Truthful Strike

It was almost dawn.

On his way back, Jade started having this weird feeling. The time seemed to go faster than usual. He felt as if it was just moments ago that he heard that explosion in the guild's building.

A few blocks later, he saw a crowd starting to form up in the main road. His interest was piqued and he had nothing to do anyway so went he went straight towards that gathering.

" I am gonna take that cup you are so proud of and shove up your ass "

" Shut up before I broke that precious jaw of yours "

It seemed to be a fight between drunkards.

' It is not that interesting after what I witnessed this morning... or shall I say yesterday's morning. '

They throw unbalanced punches everywhere and whenever one connected the receiver would be thrown down.

' hmm, that might be actually interesting ' Jade thought of what he considered a brilliant idea.

He went straight towards these two and shouted at them :

" You couple of p*ssies, if anyone of you consider himself to be a man try to hit me. "

It was kind of cheesy to say, none the less, it was enough to stir them up and make them threw themselves at him.

He started by activating Rapidness.

' Wow, it is as if they went into slow motion. Lovely ! ' He dodged there punches with ease. It was a great feeling so he kept at it for a while until they could not keep going and gave up on him.

At this point, Jade was pretty sure of himself, so he decided to gamble even more.

" Come on, is that all you can do. I will give you chance to hit me, I promise I won't budge from my place. Or do you have no balls to even strike a fixed target ? "

They summoned what is left on them and throw their punches simultaneously it seemed like a combo out of a shounen anime.

' The moment of the truth ! ' Jade activated Hardening at the last moment. He was not sure what would happen so he subconsciously closed his eyes.

' Wow, time seemed to have stopped, am I really that afraid ' After a second too long he opened his eyes only to discover the two drunkards covering their fists out of pain.

' The hell ?! Did really get that strong just from one day worth of training or are they just so drunk their fist are that weak ? Probably the latter considering they are dead tired'

Jade could not shake the feeling of facing the unknown.

' Can I possibly ... ' He decided to strike the wall and see what would happen. At this point, the crowd was gathering around him, yet he did not pay them any attention.

' They probably think I am just some random poor guy, after all, my clothes don't help much '

Jade stood before the wall, then he activate this time both the skills he had learned.

" Strike truthfully ! " He heard a feminine voice besides him.

When he looked towards her, he was shocked to recognize she was the woman that knocked at his door when he was about to tell his roommate everything. She was Aisha Dracona.

He had a lot to discuss with her. But at that moment, he really wanted to give her words a try. So he turned back to the wall, this time, erasing any and every doubt he had about his capacity to break this wall.

' I will do it, I will shatter this wall to pieces ' And then he stroke with all his vigor.

Same as before, he had closed his eyes in the last instant before the impact. So when he opened them, he saw the results of his punch. His hand pierced the wall to a certain thickness but that was it. There was no effect in the surrounding surface at all.

' Seems I overestimated myself... ' Jade was a bit disappointed.

" I knew you were special the moment I laid my eyes on you. Actually, even before that ... "

He was wondering about the last part of her words but the overwhelming sentiment was that of sarcasm. He thought she was laughing at him.

" Cut me some slack, that is my first day, how do you expect me to do any better ? "

' So even the cynicism part is real too '

" I was not joking at all, you did wonderfully. Being able to pierce it that way, cleanly and without having any cracks around it means that you have advanced quiet generously in both the earth and fire fusion areas. "

' So that is what they are called ... ' Out of all what she said, that was the only thing that was important to him.

" Judging by the looks of it, none of the guild's members gave you money, not even Podric, he will have a good scolding when I get back. But for now, follow me. "

" Where to in this la... " Jade wanted to say - late hour -, but then he noticed the rays of sun starting to reach them from the horizon.

" Isn't it obvious? We are going to get you some clothes and items that would play an important role in shaping you up quiet nicely in the near future. "

' Why do I feel so alerted around this woman ? ' He did not let that feeling cloud his judgement and went with her none the less.

" What were you doing here anyway ? "

" I could not fall asleep so I went out to discover a bit this place and one thing led to another and I ended up where you found me ... "

" What do you mean you could not fall asleep? Haven't they even give you an introductory guide? "

" The headmaster told me about the kingdoms and the guilds and ... "

" That is all of no importance for you at this point " She interrupted him. " I can't believe this. Well, for starters, here, we the outworlders stay awake for three days and nights consecutively, and when we sleep, we go down for six days straight. "

" That would explain a lot .. What about Earth, when do I get to go back ? "