Chương 426: Chapter 399. A Split-Second Decision

" Hm? That didn't take too long."" We don't have the time to take long after all." The purple Demon spoke to me as I entered the clearing from the bushes and trees of the forest. He was just leaning up against a tree to the side of the clearing. After I answered him, he moved away from the tree and came closer to me." Well then, my name is Sarn Lota. I wish you good fortune in the battle to come." I was confused by what he said. It must've shown on my face as he squinted at me." It's an Ancient Tradition, girl.

Warriors would introduce themselves before partaking in a Duel."" Oh... Well... I'm Ashley Garrett?"" Why did that sound like a question? Don't you know your own name?" His question was genuine... This guy is strange... He's not acting like all the other Demons I've run into." No... It is my name, it's just that I've never heard of this tradition before... But I'll take your word for it. Let me try this again!" / thump! Woosh!

/ I strike the ground with my feet and enter my fighting stance and activated my War Aura and channeled my mana all around my body this time, instead of just my hands and feet like the past few fights. Something tells me this guy is going to be different compared to the last few fights I've been in recently. Finally, after I felt the mana settle in my body and strengthen me, I introduced myself again with confidence." My name is Ashley Garrett! I wish you good fortune in the battle to come!"

Sarn smiled, his one eye seemed to glow as I could tell he seemed to be in a good mood from my introduction." Yes! That's more like it, Ashley Garret! Let me do the same!" / Rumble! zhoom! /" What!?"" You didn't think I wouldn't have weapon or two, did you? I mean, you have light armor, gauntlets and greaves for yourself. I'd be an idiot to only fight with my bare hands! Sure, I had my armor already on, but fighting is more than defense, wouldn't you agree? Now then... Let's do this!"

Sarn took his stance and with the sound of air being sucked into a pipe, 2 tonfa appeared in his hands and along his arms. They were colored pale-green and looked to be made of some kind of metal." Now then, Ashley Garrett! Let's have a good battle!" Without giving a moment to take in what he said, Sarn quickly got into position to launch himself at me, I quickly did the same. / Thump! THUMP! / We both kick the ground and launch ourselves at each other. Thankfully, I'm faster than him. That's good for me. Punch!

/ Thump! /"!" Raise! / Bang! / I try to punch him in the chest, only for him to block with his tonfa. Once I brought my fist back, I saw that he swung his tonfa around his hand and tried to strike me with it like a small baseball bat. I blocked it with my free hand. / Thump! / I jumped back to gain some space. He thought it meant that I thought I lost the exchange. / Rumble! / He kicked the ground and launched himself at me with his tonfa spinning like a fan. It stopped as he swung the tonfa at my head. Jump!

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. I quickly jumped and lifted my knee so the impact would hit my greaves instead of my head. Push! Fly! / CLANG! WOOOSH! Bang! / It worked... But I was launched into the air, I was able to regain my balance and land on a tree with my feet. I looked up to see him running at me with his tonfa spinning again. I'm not going to play defense the entire fight! I need to end this quickly. Jump! / Thump!

/ I jump from the tree to reach him, I go for a kick this time instead of a punch, to land something more damaging. Kick! / Thump! Woosh! / He... He dodged my kick!? He pivoted to the left by jumping!" Naive!" / Thump! / He makes a comment before launching himself at me, I need to move quickly! Punch! / WOOSH! /" WHAT!?" I used one of the Cutting Wind Techniques that I knew, in this case, I was using Tiger Style, and in that Style, it's called Wind Claw. And I used it to launch a blast of sharp air at Sarn.

it made him stop in his tracks as he was making his way towards me with both his tonfas spinning. / BANG! Thump! / At around the same time that my Wind Claw crashed into Sarn, I was able to land back on the ground. I quickly reposition myself to be facing him and retook my stance. Once I did, I could see something I was hoping I wouldn't." So... A Cutting Wind Technique. Didn't think I'd see something like that from you in the air. That means you're not some amateur. This is going to get even more fun."

He wasn't even hurt from my Wind Claw. No... It was the opposite, if anything, he's in an even better mood than when we started fighting. I guess I'll need to dig deeper into my bag of tricks for this. It looks like I'm not going to be the first one to get back to Jaime. / Woosh! /" Now what are you doing?"" You'll find out." I began to invoke another Spell, this time it's another Technique from the Tiger Style." You're growing claws? Made of mana?"

He's looking at my hands, small sharp claws had formed on my finger tips. This is one of the Intermediate Skills from the Tiger Style. The Skill is called Mana Claws. No, I suppose this would be called a Spell since it uses mana and not just my body? The Spell is one of many I have that let me take on an aspect of a tiger. Mr. Mark told me that it's a quirk of the Monk Job.

The only issue is that the deeper into our learning of the Styles, the more likely we'll take on not just physical aspects of the animal in question, but also it's temperament and personality. We all start with 2 Styles that fit us best and from there, we can learn other Styles as well. He said that Monks tend to stumble onto them from training and trying different things, in my case, I started with Tiger and Tortoise.

Dragon Style was strange, in that I landed a side kick onto a Spider Monster's head and I was alerted to Dragon Style and it's Skills being unlocked for me. Granted, this doesn't mean I learned the Martial Art and all of it's Forms and Techniques. To learn them, I need to do something Mr. Mark calls "Martial Meditation". What that meant is just emptying my mind while choosing a Style to use and then my body will take over and take me through random Forms of the Style.

From there, the Monk Job will actually save the Forms for me to be able to use. Really, this Job is a strange one. And every time I've asked Mr. Mark about it, he's never been able to answer it. He just said it was best not to question it. Regardless, all of that doesn't help me here. I need to get my head back into the fight and not worry about my training. The claws are fully formed now. Time for me to force him back! Jump! / Thump! /" Oh!" He made a surprised sound as I jumped towards him. Swing! / Woosh!

/" Woah!" I slashed at him with my claws, but he jumped out of the way, I can't let him get away! / WOOSH! /" No!" / CLANG! / I send another Wind Claw at him, he quickly used one of his tonfa to block the incoming attack. But this is great, because now he's stationary for a moment! / Thump! /" Hm!?" He looked confused as I ran up to his side, even more so as he saw my arm reach up and seek to tear out a part of his flesh. / CLANG! / Push!" You're going to have to do better than that!"

He stopped my attack with his other tonfa, now he's aiming to counter attack me. Unlike last time, instead of spinning and trying to batter me with the part that blocks his forearm, he's attempting to jab my neck with the part that juts out from his fist. Pivot!

"!" Shift! I can't let that happen, I quickly move to dodge the blow. Once I saw his arm swing past me, I quickly pivot my right foot to send me to the unguarded side of his torso. Swing! / SCREECH! / I leave deep scratch marks into his chest plate, but it's not enough to actually damage him... But it's a start for something greater. / Thump! / I jump back from the exchange to establish some distance between us before looking for the next moment to start an exchange." Not bad, you scratched the armor.

Now then, I guess I'll have a go." / Rumble! /" Fast!?" / Thump! / Jump! / Thump! / Sarn launched himself at me with greater speed than before, he's almost twice as fast! This isn't good! I jumped to get away from him, but he simply stuck one of his tonfa in the ground so he could use it to leverage himself to go after me! How could he even do that!? Humans couldn't possibly do that!" Did you really think I'd go all out right off the bat? You're way too green!"

He's rushing towards me, with a smile on his face that shows he's enjoying this. That's when I remembered, I wasn't dealing with a Human! It's a Demon! Thinking is useless right now! I need to do something quick! / Click! / The first thing that popped into my head was what I did. I aimed my claws at Sarn's face as he came closer and closer to me. The clicking sound meant that my claws were ready. His face looked surprised as I decided to stand my ground. Something tells me he doesn't realize what's about to happen.

I could feel my own smile forming on my face! I waited for him to be within 5 feet of me, before I launched my Mana Claws off of my glove and directly into his face! pain... / FWOOSH! BOOM! / The explosion was big, but my sense of achievement was bigger! And the recoil from shooting the Claws didn't even hurt that bad!