Story 1 Martial Glory, Chapter 13

After we put our previous purchases away, Honoka and I left the main house together to the training field where a bunch of homemade exercise tools were. But while we were inside the main house, we saw Marie chilling out watching some TV, and we told her we were doing some sparring. So she decided to come to watch us spar.

When we got to the large open dirt spot that was clearly used as a sparring ring, I began stretching as Honoka put on some leather gloves to cover her hands. Marie on the other hand all but bounced excitedly between us as she spoke excitedly.

"On the right side, we got the newbie Jake Barris! Coming in at a strong two hundred and thirty pounds, he punches! He kicks! And he got his ass kicked by a girl yesterday anyway!" Marie said loudly as though an announcer's microphone and making me roll my eyes at how she teased me.

Then the short petite girl dramatically pointed at Honoka who rolled her eyes as Marie began Honoka's introduction. "And standing at five feet flat, at a hundred and ten pounds soaking wet! Her boobs weighing more than twenty pounds and being a fifth of her own body weight, we have Honoka Yamato!"

Honestly... I think Honoka wanted to punch Marie a lot more right now. And that's with my imaginary boyfriend's comment I made along with her being a small shortstack.

And my intrepid feeling of doom was proven correct as Honoka looked at Marie like she was dead to her as she spoke cooly at her friend. "I am going to put pool bleach in your shampoo." She said coldly and looking at Marie's pale bright lively hair...

I shivered as Marie herself recoiled and held her long hair protectively as she pouted. "Alright, don't make Marie's hair turn green Honoka," I said wryly as I hopped back and forth tapping my feet to reawaken my blood and I burst into chuckles as she came up into a simple loose boxing stance.

Honoka edged forward and as I held my hands up palms up to the sides I settled in to use the Water Streaming, Rock Smashing Fist. And she didn't disappoint. Honoka sent a brutal jab toward my face with her shoes sending a cloud of dust behind her as she dashed forward to send the jab the final distance towards my face.

But a loud clapping noise rang out as I slapped her jab aside, diverting her momentum but with her little skip through the air to send the jab my way I realized her flying momentum gave her the advantage as she still came close she used her other arm to send an elbow at me using the same spin to her I gave when I slapped her fist aside.

"Damn, you hit hard," I said wryly as I stepped back to avoid her flying elbow and then I kicked her in the hip hard, sending her flying back a couple of meters with her shoes creating a line of dust in the air as her feet pushed down to stop her sliding.

Honoka to my complaint only chuckled and held up her fists making me realize why people always made Tifa references about her all the time... Big boobs and punched way too damn hard for her size. "Well now that I know you can handle a jab let's see how you do with real punches!" She said excitedly and then she ran at me with both arms up in a classical boxing pose and as she came at me I readied myself but then she spun and literally attempted to drop kick me.

But my whole martial art was based on redirecting stupid amounts of force. Her overpowered stupid drop kick that could very well have kicked over a tree was merely her giving me a potent weapon to beat her up with.

As I grabbed her ankle I sidestepped her drop kick and then I took a tiny step forward and pivoted so my hip would hit her knee as I pivoted. And like a rock pushing aside the river, I made her go from kicking through me to moving further sideways until I had control over her momentum. With the pivot as the fulcrum, and as gravity took back control over her. I used my own body's strength to whip back around and with my hold on her ankle to guide her, I smashed her back first into the loamy ground of the sparring ring with a loud dull thudding noise.

Using my own body's strength, her own body weight, and of course natural gravity... I probably slammed her into the ground with more force than a small car would transmit going at twenty-some miles an hour when ramming into someone. But even as she literally bounced on the ground, she still was able to kick, and as her kick landed on my lower arm, I let go in fear of her literally breaking my arm as her kick sent my loose arm flying back with the force as I rolled with the blow.

I shook my arm out with a wry smile as Honoka flipped back onto her feet looking none the worse besides some dust that made her pout. "Jake! You idiot, that better not have stained my uniform!" She said dangerously making me roll my eyes as I held back up my hands into position as I retorted.

"You are the one trying to deliberately give me a black eye! Be glad I am not giving you the same treatment Shigure, gave Marie." I said blandly reminding Marie about that traumatizing episode in which Shigure used shurikens to cut off Marie Rose's clothing in front of me for treating swords like a toy.

Even as I said that I felt a shiver down my spine as Honoka and Marie themselves paled and I looked around as to why I felt that and I saw Shigure literally sitting down on the edge of the sparring ring, and seeing us looking at her she awkwardly waved and then spoke dully.

"Don't worry about me... Keep fighting." She said and then paused and then continued. "Ah, actually I am going to train you now Jake... Be ready." She said and Honoka drew off thinking she was getting kicked out of the fight but Shigure snapped. "Honoka, I didn't say I was ending the fight, never allow someone to end your fights... I am merely going to tell Jake how to be a better sword." She explained with a small frown at the strain of having to talk so much.