Chapter 59: Potential Boon
Potential Boon
Mike was giddy.
While it wasn’t something he often fantasized about, he was still immensely happy that he managed to get one of his instructors to agree to teach him one-on-one.
Beatrice had emphasized Mike getting connections and getting to know his instructors, and he was pretty sure that Masha’s decision to give him private tutoring was a step above that.
Moreover, he was certain that such a thing was just bound to be fruitful due to their respective styles of combat, both were close combatants, and Masha was certainly better than he at it. Moreover, the combat style he now used was developed by her, and she had far more experience than him to go off of.
In short, it was something he looked forward to as he was certain he would gain a lot from it.
He did question Masha’s motives, though. She should have known about his background by now, and she should have known by now that he technically lied to her when she asked him about it the previous day. But well, he didn’t sense any nefarious intent from her when she made her suggestion, so he decided to roll with it.
Regardless, that would wait until the weekend. For now, he still needed to do his classes.
His second class, Martial Forms of the World, went WAY better than it did the previous day, but it was also a bit funny the way the class started.
Unsurprisingly, when he got there, he received a lot of stares from his classmates, few–if any–positive among them.
Their instructor was also there, and as soon as he saw Mike, he pulled him to the side before the class started and started talking to him. Essentially. He talked about how he misunderstood Mike’s situation and actually apologized for grilling him the previous day due to his lack of proper use of his combat style, and that he was usually inclined to believe his students were from prestigious families who trained them properly.
What Mike found to be funny was his wording. He said he thought Mike just wasn’t using his combat style properly, when in reality, Mike didn’t have one in the first place. He pointed this out, and the man apologized despite being flustered.
To his surprise, though, the man then proceeded to send Mike a few files containing some combat styles he believed would fit him based on what he had seen and tasked Mike with studying them for the remainder of the class.
Mike was both bummed and elated by this, bummed because he wanted to spend the class polishing Crimson Laddee more and experimenting with it, and elated because he’d kept saying he wanted to check out the library at some point, but he kept putting it off for one reason or another. This situation helped with that.
Moreover, Mike didn’t know a thing about combat styles and which would be fitting for him, so it was probably a good idea to look into the recommendations of the guy who taught martial arts.
Hence, he spent the duration of the class sitting down cross-legged while reading through the combat styles. Unsurprisingly, all of them were close-combat styles that focused on heavy blows, and each of them were significantly more complicated than Crimson Ladder.
Not that Mike was dissatisfied, he knew that finding a combat style like Crimson Ladder wasn’t something one did easily. Moreover, it has already been stressed multiple times that while Crimson Ladder is simple, it isn’t exactly easy to learn.
Mike wasn’t too sure if he’d end up making use of any of these, though, but he did still look into them, just to get a feel for how other combat styles compared to the one he was using.
Hence, he didn’t half-ass it due to already having a combat style and looked into them earnestly while comparing them to each other.
Something he found interesting was just how different what he used was compared to theirs. Each one followed a fundamental yet complex set of movements that one needed to use with decent proficiency before it could be used effectively, and unlike Crimson Ladder, there was no assistance from his energy to help guide his movements. For these, and probably most other styles, he had to make every precise movement on his own.
’Hm, I wonder if I could use Crimson Ladder along with other styles like these. While it makes my movements more precise and effective, I’m still ultimately moving based on what I know, so basic punches and the few things I’ve managed to copy here and there. Perhaps I could integrate these into it. Food for thought.’ Mike mused as he continued looking through the styles to see which one interested him the most. Who knows? He might test his theory at some point...
Nah. He’d just ask Masha.
After this was his Aura Combat Dynamics class, and at this point, Mike had already figured out how to filter the stares he got to the back of his mind. Edward, his instructor, didn’t bring up the issue at all, and when class started, everyone did the same thing they did yesterday, which was using their Aura to create a perfect prism.
Mike continued his approach from yesterday which was drilling into the stone with his aura and then attempting to make a frame that would allow him to carve it better.
Compared to yesterday, he’d come to learn and understand his aura a bit more, especially in relation to his energy and its output. Hence he had an easier time carving his rock. Still not enough to get perfectly smooth edges, but it was starting to take shape more and more.
Edward was also helpful as he’d occasionally speak to Mike about what to and what not to do. He didn’t say his approach was wrong and simply guided him, which helped Mike’s progress immensely.
Mike never paid attention to his classmates or their progress, hence, he never realized that in this regard, he was quite a bit ahead of the curve. His sole focus was on accomplishing his task and doing it well. Since Edward hadn’t given any time constraints, he just went with the flow and drowned out everything else.
The result was him figuring out how to slightly sharpen his aura to give it an easier time when cutting through the stone. It was still far away from what he wanted, but he was getting there.
Then came lunch, and truthfully, Mike had been expecting something, or some things, to go wrong during it, but to his surprise and elation, nothing bad happened.
Well, nothing TOO badly happened. If one counted the disdainful and hateful gazes Mike kept getting from the students in his year, then maybe that could be considered to be pretty bad. Luckily, no one had tried to come and provoke him or anything like that, so he was able to enjoy a hearty meal with Theresa and Kris.
Mike told them about his new combat style, though, he didn’t go into details, and Theresa was pretty interested while Kris just nodded along, content to not speak, but there was a veneer of interest as they listened.
When he finished, Mike expressed his desire to properly fight with someone using the combat style in tandem with his ability, and Theresa was more than happy to oblige.
Mike then offered Kris the opportunity to join while explaining that it would be nice to spar with someone other than Theresa simply to increase his range of what he was used to, but he refused, saying he had things to do.
However, that’s when he revealed something that was very interesting to Mike.
"If you’re... looking for a wider range of opponents... why not... try Fighter’s.Inc?" He suggested, and Mike blinked.
"What’s that?" He asked with a tilted head, and Theresa jumped in, seemingly a bit excited to explain.
"I completely forgot about that." She faced Mike. "It’s probably one of, if not the biggest virtual online platform out there. And as the name implies, it exists solely for combat." She explained, and Mike tilted his head as his interest was piqued.
"Oh?" He hummed, gesturing for Theresa to go on.
"It was created by the Arkwright Family as a way to train ability users in combat without the risk of truly causing harm to each other. But as time passed, it was slowly integrated to allow for civilian use as well, and eventually, it became an entire thing. Its popularity lies in how realistic it is. I recall them saying that it can copy about 99% of what someone can do and what abilities they possess while also integrating their senses into it near perfectly, allowing for near seamless combat. It’s something even experts of humanity use regularly. If I’m not wrong, there should be a building that has pods for rent in the school. We could use it later." She explained, and Mike’s eyes lit up.
’In that case, finding a large variety of opponents should not be an issue. And who knows? Maybe it’s can use it to level up.’