I have an Apocalypse City

Chapter 26: Dagger Fighting Technique

Translator: 549690339

“Do you have any instructors here who can teach how to use cold weapons?” Song Jian suddenly asked.

“Cold weapons?” The girl was taken aback, a strange look appeared on her face: “Do you mean…”

“Weapons like knives, swords, daggers.” Song Jian explained.

“Yes, we do, but there aren’t many people these days who are interested in using cold weapons… What kind of weapon are you interested in?” The girl asked.

Song Jian remembered the Tiger Fang Dagger that has always been in his game inventory. Ever since he acquired the passive skill “Cold Weapon (Dagger) (Basic)”, he had not used it again.

“Can a dagger be used?” asked Song Jian.

After considering for a moment, the girl nodded and said, “Yes, but practicing with cold weapons requires a designated instructor, and the price is slightly higher. Besides, you can’t experience the teaching of a particular instructor with this trial pass. You will have to get a membership to experience a specific instructor’s teaching, and then decide whether to take their course.”

“How much does membership cost?” Song Jian asked.

“Twelve thousand for a year.”

Song Jian was taken aback, that’s quite expensive!

“Can it be cheaper?” Song Jian hesitated.

“Sorry, it’s a fixed price!” The girl politely refused with a reserved smile on her face.

Ordinary gyms charged only about one to two thousand for a yearly membership. The price here was ten times more than other gyms;

Song Jian hesitated for a moment, then nodded his head. Though it was quite a pinch, money wasn’t much of an issue for him now. He asked directly, “Where do I sign up for membership?”

“Please follow me.” The girl looked somewhat surprised. From her judgement, Song Jian did not seem like someone who would be willing to sign up for a membership here.

But her professionalism didn’t show anything on her face, she smiled and led Song Jian to the service desk next to the glass door on the second floor.

After completing the membership process, Sun Qian handed him a course schedule and said, “This contains information about all the instructors at our gym and the prices of their courses. You can choose any combination you like.”

“Bodybuilding course, 30 classes, two classes per week, 400 Yuan per class, 2 hours per class.”

“Foundation course in free sparring, 10 classes, one class per week, 800 Yuan per class, 2 hours per class.”

“Intermediate course in free sparring, 15 classes, one class per week, 1000 Yuan per class…”

“Instructor information…”

Then there were rows of introductions about the instructors. Song Jian was surprised to find that although the gym looked like it only had ten or so people, there was information of over twenty instructors, indicating that many of them did not always stay in the gym.

“If you want to learn how to use a dagger, 1 would suggest you choose Coach Wang Dan. She’s a former special forces soldier, who excels in real combat…” Sun Qian softly said.

“Can members try a class first?” Song Jian nodded and asked.

Sun Qian smiled and said, “Of course, we have seven or eight instructors who specialize in cold weapons here and even a master of traditional martial arts. He’s very proficient in swordsmanship…”

In the game, Song Jian only had a dagger. Now he had to prioritize learning how to use it.

Firearms have great power and can attack from a distance, but they drain too much. Song Jian found it too hard to handle and prefered to use cold weapons instead.

After completing the membership, Sun Qian led Song Jian around the stage and towards a separate room at the back;

There were five or six individual classrooms behind the stage, each of which was open only to members. Relaxing music could be faintly heard from some of the rooms, while shouts and cries emanated from others.

Sun Qian led Song Jian to a vacant classroom and said, “Wait here for a while, I will inform the instructor. It will take about ten minutes.”

Song Jian nodded slightly. As soon as Sun Qian left, she closed the classroom door;

Although Song Jian had never been to this kind of gym before, he knew that the demand to learn the use of cold weapons was very rare. Nowadays, boxing, free sparring, karate, etc., were popular, but most people’s main goal was still fitness and weight loss.

After a while, the classroom door was pushed open, and a girl with a short ponytail walked in.

“You wanna learn dagger fighting technique?” She looked Song Jian up and down, asked.

Song Jian looked back to see that the girl had a pretty, oval-shaped face. Despite her skin being slightly dark, her eyes emitted a fierce aura which made her appear formidable, as though she was targeting her prey. This caused Song Jian to feel somewhat uncomfortable.

“Yes, that’s me. Are you Wang Dan, Coach Wang?” Song Jian nodded and asked. There were photos and names of all the coaches in the brochure, so Song Jian already knew who she was in advance;

“Hmm.” Wang Dan nodded, and asked, “Is this your first time learning?”

“Yes, I have never learned or had any experience with this before.” Song Jian nodded.

“Why did you suddenly want to learn the dagger fighting technique?” Wang Dan took out two daggers from her waist, and with the blade facing outward, handed one to Song Jian.

Song Jian took the dagger and felt its weight. Since he had left the game, he no longer had the added strength from the power ring. His strength was reduced to four points, which was lower than an average adult, but he still had no problem holding a dagger in one hand.

This dagger was real, but it was not sharpened in order to prevent Song Jian from hurting himself since it was his first time handling it.

Song Jian weighed the dagger in his hand, and casually replied, “I’m personally quite interested in it.”

“Hehe.” The corner of Wang Dan’s mouth raised slightly, she clearly did not believe Song Jian’s answer, but she didn’t say anything either. “Alright, since you have absolutely no foundation, I’ll start from the basics.”

Wang Dan held the dagger with one hand, raising it to her chest, with the blade slanting downwards.

“First, I’ll tell you about the four ways to grip a dagger, ‘Ice pick grip’ where you hold the hilt in a reverse grip and the blade is facing down; ‘Hammer grip’ where you hold the hilt regularly and the blade is facing up; ‘Saber grip’ which is similar to the hammer grip, but used with the thumb and index finger resting lightly on the blade; and ‘Hidden grip’ where the palm is facing backward and the blade is concealed behind the wrist. Each grip corresponds to a specific body stance, remember this…”

“Alright, I got it.” Song Jian stared without blinking at Wang Dan’s dagger.

“Now, I’ll teach you a few basic moves according to these grips. Learn as much as you can. Watch carefully, this is the first move…” Wang Dan thrust her dagger forward with such speed that Song Jian only saw a white line flash before his eyes. By the time he reacted, Wang Dan had already resumed her previous posture.

“You can try it yourself.” Wang Dan took two steps back, indicating for Song Jian to mirror her move;

Song Jian tried it himself but found it awkward all over;

“Your feet are too wide apart, bring them in a bit. Also, remember not to rely solely on the strength of your arm, learn to use the strength of your waist and legs…” Wang Dan demonstrated at the side.

The trial class only lasted for thirty minutes and was over before long.

Song Jian managed to barely learn a basic thrusting move.

“You picked up quickly, you seem to have some talent for using a dagger. If you want to continue learning, you can get the package for my class. For the whole basic course, it will only cost you three thousand six hundred yuan.” Wang Dan nodded at Song Jian. After finishing speaking, she immediately retrieved her dagger, put it back at her waist and left the room.