A First Fight with Blade

Feeling how much stronger his body had become, Xiahou wanted nothing more than to find someone to test himself against. Seeing Blade standing there striking a pose, he asked, "Blade, want to spar? It'd be a good chance to see how much stronger I've gotten!"

Blade glanced at Xiahou's eager expression. He also wanted to find out how strong Xiahou was, so he nodded. "Sure. Where do we fight?"

"You can fight on the basketball court. It's spacious enough. Follow me." Abigail began leading the way to the court as she spoke.

Blade and Xiahou nodded and followed her. Seeing there was a show to watch, everyone else got up and followed.

Hedges quietly asked Little Black, "Dex, who do you think will win?"

"I don't know either, but probably Blade! Xiahou doesn't look reliable."

Hannibal came over too. "Want to make a bet? A hundred dollars on Blade!"

Little Black and Little Fatty ignored him and continued after the others without even looking at him.

Hannibal wasn't happy. "Hey! You sure you don't want to bet? What if Xiahou wins?"

All he got in response were two middle fingers. He didn't mind, and went up to put his arms around them. "Come on, guys! You should know Xiahou is amazing. Blade might not be able to beat him."

They spoke at the same time. "Then why aren't you betting on Xiahou? And you want us to? We're not stupid!" As Little Black spoke, he gave Hannibal an elbow.

Seeing he couldn't fool either of them, Hannibal gave up.

When Blade and Xiahou reached the basketball court, they stood on opposite sides, facing each other.

"How do you want to fight? With weapons?" As Blade spoke, he drew the sword from his back and twirled it.

Xiahou grew angry at once. As if you're the only one with a sword! With a thought, he took the Red Queen out of his backpack.

The sword dipped as soon as he took hold of it, but Xiahou just managed to keep his grip. Looks like my eighteen points of strength still aren't enough to twirl this sword with one hand! He put his other hand on the hilt.

The others had grown immune to seeing a sword suddenly appear in Xiahou's hands. After all, he was always making things appear out of nowhere, just like the revolver earlier.

Even so, they were captivated by how incredibly good the Red Queen looked. Blade in particular looked at the sword across from him, then at his own, and suddenly wondered why he had gone to the trouble of retrieving it earlier.

Hannibal was even worse. He went straight over and began stroking the blade. "Xiahou, this sword is so cool! Can I try it?"

Xiahou remembered what it had been like when he first got the Red Queen. "Of course! You're my best brother! Catch." He handed the sword to Hannibal.

Hannibal nearly dropped it when he took it, but managed to hold on. He examined it closely. "It's beautiful! Just a little heavy. By the way, does it have a name? Like your Blue Rose?"

Xiahou was instantly displeased to see that Hannibal had actually managed to hold it, but the praise still made him very happy. After all, who didn't love showing off their treasures, especially among friends they got along with?

"Of course it has a name! Red Queen! It's hailed as 'the best equipment a warrior could own.' It and the Blue Rose are Nero's exclusive weapons. Nero used them to kill quite a few powerful demons! But now they're mine!" As Xiahou spoke, he took out the Blue Rose too and struck various poses with it in his hand.

Blade was unhappy watching the two of them put on their show. He especially wanted those two weapons for himself!

He interrupted their performance. "Are we fighting or not? If not, I'm leaving!"

Hearing that, Xiahou hurriedly put the gun away and took back the sword. "We're fighting! Of course we are. I might not be able to beat you, but I still want to try!"

Seeing that the two were ready to fight, Hannibal hurried back to the others and watched expectantly.

Once Blade saw that Xiahou was ready, he charged forward and swung his sword in a horizontal slash. Xiahou hurriedly raised his own sword to block, but the immense force traveling through it pushed him back five or six steps before he stopped.

A sharp pain shot through his palms, and he complained inwardly, Does it have to be this ridiculous? I have three times an ordinary person's strength, and I still got knocked back this far.

Blade was confused. Is he this weak? He had only swung casually just now, without even using a third of his strength. But he didn't dwell on it. He held back even more of his strength and continued slashing at Xiahou.

Xiahou found it increasingly difficult to defend himself, even though his improved attributes allowed him to apply the knowledge in his head more quickly. If his strength and reactions hadn't been noticeably enhanced, he might not have held out this long.

But with a soft sound, the Red Queen was knocked out of his hands. Blade's sword was already resting against Xiahou's neck, and Xiahou's hands were still trembling.

"You lost, and your actual combat experience is terrible! You're only a little stronger than an ordinary person. Other than your decent reactions, you could be called completely useless." After returning his sword to his back, Blade began evaluating Xiahou's performance.

Xiahou knew Blade was right. As an ordinary person, without the physical abilities he had gained from enhancements and leveling up, or those combat techniques, he wouldn't even know how to defend himself. But he only had techniques and no experience. If he couldn't make those techniques his own, he wouldn't be able to grow any stronger.

"Can you teach me? I was just an ordinary person before, but I want to get stronger!" Xiahou said earnestly to Blade.

Blade replied calmly, "I don't have much time to teach you, especially now that we have to deal with Drake and those vampires. You'd better practice on your own first, then spar with me once a day and learn from the experience."

"Really? I'll practice hard. Thank you!" Xiahou thanked him at once.

Blade only nodded and said nothing more.

At that moment, Abigail walked up to Xiahou and looked at his still-trembling hands. "Do you want to rest first?"

Xiahou didn't object. "Can you arrange a place for me to stay?" he asked her.

Abigail supported him by the shoulder. "I'll take you there."

But Xiahou suddenly said, "By the way, why do you care so much about me? You haven't actually fallen for me, have you?"

Abigail's face reddened. "Of course not! I'm just looking out for a teammate."

Hannibal immediately began cheering at the side, and the others smiled too.

Xiahou spoke solemnly. "That had better be true. Nothing can happen between us! You know I'm a player, and you're an NPC! We have no future together."

Abigail's expression changed instantly, and her mood sank, but she still insisted, "I know, and I don't like you either! We only just met!"

Xiahou's expression suddenly changed, and he spoke with a hint of amusement. "Do you know what the biggest obstacle between us is?"

Abigail asked instinctively, "What?"

"I have an anti-lewdness function. I can't take my pants off at all! ヾ(≧▽≦*)o" As Xiahou spoke, he took off his trousers, leaving only his T-shirt and white boxer briefs.

Xiahou stood there with his hands on his hips, laughing smugly. "I'm the man you can't have! Ha! Hahaha! ( ﾟ∀ﾟ)ｱﾊﾊ八八ﾉヽﾉヽﾉヽﾉ ＼ / ＼"