Chapter 9: My first Duel

Thirty minutes passed, or so it seemed, and still, all that could be heard was Yuuki's laughter.

This is embarrassing... I thought to myself.

During Yuuki's laughter, I felt a painful, regretful jab in my neck with an agonizing expression on my face that could only be interpreted as "I shouldn't have come outside today."

The moment I was about to lose all hope, my savior in black ninja-like clothes patted Yuuki's shoulder.

"What's gotten you so giggly at this hour, Yuuki?"

The feminine ninja wore a black tank-top with a pouch at her belly and an iron chest plate covering her chest.

Her arms were covered with thin silk, black sleeves.

A light iron shoulder pad and a thin metal arm guard were strapped onto her right shoulder and left bicep stopping the sleeves from slipping off as they were tucked thoroughly into the leather straps on her arms.

"What's this girl's problem?" She spoke with a concerned tone now that my obvious leering had been discovered.

"I erm, well y'see..."

"That's Damai," Yuuki once again spoke for me, "Me and nee-chan met him this January and don't be bothered by his staring, Damai does that a lot."

The ninja looking girl flinched, "Oh, so you know him, wait a minute!" She pointed at me then looked at Yuuki, "him?!"

Why... why does this happen when I meet someone new...?

Yuuki began explaining to the green-haired girl that my "staring problem" meant I had no malicious intent towards her and that I'm actually a guy.

She cleared her throat and introduced herself, "I'm Merida," she didn't hold out her hand.

Judging from her get up, I could plainly see that she chose the advanced class "Ninja."

So which class did she equip herself with when she completed the initiation quest? Swordsman? Theif? Or Spell User?

I resumed my signature glare.

Merida's hair was styled similar to Yuuki's, and the only difference was that Merida's hair was long and tied in a ponytail with a decorative white, butterfly-shaped bow.

Clearing my throat, I spoke, "I'm Damai, a pleasure to meet you," I greeted her with a smile and held out my hand since it's standard norms to do so.

"Thanks, and same."

She began talking with Aiko and Yuuki like I wasn't even there.

Did- did she just...

She left me hanging, of course, since my hand was frozen in place as was my whole body. Aiko looked at me and whispered to Yuuki, which made her eyes widen like she just remembered something, she walked towards me.

"So!" she yelled, grabbing my attention, "We're going to duel, Damai."

I leaned my head forward and gazed at Yuuki, her eyes mimicking the dim glow of the moon, "Wait... a duel?"

"Yep!"

Yuuki gave me a warm smile, which was nice since I hadn't seen that trade-mark grin of hers since... I don't remember, to be honest, I guess you could say I've missed her and that smile.

"Uhm, earth to Damai?" I was pulled from my nostalgia trip. I blinked and noticed Yuuki waving her hand close to my face.

"O-oh!" I choked, "What were you saying again, Yuuki?"

She rolled her eyes, I looked past her and saw Merida and Aiko giggling to themselves, probably laughing at me for the acute day-dreaming syndrome I have.

"Damai nii-chan!" Yuuki began shaking my jacket, making me look down at her desperate attempts to get my attention, "I said we're gonna have a duel!"

"Why...?" I finally answered her.

"Because I wanna see that 5-hit thing your friend said you did!"

She was still shaking my green and black jacket until Aiko appeared behind Yuuki and pulled her off me.

I sighed and mumbled under my breath, "sure," which caused Yuuki's eyes to sparkle.

A few moments later, Yuuki and I were stood about 7 meters apart from each other, both bearing katanas sheathed at our right hips, we each glared at the slow ticking timer at 30 seconds now.

Okay... I gotta focus, I won't start off with Celestial Slice as my fist attack, I need to work my way around her and analyze her movements and predict the next attack...

The conversation in my head was explained to me by my uncle when I was young. Uncle Paul was my main teacher for basic self-defense, so I knew my way around an edged weapon and how to use it too.

Uncle being my main teacher meant I attended kendo classes a few years ago in 2020, I had the strictest sensei to exist, no doubt about it!

Sensei Kurt was always on my case, and it had to do with me completely forgetting everything that happened within the last two minutes and-

Hang on... two?

I opened my eyes to see a white circle in front of me, presenting the number Zero.

"Tou yaaah..!"

A loud war cry snatched my attention, forcing my eyes to look where the roar came from; it came from Yuuki.

She was dashing towards me like a train fully fuelled on a large chunk of coal, blade above her head.

I took a step back, prompting the iai-type skill. Uncle's words began sounding in my mind.

"Damian, watch your opponent's movements and body language closely."

The first nostalgic lesson with my uncle began.

"Follow the edge of the blade and predict what the next move will be."

A downward slash.

"Very perceptive, Damian, now use your quick thinking to block or counter the attack, which is the best way to react to the downward slash?"

"I counter by slashing my opponent's middle horizontally!" I said aloud.

Yuuki was at least 4 yards in front of me, her sword collapsing onto my head.

I reacted just as I said and pulled my katana out of its sheath with lightning-fast motion, activated Suminagi with a second step leaning forward and rushing the blade into Yuuki's right hip.

"But what if you were too slow?"

A loud noise came from both swords as Yuuki switched the slash and batted away my katana from her hip half-way through the attack, she then redirected her blade and brought it down to meet the left side of my neck.

I didn't have time to think, so I impulsively leaped back to avoid the sharp katana. My evasive move was successful but left me with a bright orange gash diagonally drawn across my chest.

"Phew..." I slowly exhaled, "That was too close for comfort."

Yuuki focussed her gaze on me and grinned, "You sure know how to duel, don'tcha?"

I exhaled again and replied, "Actually, this is my first duel, y'know?"

My grin couldn't hide my exhaustion. I wasn't used to how much effort duels could have.

Yuuki leveled her sword and pointed it at me.

Her stance reminded me of an MMO I played a few months recently before I collapsed, she was assuming a basic sword stance, her shoulders level, ankles in line with her hips and held the katana in front of her.

Her next attack might be a thrust, I predicted.

Analyzing her posture, I calculated my counter-attack. I crouched and rested my katana on my left shoulder then slid my left foot back, standing with my right side facing Yuuki.

She flinched at my sudden change of posture, frowned, and stared at me.

My uncle's second lesson began as we both rushed towards each other, colliding with another loud crash.

A long 2 minutes flew by since Yuuki, and I began our duel, there were repeated noises of sword clashing against sword.

"Endure the strength of your opponent's attacks and look for an opening while both your blades collide with each other"

Uncle's lesson echoed again and again in my head.

Find an opening, Find an opening, Find an openi- There!

I quickly stepped towards Yuuki, dodging her swing while my katana rested on my left shoulder.

Alright... picture the lines of the star on her body, focus... focus...

Time once again slowed to a crawl since it usually does that when I concentrate.

The vision of a star sketched in my mind appeared on Yuuki's body, I dropped my katana off my shoulder to the ground and threw it up diagonally, it hit meaning my 5hit Celestial Slice succeeded.

"Haaaaahh...!"

I raised my voice as four other slashes connected, pushing forward into Yuuki, I looked left, and her LP bar was slowly dropping.

Again! I cried in my head and roared once more, repeating the same five slashes.

*Kiin!*

The flurry was halted to 8 clean hits and stopped by an uchigatana covering Yuuki's right shoulder.

Her weapon began to glow orange; I leaped back, avoiding any immediate counter-attack she might be planning.

Looking at the ground, I briefly saw an icon indicating the activation of a skill, I glanced up and met with Yuuki soaring towards me as if she was an eagle swooping down to catch its prey.

"ur...yaah..!" she screamed.

I didn't have enough time to evade her assault, my katana was frozen like a stone wall in front of me, and I closed my eyes bracing myself.

A loud metallic crash sounded echoing throughout the streets of the town plaza. I opened my eyes to see just Yuuki's face. My katana wasn't blocking my view anymore.

*shilk*

The noise caused me to look left, and my eyes widened at the sight of a blade stabbed into the ground, I looked at my katana once more.

Yuuki had swiftly removed the edge of my sword in a single swing, I subconsciously stepped back, fell on my rear, and dropped my broken sword as it disappeared and dissolved into multiple colors and polygons.

The battle was over, the words *Winner: Yuuki* appeared on my HUD.

"How- I- you- when?"

I stuttered and noticed the large gash on my chest, realizing that not only did Yuuki disarm me, but she almost cut me in half too.

I looked left of my HUD, and my LP bar zoomed into my FOV, it was down by fifty-five percent.

Yuuki looked just as confused as I was, "I won?" she questioned herself, I looked at her LP bar, and it was only down twenty percent.

"I could've sworn you hit me, Damai nii-chan," she spoke while having a dumbfounded look on her face.

Later...

Merida walked over to me and looked at me with a suspicious expression, "You sure this is your first VRMMO,

right?"

I gave her a confirming grunt, "Mhm!"

"And this is the first duel in your life in VR?"

"Mhm!"

Her suspicious gaze was still focussed on me.

"Oi! that was amazing!"

A familiar yell came from the café doors, and they opened again as I watched a drunken Brytehardt and a stressed Loona approaching.

I looked at Hardt in disappointment then glanced at Loona, "He's sloshed, isn't he?"

"Yep..." Loona looked as disappointed in Hardt as I was.

"Who're these two?"

Aiko began walking to us, "This is Brytehardt and Loona," I introduced them by pointing to the drunk then to the girl who's the same size as Yuuki.

"D-Dude, *hic* you've got introduce us to these cuties," Hardt slurred his words with a drunken Scottish accent.

Sighing deeply, my hand pointed to Yuuki, Aiko, and Merida, "That's Yuuki, Ran, and that's Merida, who I just met."

They greeted each other and exchanged small-talk between us. I looked at the clock on my HUD.

9 pm!? Geez, I gotta get back to Cam!

Me, Hardt and Loona both said our goodbyes to the girls, I logged out first.

Phew... That was a day and a half.