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Normally Crim thought that the Martial Arts skills were some of the worst.
They had very short range.
They did not scale well with weapons.
And more importantly, a badly conducted strike or block would lead to suffering additional damage from an enemy’s weapon.
To compensate for that there was a Skill called Ironskin, that through careful breathing allowed one’s body to harden…but the top players saw it as unreliable, only a last ditch effort in case they lost their weapons.
And yet…

“I really can’t get away with anything against you two, can I..?!”

Crim shouted in frustration as her greatsword bounced off Sorai Satoru’s gauntlets…or Seiten as his avatar was called. She really felt like there was no effect.
The reason for that was simple. Unlike most players, Seiten knew how to match her attacks, letting the edge glide alongside the curve of his gauntlets, redirecting it as he wished.
Crim was astonished by his bravery and skill to master such an ability, as Seiten came even closer to her, his fists barely touching her blade.

“Ah…guh?!”

There was a loud crash of metal striking metal, as Crim’s black greatsword was violently flicked upwards.
She also understood how that happened. Seiten’s fists had only traveled a short distance, but carried a lot of compacted strength, striking the flat side of her blade…it was likely a similar ability to the one inch punch from Chinese martial arts. Still, the amount of strength it packed was far above the usual.
If she kept holding onto her weapon as it was flicked up, she would become exposed to further attacks… she knew that more from instinct than experience, as she instantly let go of the greatsword.
Then she instantly created a Cinquedea in her hands, a type of broad dagger.
Despite that, Seiten continued unleashing two palm strikes at Crim’s chest.

*BANG!!*

“Urk..?!”

Following an ear piercing sound, this time it was Crim’s small body that was sent flying.
She had managed to avoid taking damage from it, but the strong impact passed through her dagger to her hands, making them tremble and unable to properly hold the weapon.
Once again, she instinctively discarded it, instead pouring her mana into her ominous claws, which clashed against Seiten’s following attacks.

***

They had already gone through four matches against Rage and Seiten, and they began to understand their movements better… When it came to Seiten, he literally did not hold back any punches when fighting, or stick to any styles.
Overall he seemed to lean heavily into Chinese martial arts, but mixed in some boxing and judo, or other less common styles, he used whichever he thought fit best in the moment.
Simply anticipating punches, meant an instant chokehold, followed by a throw, or being bent back, or torn apart, instantly being taken out of the fight, which happened plenty of times. At least to Suzaku, that is.
For some reason he would only punch Crim when they ended up paired together.
At first she became indignant, thinking that he was holding back against her simply because she was a girl, but when she confronted him…

“I…I’m so sorry…I would never dream of breaking a girl’s arm, or legs, or anything like that, I just can’t…”

He was sweating buckets while apologizing about it, and Crim ended up forgiving him for that gentlemanly response.
…Not like it made enough of a difference.

***

“So you’re challenging me to an unarmed fight…let’s do it!”

Seiten grinned with delight seeing Crim abandon her weapons, swinging at her with renewed vigor.
In response, Crim imbued her claws with crimson mana, desperately fighting back.
Sadly for her, she had always fought by swapping weapons, her claws were only a last resort in case she was caught mid-swap.
The difference in skill against a pure martial artist was palpable, as she was continuously pushed back.

“You’re a clever girl, but not quite…as experienced yet!”
“I’m not…done!!”

Ready for the finishing blow, Seiten’s fist emitted a golden glow.
Crim swiped with her claws, pouring more mana into them trying to block it…

*Got him.*

And then she grinned.

“Hum?!”

She had known from the start that she had no chance of winning bare-handed, and just as her claws were about to collide with the fist, she ducked down.
Then from behind her, came Suzaku in full silver armor and with his sword held up high, ready to attack, despite the fact that he was supposed to be busy fighting Rage.
Obviously Rage would have never let him do that without punishing his exposed back…but as Crim ducked, she lunged to the side, to a place she had been aiming all along…the place where her greatsword had fallen, picking it up and slashing straight at Rage.

“Hngh?!”
“Woah?!”

Since Suzaku’s attack came so suddenly, Seiten had no time to block in time, choosing to retreat instead.
And on the other side, Crim’s attack from the ground up, also caught Rage by surprise, who only dodged being cut in half by a hair’s breadth.
After the dust settled, there was still a bright red line going across Rage’s cheek, and Seiten’s shoulder.
That was evident proof that Crim and Suzaku had finally landed their first attacks that day.
Rage and Seiten’s eyes widened, noticing that…and then they laughed heartily.

“…I guess they get passing marks then. I never would’ve imagined that they would land their first hit today.”
“Mhm, that was a perfectly executed switch combo, it was magnificent!”

Seeing that and hearing their laughter, Crim and Suzaku breathed with relief, their exhaustion catching up to them.

“But that aside, this match isn’t over yet!”
“Yes, now that you’ve shown you can hit us, we have no reason to hold back either!”

Rage and Seiten continued smiling as they reaffirmed their stances.
That only filled Crim and Suzaku with despair.

“Wait…there’s literally no need for that?!”
“Do you two really hate losing that much?!”

Their resistance was futile…and shortly after both were on the ground, adding yet another loss to their streak.