Chapter 73: Laura
Grand Ultine Kapile Club.
Rewen found it difficult to catch his breath as he slumped down on a public seat. He had been running for over ten minutes without using [Freestyle Knights Combat] technique. Sweat oozed out from his shoulders to his shirt, cooling his back. He was the kind of guy who sweats too much. This wouldn't bother him for too long.
"I should get a drink first." Entering the Club building, he went to the same vending machine and inserted two coins.
A drink came out soon from below, which he drank almost instantly.
[Ding! Daily Missions from 'Bloodline System' completed! Would you like to receive the rewards right now?]
[Yes] [No]
'Yes.'
[Ding! There are three rewards presented for the Host but the Host can only pick one of them.
1. Luvin's Star Ticket
2. Amulet of Misfortune
3. 5% Bloodline Activation
[What would the Host like to choose?]
'Are there details of the two unknown items?'
---
Artifact: Luvin's Star Ticket
Grade: High Gold
Type: Consumable
Effect: ???
---
'Quite helpful. What about the other?'
---
Artifact: Amulet of Misfortune
Grade: Mid Gold
Type: Wearable
Effect: Generates bad luck to the wearer and the being around him.
---
'No, thanks. My life genre is already set on tragedy. Let's not make it even more tragic.' With that in mind, he chose the third option.
[Ding! The Host has achieved 10% completion in activating the "Pure Human" bloodline!]
[Stealth Leveled Up!]
---
Race: Human (100%) (Yellow) - [Perks]
---
Rewen observed that the yellow got a little darker. Not enough to make it 'dark yellow' but the color looked more apparent. He checked the [Perks].
---
Stealth (Advanced Mastery)
---
'Great. I have to try out this.'
Greeting the receptionist, he made his way to the room assigned to him.
Room R-2.
Ivan was, as usual, playing cards with the other three.
"How's your day been?" Ivan asked.
"Not too bad."
"Glad to know. Will you be fighting or practice your Martial Arts?"
"Fight." Rewen wanted to waste no time. Today, he came here with the goal of defeating at least two opponents. 'Chain quest, you better give me adequate rewards.'
---
Quest: Become a Fighter.
Grade: B
Goals:Defeat your second opponent.
Rewards: +1 Endurance
Failure: None
---
"Come with me." Ivan got up and led outside the room. Just as they stepped outside, they saw Zero walking down the hallway.
"What's up?" Zero asked.
"I'm taking him to fight. Do you think Laura is free?"
"She is free." Zero nodded, then turned to look at Rewen. "You want to fight Laura?"
"Apparently. Is she strong?"
"She has the potential to reach Junior within this year."
"What's her rank?"
"She is within top 100 among the rookies. I don't know her exact rank."
"You think I can defeat her?"
"Probably not, at least not now." Zero shook his head. "Although she is not from any prominent families, she has the will and instincts of a natural fighter. A genius, if that's one of many ways to describe her. Aside from that, she is also a High F while you are a Mid F. Strength difference matters a lot."
'A High F is the same as having an average stat of 14 or 15. Nope, I can't defeat her. Not without using [Freestyle Knights Combat]. Should I use it though?'
"What took you so long?" As the three approached Zero's room, a tall woman standing beside the doors shouted. She was Laura. "What's up, Ivan?" She noticed a familiar face, then her gaze moved towards an unfamiliar one. "Are you new?"
Rewen stretched his right hand. "Rewen."
Laura shook his hand with her own. "Laura. Are you here to fight?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure you want to fight me?" Laura naturally won't refuse to fight someone but she wasn't optimistic about the young man putting up a good fight.
Before Rewen could answer, Zero said from the side, "He was the one who defeated me last night."
***
Rewen's eyes rotated around the room. It was almost empty and was large enough to make free movements. He then stared at his opponent. 'She is strong.' He made an useless observation.
"Rewen, is it? I like to keep fights short and quick. I'll go all-out from the start." Laura said with a small smile, before jolting off from her spot and towards Rewen.
'She's fast. From her movements, it would probably be a round punch below my ear.' Making quick judgements, he prepared to take a step back.
*Swish*
Just when a fist at an astonishing speed went past touching the tip of his nose.
Rewen was surprised but Laura was even more surprised.
"Che, misse-" While she was lamenting about her miss, a fist closed in on her face.
'I don't have the luxury to give her time to speak and again pull up an attack like that.' Rewen's fist was plastered on her face but there were no movements from the latter. Seconds later, a chuckle sounded.
Rewen was in no mood hearing her speak and pulled off another punch on her face.
This time, his fist was caught by her hand.
"You aren't bad. It's a pity that you need to improve your...combat...strength...." Laura was commenting on his style while holding his fist but in between her comment, Rewen did a back-flip and shot out towards her again.
Her hands were in random positions. Her legs together. Her whole body was wide open. Even so, there was a small smile on her face. 'It's not overconfidence. I'll try this although it's likely to fail.' He approached her with the intention to punch.
Laura's hands which were in random positions and still suddenly sprung up. 'Not fast enough, Rewen.' She saw the fist coming close to her hands but just when she was about to grab it, the fist stopped. Her eyes moved downwards and saw him ducking. "Shit." She realized what's going on and hurriedly attempted to move away.
Unfortunately for her, Rewen's leg had already disrupted her balance.
She fell on her back, wide eyed.
Rewen didn't stop there. He blasted a barrage of punches against her defenseless face. A second later, she guarded her face and got up with a jump.
Rewen figured it's time to create a gap between him and her when the guarding Laura appeared in front of him in a flash and saw an incoming kick on his abdomen.
He didn't panic. He had no chance to dodge this kick. If it hit him, there's a 70% chance that he would be rolling on the floor but there's also no way to avoid this. 'Now I see why [Evasive] skills are so sought after. Well, there's only one thing I could do now.' He smiled. It was not the smile of a man who knew that a severe pain is along the way to reach him.
When the kick was at a distance of a mere few centimeters, he confidently met his opponent's gaze and softly grabbed her neck.
Rewen flew away from the impact of the kick and fell on his back. "Hurry up… Ivan."
Ivan and Zero had not yet recovered from the fight. Only after hearing Rewen did Ivan woke up from his daze and went to him.
Rewen opened his mouth with some difficulty. 'Blood doesn't taste that bad when swallowed in a large amount.' He commented on his mind, then a few drops of liquid fell to his tongue. 'Hm, not bad.' He felt a stinging pain on his abdomen which slowly subsided.
After a while, he managed to get his upper body straight and leaned on the wall. He looked towards Laura who was staring at him with a nonchalant gaze. Knowing what she was thinking of, he smiled. "It is my lo-"
"It's my loss." Laura said, then turned to Zero. "I'm going. If there's anything, text me." She left the room, leaving Ivan and Zero dumbfounded.
[+1 Endurance]
[Quest Updated.]
---
Quest: Become a Fighter.
Grade: B
Goals: Defeat your third opponent.
Rewards: +2 All Physical Stats
Failure: None
---
Rewen looked at the screen in front of him in satisfaction.
A while later, Ivan turned to Rewen. "Why?"
Rewen shrugged. "She didn't like the way she won."
"Huh? Wasn't the victory fair and square?" Zero got even more confused.
"I'm not talking about whether it was fair or unfair. According to her, her pride wouldn't let her take the win."
""Why?"" Both of them asked in unison.
"Well, both of you did see the instance where my hand was on her neck, right?" Rewen didn't need to give any more explanation.
"..." Both of them couldn't decide whether they should praise him for his quick thinking or scold him for using such an underhanded method. No wonder Laura's face wasn't good when she left.
"Don't look at me that way. I usually don't use tactics like this. I'm kind of in a pinch." Rewen sounded hypocritical but he wasn't lying. If it wasn't for the fact that he needed to increase his stats quickly, he wouldn't do this.