As Ben experienced his first blue belt class, the differences were apparent right away: the warm-ups were more intense, the lessons taught by Valentina more advanced, and the stares from the other blue beltsmore aggressive...

Watching them, Ben shook his head with helplessness. 'It's only a matter of time before these fools run into my windmill handsShould I play it by the book?' He was considering a stratagem he'd run into before: to feign softness, so he could faceslap with hardness

48th stratagem of web novels: Play the pig to eat the tiger.

After thinking about it though, Ben chose not to go this route. His palms needed a rest too

However, even if he didn't want to use the trope, that didn't mean others wouldn't force him to. As the teaching portion of the class ended and the time for paired practice arrived, when a dozen blue belts approached Ben, he looked at the ceiling and sighed. 'Daddies, forgive themthey know not what they do'

Besides for offering a prayer for them though, from Ben himself, there would be no forgiveness. Despite not desiring this, he wouldn't go easy on someone if they provoked him. That's because this was another of the great stratagems, one he wouldn't shy away from on this occasion.

55th stratagem of web novels: To create constant conflict, one should murder or at least cripple everyone who so much as farts in your direction.

...

He'd go with the classic approach this time, because he was unwilling to allow these blue belts to ninja-dust him...

So when the first one arrived, Ben wasn't planning to hold back, and it's too bad for the opponent, that such a serious attitude was only present in one of them. Thinking Ben would be easy to solve, the blue belt relaxed, allowing the rookie to launch the starting attack. Yet, when Ben came at him, the difference in strength was clear as soon as they made contact, as Ben threw the blue belt's arms to the side, and proceeded to secure a dominant position laying on top of him.

Things only became worse for the blue belt though. Before he was able to adjust, Ben slapped on a choke, and a few seconds later...

*Tap* *Tap*

Ben didn't even have to use soul attacks on him. It was that easy. With the combination of being one of the weakest blue belts in the gym and underestimating Ben, his opponent never stood a chance.

The other blue belts who'd been observing this went wide-eyed, but still couldn't accept it, rationalizing that the sole reason Ben's opponent lost was due to underestimating the white belt.

However, a little while later, when they watched Ben tap him again, their faces became stern. By now, Ben's opponent was serious, but it was too late. Ben already threw his rhythm off, then used greater strength and momentum to overpower the blue belt. As such, there was no chance of a comeback, and soon after, the first blue belt stood up to find another partner, as he choked down the deep frustration, of a humiliated loser...

Still, it wouldn't be long until he became grateful, because he, was among the lucky ones

After, a number of other blue belts came to roll with Ben, seeking to give this first-timer a hazing and show him his place. Yet, none of them were able to attain a substantial advantage over this fresh white belt, with many even losing in a one-sided manner. In this way, Ben properly introduced himself to all of them...

It was no surprise either. He was already almost at blue belt level when he finished the mid level multiplier for manliness. After that, his personal talent stat rose from 5 to 6, providing him with a significant boost to his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills. Then, he also consumed another strength potion, which now gave him enough power to overwhelm almost everyone in the class. In summary, he'd taken massive strides in the past few days. In fact, his pace of development was so fast that it was shocking!

Seeing all this from the side, Valentina's eyebrows bundled together like a rope. She couldn't believe it! He was much stronger now than in the last class! Out of everyone here, she should've been least affected, because she was the sole person who'd watched Ben on a day by day basis. For that reason, his progress should've been gradual in her eyes, almost imperceptible. That's how it was with everyone else, her brothers included. So why was it that with Ben, every day brought her a shock?

It was one thing to beat up on white belts. They were amateurs who didn't train often. Even if Ben crushed all of them, he'd just be the biggest of the bugs. However, some of these blue belts, were serious martial artists! Attending competitions, participating in amateur fights, and a few battled in some professional fights too!

Of course, the ones with pro fights didn't only train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but also standup grappling and striking, so it didn't mean their BJJ skills were incredible. Nonetheless, they were experienced grapplers. Yet, even against those guys, Ben wasn't at a disadvantage!

Valentina needed to know what was happening. This was too strange! So, she stood up and sat down closer to Ben, trying to understand how he was accomplishing all this. Not long after though, she wished she hadn't, because the only new thing she learned, was why he was the poison dragon.

...

Now, within feet of Ben and paying close attention to him, she could hear what he was saying to some of his opponents. Thus, for the first time, Valentina became familiar with the vilest and most wretched technique she'd ever come into contact with--the Soul Crank.

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*Author's Note: Another new artwork of Valentina is in the comments. If you'd like to see more of her, visit the discord: https://discord.gg/VSKzgzV8J9 (case-sensitive). On a PC, you can copy the link from the novel's about/synopsis page.