Mia waited until Mason was nearly on her, before darting out of his way just as Mason reached to grab her. She hit Mason in the side with an open-handed punch, striking with the ball of her hand.

As Mason fell back and the the two combatants started circling each other, Kyle Examined Mason, so he could see his health bar. Mia’s strike had done pitifully little damage, taking out only a sliver of Mason’s HP. Kyle Examined Mia, just so he could watch her HP as well.

Mason darted in again, and Mia struck him in the side, dodging under his grasp. Mason whirled immediately to grab her and Mia withdrew, knocking Mason’s arm away with an open-handed chop. Another few chips off Mason’s HP bar.

“You know if I catch you, you’re dead,” Mason growled, lunging again and getting hit with another strike. “There’s no dancing away if you’re on the ground in a grapple.”

“If you catch me. Which isn’t happening,” Mia said. “I’ve had my share of one-hit KOs. Raid bosses that kill you instantly if you’re slow. Winning is easy. Just don’t get caught.” She moved to avoid another lunge. Mason was fast; Kyle was sure he’d have been caught by any number of these grabs. But Mia was just faster.

“It’s all in the shoulders,” Mia said. “You’re telegraphing your attacks. You might as well be broadcasting a glowing red rectangle on the ground. ‘Don’t stand here. You’ll get one-shot.’”

Mason fell back into a stance that was surprisingly similar to the one Mia demonstrated. Kyle realized that in a live combat situation, Mason had abandoned the deep stances he had shown his students. “You’re cheating,” Mason said. “You’re using your ranks in reflexes. It’s slows down time for you, right? Turn it off. This is supposed to be a fair fight.”

“Yeah, well, you ranked strength. Can you turn that off? I don’t think so. That isn’t fair, now is it?”

“In real life, I’d have caught you.”

“In real life, I wouldn’t be fighting you. This isn’t real life. This is a game. And you’re an ogre. A big dumb ogre with a huge hitbox and slow, predictable attacks.”

“You’re trying to tilt me,” Mason said. “You’re trying to goad me into attacking you so you can counter. It won’t work. Your turn now. You come at me. See how well that works.”

“Oooh, you saw through that, did you?” Mia smiled menacingly. “But in a dungeon, if you refuse to come at me, I’d pull out a bow. You’ve got to either attack me or get pegged from a distance. You lose.” Mia lowered her hands and spread them to the sides. “But seeing as though I don’t have a bow in this mock fight, we’re at an impasse, I guess. Let’s run down the clock, shall we? Winner’s the guy with the most HP left. Oh wait…” Mia said, trailing off and shaking her head.

Mason ran at her again with his forearms covering his face, and Mia’s arms shot back up into a guard. Instead of going for a grapple, Mason threw quick jabs at Mia, who pushed them away with deft sweeps of her arms. “Better, better!” she said. “Less signalling. Harder to respond to.” She huffed slightly, exerting herself more. “This is high gold level stuff now. Maybe low plat. But I’m diamond, buddy.” Mia started returning the blows, hitting Mason in the chest whenever she saw an opening, slowly whittling down Mason’s HP.

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

Suddenly Mason’s punch connected with Mia’s jaw, taking a full third of her HP bar in a single blow. Mia screamed and fell back on the ground. Mason dove for her and nearly landed on her, but Mia rolled away. As she stood, she immediately claimed another sliver of Mason’s HP with a punch to the side. She pulled away to collect herself.

“In the face? Really, Mason?”

“Spinejack doesn’t reach there,” Mason said, eyes locked on Mia’s hands. “You’re not used to feeling that sort of pain.”

“Thanks for the practice, then,” Mia said, and dashed towards Mason, her guard held a little higher this time.

Mason blocked her attack with his forearms and started jabbing ineffectively as Mia resumed darting around him. His bar was dipping perilously close to half health. But then again, one more solid punch would bring Mia into the yellow, too.

Mason risked another grab, sweeping an arm towards Mia to try and catch her. Mia, surprisingly, didn’t seem to bother dodging. Instead, she lowered her guard and grinned. Mason threw her to the ground, planted a knee on her chest, and pressed his forearm against her throat. “I’ve got you now, you little-”

Mia grabbed Mason’s forearm with both hands and pulled it up towards her face, turning her head to the side so it would slide over her chin. She opened her mouth and latched onto Mason’s forearm with a feral bite. Mason grunted in pain, but stayed where he was, reaching his fist back under his armpit to punch Mia in the face.

But Kyle could see what Mason did not; the bite made Mason’s HP bar dip into the yellow section.

Mia opened her mouth to let go of Mason’s forearm and went back to her infuriating grin. “Half health, Mason. You lose.”

“I have you!” Mason shouted at Mia, still kneeling on her chest. “You can’t get out of this! It’s over for you!”

“Yeah, ‘cause you’re out of HP. Now get off me. You’ve lost.”

Mason didn’t move, still looking at Mia with rage in his eyes. Kyle wasn’t sure if he was resisting standing, or resisting socking Mia in her smug face.

Kyle wasn’t sure which he was hoping to see from him.

Mia tapped her left hand against her hip and pushed some buttons without looking at them. A bright metal smallsword appeared in her hand; the first time Kyle had seen it. She poked Mason’s chest with the tip. “Fight’s over. Please get off before things get nasty.”

Mason bellowed and stood, turning away and storming off to the side of the arena.

“Your Sensei’s not bad,” Mia said, saluting with her sword. “But watch how he fights. Not the crap he tries to teach you. Combat’s messy.” Mia stowed her sword and sauntered through the archway out of the arena.

Kyle hopped off his wall and jogged over to Mason, who had walked past his students to lean on the wall at the other side of the arena. “You okay, big guy?” Mason’s forearm was against the wall, sporting pink dots in the shape of Mia’s teeth. Kyle peeked around Mason’s side to look at his face.

Mason’ face was full of restrained anger, eyes narrowed, teeth clenched, brow full of lines. He made brief eye contact with Kyle and squeezed his eyes shut. After several deep breaths, he stood and faced his concerned students, seemingly in control once again.

“What you saw won’t work.” Mason said, projecting his voice again like an instructor. “It works for Mia because she’s good. But none of you know how to dodge around blows like that. If you get hit, and fall to the ground, you’re done. For you, stability is more important than mobility.” He dropped into his stance again. “I will teach you how to block blows. It’s more reliable than getting out of the way. I’ll teach you how to put the full force of your weight behind your blows, instead of slapping people like Mia does. What she can do works for gamejackers. What I teach will work for you.”

He sighed a heavy sigh. “And never rank your strength higher than your reflexes. That crap’s OP. Now in your stances. Now!”

The student dropped into their stances again, and Mason resumed the corrections, though he was considerably more terse and surly than before. After a few minutes, he had them pair off, and try to push each other over, offering tips.

Kyle had seen enough, and left the arena. Combat was a part of this world. Mason had the right idea; to survive against another raid, everybody would need to learn a way of fighting that worked for them.

Thing is, Kyle didn’t think Mason’s style would work for him.

He'd have to find another way to be useful in a fight.