Within the confined space of the chamber, Arthur and I faced each other. From the expression on his face, it was blatantly obvious that he was confident a smile was on his face.
'Now, the quest wants me not to use [All Seeing Eye], then I should do that.'
With that thought, I readied myself.
ƥαṇdαsηθνε|·ƈθm "You think you stand a chance against me, the protagonist, Callius?" he mumbled to himself with a low voice, but I was able to hear it as we were close.
'Heh….. Now, it is obvious….' At this point, it was obvious that he was from another world.
"Begin."
The moment the signal was given, Arthur instantly lunged forward as he attempted to attack me with a swift strike, his aim catching me off guard.
/SWOOSH/
"HA!"
However, it was what he attempted to do.
Since we were sparring with low strength, the chamber was slightly small. Therefore, he instantly reached me as a punch was coming into my face.
'But, this is not how you fight.' I thought, seeing the punch thrown since it was nowhere close to being professional.
The footwork was in a mess, the structure of the punch was nowhere close to being acceptable, and, more importantly, the balance was lost.
'He clearly, didn't even listen to the lesson. What an idiot.'
/SWOOSH/
Having raised my fists and taken my guard already, it wasn't hard for me to dodge the punch aimed at my face by simply titling my body to the side slightly without losing my footing.
/THUD/
And following it with a clean uppercut to his right abdomen.
"Kurgh-"
As my uppercut was connected with his abdomen, saliva spurted from his mouth. But the main damage was on his breathing since momentarily; it was interrupted.
Resulting in a lack of oxygen for a second, making him lose his balance. This resulted from his random way of breathing, which was not suited for close combat at all.
/THUD/
However, no matter which combats you are in, it is important not to lose your momentum. Be it a magic fight or a sword fight.
Thus, without stopping, I instantly threw another simple punch to his left abdomen to rig his breathing more.
/THUD/
It connected without any resistance as he closed his body more reflexively.
"You... you got lucky," Arthur grumbled between gasps for breath. "This isn't over!"
'Now, a random swing to fend me off will come.' Hearing what he said, I thought and immediately readied myself.
/SWOOSH/
Undeterred, he pressed on, desperate to prove himself. But his lack of technique and discipline left him vulnerable.
As the swing came, I lowered my head to dodge the strike.
Making him lose his balance as he fell slightly to the front.
"You talk big, Arthur Nightlance." I taunted, seizing the opportunity to strike. "But your actions speak louder than words."
Then countered with a punch at his right jaw, aiming to make him lose control.
/THUD/
Delivering a powerful blow to his midsection, I watched as his confidence shattered along with his composure.
His face contorted with pain, and he staggered backward, struggling to regain his footing.
'Heh…. What a fragile protagonist you are….' I thought.
"I... I won't let you..." Arthur stuttered, his voice strained and feeble, his face concentrated with pain.
Gritting his teeth, he raised his fists one more and threw me a barrage of attacks.ραпdαs `nᴏνɐ| сom
/SWOOSH/
However, none of them contained proper footing or posture.
Thus, none of them was able to hit.
With deft footwork, I evaded his wild swings, smoothly slipping out of harm's way.
/SWOOSH/ /THUD/
And the moment I saw the opening, sensing an opportunity, I swiftly countered with a clean uppercut to his chin, causing his head to snap back and disorient him further.
'His strength is higher than mine, but my specialization is speed.' I thought, from the confrontation alone. 'But, he can't even use his strength properly. This spar is over.'
/THUD/ /THUD/ /THUD/
With that thought, maintaining my composure, I pressed forward, keeping the momentum on my side. I landed a series of well-timed strikes to his body, targeting his midsection and ribs, effectively disrupting his breathing and weakening his defenses.
"Kurgh-"
With each landed blow, it became increasingly clear that my understanding of close combat techniques and his not listening to the lecture gave me an edge in this fight.
/THUD/
And with one last kick on his diagram, I blasted him off, sending him to crawl on the ground, defeated and humiliated.
<Quest [Main Character 2] completed.>
With the voice of the system echoing inside my head, I was looking at the protagonist lying under me.
As I stood over him, a mixture of triumph and disappointment welled up within me. It was a hollow victory. I had expected more from him.
He struggled to rise, his body trembling with exhaustion and humiliation. The defeat was evident in his eyes, and I could sense a glimmer of self-doubt creeping in.
"Kurghk-" As he coughed, he looked like a worm trying to raise himself.
"Pathetic." Was the only thing I could say, seeing the display he had shown to me. "You are pathetic, Arthur Nightlance. Proven to be a complete waste of my time."
The weight of my words hung in the air, casting a shadow over his defeated form.
The onlookers watched with wide eyes, their astonishment palpable. Even Alder seemed taken aback.
'This reaction is good. The more you are scared, the more you will want to improve yourself. Maybe, some of you can put up a fight then.' I thought as I scanned their gazes.
/CLAP/
However, the sound of clapping came not long after as the instructor wanted to gather everyone's attention.
"It was a good spar." He said as he activated the formation surrounding the arena, healing Arthur from those small injuries he had sustained.
"At least, from the perspective of Student Callius. It seems there is a reason why you are the rank 1." As the Alder commented while looking at me, he nodded in acknowledgment.
"However, student Arthur. It seems you didn't even pay attention to my lectures." His gaze was condemning, as he was looking at Arthur with an aggressive gaze.
As he turned his face to the rest of the class, he spoke. "Student Arthur's performance serves as a prime example of how not to fight. From this point on, I suggest you pay close attention to my class to not show such disgraceful display." With his gaze wandering around, it was blatantly obvious that he was annoyed.
However, the class needed to be conducted, so he did what he needed to do.
Alder scanned the class and called out, "Sarah and Lucas, step forward." Sarah, a petite girl with a determined look, and Lucas, a tall and athletic young man, made their way to the front, anticipation evident in their eyes. "We will now witness a demonstration of close combat techniques from Sarah and Lucas," Alder announced, gesturing for them to prepare.
Just like that, the class went on…..
------------------A/N--------------------
You can already see the results of different approaches coming from transmigrators.
Hope you liked the fight scene, though. I must admit that writing this chapter was not only satisfying but also quite enjoyable for me as well.
Check out my new book if you are interested. This time it will have a modern hunter theme, where MC will be driven by the feeling of vengeance. Name is;
Hunter Academy: Revenge of the Weakest
You can check my discord if you want. You will be able to see the illustrations here and engage in a conversation with me if I am available.
https://discord.gg/ufP7aaZu
