Comby

It was a perfect, inconceivable blow. The Dummy, despite being entirely focused on defense, could not perceive it. It was as if Ryu had suddenly gained a massive boost in power and speed.

It was so powerful that the impact made the Dummy fall over to the ground, and the red hue from its eyes instantly disappeared.

'What. Was. That?'

It didn't understand what just happened. It was as if an invisible missile suddenly hit its face at a frightening speed.

I. Couldn't. See. Anything.' Its thoughts were in a state of frenzy. It didn't know what to feel. Fear? No— That's what it should feel, but for some reason, it didn't. The fear that had accumulated in its body before had suddenly disappeared, and was replaced with something else entirely.

Admiration.

It had hated Ryu the moment he tried to copy its martial arts, and this hate reached its core. But, this wasn't mere imitation. This was even better than its own martial arts.

That jab was so perfect, so fast, that even the dummy with its massive store of experience and martial arts couldn't do anything against it. The Dummy couldn't help but feel astonished by it.

'Ah. I. See.'

The Dummy had always thought it was at the peak of martial arts. It was a dummy specifically made to know all martial arts, after all. It thought no one could reach it in terms of martial arts, absolutely no one. In its world, it had fought with many swordsmen and warriors who boasted about their skills, and yet, none of them managed to even scratch it. Ever since it was created by the Archmage— in other words, when it was born— no one had managed to defeat it— nay, no one managed to even knock it out like Ryu did. The Archmage specifically made it to be the best of the best, and accumulated every martial arts in its home world, and planted it into the Dummy's consciousness. Of course, even if someone learned all of the martial arts in the world, that didn't mean they could efficiently use it. However, the Dummy could.

It was not restrained by things such as muscles, bones or organs. Ever since it was brought to life, it had trained vigilantly. And, in just a week, it had mastered all of martial arts. And in another week, it had improved all of them. It didn't just try to copy the movements, it tried to comprehend them, and it analyzed them. The Archmage even brought out other dummies— those with the combat experience of master martial artists and put them against it. They didn't have consciousness, like it. They only knew how to fight, and that was it. They couldn't form thoughts.

Every time, the Dummy managed to win. Not a single one of them managed to defeat it, or even touch its skin. The Archmage, impressed by the Dummy's martial arts spirit, decided to give it a name.

"Comby"

It was a silly name. The archmage wanted to name it something more elegant, but his daughter kept calling it that, and as such, he went with it.

Despite how horrible the name was, the Dummy— Comby, didn't hate it. Rather, it was overjoyed. It felt alive. It felt as if it was different from the other combat dummies.

It felt like it was special. Like it was its own being.

But… the archmage, and his daughter just disappeared one day. Comby didn't think much of it at first, but as the days grew, it felt more and more anxious.

Comby was originally made to be a weapon. A weapon to be used in war, to defeat all of its enemies. No warrior would be able to get past it, regardless if they were armed or not. But, the Archmage eventually grew attached to the Dummy, and even gave it a name. It didn't treat it only as a weapon, but as family too.

So, when the Archmage disappeared, Comby thought he was disappointed by its martial arts, and that it would be of no use. As such, it continued to train, more and more. Eventually, after a few years, it left the small garden that it was always in, and it decided to wander the world to find formidable opponents to grow its martial arts, hoping that once it found the archmage, he would be proud. But alas, no one could compete with the Dummy.

Additionally, in its journey, it had heard many comments. Every comment it heard from people saying the Archmage was dead was quickly ignored by it. It was simply laughable. The Archmage? Dead? How ridiculous! The archmage was, after all— to Comby, at least— omnipotent.

Comby weakly glanced at Ryu.

'I. Thought. I. Had. Reached. The. Apex. Of. Martial. Arts. But…'

Comby's gaze turned towards Ryu, who was just standing there with his arms raised, waiting for it to get back up.

'This. Boy. Is. In. An. Entirely. Different. Realm. Of. Existence.'

Even now, Comby couldn't read Ryu's movements, or even his eyes. It was as if a dead person had came back alive, or as if he was acting purely on instincts. Where was this boy in its life? Why didn't he fight like this in the beginning of the fight?

Even though no human would logically think the opponent was better than them just because of a single exchange, the Dummy was different. It had accumulated so much battle experience in its life that it instantly knew how strong or skilled an opponent was by the first exchange.

And It knew Ryu was far ahead of it right now.

Comby slowly tried to stand up, the fabric of its face heavily damaged. If it sustained another direct attack to its face, the fabric would be torn, and its inside— which was all sand— would all spill out.

'I. Can't. Let. That. Happen.' If that happened, the fight was as good as over. While it wouldn't die, since its true form was simply the sand inside of it, it wouldn't be able to fight anymore. Hell, it wouldn't even be able to form a thought anymore. It needed a vessel in order to form thoughts and emotions. But once the sand spilled out from its body, it would be no different than death.

Still— it wasn't worried, or terrified. If anything, it somehow was excited for the first time in a long while. This excitement far outstripped that of any fight it had ever experienced.

The red hue came back, and it was stronger than ever. Comby pitifully brought its arm up and imitated the same stance as Ryu.

"You. Are. Perfect."

Comby thought that if it had a heart, this is what it would feel like. It felt as if there was something in its abdomen jumping in joy. This situation was dangerous, and its life was at risk. It knew it perfectly well, yet its chest danced in excitement.

"More."

This was the first time that someone ever managed to knock it out, the first time someone gave it fear, the first time it felt that someone posed a genuine threat, the first time it felt it found an equal— nay, a superior in martial arts. The first time that it felt it could improve its martial arts.

"I. Need. To. See. More!"

A massive influx of power erupted from the dummy, and with a single step, it had managed to close a distance of 10 feet, instantly appearing in front of Ryu. And, with swift movements, it threw a powerful jab at Ryu.

Despite the surprising burst of power and speed from Comby, Ryu didn't seem startled at all. He casually dodged the attack, but before he could throw in a jab, Comby threw a kick with his new explosive speed.

But, even that didn't make contact. Despite him being faster than Ryu, none of his attacks were landing.

"A. True. Master." Comby muttered, before using a variety of martial arts techniques to attack Ryu, not giving him a chance to attack. The techniques ranged from Boxing techniques, Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and many, many others. All of them were perfect in their execution, and it showed Comby's mastery of martial arts. A normal master martial artist from Earth would lower their head in shame and never raise it again in front of such mastery. It would bring the entirety of the modern Martial Arts industry to shame.

157 Styles. That's how many martial arts Comby knew, and they were all trained to perfection.

And yet, despite its mastery, and newfound speed, it hadn't managed to land a single hit on Ryu. Not only that, but Comby had a feeling that Ryu was learning from its techniques. The jab that had caused it to be knocked out, that jab contained mastery that even it couldn't compare with. In its first exchange with Ryu, he had managed to learn Comby's boxing style, despite him seemingly having no experience in martial arts.

This boy was a freak, and Comby knew it. It knew that every time it threw a punch, a kick, anything, Ryu learned from it.

Due to this disgustingly powerful perception, common sense would tell you to finish this fight as soon as possible, so that Ryu wouldn't gain the upper hand. But, Comby knew it couldn't do that. All of its attacks were either dodged or effortlessly blocked. As such, Comby decided on another strategy. Unlike its body, the human body was limited. Its Stamina was not endless, whereas Comby would never get tired. Comby decided that it would use this to its advantage, and pressure him to the point that Ryu had no more stamina left in him.

'He. Is. Already. Injured.' Comby thought, 'He. Shouldn't. Be. Able. To. Continue. Fighting. For. Much. Longer.'

Although Comby thought it was outrageous that Ryu managed to stand up and even fight despite being in such a horrid state, it didn't believe Ryu had endless stamina. Sooner or later, he would get exhausted.

*Swish*

Comby threw another punch at Ryu, but surprisingly, he didn't dodge or block it like he usually did. Instead—

It was swatted away. Ryu's entire stance changed in an instant— he was using Judo!

Comby felt a slight ting in its chest. This boy had managed to learn Judo in an extremely short time! Comby knew this boy's perception was astounding, but still— this whole exchange didn't even surpass 30 breaths of time!

'How. Frightening.' Comby thought, but its thoughts soon returned to its excited state. This was exactly what it was looking forward to. This sort of monstrous freak was exactly the kind of person it was looking forward to fighting all its life.

Comby's attacks grew in strength and speed. It began to mix all of its martial arts together, making it unpredictable. Ryu didn't bother to fight, but instead, was just swatting away the attacks or defending.

Slowly, 5 breaths of time passed, then 10, then 15, and soon it reached an entire minute. Comby continued its assault, and Ryu defended. Until—

Comby threw a powerful jab, trying to imitate Ryu's previous jab. It didn't come close to the perfection of the original, but it was still powerful. Ryu, of course, easily dodged. But suddenly, the red hue in Comby's eyes' grew stronger.

In this short exchange, it noticed a gap in Ryu's defense. His jaw, chest, and head, were all defenseless. Comby's eyes glinted, and it threw a powerful kick at Ryu's head.

But— something felt odd, out of place. For some reason, it had a strange feeling in its 'chest', as if something was going to happen, something horribly wrong. As such—

Comby hesitated.

With insane control over its body, it managed to completely retract its kick, and tried to immediately distance itself from Ryu. However, for just a moment, it managed to glance at Ryu's face, and it caused inexplicable horror to well up inside of it— just like before.

For just a moment, Comby could've sworn it saw a glint of red hue appear on Ryu's eyes, just like its own eyes. Time seemed to have slowed down to a crawl, and Comby saw Ryu mumble something. There was no sound, but by simply looking at Ryu's mouth, he knew what he had said—

"You… hesitated."

*Bang*

Comby's entire body flew a few meters back, and its chest's fabric was heavily damaged. Ryu managed to send out an incredibly fast kick in that small fraction of a second, hitting Comby in the chest and sending it flying.

Comby managed to retain its balance, although its head was still in a daze. Its feelings were in chaos, its thought jumbled. That kick just— it had surpassed Comby's imagination. Ryu had managed to completely break the onslaught of attacks and powerfully kicked Comby in the chest.

Before Comby could go back to its combat stance, Ryu immediately shot forward like an arrow. Comby tried to defend, but alas—

*Bang!*

Ryu managed to completely bypass it and hit its leg, causing the fabric to be damaged. Then, he threw a jab.

A kick.

A chop.

Everything, at every angle, all flawlessly. The tables had turned. Moreover, Comby could barely defend itself— it could not dodge like Ryu did before.

'These. Moves.' Comby thought, as it tried to defend itself from this onslaught of attacks.

'They. Are. My. Martial. Arts.'

Every attack Ryu threw, it contained a mixture of all martial arts. Jiu Jutsu, Karate, Boxing, MMA, Judo, Taekwondo, and many others. All of those moves were like Comby's, except much more precise and perfect.

"You." Comby mumbled in the middle of this onslaught, "Managed. To. Learn. All. Of. My. Martial. Arts. This. Fast?"

Comby was dumbfounded. Despite the increasing amount of damage on its body, it didn't really care anymore. Rather, it was stupefied by Ryu's perception. It knew Ryu could master all of Comby's martial arts— and even surpass Comby— if given enough time. But it had never thought he could master them all, and even counter them this fast. Perhaps a few martial arts would be feasible, such as 5 styles or something like that, but no— even styles that Comby had only shown once had been mastered. Comby had used only a single attack of those styles, and yet, Ryu managed to learn them, and all of their possible moves as well.

*Bang*

Ryu kicked Comby in the chest, using his Taekwondo, causing Comby's chest fabric to be torn slightly. A small amount of sand began falling out, but Comby paid no attention to it.

"Truly."

*Bang*

"A."

*Bang*

"Master."

…

Time slowly passed, with the only sound in this arena being the sounds of banging, as if there were gunshots.

Soon, a minute passed, then 5, and eventually, it reached 10 minutes.

The sounds of those bangs died down, and all that left was the sound of sand, falling on the ground.

There, in the arena, Ryu stood motionless. His hands were bruised, and there was even a small amount of blood dripping from his left hand. His face, which was horridly disfigured due to the massive amount of injuries he sustained before, was surprisingly calm. His eyes were hazy, unfocused, but they could cause a person to shiver in fear the moment they locked eyes with him.

There, just a few meters away from him, lay Comby.

Comby lay pitifully on the ground, the fabric of its entire body brutally damaged, holes all over its body. Its body's mass was now much lower than before, and it could barely move its head.

It slowly managed to lock its eyes with Ryu's. Its red hue was much weaker than before, and it was a miracle it could even move its head.

Sand continued dropping from the various holes in its body. Despite that, it never looked away from Ryu.

"I… Don't… Have… Much. Longer…" It managed to mutter. Its mechanical voice was muffled, barely understandable.

Ryu didn't answer. He merely kept his eyes locked with Comby's, not moving an inch.

"But… I… Can't… Let… It… End… Like… This…" Slowly, very slowly, it stood up. The falling sand accelerated, but it didn't care anymore.

Comby's consciousness was nothing special, and its intelligence was lower than a human's. The only thing it had over humans was its talent. But, in this fight, it felt as if its consciousness had slowly increased, and even its thoughts became more and more complex.

"I… Suppose… The… Archmage… Was. Indeed… Disappointed… In… Me…" It pitifully blurted out. Even in this state, it still thought about the Archmage. Comby knew it was over, it knew that it had already lost. All of this caused a strange feeling to well up inside of it. A variety of thoughts began to appear, and it began to doubt itself. This fight showed it that it was lacking. Its martial arts skills were lacking. Its talent was lacking. Perhaps, the archmage truly did abandon it, thinking its talent was not sufficient enough.

Comby found the thought depressing, but still, it didn't give up.

Slowly, it slightly clenched its fists, and raised its arms, just enough to protect its face without covering its vision. Slowly, its stance began to change back to the first stance it had fought Ryu with.

Boxing.

Even though it knew it would lose, and that in just half a minute, it would collapse due to the continued loss of sand, it still tried its best. It didn't matter if it was on the verge of death, it had to fight.

Ryu looked at Comby for a few seconds, before changing his stance— completely identical to Comby's.

A boxer vs a boxer.

Comby tried its best, and it brought forth all of the remaining strength in its body, lunging towards Ryu.

Similarly, Ryu did the exact same thing— his eyes never leaving Comby's.

Pitifully, Comby threw a jab at Ryu. But of course,

He dodged.

And just like Comby, Ryu threw his own Jab.

*Bang*

And it made perfect contact. But instead of Comby's head recoiling back—

It exploded, causing a shower of sand.

———

[Congratulations on defeating the Combat Dummy [Comby]! Your level has risen from level 0 to 1! You have gained 100 Points, and earned the qualification to use the store!]