Chapter 4 - Holmgang
"Heh, you heard the girl. Let's just get this over with. Everyone, move. You guys clear the center of the room"
Anthony smirked slyly as he took control of the room, ushering out a few commands to his underlings on the side already. The students obediently left their seats, allowing the posse to move the now empty desks in the middle of the room to create and impromptu fighting ring. Of course, there was one desk that remained in place for the referee to oversee the battle from: Ethereal's.
Anthony swaggered into the ring, much to the acclaim to his little group and the students trying to get on his good side. As he practiced shadow-boxing, Kuya stood nervously on the side. Thoughts plagued his mind as he saw the situation unfold.
'I really have to fight, huh? If I refused, that guy's gang would probably beat me black and blue. It's better that it's a one-on-one, but getting beat up still hurts, even if it's from a single person. I'll probably just let myself get hit once and fall over since I don't even know how to fight, unlike those protagonists I always read about. Damn, if only I had a System...'
*ding!*
Something suddenly blinked in front of Kuya, surprising him greatly. It looked like a digital notification window, sporting a light blue theme. The shimmering white text written on the pop-up multiplied his feeling of joyous disbelief.
[Congratulations for using the System for the first time! As a welcome gift, you have received
Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, Kuya quickly accepted with an excited look on his face. The previous notification faded away as a few new ones took its place.
*ding!*
[You opened
Before being able to do anything, Kuya got pushed out of his thoughts with a shove. The protagonist took his focus off of the notifications and onto the aggressor that had crossed him. Anthony met his gaze as he commanded his opponent with a grin.
"You. Get in now so I can beat you up once, or stay here and we'll beat you up forever."
With a groan, the protagonist could only put up with his enemy's commands for now. He trudged over to his side of the ring, complete with a rude introduction from Anthony himself.
"And in this corner, the only idiot in the room that's stupid enough to try offend this young master..."
The protagonist tuned out the trash talk as he took a look at the System notifications that only he could see.
*ding!*
[You have unspent level points. Would you like to use them?]
'I mean, I'd like to, but I have no idea what level points are...'
*ding!*
[You can spend level points on your 4 basic attributes:
Strength (you have 0.6)
Speed (you have 0.7)
Dexterity (you have 0.4)
Defense (you have 0.5).]
'Huh, so that's me put into numbers. It looks a bit... pathetic. Good thing I can change that, but I wonder what I should invest in?'
Anthony looked at his opponent staring into blank space like a lobotomized patient and grinned.
'That kid must be scared shitless when he saw me practice a couple skills I learned from my years of training. This is obviously gonna be a piece of cake to win, but it's not going to impress anyone if I just hit them once and knock them out easily. I'll toy with him first, then finish him off with my signature move...'
Anthony grinned as he formulated a plan. A chilling but captivating voice caught the two competitors attention. Ethereal glanced at the two young men as she organized the match to begin.
"You two look ready. Stand in the center. Once I say "Start", you start. Alright?"
Anthony and Kuya, a foot away from each other in the middle of the ring, nodded in understanding. They then went into their fighting stances; one side exuding an experienced posture that could only be crafted from several matches and lots of training. The other clumsily put up their hands up desperately trying to mimic what'd they've seen from a few movies. Anthony chuckled at his opponent's poor skill that only reinforced the idea of an easy win.
Seeing no issues, Ethereal began the countdown as the orange haired bully did some last minute trash talk
"Three..."
"I wanna make this show entertaining."
"Two..."
"And a quick knock-out is too boring"
"One..."
"So you better be fast."
"START."
As if instantaneously, a fist came swinging in a beautiful arc from the left; aimed directly at Kuya's torso. With only a split second before severe liver damage, the protagonist sent a command to the System in his mind.
'You want fast? I'll give you fast. System, invest 5 level points into speed.'
A few prompts of confirmation from the System appeared in the protagonist's peripheral, ignored in favor for the hook coming towards him. For whatever reason, the once speedy attack now looked sluggish in Kuya's eyes. He tapped his foot on the ground and jolted backwards to avoid the hit.
Air was the only thing that came into contact with Anthony's fist. He looked at his once meek opponent that had dashed backwards to evade him with a tinge of fear in his eyes. The hot headed teen shook his head as he reassured himself.
'He... he dodged me? No, that's what I wanted to happen. Everything's going fine. He's backed into a corner now so it should be easy to hit him. Let's try again.'
Speeding towards his target like a hungry shark to a fish, Anthony bared his fangs as he hurled a straight punch directly at Kuya's face. Caught in a tough situation once again, the protagonist gave another command to the System.
'Invest 5 level points into dexterity.'
Feeling a sudden rush of control through his body, Kuya felt calm about this next attack. His mind thought "dodge", and his body complied. It quickly contorted to allow the fatal punch to be slipped by. Once again surprised by the sudden burst in ability by his enemy, Anthony's seed of doubt had now sprouted into a small tree that bore fruits of fear.
'This isn't good, I thought he was just a weakling, how is he able to dodge like that?! And so easily too, his expression is too calm! I'm losing face in front of not just the girl, but my crew and everyone else too! I need to finish this quick.'
A dozen punches, now filled with desperation rather than arrogance, flew through the air. Yet every single one of them connected to nothing but the air, as if he were fighting a ghost. Though without any counterattacks coming his way, Anthony eventually found his rhythm.
A feint caused his opponent to overshoot a dodge, allowing for the opportunity for a punish. The bully, who had finally found his chance, initiated a right hook with all his might square at Kuya's chest. The protagonist, seeing the unavoidable attack, nonchalantly thought up another request.
'Hey System, could you add 5 points into defense?'
B A M
'YES YES YES! I FINALLY HIT HIM! I FINALLY HIT... him? If I hit him... why am I the one that feels hurt?'
Anthony's crazed smile slowly faded away as it turned into one of pain. He nearly started crying and cradling his fractured fist until he remembered the judgemental, expectant gazes of everyone in the room. He looked at his target with nothing in fear in his eyes and took a step back. Kuya nodded in satisfaction when he saw the results of his request being followed through.
'I was really worried there, but all I could feel was a some pressure on my chest. It felt like if someone pressed their finger onto me. Well, it looks like it's time to end this then with the last attribute. System, could you put... the last 10 points into strength, please? Thank you.'
Kuya rolled his shoulder as he slowly approached the bully. Anthony sluggishly backed up as he tried avoiding the monster, inevitably cornered by him. With ennui, the protagonist bent forward, raised his hand towards his opponent's forehead, and gave a smile.
"Sorry, I don't know any good one liners. Just pretend I said one."
With a simple flick, Anthony's body was flung backwards like a ragdoll. He impacted the concrete wall so hard that large fractures akin to the ones in his body were formed. The class was at its most silent from surprise as a few courageous students inspected the aftermath. One of them placed a couple fingers on Anthony's neck and felt around for a moment before coming to a conclusion.
"He's knocked out."
The class erupted into a celebration as they praised the champion of the room. Ethereal got up from her chair as she walked over to the winner.
"Hey, congrats. You won. As your prize, you can sit next to me now. Also, if it's not too much to ask, could you come with me to the Happy Living's Mall near here after school? I need help with something, and only strong guys could do it..."
'I feel like she's been manipulating us this whole time... I don't know if going with her is a good idea...
She gave out a warm smile and a pleading gaze as she pitifully tilted her head. Kuya, who couldn't think straight at such a cute sight, mindlessly agreed.
"Thanks! The bell just rang, and everyone in the class left for their next period already. I've gotta go too, just give me your phone number real quick."
Stuck in a trance, the protagonist obediently handed his phone to the jade beauty. She inputted some details into it, gave it back, then wordlessly left. Now, the only people in the room were Kuya, and an unconscious Anthony that was unable to interrupt his thoughts.
'Did... did she ask me out?! A cute girl asked me out! Holy crap, I'm so happy I think I'm getting dizzy! Wait, hold on...'
Clearing his mind, the protagonist finally noticed the System pop-up in front of him. Luckily, he was able to read the notification before his vision was shrouded in darkness and he fainted.
[Congratulations for completing the Tutorial! You are now being transported to the hub word to continue the main story.
Teleporting to hub world... safe travels!]
--------------------------
Anthony came back to consciousness with a huge bump on his head. Despite the duel they just had, he was filled with determination to get back at his opponent.
'I'm gonna do whatever it takes to beat the shit outta that guy. I'll call in a dozen of my guys, who gives a shit about honor? I swear, the next time I see him I'll- ooo, what's this?'
The bully, rejuvenated with ideas for revenge, saw something peculiar on the floor. A device was laying face up with a single blue notification on it. With a devilish idea in mind, Anthony reached out to grab it. The moment his fingers came into contact with Kuya's phone, dozens of red pop-ups flashed on screen.
[ERROR: USER NOT IDENTIFIED. DEPLOYING COUNTER MEASURES]
A blue jolt of electricity flashed from the phone, into the unknown user's body. Anthony cried out in pain as he yanked his hand back as hard as he could. The antagonist had several thoughts course through his mind as he rubbed the new injury that he'd garnered, and many contained curse words. However, one stood out the most compared to the rest.
'How interesting...'