A Challenge, Part 2, Seriously!?

Kazuko lifted her naginata above her head. She could feel her sweat pouring down from her forehead.

She knew she most likely stood no chance against him, but she still wanted to give it a try. No samurai would ever give up in a fight.

She glanced at his indifferent face and gripped her naginata tightly. She tried to find an opening, but unfortunately for her, there were none.

Or rather, he appeared to have openings, yet she knew he was leaving himself open on purpose.

Kazuko stabilized her breathing and calmed down her beating heart.

During this, she closed her eyes, and it almost seemed like she was meditating. Few moments have passed, and the audience was quietly looking at the stage with halted breaths.

'Here goes nothing,' With a loud battle cry, Kazuko stepped forward and ran around Nikolai in a circle, with a pretty impressive speed she has cultivated by training with her tires.

"Go for it, Wanko!" Gakuto shouted.

"Don't give up!" Moro also joined in.

Nikolai followed her with his eyes and awaited the moment.

"What are you waiting for?"

Kazuko smirked and stabbed her naginata to the ground, "You asked for it!" She propelled herself forward with her long weapon and closed the distance between them in an instant.

"Hmph." Nikolai dodged her kick, but Kazuko has already anticipated that, and she buried her naginata into the ground near him.

She spun around the buried handle like a snake and sent another kick towards his face. Nikolai easily avoided Kazukos's foot, and to top it all off. He also managed to grab her leg without much difficulty.

"Damn it!" She grunted and flipped around to get out of her opponent's hold, but he didn't let go.

She pulled out her naginata from the ground and tried to use it to free her foot, but with the handicap, she was facing, with one leg held in the air, she knew she wouldn't make it in time.

Nikolai lifted his leg as if he was preparing for a front kick. Kazuko quickly put her guard up towards her stomach.

Which she was bound to regret in a moment, as it wasn't a front kick at all.

Nikolai stretched up his foot, way above Kazuko, eyes on his opponent, and quickly pulled down his leg. The moment his leg reached its target, his heel also made contact with her right shoulder. It burrowed down into her shoulder and made a terrifying sound.

*Crack*

"Argh!" Kazuko screamed and fell to the ground in pain, holding her shoulder. Looking closer, the audience could see it was dislocated from the socket of the shoulder blade.

"""Wanko!""" Yamato and his group shouted.

What Nikolai did, was essentially an axe kick, which was one of the Taekwondo techniques. Nikolai didn't want to use it as it was a dirty move in Taekwondo, and if you used more strength than required, you could seriously injure or even kill your opponent and be disqualified in a spar.

However, he knew how to hold back, and he felt that he should end it as soon as possible.

Momoyo furrowed her eyebrows but didn't say anything. Her injury wasn't anything serious. She knew that her old man had tons of healing mantras that could even recover stuff like lost limbs. So she wasn't worried about that.

Of course, it was a secret known only to him and his granddaughter, Momoyo. If the world knew they had a way to regenerate lost limbs and things like blindness and so on, they would have a huge problem.

Thousands and thousands of people would be coming to Kawakami every day with the intent to steal their family technique, not to mention the millions of requests from disabled people.

In any case, injuries like this were of no problem, but it still hurt her to see her little sister suffer like this.

Tesshin closed his eyes and sighed. The match was over before it even began. He stepped into the ring and declared, "The mock match is over, the winner is Nikol-"

"...W-Wait!" Kazuko stood up, short on her breath, while still holding onto her dislocated shoulder.

Nikolai looked at her, slightly annoyed, "You are in no position to fight anymore, and from what I've observed, your dominant arm is your right arm, which is currently dislocated. There is no point in fighting anymore." Saying that he started walking away.

"Y-You are correct that my dominant arm is my right arm...b-but..." Sweat poured down her face, then her beautiful white neck as she put her left hand on her right wrist. Tesshin noticed her action and nodded in approval.

She pulled her arm forward and straight in front of her, and a loud *crack* noise echoed throughout the schoolyard, once again.

Nikolai quickly looked back, and his eyes widened. Unknowingly, a small grin appeared on his face.

"...This girl..." For no reason whatsoever, Nikolai was getting excited. He wouldn't admit it, but he missed fighting. The fights, however, were no longer enjoyable, so he dropped the thought.

But maybe, just maybe, if the people of this world, had such an indomitable will, like this girl here, and wouldn't give up after a single punch, kick, or an exchange from him... Maybe he could still...

Kazuko's dislocated shoulder went back to normal. She fixed her shoulder on her own. Other than feeling the itching pain from the fix, she was fine.

"I-In all of the fights my Nee-san was in...she always liked to break joints of her opponents...S-So I observed it... and came to a realization that I could utilize this..." She paused in between her breaths and grabbed her naginata with her right arm, throbbing in pain.

"Kazuko." Momoyo's heart ached.

Kazuko tried so hard to improve to catch up to her, but Momoyo knew that Kazuko would never reach her level. Kazuko's growth was slow compared to Momoyo, and she was pretty sure it would be impossible to reach her level.

If Kazuko were to train for decades to reach a certain level of strength, that would only take Momoyo a few months, if not weeks. The difference in their talent was simply too big.

Currently, Momoyo was strong enough to feel the auras of people. There were three types of auras, all of which were invisible for most people, but her and a few others.

The first one was the aura of life. Momoyo could see the life force of a person and estimate how much time the person has left.

The aura of life with perfect health was as Green as spring at the pinnacle of the life of the individual. It would then turn into a Yellow color, the color of the setting sun, as the individual grew older and older.

Finally, it would be a Violet Red, like the color of autumn leaves that fall from the trees, finishing their purpose as the life force gets weaker and weaker, until the person closes his eyes, forever.

The second one was the aura of potential, which is divided into two categories.

Talent and Strength.

Momoyo could see how much potential an individual had when it came to fighting power and skill level.

There was never a bottleneck in strength, only in talent.

Talent meant how long it would take for someone to reach a higher stage of strength, and strength just meant how powerful an individual currently was.

Anyone could reach a higher level of strength after training for a long time, but who would spend twenty or so years of their life just to be a bit stronger than an average person? No one.

Not counting an average person, there were seven types of talents. From the weakest to the strongest.

Black

Silver

Gold

Blue

Purple

Pink

Orange

That's why talent mattered the most. Momoyo's talent was the second-highest recorded talent level. It was pink.

It was also almost impossible to raise talent. It was only seen once with Tesshin's old disciple who defected the Kawakami Temple. His talent was blue, but he managed to raise it to Purple by breaking the bottleneck.

To put it into a perspective, Momoyo was getting stronger sixty times faster than the average person, and compared to Kazuko, she was growing at least forty times faster than her, not to mention, her grandfather's blood runs in her veins. The blood of an Orange talent.

This is also the reason why she stopped training seriously, as with the way she is now, she can beat anyone but her grandpa, Tesshin, who is still able to seal her strength.

And that's also only because he has those weird mantras, but if they were to fight for real, she would win.

So what was the point in training any further when you were basically the pinnacle of martial arts?

Kazuko's talent was stuck on a certain level, and Momoyo could see it wouldn't change even after decades of hard work. Her talent was only Silver. Her strength would increase only twenty times compared to an average person, but that wasn't enough.

Momoyo could also see how strong a person was just by looking at them.

That's also how she figured out a part of Nikolai's strength.

The last one was the aura of inner Ki. Momoyo could see who has accessed the inner Ki, something only a few chosen ones were able to succeed in, including herself. That's why she was a bit confused about Nikolai, as he didn't unlock Ki yet.

The color of Ki was White at all times.

Ultimately, she didn't want to crush Kazuko's dreams. She didn't want to crush the dreams of her beloved younger sister, so she remained silent about her talent and just cheered her on. She hated to see her cry. Her smile was much better.

***

Yamato powerlessly fell back to his seat and looked at his older sister. "Nee-san, you were right. That man is incredible, but don't you think he is going too far?"

"I am...not sure. It's a mock fight, but still...even if she is injured, he is still going easy on her. I can't say anything," Momoyo replied with a troubled expression.

Yamato raised an eyebrow, "So you think it's fine. Alright. If you say so. I won't say anything anymore."

"But that's ridiculous!" Gakuto cut in, "He is going too far! Wanko can't fight anymore!"

Miyako and Moro were silent. They agreed that it might seem brutal, but a match was a match, and she issued the challenge. If she didn't want to give up, following through was the only option.

"Don't you see, Gakuto-san? She is back on her feet again, still trying to win. I think you should respect her wishes and watch the fight with a proud gaze, a proud gaze befitting a friend of such a fine warrior. Japan and its people are really amazing." Chris replied, brushing back her gorgeous blonde hair.

Gakuto clenched his teeth but knew she had a point.

'Whatever, I still don't like him, and I never will. Just you wait. I will pay you back myself.' With a small grudge, forming inside of his heart, changing its form into a deep seethed hatred, Gakuto swore to himself.

***

Tesshin saw the determination in his granddaughter and held back his tears. "Alright, pardon my intrusion then! Continue!" With that, the fight began for real.

This time, Kazuko put a bit more distance from Nikolai. Her weapon was long, and there was no need for her to fight in a close range, 'Good, she finally used her brain.' Nikolai thought as he dodged an onslaught of stabbing attacks from her naginata.

"I won't let you get in your range!"

"...!"

Kazuko kept on attacking without stopping, a normal person would have already been tired as hell, but she received the training at the Kawakami Temple, so her stamina was enormous.

'Hm?'

Nikolai stopped moving as he noticed an irregularity in her body. He didn't notice it before as his sunglasses are heavily tinted, and he could barely see anything, but now, he definitely saw it.

"...Ah, I see how it is." He smiled and relaxed his expression.

'Interesting. Let's play then.'

"I..."

"...Got you now!" Kazuko stepped forward interrupting him and swung at his arm.

Nikolai gracefully avoided the attack while fluttering his long silver hair.

'This is starting to get...fun.' He put his hand on his mouth to cover up his grin.

"Good job dodging that, but!" She spun her naginata in her arms during her attacks, trying to deceive her opponent and catching him off guard. Spectators were watching her elegant dance with the naginata with bated breath.

"Go for it, Wanko!"

"Yeah! Go! Go, go, go, go!"

"You have him where you wanted!"

The audience was getting heated up. It was obvious that somehow, Kazuko has started dominating.

"Nice one, Wanko!"

"Go for it!"

Kazuko felt like she was in the zone. Her heart was beating steadily, her movements were never this fluid, and she felt something warm rising up from her chest. She definitely didn't look like the person whose shoulder was critically injured just now.

"Dodge this!" Wanko circled her naginata at full speed. It was hard to tell where she'll attack from.

The crowd fell silent at her never bending will and the sheer display of her strength. All in all, Kazuko wasn't weak whatsoever, there were only about seven students in this school who could defeat her.

Kazuko swung her naginata over her head. It looked like she was going to swing it down at Nikolai's head, but...

"Yamakazushi!"

The naginata moved unexpectedly, and it swung down at his leg.

"...!" Nikolai jumped over her attack and landed a few meters away from her.

"That was close, could have gotten my clothes dirty."

So far, he only retreated from Kazuko's attacks, because he wanted to help her, but it wouldn't be a fight if he was just dodging the whole time, now, would it?

"Come on, at this rate, you won't be able to hit me even once."

He could feel his boil up with excitement, his face no longer hid his grin, as he clenched his fists.

'This is really getting me pumped up...'

***

"Wanko is holding pretty well. We should invite her to a meal afterward," Yamato said while chewing on a hotdog. He got it from the Captain.

Captain brought some for his friends too, and not long after, he dipped.

Momoyo was the only one who didn't want to eat at the moment, which was unusual, as most of the time, she was the one borrowing money to eat as much as she could.

"Yeah, you are right. My little sister is the best, she never gives up. Do you remember the time whe--" She was about to finish her sentence when she noticed something. She shot up from her seat, "What!?" Her hands trembling.

'There is no way...'

Yamato and the group were confused at her sudden outburst.

"What happened, Nee-san!?"

***

Nikolai ducked down and swept her legs from under her, causing her to fall, but she got back on her feet in a second.

He chose the initiative this time and decided to attack himself. Nikolai swiftly dashed to her and sent a flurry of punches her way.

'He is fast!' Kazuko had a hard time dodging them. Each punch of his created a gust, which made it even harder for her to dodge, as the wind pressure he was generating was keeping her in check. Soon enough, he managed to land a few jabs onto her chest and stomach, making her forget the timing on his punches as she staggered backward and received another onslaught of them.

'Argh...They are heavy!'

Each impact of his punches was painful, and everyone watching this felt their blood run cold as they could hear a loud and dull sound whenever his fist made contact with her body.

Kazuko was already half unconscious.

'...Ah...it feels like the first time I challenged my grandpa to a serious battle...' Her eyes were getting cloudy, and her vision was fading.

But deep down, she could still feel the hot flames, burning her from inside and out. She wanted to grasp them.

'Why is it...so hot?'

Something just kept on fueling her and refused to let go.

'Somehow...My body.' Just as she was about to fall over from Nikolai's ferocious punches, she recovered, dug her foot into the ground, and put all of her strength into one naginata strike hoping it would reach her target.

And it did.

Nikolai was hit in his chest. The impact itself broke the wooden naginata in two, and while it didn't really injure him in the slightest, Kazuko celebrated nonetheless, "...F-Finally!" She finally found an opening. She finally, got a hit in. Not a significant one, but a hit, nonetheless!

Now she could just close her eyes and rest. With that, she showed a satisfied smile, and Nikolai caught her before she fell to the ground.

Her eyes were barely open, but she was still conscious.

"Congratulations on breaking through." He gave her a small pat on the head and then smiled gently. He really respected her for how stubborn she was.

She couldn't see well, but she still noticed that his sunglasses were a bit tilted.

'How...Pretty.' She exclaimed before the exhaustion took her over, and she collapsed.

Momoyo was silent and just watched her little sister. Unknowingly, tears formed in her eyes.

She gazed at the fallen, defeated figure of her precious sister.

She gazed as the silver shell of her aura cracked, and the color of her talent slowly faded away, being replaced by the mighty golden rays that enveloped the silver remains into a golden mass of energy.

Tesshin widened his eyes at the phenomenon unfolding in front of him and noticed that Momoyo was also on the same page as him.

'...This young man actually helped her breakthrough...'

Her talent was no longer Silver, but Gold, and now, she could gain strength ten times faster than before.

He stroked his beard as he walked towards his unconscious granddaughter.

"It seems like Kawakami Kazuko can no longer fight. The winner is Nikolai Ivanovich, from the class, 2-F!"

There was a roar of cheers for both of them. In the beginning, students didn't like Nikolai that much, but power was to be respected, and it was an amazing match to watch nonetheless. There wasn't any loser in this match.

Kazuko managed to breakthrough her talent, and Nikolai gained recognition and managed to complete the quest.

«------------------»

A Side Quest Completed!

"A Mock Match"

Defeat Kawakami Kazuko in the mock match.

Rewards: 100 MP Points.

Unlocking the roulette mode...

«------------------»