บท 2: First Sparring
'Let us calm down and think carefully as to what just happened.'
Those were the first thought of Higashi Murasaki as he was dragged into the personal trouble of a woman he barely met a few minutes ago. Who also attacked him because he was apparently checking her out by simply looking at her face. Who also has just called him her boyfriend.
Murasaki is aware he is an idiot, but he is not so bad of an idiot he blindly believed her words. He had since realized the reason the woman made such a lie was to make an excuse so the man before the two won't try to approach and court her, as she had previously thought Murasaki was doing.
However, was there a need to comply with her lies in this case?
The answer to that was simply no. There was no need for him to bother with such a troublesome charade. However, his pesky morality deigns that he makes sure to choose the morally correct option rather than the convenient one.
To do so there was a need for him to ascertain the truth, and see whether he should follow with her lies or disobey her. Tch, what a troublesome prospect.
"Are you truly her boyfriend?"
The handsome man asked with a sharp glint in his eyes. It has been a long time since Murasaki felt such pressure; it was actually exciting to see someone with proper training in the art of fighting. The prospect of battle boiled his blood.
He has since stopped fighting about two years back yet his instinct was still top-notch. Even after stopping his career within martial arts he still kept training lightly every day so at this point he was itching for a fight. He managed to keep the urge within himself in most cases but this was a virtual reality, which means it would be fine even if he beats people up, causing his urge to fire up.
"And you must be the one bothering her lately."
That was a simple guess from Purple from the East, but it seems to be an accurate one since neither the woman sticking beside him nor the handsome man had shown any surprise at those words. At this point, one can safely guess the circumstance surrounding the two.
The woman who keeps thinking he is here to court her, a man who most likely wish to court her and him, the scapegoat used by the woman as a cover. She was most likely utilizing Purple from the East to stop this man from trying to court her again.
He knows it must be frustrating when a man cannot understand the word 'no' but why does she have to overly complicate things by dragging him into this whole shenanigan?
Murasaki has no special feelings for her, nor does he have fancy for helping people. He is an absolutely normal person who would not care if some passerby is injured on the road unless it was his fault somehow. With that, he could conclude this to be none of his problems and drop it already.
However, the fact that this woman went out of her way to the point she lied about such a thing pisses him off. Or to be more accurate he hates to even imagine how cornered she must have felt to the point she would make such a bare-faced lie.
Therefore his objective was clear. For now, he will support this woman and her white lie while trying to see whether it would be fitting for him to interrupt these personal matters of theirs. He was no patriot but he will not allow bad deeds to happen right in front of him and not do anything.
"Tch, I am Noccult Velana, son of lord Velana! Who are you to spout such slanders?"
"Purple from the East, an adventurer."
"So you are one of those cursed people who cannot die. Heh, you might be immortals but your skills are lacking! You have no right to stand by Aoi's side!"
'…This guy is starting to piss me off real bad.'
Who has any right to decide whether he is qualified for anything? That kind of authority only belongs to oneself and nobody else. The only one who can tell someone they are not qualified is themselves. Anyone who breaches that right is an enemy by his standards.
"I challenge you to a duel of skill!" Noccult announced.
"Challenge accepted, get ready to get pummeled."
Purple from the East cracked his fists. The man before him gives more frustration than he would like to admit, and he has only met the man for a few seconds, a minute at most. He could see how this Aoi woman is sick enough of the man to use Purple from the East as a scapegoat.
The two moved towards the middle of the dojo. As he said before training is done in the courtyard but more important events such as sparring are done within the dojo itself. Aoi was perplexed but she did not stop the two from this fight between men.
Aoi had only intended to use the man as a cover so Noccult would go away, but how did it end up with a fight between the two? Nevertheless, this was not a bad development. With this, she could see the level which this Purple person is at with his technique, which she was curious about since his attacks towards the punching bag were skilled, unlike normal adventurer.
This purple person has no chance of defeating Noccult considering he seems to be a brand new adventurer from his clothing, but it should still be a good battle to see how good his skills are. Meanwhile Purple from the East himself had a different thought running across his head.
'It has been a long time since I last sparred. Hopefully, I won't accidentally hurt him.'
With such relaxed thoughts, Purple from the East took his battle stance. The enemy has since done the same. Aoi was standing between the two. After looking towards both participants of the battle she raised her hands and brought it back down.
"Hajime!"
Noccult rushed towards him with reckless abandon. It might seem hasty but his steps were actually calculated and his technique was impeccable as well.
'Huh, this guy is better than I thought.'
The again Purple thought this Noccult person was a no-good useless son of the lord whose only good point is his handsome face, so going beyond that expectation was nothing noteworthy. It merely means his skills are passable by the standards of Purple.
Noccult launched a fist towards his guts. Purple avoided the hit with the smallest margin by rotating his body, before counterattacking with a backhanded rotating blow. His moves were so smooth Aoi wondered whether this match was staged by this Purple fellow.
The attack was merely too perfect for the situation as if he had predicted the oncoming attack from the opponent beforehand and has since readied a perfect counter as a punishment. What kind of foresight would be needed to do such an act naturally? That was why Aoi suspected this whole fight was a mere charade through merely one exchange
On the other hand, Noccult has an impressive reaction time and tried to avoid the attack by leaning his upper body away from the blow, though he was still grazed the side of his head by a tiny bit. As expected the difference of physical capability between a newly minted adventurer and a trained noble is not so easily bridged.
Noccult was a noble who have been trained in the art of swordsmanship since he was merely six years old. After endlessly training for more than a decade his skill has grown to an impeccable level. Though his skill with his fist is incomparable to his swordsmanship it was still more than sufficient to be called adept.
Purple from the East was rather surprised by the show of evasion, but he did not show in ad continued his counter-assault. After doing a backhanded hook with his left hand, his right hand is already held back and ready to be launched. Launching it forward he nailed Noccult right in the jaw.
With a satisfying crunch sound, Noccult fell down to the floor. This one exchange merely lasted for a second or maybe two if one were being generous, yet the winner was already decided. There was no denying the skill of Purple from the East who managed to perfectly counter the attack and defeat his enemy with one punishment.
"You okay there?"
Purple from the East gave his hand towards the fallen Noccult. Now that he unleashed his rage in that one exchange there was no more need to hold any grudge against the noble. When the match is over you would be a fool to carry a grudge. That was the one line Higashi Murasaki trusted in.
After an argument is done you should still be capable of laughing over a joke with the person you just argued with. Murasaki thought people must be capable of doing so if they intend on becoming a full-fledged adult, so it would be shameful if he did not follow his own principle.
The fallen Noccult took his hand.
"That was a good match."
Noccult grinned while saying so. As Purple from the East is still a newbie character with plain 10 stat points on all his stats Noccult had no trouble recovering from the attack, even though his jaw was hit. What he did not realize was the fact it was intentional. If Purple from the East wanted to do so he could easily make Noccult faint with the previous attack like he did with Aoi.
However, he did not want to create more trouble for himself so he changed the direction of the attack at the last minute so it would be harmless rather than enough to knock Noccult unconscious.
"Ahaha, I wanted to show Miss Aoi my skill, but it seems I merely managed to embarrass myself instead."
Ah, so there was such a reason for why Noccult challenged him to a duel. Originally Purple thought it was merely because of Noccult's arrogance, but apparently, the sly man did so to show his skills and try to woo Miss Aoi here! His impression of the young man around his age got slightly better.
"So you attacked a new adventurer just to show off? Then why don't you face me instead, humph!" Miss Aoi huffed.
"It cannot be helped, Miss Aoi is far too strong so I won't be capable of showing anything even if we fought. That is how you dealt with any man who approached you." Noccult made a mischievous smiled. "Otherwise you would not have been known as the Blue Demon of Rockingham."
"Ugh, down with that title!"
A relaxed atmosphere appeared between the two. It seems the relationship between the two was not as bad as Purple from the East imagined. He though this Aoi person detested the man who tried to court her, but it seems they are actually quite friendly with one another.
He quietly wondered whether he became the third wheel within this strange situation. It was certainly not a good feeling.
"So, who is this man? I know he is not your boyfriend so don't bother pulling that excuse again."
"I don't know either. He said he came here to train…"
"Why else would I come to a dojo?"
That was getting ridiculous for him. Why else would someone come over to a dojo if not for training?
The other two people looked at one another. At that point, the two spoke with telepathy.
'Could he simply not know the circumstance of the dojo?'
'Seems like it.'
Telepathy end.
"Umm… I don't know how to put it, but this dojo is not very well off right now." Miss Aoi said. "The previous leader of the dojo, Shigusa Hiruma has passed away nine months ago. Since then all the students have left the dojo and this place is now desolate."
Ah, so the person running the place has died nine months ago. However, even then the dojo looks well-cleaned for a place that has not run for nine months. There was probably someone cleaning this place even though it was not used by students, most likely by someone with sentimental value.
Then Noccult picked up the explanation.
"And Miss Aoi here is the sole daughter of Master Hiruma, and therefore she legally owns the dojo now. Because of her charm, her rather troubling conditions, and the prime position of this land there are many vile people who try entering the dojo merely to serenade her."
So it was the prince charming syndrome that troubled her. With this newfound context, the picture has become clearer for him. So she simply has too many people trying to court her because of shallow reasons, and therefore tried to use him as a shield against one of those courters just now.
"However Noccult here is a bit different than the rest. He has no interest in the land since he is the son of a noble here. Due to his… strange obsession with me he also funded money to keep the dojo going, even if it's not quite successful, or at all." Miss Aoi said.
So he was head over heels for her and she used it to her advantage is what the girl is saying right now. Purple from the East has to admit it was a little unsettling to see that he misunderstood the situation and find out the girl was a bloodsucker. However then why is she admitting it without any hesitance in front of Noccult who she is tricking then?
"I know what you are thinking right now, but I do not care about such trivial matters. If I can help Miss Aoi in her endeavors then I will gladly be used by her as much as she wants! I love her, and I also owe old master Hiruma a lot!"
He was getting dizzy from all the information he is gaining. What is this game, a soap opera?
He shook his head.
"Well, I suppose it is none of my business. So I cannot get my Job change here?"
Aoi shook her head.
"Sady, here in Rockingham, only my father was capable of changing the Job of an adventurer into a Fighter. I am unqualified to do the same."
Well, there goes his idea of playing as a martial artist. Maybe he could play as a monk instead. The main point is he wishes to fight with his body as a weapon.
He decided to open a whisper with Erica.
[Purple from the East: Erica, there is no Fighter Job-change option in Rockingham]
[Erica: I know that already, there is no other fisticuff Job-change option either at this place]
[Purple from the East: Then why did you tell me to go here at Rockingham?]
[Erica: Just keep training in the dojo as you usually would in real life and you will understand, Onii-chan.]
He blinked. It was rare for her to call him that of all things. She only does that when she insists on him into doing something he is skeptical about. There is no stopping her when she does that, so he decided to relent to her will. She was most likely planning something for him anyway.
"May I train here for now then? Ah, do I have to pay money?"
As a beginner player, he does not have any money to his name yet, with the beginner clothing he wore and the ten loaves of bread on his inventory being his only belongings. He would not be capable of paying for the services here if there were any.
"No, the dojo is not running anymore so I would be embarrassed to take your money. But you are welcome if you intend to train here for some time."
Miss Aoi said with a smile. He was thankful for her charity, as otherwise, he would not be able to train his rusty skill back into the top-notch state. He sadly could not do the same in real life anymore so he will have to train here instead, besides training here would be quicker as an hour here is merely fifteen minutes in the real world.
"Thank you." He said with a small bow.
The two programs looked towards one another.
'What a strange man.' They both thought at the same time.
Adventures from the sides of the NPCs were mainly known for their unruly behavior and rash actions. The players within the game barely care about being respectful towards NPC and they also do not care about fighting skills, instead of learning fancy and wasteful Skills and strong items.
Without knowing the thought of those two Purple from the East started swinging his first against the large punching bag. After that were some kicks, and after that were more punches.
[Through constant training your Strength has increased by one (+1 STR)]
Huh, so there is a way to increase the basic power of the character without leveling up. That was news to Murasaki. If he could increase his stats by training then why did his friends in school bother to 'grind' for experience points to level up? Could they not just train their status instead?
Nevertheless, he continued to sharpen his skills. His movements have slowed down by a lot compared to the past when he was at his best, so all the more reason to train even harder from now on.
He became enthused in his training, no longer paying attention to his surroundings. The other two currently at the dojo decided to watch him as he trained his skills back to tip-top shape.
The two have the same line of thought while watching the man train.
'This is…'
'…Amazing!'
Punch, kick, and another kick. Attacks poured down relentlessly towards the punching bag
"ORAORAORAORA!"
[Through constant training your Dexterity has increased by one (+1 DEX)]
[Through constant training your Constitution has increased by one (+1 CON)]
[Through constant training your Strength has increased by one (+1 STR)]
[Through constant training your Dexterity has increased by one (+1 DEX)]
[Through constant training your Constitution has increased by one (+1 CON)]
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