Chap 18: challenge door
Takumi felt something wash through his body as he passes through the portal door. Once his face are on the other side, he sees himself in a place he could easily recognize as a traditional Japanese dojo. Through, this one seem quite empty, unlike the one he saw in miss Tomoe dojo. There were no decoration, no martial arts paraphernalia, not so much as a plotted plant. Just the papper sliding door and the grey tatami mat. It as if the builder only made this place to look like a dojo without understanding what it is.
'So this is what it look like on the other side.' He made a comment in his head.
Honestly Takumi imagine the place to look like a video game dungeon, with a cave system and mob that roam the place. Unknowing that the challenge he's facing is going to be far worse than a normal cave.
Sliding the door and entering the dojo, a lone figure face him. Takumi see a muscular woman sat cross-legged on the floor, she was overly clad in shadow, making it hard for him to tell any specific details of her charistic except for her easily recognizable muscular condition. She wore an normal karate gi outfit but with torn sleeves and a sash over her shoulder. A hair band that keep her shoulder legth hair out of the way.
[Challenge: fight against Ryui (street fighter) for 3 minutes]
Takumi step up to face her, and as if noticing the approach of a new challenger, she stood up to greet him. Not with word or any formal action that would indicate a sentient mind behind her action. But a simple bow of a martial artist for their opponents.
'Ryui, huh ? Never heard of her before.' Takumi try to find any character this could be from the game but no one came to mind. 'Well, i just need fight for 3 minutes. What could go wrong.'
He also did did a bow and take a stance, when taking a seccond look at her, she now has a timer above her head.
180 seccond.
When his eye went back to Ryui, he had barely enough time to react when she threw a jab at him.
'F-fast' his through ran and insticticly, Takumi put up a raised arm to guard her attack.
*BAMF*
A sole punch knocked him back on to the mat, hard. He could hear something snapping in his arm as her arm made contact with him and in the next seccond. His body was flung back, he hit the mat on his back.
'What kind of power is this.' He throught as he clutch his fracture arm.
Just that one punch has show him the gap in their strength, Takumi belived this would be an easy match with his newly raised stats. But her power and speed was greatly beyond what he was expecting.
'It hadn't even been 10 seccond and i'm already on the ground ? This is way too hard for an F rank.' The timer above her head had moved to 173 seccond.
Trying to get up before another strike could land on him, Takumi was suprise to find that. Ryui was waiting for him.
Well, calling it waitting would be a wrong assessment. She was still in her stance, eye sternly watching him, arm raise and ready to attack but she didn't go on the offense. At the same time, the clock above her head also stopped counting at 171 seccond. It would apear that the challenge only counts when he is engaging in a fight with her.
'So that's how this challenge works.'
With shaking hand, Takumi has a bit of trouble making his hand sign before begin to chant.
"Branching out wire...Intertwined webbing...United in one mind."
*swish*
A new clone body that doesn't have any damaged appear beside Takumi, the new body was flexing his arm as the old one disappear. In this situation, it will be a smart decision to use tools at his disposal confront her but Takumi can't let this slide. This is a F rank challenge, how low would he be if he resorted to using tool just so he can get pass this lowest level of challenge.
"Hmm...so even with my trainning, i'm still not equiped for facing such challenge ?"
'System.'
[Yes, user]
'Pump 10 of my stats point into each Strenght and Endurance.'
[Confirm action]
[YES] [NO]
'Yes.'
Soon enough, he could hear a soft humming of something mechanical. Then the swift sound of the points he saved until now were being dropped.
-----------------
[User status]
Name: Takumi Nejima
Level 5 (21 points)
Strenght: 61.9
Perception: 47.1
Agility: 31.9
Endurance: 61.8
Energy: 47.0
Luck: 24 (+10 ) The blessing of the gacha goddess.
----------------
With each metal [Ding] sound, Takumi started to feel changes throughtout his whole body. It started from the core of his chest, a tingling sensation spreading out. Every muscle fiber in his body snap and reattached continuously for sudden growth, his skin becomes tougher to prevent the body's muscles from bursting out of it. With the bones placing itself as a solid foundation, each bones is reinforced to become harder and more sturdy in help to support and moving his newly built body frame while being open for more spot to grow in the future.
When the changes completed, he let out a wheeze and pushed the pain out of his mind as best he could. Standing up right, Takumi move his body around a bit to get a assessment of his new body. He think he has gotten a bit taller but he wasn't sure, it's not like there's any mirror in here.
"Well, let's see how well i do now."
Not using weapon might handicap himself but Takumi just doesn't want to. It has something to do about going at it with his own martial skill. Now his goal was simple, to not just survive but defeating his opponent.
His eye trace Ryui again, he needed to be focused. Takumi eyes watch closely for any movement, feeling himself tense up in preparation. Moments of silence passed as they began circling each other.
Takumi was the one to threw the first punch, or rather Kick. He leap into the air, closing any distance there was bewteen them. Ryui simply side-stepped out of the way from his kick as the sole of his feet came crashing through a wooden pillar.
She return by a straight punch that missed Takumi head. Followed by another roundhouse kick that he ducked just in time, else it would have hit him square on the face.
165 secconds left.
Takumi launch a combo of haymaker using both his hand at her, Ryui bob and weave her head skillfully while moving backward. Left punch, right punch, and two more left punch and ended with a right jab. Not a single one of his hit connected, just staying inches away from their intented target.
She sent a low axe kick from her left as a counter. Takumi retreated his front foot back, pulling his front leg off the ground making her kick miss him.
139 seccond left.
Winding her arm back, Ryui threw a heavy punch aim at Takumi's jaw. To which he evaded his head out of the way, her knuckle just grazed his cheek. Takumi leans in her close proximity with his shoulder first, putting his whole body into it and shoulder check Ryui. The hit make her stumble back a few steps, just for him to follow up with a straight right kick to her lower abdominal area.
122 secconds left.
With his combo in full effect, Takumi started pushing on being more offensive. Dashing right in her face, Takumi launch a volley of contentious punches, a jab to her right, a hook to her lower abdomen. In the face of such aggressive asault, it force Ryui with no choice but to be on the defensive. Both her arms raise up to defend the on coming strikes.
Finding a window where she could counter after the end of his attacks, Ryui went for his chest with a punch. But she cancel it to avoid a low sweeping kick that almost got her leg.
111 secconds left.
Constantly pushing her back, Takumi is not letting her have any room for a chance to retaliate.
'Faster, i need to be faster.' He throught, forcing Ryui to cancel a straight punch to his liver by putting preasure with a low kick to her thigh.
With the strength gap lessen, and the defense being raise. Takumi still don't want to take a chance getting hit by her. She is indeed strong so he can't let her have any chance to swing at him, keeping preasure, closing distant and disrupt her flow.
Ryui stepped back to get away but Takumi charged in again. Fast attack that forcing her to defend and with no time to recover. If he can keep this up then he can win. But by going so over the top with his argressive onslaught, Takumi has unknowingly exposed his own weakness for his opponent.
100 secconds left.
Takumi jump up and put spinning high kick that Ruyi was able to block before the kick landed on her face. She was sent reeling back from the knock back of his kick, back hitting a pillar.
Moving his arm back, Takumi use a over shoulder punch. But it took too long, he using too much time trying for wind up. That short opening of a window was enough for Ryui to abuse it and perform a axe kick to his knee. The hit conected, Takumi making him lose balance.
Trying to get back up, Takumi track widen when a fist clad in blue flame send directly into his gut.
"Shoryuken!"
A splash of green and blue erupted as Takumi body was flung into the air, by Ryui who had her fist extended into a devastating uppercut that hit Takumi, his face contorted into a ugly grimace.
He can't make anything of his surrounding as it all became a blur and Takumi body was lifted by the force from her punch. He hit the ground violently on his back, knocking the air out of him.
Laying sprawlled in the floor, his body screamed in pain, everything was on fire. He was having trouble just breathing.
Had her punch connected, forget about a broken bone or some damaged ribcage, there would be a gaping hole in his chest. Thankfully he was succesfull in reinforcing his body with all his curse energy just few moment of the uppercut met his body.
'God damn it, it hurts so much!' He wanted to screamed, but all he managed to do was spurts out some blood. Wincing to open his eye, he could see her standing there. The shadow fighter has stopped moving again and move back into her waitting stance.
91 secconds left.
'Gi, karate like moves, and that final attack. I think i know who i'm fighting....it's Ryu or a version of him.' Takumi finally come to the conclusions of who's he facing.
A playable character from the street fighter game, Ryu.
It intrigue him in a way, now his resolve grew to not just win this challenge but also to beat her as well.
'System.' He mentally called out.
[Yes, user ?]
'Pump the rest of my points into luck.'
[Confirm action]
'Yes'