Chương 216: Chapter 199. Martial Arts Class

It's been a week since I explained everything Angela had told me to Sarah and Anna. Since then, I've yet to have another nightmare. Every morning when I inform Sarah and Anna, they seem to have a mix of relief and anxiety at my answer. I have a bit myself too. It feels like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, like there's something coming. Regardless, I can't let our lives be dictated by something that "could" happen, so I've been continuing my job as a Business Owner and the Lord of Paradise.

With the rest of the paperwork still there in my office, I had to catch up on that. Thankfully, with sheer force of will, I was finally done it all by the 4th day I was back. With that over, I began to work on my Magic again. While I began working away at my Magic a few days ago, I noticed something during my time at my office desk that was impossible to ignore. STARE..." Ruby... Is there something I can help you with?"

"..." Ruby has been staring at me all day, I wondered why, but I really couldn't recall if I did something? Perhaps this is how that "Diplomat" Title works? I've changed Otherworlder and Brazen Warrior out for Businessman and Diplomat for now. The textbox for them convinced me to switch them out.

Businessman A Title given to those who make business deals of notable consequence. Effect. Percentage of business dealings ending in your favor UP 75%!

I wondered why this one had a number value attached to it. I put it up to the System just wanting to mess with me to some degree.

Diplomat A Title given to those who work to bridge the gap between people! Effect. Instinct given to the Title Holder to help them grow closer to others. Passive. Percentage of diplomatic negotiations ending in your favor, UP!

Again, why is it so fucking vague!? My anger was growing in me before I heard a voice coming from my left side." You really don't remember, Matthew?" Emily seemed surprised by my answer. She sat at her desk as she spoke to me." What?"" Yo- You said that you would let Ruby teach you Martial Arts the other day. She's been patiently waiting for you to approach her to start teaching you."

"..." Oh yeah... I did say that didn't I? I look back at Ruby and she looked away from me quickly. Almost as if she thought I hadn't noticed the staring already... I crack a smile as she looks at the wall with only some paintings on it that have never drawn her interest before." Ruby, could you look at me for a moment?"" No."" No? But how can I talk to you if you can't even look at me? If you were to teach me Martial Arts, how can you tell I'm improving if you don't look at me?"

Ruby looked down a little at my words. Her reactions to my teasing are certainly something fun to see." Matthew, I think it's time to stop teasing her."" Alright, alright." stand... I get out of my chair and walk over to Ruby who still wasn't looking at me. I stand in front of her and begin to speak softly." Ruby, I'm sorry I made you feel lonely. As you can tell from all of the paperwork, I've been busy. But I do really want to learn Demon Martial Arts. And I'd really like it if you would teach me.

So, Ruby, would you please teach me Demon Martial Arts?" Ruby looked at me from the side and nodded slowly. I smiled at her and spoke again. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident." Thank you, Ruby." Ruby looked back at the painting. I was about to leave the room and change into something that was easy to move in, but Emily spoke to me before I could reach the door." I'd hate to stop you, Matthew, but I need you to go over these documents first.""

I thought I was done, Emily? Well... What is it for?" Emily showed me a stack of papers that seemed to be a collection of 10 pages. I wondered what it was as I returned to my desk, ignoring the disappointment on Ruby's face as I did it. I read through the paperwork in front of me for a quick once over to understand what it was for. After I was done, I turned to Emily and began to speak to her so I could make sense of it."

So, in short, the Dwarves want to stay here in order to pick who comes back to Kuga to learn from their Master Craftsmen? With that, this is a Permit to allow them to live in some of the homes that aren't currently in use. If that's the case, where are they staying currently?"" Patty's Inn."" Patty's Inn? Where's that?" Emily brought up a place I've never heard of." it's a Business I allowed to operate during the 6 weeks you weren't here. Perhaps I should write up an explanation for everything I did?""

No, if anything pops up like that, I just hope you can explain it to me, I find your voice soothing to listen to after all, Emily."

"!!!" Emily made a sound as I moved back to the papers. I figured she saw something outside the window behind me. I scanned through the papers, it didn't seem to contain anything other than what the front page was asking. The rest was just about moving luggage and rent payments. Again, I'm reminded about how helpful Emily is. After looking through the pages, I decided to give my approval for the request. I pointed towards a few houses that were in better conditions than the truly weathered houses that I've seen.

With that, Ruby had gotten over being embarrassed and happily ran out the room with Emily as I went to go change clothes. I arrived at the training grounds on my mansion's property to find Sarah, Anna, Emily and Ruby all sitting around. I would figure the Demons would be sparring." What's the matter?" I asked what was wrong, since they didn't seem to want to do anything. That's a strange behavior for Demons. The girls all looked at me and Ruby answered me." We were waiting for you, Matthew!"" Why?""

Because Sarah, Anna and Emily all wanted to try their hands at learning Demon Martial Arts as well!"" Would that even work with your Job Classes?"" Would it even work with yours, My Love?"

"?" Sarah brought up a good question. I never thought about if I could even learn the Skills or not... I mean I'm not even a Demon after all?" I never even thought about that, Matthew. I'm sorry." Ruby seemed to be disappointed." Ruby, relax, I don't know why, but my gut is telling me that it's a good idea to learn from you. So, whether I learn a Skill or not is irrelevant to me. After all, knowing how to throw a punch can save you a lot quicker than using a Skill, right?" Ruby smiled at my words." Yeah!

That's right!" Looking at the happy expression that Ruby currently had, you wouldn't even be able to tell that she looked so upset not even a second ago." Well, I guess I shouldn't say anything to you guys? I mean, if I'm learning it just based on a gut feeling, I shouldn't complain if others want to join. Just go easy on Emily. since she doesn't have a Combat Class yet, okay?"" Of course, Darling! Besides!

Sarah and I are here because we think learning Demon Martial Arts can help improve our Skills with our weapons!"" I figured it'd be a good idea to learn some self-defense is all." Anna's answer seemed to be approved by Sarah with her head nodding, Emily also had her own reasons. With that, Ruby had us line up and we began her lesson." Alright! First thing's first! The essence of Demon Martial Arts is the complete destruction of your opponent! With that! The first thing I'll be teaching you all is the Jab!"

Wow, Ruby's firmly shifted into teaching mode. She's grown more confident in her speech. I guess it must be from her expertise in hand-to-hand fighting?" Trying to show off to him, huh?" Sarah and Anna seemed to agree to something Emily whispered that I couldn't make out? Before I could question what she said, Ruby continued to speak." The reason why learning to Jab is important is based in 2 reasons."" 2? I figured it'd be for offense only, right?" I spoke my mind, and I found out it was a mistake."

Don't interrupt your teacher as she speaks! That's a good way into having to do push-ups, Matthew!" Ruby shouted at me like a drill sergeant." Sorry, Ruby!" Ms. Ruby!"" Sorry, Ms. Ruby!" Ruby smiled at my reaction as I shouted like she did and stood up straight as she shouted back. It's just like those Karate lessons I took back when I was a kid." Good! Now, for answering that question! A jab can be used as both a sword and a shield during a fight, it all depends on the Fighter!

A jab can be used to set up more powerful attacks, or it can be used to interrupt an opponent's technique! Granted, this takes experience to effectively do, but in time, you should all be able to do it since I'll be teaching you! First thing's first! This is the basic stance of the Demon Martial Arts system! Copy this! Picture an imaginary enemy in front of you and place your non-dominant hand closest to them! Just like this! Assume the stance!" Ruby took a fighting stance where she shifted her body to the side.

It seemed to hide her body's weak points and made her body shape more like the sharp side of a sword. We copied the stance that Ruby took and then she proceeded to explain what to do next." Now! Make a fist with the rear hand like this!" Ruby made a fist and raised her fist to her chin as if it was glued to her face. We did as instructed." Good! Emily! Tighten your fist a bit more!.... Yes! Like that!" Ruby offered some instructions to Emily. Seems everyone else is doing fine." Now! Hold your hand open like this!

Picture it like the tip of a blade! This is to use your lead hand as a shield and also to parry blows from the opponent! Now onwards to the jab. You want to make a "soft fist", like this!" Ruby half closed her fist, and everyone was able to copy her." Good! Now with this, I'll show you the traditional jab of the Demon Martial Arts! The arm goes like this! You only make a true fist right before you believe you'll make contact with the opponent! Now that I've shown you, allow me to demonstrate it at full speed!"

/CRACK! SNAP! / Ruby started to jab the air and it sounded like a whip cracking the air. /THUMP! THUMP! / / WOMP! WOMP! / Sarah and Anna were already making noises with their jabs, while Emily and I don't seem capable of making noises." This will be more interesting than I thought!"" Yes! This seems like fun!" Sarah and Anna seemed to be excited for the future. Meanwhile... I'm wondering if I'll ever be able to make noises like they do when they jab. Emily on the other hand, seemed to be just enjoying the process.

I guess my days going forward are going to look like paperwork in the morning and Martial Arts and Magic training in the afternoon and evening. I wonder if time will pass quickly or not as I jabbed the air, waiting for Ruby to instruct us again.