Chapter 63.2 – Ready, fight! - part 1.2

Hinen pretended to be surprised. “I don’t know what you mean. I was fighting normally, aiming for first blood!”

“No, you were not! I don’t know what your problem is with him, and I don’t care! You used five deadly blows, each of them aimed at his neck and heart. You can fake and lie to anyone else, but you can’t fool me, boy! I was using a sword long before you were even born! I can recognise deadly blows and assassination attempts in my sleep. And what you did, moron, disguised as a training session, was an assassination attempt! I will watch you closely from now on. As for you, Nozomu, I would sleep with one eye open from now on, because that bastard should not be trusted!”

Nozomu looked at Hinen, who was doing his best to look surprised. Nozomu thought he saw a faint movement of his lips into a grin, but it changed to a half-open mouth in an instant, making him doubt what he had seen.

Then, Muse Sirel spoke, trying to calm everyone down. “I think we can assume this was all a mistake and first-day nervousness, because I can’t believe that the son of the Guild Master Nitani Sukemoru would resort to such a shameful tactic to get rid of someone for whatever purpose could there be. I am also sure that he is very aware of what his father will say and do the moment he hears what he just did.”

Hinen looked at the angry-looking Dwarf woman, and she continued, “What? You thought I didn’t know who you are? My father was in your father’s Party when they were both Adventurers. I heard how weird you were and that not even your father knew for sure if you played with all your marbles or not, but I will send him a message about this, and tomorrow you will have to explain to him what you did. I don’t know if you will still be alive in the afternoon after your talk with him, nor do I care. You should have thought about the consequences of your actions before you attempted to kill your Party member.”

Hinen tried to explain, “I don’t know what you are talking about! I did what I was supposed to do! Aim for first blood! I knew Nozomu wouldn’t have any problems with my attacks! You didn’t see him fighting all those Goblins on that mountain! He looks harmless most of the time, but to me, he is the most dangerous person here! Even more than you and Teacher Egar! Anyone would look at you, Teacher Egar, and even Taisetsuna, and be alarmed! Anyone that looks at Nozomu thinks he is easy to defeat, and then he does things like he did to that guy! By God Raluth’s boots, he defeated a Fire Dragon with his fists! The first time we met, he knocked me out only because I pulled his shoulder from behind!”

Teacher Muse tilted her head a bit and said, in a serious tone, “You know, all that acting might fool everyone here, but there is one thing that you may not know about Dwarfs. We can smell bullshit a mile away. Your heart was calm during the fight with Nozomu and when Teacher Egar spoke to you, but the moment I accused you, it started to pump like crazy. You turned pale, and I saw you disguising a weird smile during the fight. Right now, I can clearly see two drops of cold sweat on the right side of your forehead, a clear sign in a Cat-kind that you are extremely nervous. You can deny how much you want, but I know you even more than you know yourself.”

She then looked at Tresuria and asked, “Can you order your pet plant to always be near this dumbass? I don’t trust him one bit. I want to be sure he never tries something like this again.”

“That… would be a shameful thing to do... He belongs to this one’s Party, and…”

“Very well. What about having your pet always near Nozomu, working as his bodyguard? Just to be sure he is safe, nothing else.”

“That… can work... But... this one wanted to make a new pet plant later, and if Draiky is going to always be with Nozomu, it has now become urgent…”

Muse Sirel made a slight smile. “I believe that won’t be a problem for you. Will you explain to your friend Draiky what he is supposed to do? Good. Now that is settled, go to your place, dumbass, before I detach your ugly head from your shoulders! Seriously, what is wrong with you, anyway?”

Hinen Sukemoru went to meet the others, looking dumbfounded. He answered in a low voice to the puzzled Robert and Taisetsuna, who were looking at him, “I don’t know what she is talking about… I just wanted to win… If I was not aggressive, Nozomu would knock me out again...”

While they were tapping his back to make him feel better, Nozomu looked down at Draiky, who was staring at Hinen as if he also knew what Nozomu was thinking. All that situation, and the way he acted, or when he disguised the smile, was far too strange, but it could also be because he liked Taisetsuna, and saw Nozomu as a rival because she was always near him.
Nevertheless, Hinen’s actions were weird. He was strange, but going as far as actually trying to kill him? He threw a few deadly blows that made Nozomu work hard not to be killed, but he was used to the absurd speed of Taisetsuna, and despite being a Cat-kind, Hinen was not faster than her. Still, he was someone that Nozomu couldn’t understand completely, so for the moment, he would pretend to pay little attention to the matter, and let Draiky deal with the protection.

Teacher Muse Sirel went to the middle of the circle and announced, “Now, let’s start with the unarmed fights. Does anyone want to go first?”

Robert Keskula raised his hand and took one step forward. “Me against Nozomu. He already fought against Hinen, so I guess I can also fight him, right?”

Teacher Muse shrugged and Nozomu asked, “Out of all these people, me again? What the heck? I have a target on my back, or what?”

“Oh, come on, stop whining and let’s go!”

Robert pushed the reluctant Nozomu, and they both went to the middle, near the Dwarf Teacher. She joined the others at the edge, and from over them, Hinotsume spoke, “Yes, punch him for me, Robert Keskula! Make him cry! Heheheh!”

Mizukonta slapped the enormous head of the red Dragon and said, “Stop being a brat that gets angry because he lost a fight! Eat the Goblins and shut up! I want to see this!”

When the order to get ready was given, Robert took a few steps forward with his body lowered. Nozomu had his knees bent, legs a bit apart, and elbows near his waist, with both open hands facing his opponent and ready to grab him.
Muse Sirel gave the order for them to start, and Robert stood still, waiting, but Nozomu didn’t. He ran at the blond, smiling boy and jumped forward with his hands aimed at Robert’s ankles. He took a few steps back, giving space for Nozomu to put his hands on the floor and use his feet to aim at Robert’s head.
At the last moment, Robert took a step left to avoid the first kick and had to use both hands to stop the second foot from hitting his face. By doing that, he put himself in the perfect position for Nozomu to rotate his body and swipe his legs with his right foot, making him fall. In a continuous movement, Nozomu hit him in the stomach with his left foot.
By using his muscular arms to push him, Nozomu landed on top of Robert. One knee was on his stomach, the other on his throat. A tap on his leg was a sign that he was quitting, and Nozomu got up and pulled the surprised young man up.

Robert rubbed his neck and said, “Damn! I didn’t see that coming! Where did you learn that? I never saw anyone move like that!”

“I actually have no idea. My body just moved. The last time I did something similar, I had a sword and Taisetsuna was trying to cut my head in two.”

Robert put one hand over his shoulders and walked to meet the others, with a big smile on his lips. “I thought I was a pretty good fighter, but you totally owned me! I need to practise those movements you did. I would look so cool while doing it!”

Teacher Muse looked around and spoke. “Next! Come on, I don’t have all day!”

The Lion-kind boy jumped to the centre and pointed a finger at Taisetsuna while growling. “Grrr… I want her. She has annoyed me far too many times. I normally don’t hit girls, but she is asking for a lesson.”

Taisetsuna went to the middle of the circle with a puzzled look and asked, “What did I do? You were the one that, since we met you, was acting all violent and rude. It is not my fault if your parents didn’t raise you properly!”

“Don’t talk about my parents! You know nothing about me! But I will teach you not to mess with me!”

Lowering her body, Taisetsuna answered, “I don’t know what your problem is, but if you want to fight, let’s fight.”

“I will show you not to mock me… Cat-kinds are no match for Lion-kind. You will see in a moment.”

At the order to start, he jumped at Taisetsuna and threw a side punch that she easily avoided by lowering her body. But that was a feint because as soon as she started the movement, he stopped the punch and changed to a kick.
Taisetsuna jumped back with a somersault, forcing him to run after her. He didn’t stop attacking, and she couldn’t do anything more than avoid or defend.
Then, during a jump, either by accident or on purpose, his tail threw some soil at her face, blinding her momentarily. He took that opportunity to grab her arm and twist it behind her while placing his right elbow against her back.

He pulled her arm back with a grin, and as she screamed in pain, he said, “It’s not fun when you are the one getting a twisted arm, is it? Kneel and beg for mercy! Kneel and apologize!”

Until that moment, Taisetsuna was controlling her emotions and anger. The stress accumulated over the last few days, with Nozomu telling her about Koyaga and the Princess, Robert and Hinen always annoying her together with what Hinotsume told her and Nozomu about Raluth, made her reach her limit.

And she exploded. “I am Taisetsuna Kawa! I kneel for no one! But you will!”

Then, her tail wrapped around the boy’s left ankle. He felt the pressure, and pulled her arm back even more, to make her stop and kneel as he wanted.
She suddenly went down, and by sacrificing her shoulder, she twisted her body and hit the side of his left kneecap with her knee.
He screamed in pain when his kneecap dislocated, and Taisetsuna aimed her left index finger at his right eye, blinding him. She then grabbed his head and used it to bump against her, to put her shoulder in place again, and the moment the ‘clack’ sound indicated it was fixed, she elbowed downwards, straight at his head, making him kneel on the floor with the powerful blow.
He screamed again in pain when his kneecap went back into its position, and he kept on screaming when Taisetsuna grabbed his left wrist, pulled his arm back, and broke it at the elbow with a powerful punch. She went to his other arm and broke it as well.

She then kept on punching his face non-stop while shouting, “I told you to not mess with me! I am going to kill you and rid the World of you!”

Muse Sirel tried to get to her, but Taisetsuna was on high alert, completely out of control. The moment she saw movement from the corner of her eyes, she threw a Wind Slash from the tip of her tail, throwing everyone around her to the ground. Except for Nozomu and the two surprised Dragons, everyone was stunned.

He ran to her while shouting orders, “Mizukonta, protect everyone! Hinotsume! With me!"