Chương 224: Chapter 207. Hand-To-Hand Training

After the meeting was over, Ms. Vox and her entourage left without much fanfare. Emily was able to work out a decent deal. Basically, there would be a 60/40 split for profits with us having the lion's share. The Dwarves seemed to be happy with the arrangement and wondered if there were any other ideas I had for products like the cheeses they tried. I told them I do, but not at any real stage in development yet besides the thinking stage. That inspired thoughts in their minds, but it led to nothing for now.

I mean, Jim is already doing so much, I don't want to add anything more for fear of what Janet might do if Jim starts working even more than he already is." So, what should we do now, My Love?" Sarah seemed to want to say something. I could guess what she wanted, even more so with Anna staring at me as well." As long as Ruby is fine with it, I don't mind doing some training." With Emily and Ruby also staring at me, I think I can guess how Ruby's answer will go." By all means!"

With that, Sarah and Anna followed me to our room to change into better clothes for moving around. Emily and Ruby did the same with a spare room we cleaned out to have a few changes of clothes for them and other Staff. Of course, male and female Servants had different rooms. Once we were finished changing, we all met back up on the training grounds. After warming up first, we assumed the line up and waited for Ruby to begin speaking." Okay! Let's start with our Kata first!"

With Ruby's command, we started up our Kata. From punches, parries and kicks, we worked through what Ruby taught us up to this point." Emily, your strikes are too slow, put more force into your swings! Matthew! Your strikes lack focus! Picture an enemy that needs to be defeated! Sarah! Don't put your all into every swing! It'll leave you open for a counter! Anna! There is no second strike! This is the last shot! Don't hold yourself back that much!"

We all took in Ruby's advice, and we continued our Kata with Ruby's words in mind. We finished and we all felt fully warmed up. Sarah, Anna, Emily and I faced Ruby and waited for her to issue the next lesson." Okay! Time for some sparring!" Ruby started to make the preparations for our sparring matches. This included using a stick to make a big circle to use as a ring for the matches. With that, Ruby pointed to me and then to Sarah. Oh boy... Sarah smiled at me. I smiled back. This will probably hurt.

We get into position and waited for Ruby's signal." Okay! Begin!" / Thump! / Pivot! With Ruby's signal, the fight begins. Sarah charges at me like a bull. I sidestep her attack. Sarah smiled again." Good! Let's see how long you last this time!" Shift! Jump! A palm strike is aimed at my jaw. I shift my shoulder and hide my chin behind it and jump back to avoid the brunt of the damage. Push! /Thump! / Fly! The strike lands on my shoulder and it sends me flying.

It's during moments like this, that I remember Sarah and Anna aren't Humans. Land! I land just on the rim of the perimeter that Ruby made. Speaking of which, Ruby begins to speak to me as I reestablish my balance." Matthew! Don't be scared to counter Sarah's attack!"" Understood!" Ruby offered some advice and I head back to Sarah who happily waited for me. All of my fellow students seemed to be more ecstatic when they were sparring with me. I assume it's because I'm fun to spar with.

Paladins seem to make good punching bags thanks to our enhanced defenses." Here! This time you attack me, Matthew!" Sarah spoke with enthusiasm as I retake my stance. I decided to humor her and head towards her. The trick to Demon Martial Arts is to picture completely destroying the target. Admittedly, that's hard to do with either of my Wives or my Friends... But this is just sparring after all... This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. throb...

And my shoulder is still hurting. Tense!

"!" I pullback to punch and Sarah attempts to block my punch. I'm glad she didn't notice it was a faint. I pull my arm back and with that motion, I begin to throw a roundhouse kick at Sarah's stomach. Press! Grip! /Thump! / Despite the sound, Sarah had caught my kick in her arm, now I was stuck. Sarah looked at me and began to speak." My Love, as much as I love the fact that you're scared to hurt me due to my being your Wife, you need to stop holding back! Otherwise! This happens!" Tighten! Lift! / Woosh!

/ Sarah tightened her grip on my leg and began to swing me." Woah!"" Sorry!" Fly! LAND! / Crash! / pain... Sarah released my leg as the momentum of her swing carried me into the air and I landed out of the ring." Winner! Sarah!" With Ruby's declaration, Sarah exited the ring. Anna and Emily followed. Despite the power advantage of Anna, Emily was able to get her on the ground.

Emily dominated from there and the first round had ended before Emily could sink in a submission or win via technical knockout, which would be at Ruby's discretion of course. The next round began, and Anna was able to land a counter on Emily's attempt to take her down and was able to hold Emily down for the round. The last round began after a minute's rest. Anna kept Emily at a distance by using her jab and a few body blows. Once the fight was over, I cast Holy Heal on the both of them for a job well done.

Ruby announced that Anna had won the match and then, for all of us to line up again. Once we were lined up, Ruby began to speak to us again." Today, I think it's time to try something a bit different. But for this, I need some help. So with that." /BANG! /" Hello!" With a loud bang, Flare appeared in a puff of smoke." Flare?"" Yup! It's me! Flare Flameskin, Lord Matthew, Lady Sarah, Lady Anna, Lady Emily!" Flare seemed to be happy to be here. But why she was here was still something I didn't understand?"

I can tell you all are wondering why I'm here! Well! It's because my Job Class is Demon Fist!"" But you had a sword when we went hunting, right?" I couldn't help but remember that Flare hunted with a sword when she joined us in the beginning of trying to fix the food problem here in Paradise." I did, because I have a 2nd job as a Demon Knight! However, a Demon Fist has something over the Demon Knight class! And that is this!" / Woosh! / Flare's hand began to glow, and a small ball of Magic came out of her palm."

As you can see, I have Mana! Which is something Ruby doesn't! And today, I'm going to teach you the Basics of using Mana while using Hand-To-Hand Combat Techniques!"" Is that even possible for us? I mean, would our Jobs allow it?" Anna asked the obvious question." Yes, as long as you have a Job that allows you to have some amount of Mana, it should be possible to use it. It's similar to the Mana Blade Skill. The only real difference is that you'll be using the points on your extremities to use it.

Your fists, elbows, knees and feet are your "blades" in a way."" Will it even help us? I mean, I don't think any of us have a Job that favors hand-to-hand combat, right?" Everyone nodded to my words. Flare and Ruby responded to me." Well, yes that's true. However, when it comes to Techniques and the like, as long as you have the ability to do it, I don't think it's wrong to learn it. I mean, we all learn how to cook and clean even if we don't have Jobs pertaining to those things, right?

Yes, your Jobs may not have an inherent predilection to something like using Mana with your Hand-To-Hand Combat Skills, but it can't hurt to learn it! Heck, maybe one of your Jobs will even unlock a specific Skill after learning how to do it!" Flare passionately advocated for us to go along with the training. I thought about it and if Ruby thought it was a good idea for us to do it, I don't see a reason why we shouldn't." Alright, if you think it'll help us, I don't see a reason not to."

I agreed with Flare and the girls seemed to be fine with learning it as well. Flare began to instruct us, it appears that the idea is a little different than Mana Blade. With Mana Blade, it's a constant output to your sword. With this Technique however, it's like focusing a blast of mana into wherever you strike. It really fits the goal of Demon Martial Arts. Which like I've said before, it's about destroying the opponent as fast as possible. /Bang!

/ Sarah and Anna were able to pick up the basic mana infused strike that Flare had taught us. /Womp! / Emily seemed to be doing fine as well. Then there was me. Punch! /OOP! / Why is my fist making such a weird sound? It sounds nothing like Flare's example." You seem to be having an issue, Lord Matthew."" Yeah, I can't seem to get it right?"" Hmm." Flare and Ruby walked towards me. Ruby thought for a moment and began to speak." Your movement is always awkward... Wait a minute! You're a Paladin!""

Yes, I'm a Paladin? Why?"" Maybe you need a different "source" than us! Instead of thinking about "destroying the opponent" Why not try thinking something like, " I need to destroy this opponent to protect something or someone"?" I looked at them a little puzzled." I mean... I guess I can try..."" Good!" Flare had given me her full support... So, I need to think about protection... I guess... I need to think about what's important to me. Sarah and Anna...

An imaginary enemy stands in front of me, and I need to take him down to protect them. Punch! Explode! /CRASH! BANG! / I threw the punch, and something exploded in me as well as out of my fist. /DING! / And a screen popped up in front of me.

Holy Martial Arts Unlocked!

I stare at the screen and freeze from my surprise.