Chapter 67: Yes Master Yurika!
As Gray was being dragged to the simulators by Yurika, he sent Ginro a quick message of "Hey, got a friend who would love to try that monster movie mode, think we could swing by and play with it?"
Ginro replied fairly quick "Gray-san! It's only been a day, we have too much to do to play around at the moment. Now is just not a good time."
"Crap, guess I'll just make do with what Yurika wants." Gray thought.
"Gray! Melee weapons only!" Yurika said as she tossed Gray into a simulator pod.
"Wait... shouldn't we use guns since we'll be using those in actual combat?" Gray asked.
"This is just for fun! Don't wimp out on me dude!" Yurika said with a grin.
"...be gentle..." Gray whimpered
Gray queued up for a 1 on 1 duel against Yurika. Gray picked the only mech he had still, the Phalanx Mk 01, and went with a sword and shield combo. Having only the basic weapons, the sword and shield were nothing special, but they were light enough to allow ease of use for a beginner at melee combat like Gray.
Gray and Yurika spawned in the small dueling arena, Gray was surprised to see that Yurika had opted for dual axes. On second thought, considering Yurika was somewhat barbaric, dual axes seemed a perfect fit for her personality.
Yurika's pose was surprisingly intimidating with the knees of her mech slightly bent, she held the left axe in front of the knee of the mech's left leg while she had the right axe behind her resting on the back of her mech.
Gray wasn't exactly sure how to pose so he held the shield in his left hand held it in front of him while the sword in his right hand was held next to it.
"Time to blow off some steam..." Yurika said to Gray, her mech lunged towards Gray's.
Gray watched her swing the right axe in a long arc from behind the back of her mech so he raised his shield to intercept the strike. The upper body of Gray's mech was bent forward under the force of her blow, he had planned on counter attacking with his sword but with his mech hunched forward he couldn't get any momentum into it. Yurika then stepped forward with her left leg as she swept the axe in her left hand in an upward swing, Gray managed to barely stand up and step back to dodge the swing. Gray watched as her right leg on her mech swept behind herself causing her whole mech to spin as she switched to a reverse grip on the axe, she came down even harder than before with a slash using the momentum from her half spin. Gray had plenty of time to react, but watching her graceful movements, even though it was in a mech, left Gray watching her with admiration. Sadly that feeling was short lived as her axe buried itself in the head of his mech and tore down into the virtual cockpit located in the torso. Gray had lost within a few short seconds.
"Come on Gray, that kinda swing should never hit with how long it takes to connect." Yurika said sounding a little annoyed.
"I've never fought with melee weapons, were you Xena Warrior Princess in your past life?" Gray asked
"Ha! I wish! No, I just love weapons and have been learning many different forms of combat with hand-to-hand weapons. I find it very invigorating to be able to battle in these types of games where we don't have to worry about dying!"
Gray's mech respawned and Yurika's mech reset as well for the next round.
"How many rounds?" Gray asked.
"Until I'm satisfied!" Yurika said.
"I... kinda figured that..." Gray said while crying to himself on the inside.
Gray decided to attack first this time so he moved towards her with his shield in his left hand extended and the sword in his right hand pointing down. His plan was to bash her left axe away to prevent her from gaining momentum to swing the right axe down then follow up with a sweep of his sword on her legs. Gray was able to shield bash her left axe, but when he went to sweep with his sword she blocked it with the bottom of her mech's foot by stepping on Gray's mech's sword hand. Yurika then pushed back into Gray's shield and forced Gray to take a step with his left foot backwards to keep his balance, sadly for Gray her right axe swung high and tore off Gray's shield arm since she was aiming for the joints in the armor.
Gray took a step back and readied his only arm with the sword and Yurika relaxed a little then said "Reset and go again?"
"'Tis but a scratch!" Gray said.
"A scratch? Your arm's off!"
"No, it is..."
Yurika chopped down on Gray's sword arm while he was talking and said "We're not doing that reference again! We've already used it!"
Gray looked down and both of his mech's arms on the ground and REALLY wanted to say "Just a flesh wound", but he resisted and both Gray and Yurika reset for the next round.
The next round began but this time Yurika said "Gray, what do you think about when you fight with me in close combat?"
"Well, I think about how to counter your axes or how I can create an opening to slash at you directly." Gray said honestly.
"Well, that seems to be your problem... you're thinking to much. Although maybe that's how you are, but you also don't have any desire to kill me." Yurika replied.
"Of course I don't! You're my teammate and my friend!"
"Gray sweetie... you're too nice... time to fix that..." Yurika said sounding sweetly at first, but ending with an aggressive tone.
Gray gulped unconsciously.
"Just kidding, I can't develop any blood lust for a friend and teammate either. Still, we need you to think less and act more upon instinct. It's not that thinking is bad, but if you take time to think your opponent will have taken the same time to act. Either speed up your thoughts or learn to react instinctively. Plus your fighting techniques make me cringe..." Yurika said honestly.
"Please teach me sensei!" Gray said enthusiastically.
Yurika laughed and said "Sensei? No, call me Master!"
"Yes Master! Actually wouldn't it be more appropriate if I called you mistress?" Gray suggested.
If Gray could see inside Yurika's simulator pod, he would see her biting her lip as she said "Mistress if you're lucky... now listen to me!"
"Yes Master!" Gray said earnestly.
"First of all, your choice of weapons is terrible for slashing with. Swords are meant to slash with, yes, but against a mech it will probably only scratch the armor. Instead you want to stab more with it. When you play any competitive fighting games, what is your play style?"
"Hmmm... I don't really have one set style, I change according to the game and according to what character or abilities I have in the game."
Yurika thought for a moment then asked "Well, what feels the most natural?"
"Ummm, not sure what you mean, but I tend to go for smart logical plays and to counter the enemy rather than be the aggressor."
"Ok, and how good are you with both of your hands, in a 1 on 1 melee, speed is more important than any other trait. The best way to stop damage is to not be hit after all. So... what were you thinking then when you dove on that giant mutated rat earlier?"
"I wanted to protect you... isn't that natural?" Gray said.
"So you'd do that for anyone?" Yurika asked.
Gray totally missed the subtle hint and said "I would do that for anyone on my team!"
"...idiot..." Yurika said sounding slightly disappointed. "Well, in that case a weapon and shield would be good for you and you already have the right mindset and when you told Paul a few days ago that he shouldn't just tank shots without anything to block them with. You also aren't afraid to dive in which is a huge time saver for us since that is the hardest part about combat is getting over the fear."
"Yeah, but I didn't know I could actually die back then, so I don't know if I could do it again."
"Good point... well, I believe you would still, I don't think you could get the 6 of us to follow you otherwise." Yurika pointed out.
"Ok, back to weapons, should I switch to an axe instead of the sword?"
Yurika thought for a moment and then said "If you're going to slash more than stab, I would recommend the axe, but a sword won't require as wide of a swing when you stab so it is quicker."
"I still think this sounds a little silly in the age of modern weapons to use melee weapons." Gray said.
"Oh, I agree with you, but remember that melee weapons don't make noise except for when you connect with the enemy's mech or weapon, don't need ammunition, and it is much easier to take someone out at point-blank with a melee weapon than a gun. Why else do you think that every mech is issued a combat knife as a backup?"
"Makes sense... Ok, gimme a second to switch weapons."
Gray forfeited the match and then both Yurika and Gray started another duel with each other. When Gray spawed, his mech was now carrying an axe and a shield, Yurika's mech was also carrying an axe and shield.
"Better to show you than tell you after all..." Yurika said
"Good idea!"
Yurika gave Gray some direct instruction on how to handle a shield and axe combo and he was very surprised at how knowledgeable she was about melee combat. She would give a short explanation about a technique or posture and the purpose of it, then follow up with a demonstration.
"Keep the shield closer to you! It's too easy to pull you off balance or bat the shield away when you keep it extended!" Yurika said as she hooked her axe on to Gray's shield and dragged him forward.
Gray regained his balance and then held his shield closer to his mech's body. Yurika hooked Gray's shield again and wasn't able to drag him off balance this time. "Good! We can consider mech's as heavy fighters so your objective with your shield is not only to block, but also you can use it to knock someone else off balance!"
When Yurika wasn't able to pull Gray's shield away, she pulled her axe back then slammed her mech's shield into Gray's shield with the weight of her mech behind it. Instinctively Gray bent his knees and lowered his mech and stopped himself from being knocked off balance.
"Great! That appears to be a fairly natural reaction for you. Lastly, the best way to strike someone for you would probably be to trick them into attacking you from a perceived opening you give to them only to counter it if they go all in on it."
"Uh, that's easier said than done..." Gray said.
"Well yeah, that'll just take practice to do, but luckily not many people practice with melee weapons now a days so just having patience will eventually cause them to mess up. You seem very patient and keeping a level head in battle is very important as you know. Now... enough instruction, I need to fight more..."
"Yes Master Yurika..."
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