A Little Accident

Zhang Ruofeng tilted his head slightly, letting the throwing knife fly past his ear. Ignoring the cut on his cheek, he pressed forward another step. Now they were barely an arm's length apart, and Xin Mu no longer had time to throw her fourth knife. She could only keep it in her hand and slash horizontally toward Zhang Ruofeng's chest. He deftly blocked her wrist, using a deft force to strike its inner side with the back of his hand. Even with her bracer on, Xin Mu winced in pain and dropped the knife. Zhang Ruofeng didn't stop moving. He thrust out his right hand and pressed it against her neck. Her skin felt soft and smooth beneath his hand, and despite the intense exercise, it was cool to the touch. He hesitated for a second, then applied a little pressure to restrain her.

"That's enough." Zhang Ruofeng immediately let go of Xin Mu's neck and stepped back before declaring the drill over. It had lasted less than ten seconds, but Xin Mu had already lost.

"Well, I barely ever used a knife back when I was a street thug," Zhang Ruofeng said, looking at Xin Mu's slightly disgruntled expression. "But I did know a few people who used them, and some of them were quite skilled at fighting with daggers. So I'm not particularly afraid of blades."

"Right. We know each other's stats, too. Your agility and dexterity are two levels higher than mine, so you can't just stand still and fight me. And when I charge at you, you definitely shouldn't meet me head-on. My stamina and strength are far greater than yours. A head-on clash would only hurt you, not me." As he explained, Zhang Ruofeng ran over to pull the daggers out of several tree trunks. He noticed that their slightly sharpened wooden tips had splintered when they struck the trees. If one had hit him, it would definitely have hurt.

"We're in the woods outside the city, so you can imagine these trees are me standing between you and your target. You need to learn how to use cover like this to hurt an enemy, and how to break away when I get close. That's what we need to train." Zhang Ruofeng continued explaining as he returned the throwing knives to Xin Mu. Today was Goddess's usual day to buy flowers from the nearby farmers. Zhang Ruofeng and Xin Mu had nothing else to do, so they had come out of the city to help and train in a quiet patch of forest near the West Gate. Zhang Ruofeng had realized he couldn't always be the one standing in front of Xin Mu. Sometimes she would have to face enemies on her own, and her weakness in close combat was obvious. So today they were focusing on improving her melee skills.

"Should I run?" Xin Mu asked. Zhang Ruofeng shook his head slightly.

"You do need to retreat sometimes, but if you only keep backing away, you'll lose your ability to counterattack. So retreating is usually just a feint. Your goal is still to take down the enemy in front of you." Zhang Ruofeng patiently continued, "The monsters in the Dungeon aren't reasonable. If you run too far without dealing with the enemy in front of you, new enemies could appear behind you, leaving you trapped with nowhere to go."

With that, Zhang Ruofeng demonstrated a backward jump. While Xin Mu watched in confusion, he suddenly sprang forcefully to the right and made a throwing motion with a knife. Then he bent backward, put both palms on the ground, and flipped over to land on his feet. It would have looked pretty cool, except that he lost his balance and sat down again. All he could do was laugh awkwardly.

"Pfft." Xin Mu knew Zhang Ruofeng's fighting style: no flash, no wasted movements, every action aimed at landing a hit. He'd never practiced somersaults, so he'd ended up sitting on the ground like this.

"Well, since you've studied dance, you can probably do that move much better than me. Even someone like me, who's never done a somersault, can manage one on the move now that my abilities have improved. You should be able to do it, too." Zhang Ruofeng scratched his head, a little embarrassed. Xin Mu nodded obediently. Having never been in a fight, she truly had never thought of using such maneuvers.

"Right. Even if I force you into close quarters and you can't retreat, you still can't hold back. You're much faster than I am, and you're using a lightweight weapon like a dagger, so you should aim for my weak points, like my heart and eyes. Even monsters will probably instinctively protect those areas. Then you can use your speed to attack somewhere else or create distance, making the most of your advantage." Zhang Ruofeng demonstrated two moves. First, he reached toward Xin Mu's eyes. Even though she knew he would never hurt her, she instinctively raised a hand to block his palm. Zhang Ruofeng stopped just before touching her forehead, then quickly punched toward the area over her heart. Xin Mu gave a mischievous smile and thrust out her chest, as if she had guessed what Zhang Ruofeng would do. He hadn't expected her to realize he was demonstrating a strike aimed at her heart. Even more unexpectedly, instead of defending or backing away, she had pushed her chest forward. Though he immediately pulled back, his fist still brushed against her chest.

Neither of them had expected that. Even Xin Mu, who had only meant to tease Zhang Ruofeng, hadn't anticipated things would turn out this way. They both froze for a moment, then blushed at the same time. Zhang Ruofeng quickly pulled his hand back, and the two of them laughed awkwardly. His heart ached a little, but by now he had been hardened enough by this world to bear the pain.

"Sorry about that." Zhang Ruofeng awkwardly scratched his hair. Xin Mu shook her head, her face faintly red. After all, her spur-of-the-moment prank had led Zhang Ruofeng to touch her chest. She was the one who'd come off worse, but Zhang Ruofeng certainly hadn't done it on purpose. And judging by his reaction, he seemed to be the one suffering more. That left Xin Mu feeling a little deflated.

"Well, at least this gives us a little warning. We still have to keep training, and there'll probably be plenty more physical contact." Seeing Xin Mu's expression, Zhang Ruofeng knew he had upset her a little, so he hurried to offer the excuse he'd come up with. Xin Mu seemed to accept it, then quietly backed away a few steps and took up an attacking stance.

"Then I'll come at you again." Seeing that Xin Mu wasn't dwelling on it, Zhang Ruofeng put the rest of his feelings aside and prepared to attack once more.