. The wall did not budge. Then he hit the button again to make sure that it would turn off the field. He stepped on the button and the force field retracted. Now satisfied that the whole thing was safe, he inspected the robot. There were 5 buttons on the front of the robot, each marked with a number range. The first one said 1-15, and the other ones had more intervals between 15 and 50. If this thing was supposed to simulate the power of a G rank combatant, then that told Sam that the top of G Rank was level 50. For just that alone, the robot was valuable because he had not been able to find out more about the ranks than what he had read in the System Guide.

Sam pressed the lowest button and stood back as the robot whirred into life. It stepped back into a fighting stance and came at Sam with its fists. He blinked. It was incredibly slow. Stepping under its guard, he uppercutted the robot with his fist, slamming it into the ceiling. It came down and did not rise. The robot had crumpled, its metal bent around where he had punched. As he watched it knit back together and stood to attention, completely still. Sam pressed the next button, this one said 15-25, and he waited. The robot woke up faster and it came at him at a far higher speed than before. He caught its fist, stopping it in its tracks. Even if it was faster than him, he was still stronger. Then something happened that he had not expected. A ball of fire shot out of its free hand, catching him in the face. Cursing, he recoiled, letting the robot break free. Another punch came in, rocking him on his heels. With a roar of rage, he punched back, this time imbuing his fist with some Dao energy. He was not sure what doing so did exactly, but it seemed to be quite effective. A faint white glow formed around his fist and it shot forwards like a bullet. The robot crossed its forearms to block, but it was shot backwards by the force. The robot struggled to its feet, but Sam was already upon it. His left fist feinted and as the robot responded, he drilled in the chin with his right. With a crunch, the robot’s head crumpled and it fell to the ground.

Breathing heavily, Sam contemplated the fight. The robot had become far stronger in just a single jump from the first level. If it really simulated a fighter, then the next one would be the first one with a class. Sam wondered if he should be content with just the second level, but then he gathered his resolve and decided to go for it. This was an invaluable opportunity to train himself in relative safety. He doubted that the robot would kill him, and sure enough, he found out that there was a safe word coded into it. If he said stop, then it would stop. Taking a deep breath, he drew his mace, and pressed the next button.

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The robot sprang forward immediately, with no warning. Sam dodged to the side, but was still caught with a vicious clothesline, slamming him into the hard ground. The air rushed out of him and he bounced back up, blocking the next stroke with his mace. The robot looked different now, and it had fist wraps on this time. Its eyes glowed brighter than before and Sam even felt a faint pressure from it. It was as if the robot possessed a Dao. He could tell that it was not a real Dao however, just something made to simulate one. Sam pushed back with his dual Daos, succeeding in knocking the robot off balance. It let out a dull robotic roar and flashed forwards towards him. That was not its natural speed thankfully, but the use of a skill. Sam rolled to the side and he slammed his mace into the side of the robot, leaving a small dent. The robot wheeled round and launched into a devastating series of blows, all moving at the limit of Sam’s perception. It was far more skilled than him in the martial world and he only knew how to swing his mace. For the first time since he had gained the System, Sam's intelligence stat began to work overtime. The Intelligence stat was strange in that it did not actually increase conventional intelligence, only things that were actually useful in a battle. It would not allow a fighter to suddenly begin to solve complex mathematical equations if they could not do so already, but it would let them read their opponents for openings.

As the fist of the robot came crashing down on Sam, he suddenly saw how to avoid it. With an artful twirl, he used his mace to knock away the hand and retaliate with his free hand. His fist slammed home and the robot stumbled away. He looked down at his hand in amazement, not sure of what had just happened. Sam almost lost his head to a karate chop, but he snapped out of his amazement just in time to avoid it. Using his hand again, he caught the robot, throwing it over his shoulder in a modified judo throw. That was impressive, because he had never done judo in his life. Turning his body, he slammed his mace down on the robot, but it rebounded off a shield of blue light. This robot was geared up to the max. It placed both hands together, and they began to glow with a fiery light. The fist wrapping burst into flames and the robot surged upwards, uppercutting Sam. The bottom of his face was seared for a brief moment, and then he was piledrived into the roof of the shield. His vision failing, Sam fell to the ground. As the fist of the robot came in, his Dao exploded out of him, the force of Anger causing his skin to ignite with red light. Sam growled at the robot and shot his hand out, grabbing onto its neck. Roaring in exertion, he began to squeeze. As he did so, a burning pain gripped his body in its embrace and his skin began to peel. The robot began to melt beneath his hand and it started smoking. Sam closed his fist, breaking his fingers with his sudden, savage strength. The robot fell to the ground and Sam fell with it. As he woke up, he saw that the robot had returned to its previous positions. His skin was red, as if he had been in the sun for too long. Small wounds were in the process of closing over, his regeneration at work. Checking his System interface, he saw that he had a new notification.

You have gained the Dao skill, [Fiery Rage:Epic]. The power of rage fills your body, its toxic fire able to send your enemies to death. Such power comes with a price however, and your body is that price. Channel your Dao into yourself, boosting your strength and speed, but dealing constant damage to yourself as a result.

Sam looked at the robot with newfound respect. He had thought that it was just some toy, but it was actually invaluable. The robot had just helped him develop another Dao skill, now bringing his total to two. This thing was the true reward for the tournaments in his eyes, one that he had earned with his strength. He wished that he was able to buy one of these for himself, but he had not seen any for sale in the markets. In addition, they would probably cost more than he had on him even with the money from Jeffrey. Also, he had noticed that his skill name format had been altered, which was probably a result of his updated stat sheet. Now that he had streamlined his stats, it seemed that his notifications were made somewhat clearer as well. He was too battered now to go for another round, and he was ready to enjoy the amenities.