“Sorry to call you out here so suddenly.” [Ryouma]
“Don’t sweat it. So long as it’s for combat training, I’ll accompany you anytime.” [Yurdum]
Yurdum-san is a martial artist on a journey to perfect his martial arts.
We’ve previously agreed to have a match between ourselves one day, although it was just a spoken promise and nothing written.
Regardless, while I don’t know if his story of being on a martial arts journey is just something he came up with in order to get into our ranks, it’s a good opportunity, so I decided to call him out here to accompany me in a simple spar.
Right now we’re facing each other in our normal outfits without any weapons.
…But of course, my normal outfit includes an anti-knife inner shirt made from durable sticky slime thread, a hidden iron slime weapon inside my belt, and a pair of safety boots.
In other words, a full line up that will allow me to act no matter the circumstance.
“Weapons are prohibited, and so are offensive and defensive spells, but Ki and strengthening magic are fair game. Are you okay with these rules?” [Ryouma]
“Sounds fair to me. Let’s go with those.” [Yurdum]
As I swayed my body and assumed stance, his answer came.
Standing three meters away from me, he extended his two fists and assumed stance.
His stance resembled boxing at first glance, but the distance between his feet was wide and they were planted firmly to the ground.
“Begin!” [Ryouma]
As soon as the signal was given, he immediately closed in on me and attacked without weakening his momentum.
But I couldn’t feel any mana or Ki from him.
Strengthening Magic was permitted, and yet he’s not using it? Is he trying to test me or is he holding back?
Or at least that’s what I thought at first, but…
“That’s not an attack you’d use against a kid…” [Ryouma]
“I don’t want to hear that from the guy dodging it so easily!” [Yurdum]
Huh, he’s just like the martial artists I saw on television back in my previous life. He has both speed and power.
He threw punches at me one after another, and gradually increased the rotation and made his combination even more complicated.
To be more precise, he would attack by throwing a punch at my face, then stepping back just enough so that I can’t reach him, then he would bring back his fist and close in on me again. After that he would send out his left fist in conjunction with his returning right fist to switch to a stance with his left hand protruding out.
“…” [Ryouma]
By taking advantage of even the intervals between his consecutive attacks, he’s able to attack and intercept attacks at the same time.
And whenever his hands can’t make it in time to defend, he would just calmly jump back.
After that we continued to exchange blows a little longer.
When one side pushed, the other would push back.
Sometimes we’d throw kicks too, but only sometimes. He never made any big moves that would leave him open.
You could say that his fighting style is plain, but you could also say that it’s solid.
What kind of technique will he use to attack? How will I receive it and how should I respond to it?
As the battle reached that stage, it was then…
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“!” [Ryouma]
…That Yurdum-san’s movements suddenly changed.
He dropped his waist a little lower and opened his fists.
Then in the next moment, he leaped at me like a beast.
“!” [Ryouma]
He took me so suddenly that before I knew it I’d reflexively grabbed his hands, bringing us into a situation akin to that to that of two wrestlers holding hands.
Without a moment’s delay, he took advantage of his bigger stature to try and crush me from above, but I relaxed my strength and took a step back, then as I gently received his push, I twisted his hand so that his wrist and elbow would point up, and at the same time, quickly slipped under him.
“!!” [Ryouma]
A pity. Just a little bit more, and I would have been able to bring his joints to their limit, but right at the last moment, Yurdum-san broke free and jumped back.
“…I was seriously trying to pin you down, though.” [Yurdum]
“I know how to receive and throw too.” [Ryouma]
“I’m glad to have you here with me tonight. Really.” [Yurdum]
As he said that, the atmosphere about him changed.
As though synchronizing with his deep breath, I felt the energy of the flesh, the Ki, wrap around him.
I too clad my body in Ki, and when Yurdum-san saw that, he smiled.
“Let’s do this!” [Yurdum]
From then on Yurdum-san’s movements could only be described as a phantasmagoric. Sometimes we would exchange blows, sometimes we would grapple, and sometimes we would exchange blows in the gaps between our grapples. A variety of techniques and an assortment of combinations.
Dealing with it his attacks was really fun and interesting.
And the fact that he’s able to utilize so many different techniques just goes to show that he’s been training for a long time.
At the very least, I don’t think he was just lying about his journey and his passion.
If so, then I should give him the respect he deserves and fight him at full strength.
Sometimes, when he catches my arms, I would intentionally sink my whole body to break his stance.
Sometimes, when he lands a low kick on one of my legs, I would catch his leg too to trip him.
I made full use of the techniques I learned in my past life.
As a result, Yurdum-san was flung off, thrown, and tumbled to the ground countless times.
But not once did the light in his eyes weaken and neither did his movements stop.
Moreover—
“!?” [Ryouma]
When we exchanged blows one time and we separated from each other, in the next moment, I felt the presence coming from his fists grow stronger, and an attack that shouldn’t have reached managed to land on my shoulders.
It wasn’t that strong or painful, but the fact that I ‘got hit’ by an attack that shouldn’t have reached me shocked me and created an opening.
Of course, he wouldn’t let an opportunity such as that go, and in the next moment, he tried to grapple me into the ground.
Fortunately, I immediately responded with an overhead judo throw to escape, but that strange attack had me concerned.
As we continued our spar, it became apparent that the attack he pulled off earlier was a manga-esque ki-bullet-like ability that throws ki at a target.
That got me even more heated up, and before I knew it, I too had lost myself in our spar.