“You’re dead, George Miller!” she suddenly shouted and charged over, her movements agile and swift—actually much faster than George Miller, who had only learned basic combat techniques.

The two of them chased each other in circles around the living room, and in just a dozen seconds, there was a loud thud.

George Miller was tripped by the barefoot Grace Carter and fell flat on his back.

“At least intermediate-level combat skills… and she must have trained with some secret body-strengthening technique.” He looked speechlessly at Grace Carter standing beside him. Even though he hadn’t used any combat techniques or gotten serious, his basic physical abilities and reflexes were still enough to sense the difference. His sister’s fighting style seemed to focus on speed rather than the explosive power of the Baiyun Martial Arts School, and it was likely at the intermediate level.

Different martial arts schools emphasize different aspects in their basic combat techniques—some focus on strength, some on explosive power, some on speed, and others on physical conditioning, dodging, endurance, and so on. There are all kinds, and the names can vary as well. These basic fighting techniques are just temporary skills used in combat, not the secret training methods.

Secret training methods refer to unique, hidden ways of strengthening the body. They are the true, exclusive martial arts secrets of a school.

For example, the basic combat technique of the Baiyun Martial Arts School is just an explosive power skill, but it’s not the school’s core secret. Every martial arts school has its own unique secret training method, which is different from the temporary fighting skills and is only taught to true disciples. Long-term practice of these secret methods can effectively improve the body’s basic qualities, such as strength, explosive power, speed, endurance, flexibility, and so on.

George Miller had heard that the true disciples of the Baiyun Martial Arts School were famous for their strength in competitions. Clearly, the school’s secret method was designed to enhance strength. And now, Grace Carter’s speed was abnormally fast, which clearly meant she had also trained with a secret method.

Snapping out of his daze, George Miller awkwardly turned his face away. From his angle, he could see under his sister’s skirt as she stood there—her long, shapely legs wrapped in black cotton stockings, stretching up into the dark shadow beneath her skirt.

“Really! Of all people to imitate, you just had to pick that idiot Lombas!” Grace Carter, a little out of breath, kicked George Miller in the chest. With the thick clothes between them, there was no risk of hurting him.

George Miller blinked, then suddenly reached out and yanked her foot.

Thud!

There was another muffled sound. Grace Carter fell right on top of him, and both of them let out a pained groan.

A faint scent of a young girl instantly filled George Miller’s nose, and his sister’s soft chest slammed hard into his own, making his heart flutter a little. “Alright, enough messing around!” He rubbed his stomach and quickly got up. “What’s for lunch?”

Grace Carter had bumped her head against George Miller’s chest and, caught off guard by being pulled down, was about to get angry when her cheeks suddenly flushed. She realized she was sprawled completely in George Miller’s arms, and compared to their past roughhousing, his chest felt much sturdier now. And this time, after being knocked down, he didn’t get angry like before, but just brushed it off. When he asked about lunch, she blinked, momentarily stunned before responding. She got up from the floor and straightened her skirt. “I made honey bean cake and onion pie, and the leaf melon soup should be ready too.”

10

George Miller vaguely sensed something different about his sister. With the mindset of an adult, he immediately noticed that Grace Carter seemed to care a lot more about everything he said. During their chase earlier, she had been very careful, as if afraid of hurting him, using only light force—so he was able to catch her off guard and pull her down.

“Let’s eat lunch first. You made breakfast and lunch, and even went out to buy fruit. You’ve worked hard, Grace Carter.” He reached out and pinched his sister’s cheek. The pimples and freckles on her rosy face seemed to have faded a lot lately, and her skin felt soft and smooth.

“You jerk!!” Grace Carter slapped George Miller’s hand away. “Did you take the wrong medicine or something? Since when do you care about people?” She looked at George Miller suspiciously. Although she always tried to act distant from her brother, in reality, she secretly paid close attention to everything about George Miller.

George Miller paused, realizing his behavior had changed a bit too much, so he didn’t say anything more and withdrew his hand. “Can’t I just grow up a little? What’s the big deal? Come on, let’s eat.”

After a quick meal, the siblings worked together to wash the plates, knives, and forks, then each hurried back to their own bedrooms, both feeling a little awkward. Grace Carter, after her skirt had ridden up, kept feeling a chill underneath and was always a bit self-conscious in front of George Miller. After all, they were step-siblings from different parents, two single-parent families joined together, with no blood relation.

George Miller, on the other hand, was eager to get back to his room and continue thinking about attribute point allocation.

Standing by the window, he quietly gazed at the faint red attribute data below his field of vision.

“If I really can add points to skills, then if I put them into archery or swordsmanship, I could enter competitions in a short time and win big prizes. But for a student who’s barely practiced suddenly winning awards, it would be way too suspicious. Not to mention, my sister Grace Carter knows my situation best—she knows I hardly ever practice archery or swordsmanship.” He pressed his hand against the glass window.