It has been a solid week of non stop sparring. Leon and Lance are both far more competent fighters when it comes to being unarmed. I've taken this time to teach them what my sensei have been teaching me. At least in the form of knowledge, not stances or techniques.
I think if they start learning 2 soft forms. They'll lose a lot of knowledge of their 2 hard forms. It seems that they have learned two from Nami. Something called karate that the shogun had taught her. Then the old man had taught her a style called taekwondo. Even though they were novices, I still managed to pick up both styles from fighting them.
Karate martial arts learned- (mastery level novice) Very little knowledge of the martial art itself, through luck you might be able to pull off a move
Taekwondo martial arts learned- (mastery level novice) Very little knowledge of the martial art itself, through luck you might be able to pull off a move
Karate is a very straightforward fighting style. The main thing is it includes an insane number of attacks. Punches, kicks, throws, holds, combinations of these are all a part of this style. Taekwondo is far suited for my style. Focusing almost primarily on kicks, ax kicks and round houses are extremely strong. This fighting style suits me far better than it does either of my generals.
Lance had far less to go to be able to fight evenly with me. Even during our first fight before we started sparring. He used a combination attack. A direct attack from his spear mixed with a surprise attack (kick). If he didn't give it away far before he was in range it might have worked.
Even with the two new styles added to me. Both have started to get better and better at fighting. Leon has made the biggest improvements. It seems the fire I lit under him has finally started to take form. I wont lose though, my superiority in fighting right now wont stop me from improving every fighting style I've acquired.
I've started to work on a useful attacks for each of the main types of attacks. For direct attacks I have kicks, ax kicks and round house kicks. Right now I can do a stronger version of the ax kick. The suicide ax kick, involving a front flip to build momentum, once I practice it more, I might be able to land it. As I am right now I normally, end up on my back regardless of if I hit with it or not. Making it useless now with the possibility that it will become better with practice.
Making a singular move for counterattacking is impossible. The entire thought process behind counterattacking is to turn their attack against them. Honestly with my practice in aikido and circle walking I have this more than covered. Both fighting styles give me plenty of ways to counter attack. The best one I've found for a frontal attack is a open handed block followed with a palm strike. No matter which way the attack comes you can easily parry with both hands and attack with both hands quickly.
For combination attack it is simple. Without using a skill I can just mimic the goblin combination punch. Throwing out rapid succession punches with little force that build off of each other. There is a particular throw Nami had used on me that I'm going to steal for myself as well. It is called a hip throw. One two punches are also effective.
Immobilization attacks are completely covered by aikido. From joint locks to grapples to holds to pins. Aikido is completely defensive in that sense, allowing me to both counter attack and immobilize more effectively. Honestly the best immobilization attacks I have are the nerve strikes from circle walking. They can shut down almost anything if you hit the right spot.
Feints are my favorite method of attacking. Often used in combination, these attacks are the ones that throw off Lance and Leon the most. With how much training we've had to block attacks they still do it almost instinctively. Throwing a feint at their face always leaves there body and legs open for attacks. Even with experience in taking hits it still happens instinctively and is the hardest thing to counter because of that. When I first open with a combination attack, I normally with throw a feint out to have them block then aim at the undefended areas.
I haven't thought of a set of moves that would use all five types of attacks together… Maybe if I combined skills I could think of something… I have almost a year to figure something out… I still have so much more to do though.
I go into a meditation. I have to go through Lust's memories still. While training is fine it would be best to go through her memories earlier while in here. The bonuses I get might help me in my training. Greed gave me more bonuses than anything else once I absorbed him. Hopefully it is similar to him when I absorb her memories.
Kite going through Lust's memories
The first memories I have are of my mother holding me. She is walking through town, speaking with everyone she comes across. When people tried to speak with me I turned away from them towards my mothers bosom. I think I was around 3-4 years old. It is hard to tell. The next memories I have are all of my house.
Three people I had been living with. My mother, a chesty women with blonde hair. She was the beauty of the village. It felt like everyone had a crush on her and whenever I would walk around with her. Everyone would look at her. It was almost like she was a piece of jewelry that people were surprised to see whenever she blessed them with her presence.
My father who would disappear for weeks at a time. From what I found out was because of his job as a merchant. Just like my mother, he was the most handsome man in the village when he was around. Well dressed but muscles still bulged out of his clothing where it was tight, showing that he was not afraid of doing work when it was necassary.
The final member is a maid my father had hired to help with work around the house. While not as beautiful as my mother, she was still very pretty. Dark short hair shoulder length covered her head. She was very smart compared to most people and one of the few people I got along with as a child. Her name was Vesta.
Even though I didn't enjoy it. I still walked into town with my mother. She would buy fruits and vegetables, even though we have a maid, she still likes to help with the housework and cooking. Sometimes flirting the price down on items, not a single person disliked her. Vesta was a well known teacher before she fell on hard times. Sometimes children would come to learn and old students of hers would visit.
While I already had two classes as I was a high born, I still learned many things from her. How to read and write, history of the world which isn't commonly taught by any schools. Later in life, near my 6th birthday Vesta started to ask what I would like to do when I grow up. After weeks of prodding me, with me giving shy and sheepish responses. I finally responded with what daddy does for a living. From that moment on, she started teaching me the merchant job. She went out of her way to learn merchant in order to teach it to me.
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I continued to be tutored on everything until I was ten. In that time I had started practicing my summoner skills. I conjured a cat familiar I named Twonk. I like calling things funny names like that. The studies began to become more focused at that point. Mostly with mathematics and business. Slowly becoming more reclusive as the time went on. I slowly stopped going outside with my mother… She tried forcing me out a few times but my shyness continued to get the best of me.
It had gotten to the point where when my father would return home. My mother would let me speak to him but quickly usher me outside to play with the village children… I don't like playing with them, one of the boys picks on me. His name is John, he has short sandy blonde hair. His clothing was always dirty or ripped from playing. His favorite method of picking on me was putting bugs in my hair, which I hated. He came from a poor family and I think that is why he picks on me.
One time I stayed outside the house and peeked through the windows. It looked like mother and Vesta were trying to wrestle daddy. I'm not sure why but none of them had cloths on. Maybe they didn't want them to get sweaty?
Another two years have passed. John, who used to pick on me sometimes comes by to ask if I can come out to play. If me or Vesta answers, he doesn't get an answer. But if my mother answers, she forces me outside… He stopped picking on me but now he acts like me a little bit. I'm not sure if he is making fun of me or not. I think my mother is doing what is best for me. It still doesn't feel very good as I enjoy being by myself more than with other people.
Two more years like this had passed. I was now 14 years old. I started to realize that John had a crush on me. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, so I decided to be his girlfriend. I started traveling with my father as practice for my future job. The few times he's done business, I've had to correct his mathematics. It appears that he kept overcharging the people buying supplies from him. I had to make sure they were getting the right price. He told me what he was actually doing after that…
During my travels with him, I had brought Twonk with me. We had gotten into fights with monsters so my father told me to also summon another 2-3 familiars for fighting. I didn't really need to use my white magic very often. So having a few familiars out at once isn't much of a problem. I summon a warrior, black mage and bird familiars. Their names were Woorior, Magey and Buurd.
I gave Woorior a piece of red cloth to tie around his head. It made him look different than just being the same dark blue color. Giving Magey a stick, which did nothing for his spellpower but made him look more like a mage from the story books I've read. Finally I tied a yellow handkerchief around Buurd's neck so I could see him even when he was flying in the sky.
My father was fairly respected as a merchant, he could easily hire help but he didn't need too. While he was a good merchant he was a far greater fighter. The few monsters that attacked us were dealt with by himself, none stood a chance and my familiars were almost unnecessary.
Traveling the villages and cities, I noticed it was almost like the cities themselves were being redesigned. Entire buildings were being demolished and pipelines for sewage were being ran. Some cities had the pipes ran already, while the smaller towns and villages were attempting to add them. Our village would quickly follow suit soon, perhaps even before we return.
We easily handle business and head back home. The whole trip taking a few weeks, he sometimes takes a longer trip but with me this time he's taken the shorter one. I feel I've learned more from this trip than an entire year of business school. You don't learn how to trick people out of money from books. When we came back, John hugged me tightly, he missed me so much… To be honest I barely even thought about him… I don't think I will ever fall in love with him but I don't have the nerve to tell him that.
It has been another two years since then and I am 16 now. I've traveled with my father a few more times. I kept up my studies and have started practicing my merchant skills at the local shops. Sort of mimicking things my mother had done. I also started practicing summoning magic far harder, getting it all the way up to 30. Which is very impressive for someone who hasn't even fought in a real fight. My white magic is very under leveled though as I see no point in practicing it. I haven't even gotten it to 10. The pipelines that were being installed while I traveled the first time have finally started being added to houses in our town now.
John and I have had sex… It wasn't good, it was actually disappointing. Even so, he is the only boy who talks with me. Everyone else has already paired off, most people aren't highborn and will grow up to continue their parents jobs or marry into a household to be a wife. I do plan on becoming an adventurer in the future, just to pass the time and build up funds to start my future business. My father will most likely help but extra money would never be bad.
Another two years has passed. I'm 18 now… Still with the same person… John is talking about marriage… My mother seems to also think I'll marry him in the future… I don't want to though, I've grown to dislike him. He is so boring compared to the men I meet while traveling with my father… I plan on breaking off from my father while traveling soon and joining a group of dungeoneers to start own life. One not decided by other people. I have no intention on becoming a housewife.
Kite's point of view
Nothing too bad about her life so far… The sex was fairly boring… Oh god I sound like Lust! Lust begins to speak.
“Like that is a bad thing… Something does happen soon. I mean, it isn't that bad… Not like Greed's memories of losing Lindsay… Be ready for it… I've been wondering something… If the first memories you've gotten were kindness, then greed and finally me… What was this bodies original trait?”
“… I've never thought of that… Maybe shy like you?”
“No, even if it was shyness I would be able to tell… Have you ever noticed anything different about yourself? Like something was off with yourself?”
“… If it was it was so small I wouldn't have ever noticed… I guess I'll have to think about it but is it really that big of a deal?”
“Of course it is. You sort of forced yourself into this body and have taken over its life. The life of the original Kite, I mean the Kite that would have grown up differently if you would have picked a different class.”
… My very existence in this world has stopped a person from living their life...