Chapter 695: Beat ’Em Up.
Entering the Red Oni Club, Dante greeted the Red Demons gathered there then looked for Carlos to receive that day’s report. Once he was done taking care of everything that needs taking care of, he climbed down the stairs leading to the underground arena.
’Oh, he’s already here...’
Inside the hexagonal cage, a blonde youth was moving around, performing a series of moves with utmost precision. Watching him for a while, Dante realized that he was fighting some invisible enemies as if he was shadow boxing.
’Could it be...’
[He seems to be playing a game...]
Volcan confirmed his guess, and Dante couldn’t help but sigh. Putting his oni mask on, he activated Silent breath and walked down to the cage. He instructed Volcan to share with him what the blond idiot was seeing then asked him to insert a new NPC into the game and project it over his body.
~[ ]~
The game Oliver chose was a type of beat ’em up that’s focused on martial arts. Waves of tough looking men in tattered martial arts garb rushed him from all sides, and he moved to meet them all, evading their strike and delivering his own. Each opponent vanished after being knocked to the ground, but more kept coming, making it appear as if there was no end.
As it was an Augmented Reality game, none of the strikes had any weight behind them, so the player felt nothing whether they get hit or do the hitting. Though it was a good way to practice dodging, it lacked the feel of being in a real fight, making it far too inefficient as real training.
"Huh?"
A fist came flying straight to Oliver’s face. As he leaned his head to the side to evade, he felt a gust blow by. The hair on the back of his neck stood as he sensed the oncoming danger, and he immediately upped his effort as if a single mistake would lead to his demise.
Something was wrong with the last NPC to attack him. Another fist came at him from below then a third one followed. Oliver evaded then jumped up, escaping a low sweep that was immediately followed with a kick aimed at his flank. Loosening his knees, he let his body fall to the floor then rolled to the side, dodging the heel that came down to crush him. If he hadn’t been convinced that something was off about that NPC before, then the loud bang that followed its axe kick was the proof he needed.
Having played the same game countless times before, he had memorized the attack patterns of all enemies, which is why he could tell that the one before him wasn’t moving the way it’s supposed to. For a moment there he though it was the result of a glitch, but that wouldn’t explain the wind that accompanied each strike.
The NPC’s movement continued to get faster, and the windows for evading kept getting shorter. At this rate, one of the coming blows was bound to connect, and the pain it would bring was going to be as real as it could get.
’I have no other choice!’
Oliver wasn’t a gambler, but at that moment, he decided to bet everything on something he had yet to fully master. As his focus reached its peak, his blue eyes turned gold, and faint glow spread over his arms and legs.
All of a sudden, the NPC’s movements no longer felt as fast. Finally going on the offence, Oliver was surprised that his strike didn’t land, but that did little to slow him down. After throwing the third punch, he began to feel that the way the NPC dodged looked familiar. It didn’t click until what he thought was a guaranteed hit was suddenly parried.
As his arm suddenly shot back, his eyes went wide, and a single word flashed in his mind.
’Boss!’
He didn’t get the chance to think anything else as he saw another series of strikes heading his way, and before he could decide how to react, his body moved on its own. His right hand shot up, pushing the fist charging at him from the left while his left hand went down, stopping the knee that sprang from below. Twisting his upper half, he evaded a jab then took a step back, raising both arms to block the high kick directed at his head.
Impressed by his own movements, he failed to follow the NPC as it went down to the floor and spun around with its left leg stretched out, sweeping him off his feet. As his back hit the floor, a shadow fell over his body and he saw a fist falling down at him. Before he could role away, it plunged into his stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs and almost causing his eyes to pop out.
Feeling the pain spread through his body like a wave, Oliver curled up into a ball, wrapping his arms around the spot that took the blow.
"You think an enemy would wait for you to recover?" A familiar voice spoke to him. His body tensed up as he thought another blow was coming, but seconds passed and he felt nothing. Finally managing to turn around, he looked up to find a red haired demon looking down at him.
"It seems you’ve improved a bit since we last sparred." He said, his eyes narrowing into thin slits. "Maybe I should give you a proper beating so you wouldn’t get cocky."
~[ ]~
Dante was pissed, and more than just a little. He looked away for a week and the blond bastard was already in a full sprint, crossing miles when most people would take years to do the same. Last time, he could barely manifest his soul while meditating, yet here he was, using it in a fight as if it were nothing.
’That was Level 3, wasn’t it?’
[Indeed.]
For the two seconds he had his soul manifested, Oliver was moving at the speed of a Level 3. His reflexes showed that his perception had risen to that level as well, and seeing how he was able block and parry the blows Dante threw at him, there was no denying that it.
Dante did hold back, of course, but each of his blows would have killed a normal human on the spot. Being able to survive them was the best proof to how much stronger his blond underling had gotten in this short period.
"Damn geniuses."
Irritated, Dante clicked his tongue and looked around the underground arena.
"Where is Riot, anyway? Isn’t he supposed to watch over your training?"
"He..." Already pushing himself up, Oliver replied as he grimaced. "He doesn’t show up before noon."
"Tsk... Lazy bastard." Dante fixed the blond one with a glare. "You weren’t fooling around when I wasn’t looking, right?"
"O-of course not! I’m always practicing here when there is no work!"
That was little consolation, considering all the progress he made in such a short time.
"But..."
Dante raised an eyebrow, waiting for the blond one to continue.
"I don’t really have any to practice with, you know?" Said Oliver. "Riot doesn’t do more than three sparring matches per day, and Wolf... well, he only came once so far."
"Sorry, but I’ve been a little buzy yesteray."
Dante turned around and a grin began to form on his face. A tall man descended the stairs leading to the hexagonal cage. Pulling his hood down, he revealed the white hair covering his head, as well as a pair of canine ears.
"Well, well, well, look who decided to visit." Dante said.
"I could say the same." Wolf said. Though he wore a hardened expression, he failed to control his tail which was wagging left and right. "Looks like our schedules finally aligned."
"At long last." Dante glanced at the idiot behind him. "I hear you took care of my boy over there."
"I did join one of his training sessions. He is a rather talented martial artist."
"Careful now, he will let it get to his head."
"I only spoke the truth."
As the white haired hero entered the cage, Dante took off his jacket and tossed it to his blond underling.
"Alright, Oliver. Time to hit the bench." He said. "It has been some time since I last had a proper spar."
Doing the same, Wolf removed his jacket and folded it neatly before heading it to Oliver as he headed to the exit. As soon as the door closed, the hero began transforming. His muscles bulged, and fur grew all over his skin. Fangs grew from his teeth as his face morphed into that of a wolf, growing a snarling muzzle. Opening his eyes, he fixed Dante with a murderous glare, the faint grow he let out making it seem as if he were out for blood.
"Transforming right from the start, huh?" With the same grin still on his face, Dante took a fighting stance.
"We don’t need to put on a show this time, so there is no point." The hero did the same, baring his fangs and extending his claws.
