Chapter 18 - I like the way you fight. (Patreon)

POV: Rui

When I left the room, I let out a sigh of relief. In the end, everything worked out. The Goddess updated my Falna and was able to see that my stats had increased. Once again, she started believing in my growth.

She had completely given up on me, to the point of wanting to expel me from the Familia.

From now on, she probably won't think about doing something like that anymore. Little by little, I'll earn back her respect, just like I did when I first joined the Familia. Not just the Goddess—Riveria and Finn, the two highest-ranking members, respected me a lot as well.

I used to be incredibly close to Finn. I even went into the Dungeon with his party several times at the beginning, but after a while, we drifted apart.

But honestly, I don't really care about getting close to him again. There's nothing he can offer me. If he were a woman, that would be a little more interesting.

Speaking of which, in my memories, all of the gods are actually women, unlike the original story. Does that mean the system even altered the past? Or maybe it created an entirely new world and gave me this life.

Perhaps this body originally belonged to an NPC, and I simply ended up taking control of it. An important NPC.

Well, I'll probably never know how the system accomplished all of this, but there's definitely something special behind it.

But honestly, thinking about it won't get me anywhere. I should simply enjoy this new life I've been given.

I eventually arrived at my room and went inside. After taking a shower, someone knocked on my door just as I stepped out of the bathroom.

Still shirtless, I walked over and opened the door.

To my surprise, it was Ais, already wearing her armor.

"It's time for training," she said.

"I didn't think we were training today."

"What is it? Are you tired or something?"

"Do I look tired?"

"Your expression is a little strange. Didn't you sleep well?"

Her intuition is really good, isn't it?

"Yeah, I didn't sleep very well. Where's Tiona?"

"Tiona is still asleep. Do you want to wake her? In the end, she'll probably just watch."

"There's no need. She's probably tired. I'll put on a shirt and head down."

"I'll wait for you at the training grounds."

After saying that without changing her expression even once, Ais walked away.

She's really excited about this training, isn't she? Does she enjoy teaching or something?

If I remember correctly, she helped Bell with his training.

I put on my shirt and headed toward the training grounds.

When I arrived, Ais was sitting in the middle of the field with her legs crossed. Her eyes were closed as if she were meditating.

As soon as I got close, she spoke.

"Sit down and relax for a bit before we start. I want to talk to you."

A conversation?

I sat down across from Ais, and she slowly opened her eyes.

After several seconds of silence, she asked,

"Why do you want to learn how to fight with a sword?"

"Didn't you already ask me that before?"

"Do you think it's necessary? Do you think you can improve your skills enough for it to become your main way of fighting?"

"I don't know if it's necessary, but it would definitely help. Don't you think my fighting style is extremely limited?"

"..."

"Tiona and Tione can fight barehanded, but they still prefer using weapons. Why? Because it's better. Those of us who fight with our bare hands are a minority. Many die. A lot of people also think fighting like that is foolish."

"I don't think it's foolish. I think it's impressive."

"Impressive..."

"Yes. You're able to move incredibly fast, and your punches and kicks are extremely powerful. I really enjoy watching you fight."

Despite her monotonous tone, it was a huge compliment coming from Ais.

"Thanks."

"But if you want to keep training with a sword, I'll continue helping you."

"Was that all? You just wanted to tell me that you like the way I fight?"

"Yes. That's all."

"I see. I'm happy to hear that. As a reward for complimenting me, I'll fight you barehanded just this once. You wanted to fight me like that, didn't you?"

I smiled.

Ais smiled as well and stood up.

"That'll be fun."

"But only once. After that, we'll go back to sword training."

"Alright."

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POV: Third Person

Rui took a few steps back and relaxed his arms, just as he always did before a fight.

Ais looked at him and gave a faint smile.

"Do you want me to make the first move?"

Hearing her question, Rui didn't answer.

He simply continued staring at her in silence.

The two faced each other as though they were truly enemies.

Rui let out a quiet breath.

'I just have to fight the way I always do. I won't activate Boost yet. I'll wait a little.'

He wanted to see if he could keep up with Ais's speed without using his skill.

Then he moved.

Keeping his arms relaxed, he kicked off the ground and appeared in front of Ais in an instant.

He spun his body and launched a heel kick toward her waist.

However, Ais raised her sword to intercept it, and Rui's kick struck only the blade.

Using her own sword as a shield was something she did all the time.

Rui felt a slight pain in his foot but ignored it.

He immediately began unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks, moving at incredible speed.

Ais started stepping backward under the relentless pressure.

Unlike when they sparred with swords, she couldn't simply block every one of Rui's attacks with her blade.

She had to retreat and evade his strikes.

But Rui noticed something strange.

'She's not attacking.'

She was simply observing his movements.

She was probably reading them, waiting for the perfect opportunity to counterattack.

'Ais is incredibly meticulous,' Rui thought.

So he increased the speed of his attacks even further.

Right. Left. Low.

He attacked from multiple angles in rapid succession.

If someone had been watching the fight, they would have thought,

"Those two are monsters."

But Rui thought differently.

Only Ais was a monster.

'Not even a single drop of sweat...'

Rui breathed heavily as he looked at Ais.

Not a single one of his attacks had landed.

Even the increase in his stats hadn't made any difference.

'I need to reach Level 4 as soon as possible. But how am I supposed to do that?'

As Rui smiled bitterly, Ais finally decided to attack.

Already exhausted, Rui tried to dodge the strikes from her sword.

But in the end...

He was completely defeated.