Friendship blossoms by punches to the head (1)

After my proposal had been accepted against my expectations, it was time to discuss the stipulations. Since I had promised to use a stipulation of equal harshness as theirs I had to wait for their proposition.

Since their precious ego was hurt I am expecting something more than they had planned out for those NPCs who humiliated them. Will they force me to commit suicide or make me serve them and obey their every order?

" We want them to admit that they are sorry and to promise to never do such a horrendous deed again. You will have to enforce this by any means necessary."

What a selfless stipulation and here I thought I could get a lot out of this exchange. But these goody shoes just have an altruistic wish. How utterly noble of them. Seems like their previous threats were just used to intimidate those NPCs. Trust me I have tried it is not that simple.

" If you lose, just answer some of my questions." If I could not get them to become my slaves and do my bidding then I would have to settle for information. The best part about it is that this stipulation will not even be seen as a punishment but an amicable approach.

Though my sign of goodwill was sadly not seen as such.

" Are you mocking our resolve?" he said through his teeth as if my actions were a big disgrace to them.

" In fact, it is the polar opposite, I admire your resolve and that is why I gave you such a stipulation. "

That was the true reason I had given them such a lax stipulation. I found their stupid honesty very charming. I had always admired those who stand true to their principles and do not get corroded by the world and people surrounding them.

" Because no matter what you do this fight will be won by me." This was neither arrogance nor contempt towards their skills. I just knew for certain that the outcome could not be changed whatever they did. It would be their loss.

But these words of mine caused a reaction I had not anticipated. His fighting spirit was stirred from my words and he could barely contain it. He would have started the fight right now if he did not decide to hold himself back.

This kind of battle maniac did not have a high life expectancy in this world. But it was strangely refreshing to fight against the likes of him for once. Who knows, I even might learn one or two things from him.

Before the fight could start I had to set up some rules at least, to make the combat more fun for both sides.

" This fight will continue until one party can not stand up in 10 seconds or declares their loss. Do you want to add anything else?"

" This is how a fight should be. I have nothing to add." The young man was giggling like a small child as he was about to fight me. I have not forbidden any outside help, to give him a bit of leeway if he needs it, but this thought did not even cross his mind. There was only me his target. I did not want to have it any other way.

We walked to an open area, that was suitable for our little gamble. After we both nodded after seeing the battlefield we began to take out positions. It was the first time I took more than a glance at him.

The young man had a rather muscular build in comparison to the usual player but it was not something too outrageous. His entire face was brimming in anticipation for the upcoming fight. I could have easily recognized his eye colour and every facette of his face but I did not want to.

Reducing my opponent down to every last detail is simply boring. Besides fists have no eyes, they do not care about the colour of the iris or other pure optical details. I am rather interested in his true self and his motivation, who the hell cares about looks?

What makes a character interesting is not the look. Sooner or later everybody becomes a celestial maiden or a dragon in human form in those stories. Instead of focussing on such blatantly perfect humans I want to see what's beneath all of that.

I had no plans on using my gloves or any other weapon of my body. There was no way any of them could attack me directly with their magic. I doubt that any one of them would interfere in our fight, to begin with. At most they could affect the battlefield itself but even that would not help them.

" Let us start"

Anything was not needed and he started to run at me. This will be fun.

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When Tom was first introduced to the world of Primal Survival he did not have high expectations for it. In his eyes, it offered nothing that he could not achieve in the real world. Besides fighting monsters was not something that could be simulated, the feeling of danger and the dire costs of mistakes were made light of.

It did not help that the first thing he was forced to do after joining this game was the horrendous tutorial. The never-ending onslaught of young wolves would even have an impact even on a battlefield hardened veteran. He just barely managed to avoid dying of boredom. He had lost count how many little wolves came at him and lost their lives without any suspense.

The reward that came with this test of patience was a special NPC, that called himself Moirai. This NPC was the first time, that Tom found himself invested in the game. After Moirai had become his aid, he learned that he could not participate in the event he had come for.

At first, he felt pretty dejected with the goal being unattainable what else should he do here. But his aid told him about another path, one he had never considered. Moirai was not an ordinary he knew that, but all of his perspectives and morals seemed strangely out of place.

He had briefly talked to some members of his Church and asked how to leave the tutorial and about their opinion on NPCs, but their experiences with NPCs did not fit the image of Moirai at all. Moirai is everything but a timid coward.

He is shrewd and insidious but does not fear confrontation at all. Someone like him did not fit the description his colleagues had given him.

The more he listened and talked to Moirai, the more he found questioning things he had taken for granted before. Tom had never expected that this world would offer him such a thing.

For the short time, he had known Moira he had never been bored. There was always something new and fascinating happening around him. Whether it was his training session, that made him rejoice about the "lax" standards of the Church or the "nice view" he got to see thanks to him.

Even now he had started to fight another player and was currently easily dodging the attacks the player was throwing at him. It was surprising to see that he could easily keep up with a player but he could clearly see, that the player had not used any magic yet.

It took Tom quite a while but then he recognized those players or rather their "ordinary" clothing. Those players did not belong to a Church or a noble family, they came from a temple. A temple was secluded and did not partake in secular affairs. Most of those temples specialized in a unique way to use magic that could not fit into the classification of the 7 Church Branches.

He had heard about a branch knowns for its ordinary clothing and their core value that unifies magic and body. Their magic is used to strengthen every part of their body but it leaves them vulnerable to other magic.

Even he would not know about their existence had he not done extensive research in preparation for becoming a tactician.

But why did those youth come into the world of Primal Survival? They only left their temples in times of war or on a mission. But this clearly can not be a mission. Fighting with an NPC is not something that can be considered a mission.

One thing was certain though, once the player would activate his magic Moirai would not stand a chance. A bit humility would surely not hurt him, although that lesson would be the painful part.

Looking at the fight he did not understand much of what was happening. Physical fights were a rare sight in this world and were rather frowned upon. Barbaric and savage were used to describe fights of this nature.

Although he was never interested in this kind of fighting, he still followed it closely. If both of them were treating it earnestly, then he would respect their passion. Just as the other members of the temple everyone followed their movements attentively without making a sound.

Their movements had gone faster over time but still, no magic had been used and every single attack of the player had been dodged. But neither of them looked displeased while they were fighting, far from it the gloomy aura that surrounded Moirai had finally vanished.

Moirai had not even punched once yet but the smile on both of their faces was shining brightly.

But the status quo was about to be broken after a wave of magic could be felt coming from the player.

But it was quickly suppressed and the previous tranquillity had returned once more as if it had never been broken in the first place. Much to the disappointment of Moirai, who looked displeased at the player.

Though this was an understatement as Moirai threw an attack that hit the player and caused him to stumble backwards. He looked a bit shocked, but he nodded at Moirai before he once again started to use his magic.

Now it was Moirai's turn to nod at the display of power from the player. He did not even wait before starting to throw attacks at the player. But this time around the player was prepared for it and started to dodge the attacks.

The previous intensity paled in comparison to the spectacle that was currently unfolding right in front of their eyes. Both sides were not holding back anymore and started to attack each other.

The exchange of attacks caused some minor injuries on both sides but they were not stopped by this detail. It rather acted as motivation to keep the tempo of the bout. It was surprising for Moirai to be able to keep up with the player once he had started to use his magic.

Tom did not expect, that Moirai is this capable. Looking at his stats makes one wonder how he can injure the player at all. Even the weakest monsters had better numbers than his aid. So why are his numbers so low if he can compete against a player on this level?

Granted it is only a physical bout, that does not pose a threat to any normal wielder of magic, but it was fascinating to see how strong a simple NPC can be.

The fast-paced fight had not stopped even once as the numerous injuries started to pile up all over their bodies. This battle was not about honour, it was the clash between 2 individuals giving their all to beat their opponent.

Both of them were smiling while attacking the other. But over time, their bodies had become bloodied and bruised. None of them wanted to give in and the fighting resumed as if nothing had happened.

Even after trading numerous blows, their strength had not diminished in the slightest. It rather felt like the player was getting stronger and stronger as the battle continued. This development surely did not go unnoticed by his enemy, though he appeared to not care about it at all.

There was no trace of concern visible on his face as he attacked his opponent. It rather felt like he was too calm when facing the player. Tom could not lay a finger on it, but something did not seem right. Moirai had always been calm and collected, but this time around it felt like he was just enjoying himself without any worry in the world.

The member of the temple watched in sheer ave as the fight was getting more and more brutal. Though the smiles on their faces shone ever so brightly...