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—---
/BAM!/
/Gasp!/
Out of nowhere, Fray tried to punch Dale in the face, only to have his fist caught lightly...
/Silence/
"Well… This is awkward." Dale said as he looked at Fray
As he held Fray's fist, Dale's expression did not change, as if what he was doing wasn't really that big of a deal.'Not bad...' Dale thought to himself
For him, it was like catching a baseball ball... A very slow and weaker ball...
Even if Dale wasn't wearing his full armor set for the Stat bonus, he was still using his accessories.
They were mostly hidden beneath his clothes, but they were there.
Albeit even if he removed all of them, the result would've still been the same.
At most, his impression of his fist would've gone from 'Not bad...' to 'Decent'.
"Urg..."
Fray tried to pull his fist, but he felt as if they were embedded within a stiff rock…
He only felt like this when he was smaller whenever Zaw punished him for misbehaving.
In the past, Zaw would grab his arm until he stopped resisting, that was how he used to deal with him.
Dale's grip strength reminded him of those times.
"Are you out of your mind?" Dale replied in a deep tone as he looked at Fray
Seeing things quickly go overboard, Zaw decided to act since he couldn't watch this situation unfold anymore...
"Fray! Stop this…"
'I wanted them to spar against each other, but not like this!'
'This unfilial student…'
"...!"
/FWOOSH!/
But instead of apologizing or stopping, Fray used his free left hand to once again strike forward, this time, aiming at Dale's head…
/Thud…/
But his punch was once again grabbed.
"Had enough?"
"Heh."
Fray only smiled provocatively.
"I don't need a country bumpkin like you to tell me what to do."
"..."
"What is it? Say something! Cat got your tongue?"
Despite everything he did, Dale simply looked at him with a tired and disappointed gaze.
"Pitiful, less than I expected."
"What…?"
"I said that I find you pitiful, even a bit deplorable."
"How long are you going to embarrass yourself and your teacher with this acting?" Dale asked out loud as he looked at Fray
"..."
Fray clenched his teeth so hard the sound of them grinding against each other could be heard in the room.
This was because the look Dale was giving him was the same look… The same look he received every time he went back to that darned place called 'home'!
He hated it!
/Zap…/
"FRAY!"
But it was too late.
Fray clenched his hand, blue light condensing from within his fist as he pulled it back.
"Hm??"
'How did he get away?'
Dale was caught off guard, he didn't expect Fray's fist to become intangible, his fingers passing through them…
It gave him a familiar feeling about everything he learned so far.
'Interesting...'
/SMACK!/
"!!"
"?"
Taking a step back, Fray assumed a posture similar to a boxing stance, with one of his fists a little in front of the other.
Not before he did so, one of his fists turned into an afterimage as he hit Dale in the chin, making his face recoil a little.
/Smack smack!/
Two more punches, one to the side of his head, and another to his stomach were delivered in the blink of an eye.
This may seem simple, but it was a martial art he had been perfecting his whole life, something he made himself, a form of street combat that made his hands seem like clouds, misty and unapproachable...
It was something Zaw had always wanted him to stop practicing…
An unsightly technique in the words of Zaw himself, and the time he spent on it was better put on practicing something else...
Albeit in Zaw's own words, Fray being able to create a stable art was like this was, in the first place, something praiseworthy...
/FWOOSH!/
Fray didn't hesitate in the least as went to deliver another punch, but this time Zaw was there to stop him… Or try to at least.
"Enough!"
He took a step forward, ready to pull his disciple out of this mess he had created...
"?!"
But in a feat of extreme speed he had never seen before, catching him off guard, Fray went past him as he approached Dale once more!
Not only his arms were glowing blue, but his legs were as well!
It seemed Fray had long improved his own martial arts!
/SMACK!/
However, upon lending his strike, Fray merely raised an eyebrow.
"Heh, took you long enough to react." Fray mocked as he looked at Dale holding his fist
"..."
But Dale said nothing, and it was then that Fray noticed…
That he was completely and utterly unharmed.
On the contrary, Fray's hand hurt a little as the chest armor Dale wore was harder than he imagined, not bending at all.
"I'll say this once." Dale uttered
"Stop."
/Chuckles.../
"... Hahaha!"
"HAaaa...! Don't you think it's too late for that?!"
"... It's never too late to stop being a..."
/FWOOSH!/
Fray put a bit more effort into this first, the faint blue glow turned into something akin to a veil covering his hands as he punched forward, interrupting Dale once more...
/CRASH CRASH CRASH!/
This time, Dale twisted his neck to the side, avoiding the blow.
But the air pressure from Fray's fist knocked back a few glass objects on the table next to them on the ground…
/GASP!/
"No..."
Yumi hesitated for a moment, looking between Dale and the glass pieces, but seeing him nod, she immediately ran to the side, grabbing the broken pieces with some melancholy.
Those weren't just any pieces… They were part of the collection left behind by her father…
And they were also integral in the production of many different kinds of potions... Yet now, they were useless.
She may have spares that could do the same job but... It wasn't the same.
And Dale…
"That's it."
"Your last chance."
As he looked at Yumi's expression, Dale's face became a bit red, his emotions surging…
If he had any patience left by withstanding Fray's outburst, it had just been throughout exhausted.
"Heh, so you're finally going to take me serio…"
/GRAB!/
/GASP!/
In the blink of an eye, Dale grabbed Fray's neck ruthlessly, preventing him from breathing.
/Fwoosh!/
He tied to counterattack in desperation, but his attacks didn't land properly, he had lost his cool, and with an unstable mind, Fray's concentration broke completely.
/FWOOSH!/
Before he could even think further, Dale threw him to the side, throwing him out of the building through the open window with extreme precision.
He didn't say much as he turned to the side, walking to the door in slow but heavy steps.
"..."
/Grab…/
But Misgurd stopped him, grabbing his arm tightly, not wanting to let him leave.
"Dale... Just..."
"Don't go overboard."
"He's... Just a kid, don't let yourself fall to the same level as him."
"There's time for everything."
His words meant a lot, despite Fray being older than Dale by 2 whole years, Misgurd saw him as a kid, a child, while Dale was a man, one that could listen to reason, and one that acted beyond his age.
And as such, he deserved to be respected and treated like one.
"... I understand."
This was all he needed to hear.
Misgurd let go of Dale, from here on out he was free to do as he wished.
Dale took one last look at Yumi before leaving, clenching his fists slightly.
/Step step…/
The only thing left were the sounds of his heavy footsteps…
"..."
"..."
Misgurd and Zaw looked at each other, one more concerned than the other…
Zaw turned to the fallen Yumi, crouching down to help the lady collect the fallen pieces of glass, especially after seeing her bleeding hand, the poor girl was clenching hard onto the glass...
"I'm so…"
But she swatted his hand away, staining it with her blood.
"Stop, don't say anything else." Yumi said as she got up from the ground
"I…"
"If you do, I won't forgive it, so just don't say anything."
/Step step.../
"... Where are you going now litt… Yumi?"
Misgurd was more concerned about her hands than everything else.
He understood her pain more than anyone here, but he believed that the living needed more attention than the dead...
Because he was sure they wouldn't want her to join them... Wherever they were.
"... I'll go see him get beaten up." She replied without turning around, leaving the room silently
"Perhaps that will calm me down."
Misgurd simply nodded, letting the girl that was like his daughter walk away...
But he did stop her for a brief moment, giving her a piece of white cloth so she could bandage her hands.
This was what he could do as her 'uncle'... The closest thing she had to a father.
"... Sigh… Just how did things end up like this?..." Zaw mumbled to himself as he looked at the mess
'I... I shouldn't have gone drink... I trusted his words, he told me he was an adult now and that he would stay in the room at most...'
'But how is this staying in his room?!'
/Tap.../
"Now now... It's okay old friend, you heard her, so don't take it too much upon yourself."
"How can I? My disciple went too far… Once again."
/Tap tap…/
Misgurd tapped on Zaw's shoulders, saying "Don't worry, he'll be punished soon." as he looked at the window.
Zaw could do nothing aside from hoping that things ended well.
He felt bad too, there was no way he drew pleasure from punishing or seeing his disciple be beaten up.
He was a child to him in a sense... 'His'...
Everytime he was hurt, Zaw felt a part of it as well...
/Snooore.../
The tense atmosphere was suddenly broken by a loud snore.
"... I forgot about him..."
"For such a big guy, he surely is well hidden..."
The two looked at a certain green guy sleeping in the middle of the room, his body covered by a large white cloth...
Things were so tense just a few moments ago that they completely overlooked him.
Looking at each other and feeling a bit better, they turned around to leave...
They had to make sure nothing went wrong outside.
…
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Notes
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