Races: Online (VR Smartphone App)

The loud thwack reverberated from the back of his knee, a shocking pain shot up his right leg and he collapsed. Almost. The man staggered back up and then received another blow to his side. He winced and caught himself—until he got hit in the back again.

Han finally crashed on the grass.

The young man still held on the single dagger in his hand, fingers twitching slightly. He could still feel them. [ Unerring Throw ] would do them good—but the blade had dug itself in the ground. 

She would notice it either way so he stopped.

He rested his head on the grass. His endurance and other things were leveling up but the ache rolled throughout everywhere. Getting a couple of whackings for the past three minutes wasn't nice even with his own body.

"S-Sorry!" Lu Rei said.

She had finally stopped with the assault and had the nerve to sound sorry. She could have hit him more gently or something. Han didn't want to raise his head and released his grip for a moment. He silently questioned his choices for getting a dagger—

"Nothing to be sorry about, he's outmatched in this fight," the Combat Class Professor shrugged, "You did well, Lu Rei. Take a seat." If Swordsman Uriel had been some kind of old cultivator then he might have been in a lotus position and sipping his cup of tea, maybe rubbing his long white beard?

Han lifted his head slightly, seeing the veteran Adventurer relaxed on the grass, but made no move to complain. He had thought that he'd overcome the reach of the girl's weapon with his speed but that was just asking for a beating.

"What Level are you in your Rogue Class? I can guess that you have a variant of that Class if you're insisting on using that dagger."

Or if he didn't have any other weapons.

Han winced and pulled himself to his feet. Sharing the details sounded iffy, embarrassing even. He scratched the back of his head, "Just enough, Professor?" 

Wasn't sharing the number supposed to be between only trusted people, this was in front of everyone.contemporary romance

He could feel almost everyone's gaze on him.

"Here's the thing, boy." Swordsman Uriel gave him a look, he didn't look pleased at the answers, "Assassins and Rogues, I respect them—Headmaster Pierce is one of the greatest one alive in the entire Kingdom, but if you're actually serious then you should have more tricks to your sleeves and more than one dagger."

The advice was sound, true even.

Han sighed inwardly and managed a smile, "A poisoned dagger?"

The Professor rubbed his chin, "Maybe a fire-enchanted one, or a shadow-concealed throwing knife—but, if you're still too low-level to have any actual Rogue Skills then I suggest you reconsider. It's still not too late for you, I think," he took out his greatsword and stood up, "Not everyone's got the strength to use a sword, but you can see that Miss Lu Rei got a better reach with her weapon."

"I understand, Professor," Han scratched the back of his head and nodded, "Thank you for your advice."

Lu Rei who was already seated down hid behind Teresa and Angelika, a sheepish smile on her face. She was holding onto her staff but nodded. The man looked satisfied and turned to the rest of the Students, "Alright, who's next—ah, you there archer boy. Calum, right?" Professor Uriel glanced through the crowd of students, "Let's have… you there with the mace, would you mind?"

When Han returned back to his place, he sighed inwardly for a moment but took it in stride. It was all good advice, he was just reluctant in actually considering doing a Class change. Well, he already had other Classes… well, just Psion. Student and Peasant didn't exactly count, did it?

Maybe he could change his Class? Get another one that is. He was supposed to be Asian, there were a lot of stereotypes associated with it and that included kung-fu fighting. And he actually joined kendo back in his university days with Bo Lifen, he could translate some of those lessons here, right?

He just needed a bamboo sword.

Lu Rei's weapon was wood and it had hurt—maybe it was magical wood or something? It did look useful even if it didn't have a sharp point like a glaive or a gundao. The Wood Elf should have useful wood, right? And the guy was visiting sometime soon, he could get wood for both a wooden weapon and a magical wand. Two birds with one stone.

A prickly feeling overcame him, he looked up to see an arrow fly through the air and a shout—a quick cleave brought it down before he ducked. Sir Leon de Harrington glanced at him, "Are you alright?" the young Noble gripped his fencing sword, his brows furrowed together. "Our classmate deflected Calum's shot with his mace, a little dangerous for us in front."

"I could have caught it," Han scratched the back of his head, "but thanks for that. I appreciate it, didn't know you were this fast." He needed to grind. Level up faster if this was how fast others' reflexes were compared to his own.

"My strength isn't that great frankly speaking, it makes sense to focus on what you can."

"Yeah, I get that. Thank you again."

Sir Leon de Harrington nodded once and then resumed watching the ones dueling in the courtyard. Professor Uriel's current activity for the day was randomly pairing up Students and letting them fight one another, once that was done—he would give tips and advice in doing better. Even recommend actions to take like how he suggested he change Class.

Or refocused on something else.

Maybe using a dagger wasn't good in this type of setting—the fighting often occurred in large spaces instead of the close-quarters that was supposed to happen for his weapon? Han momentarily glanced at the two students and winced. Calum was shooting one arrow after another at the huge guy with a mace. 

The man was even bigger than Donovan that it was a surprise he hadn't even noticed the guy before.

Calum's opponents swung his mace and deflected the arrows with apparent ease—and had probably been the reason why Han nearly got one in the face. The man was taking his time in approaching Calum who was weaving back and forth. If this guy had just ran and swung the mace at Calum then the match would have already been done.

This guy was probably just toying with Calum and waiting for all of the arrows the boy had to be emptied.

Professor Uriel was matching everyone with a difficult weapon to someone who could completely obliterate them, didn't he? Han frowned slightly and glanced at the man seated on the grass—this guy hadn't even moved with all the other arrows flying around. If he heard this guy say that Calum should change his Class, that would just annoy him.

But the outcome of this match was obvious.

Similar to how Han ended up losing against Lu Rei who had the better weapon and reach. A flash of irritation coursed through him, it was hard to watch this fight. He couldn't stomach it, especially when Calum finally ran out of arrows—his hand gripped thin air when he reached behind his quiver.

His only chance now was running, but with the man's size, this guy had more of the endurance and strength.

A couple of laughs sounded in the courtyard. Mostly from those in the back rows, Han ground his teeth. He glanced at the ones behind him and noticed Diov and the others with blank expressions on their face. They were dead silent. What was up with that? Weren't they just conversing like friends earlier?

Revulsed, he turned back to watch the end of the fight.

The guy with the mace rushed towards Calum and swung back his mace—but Calum dropped his bow and sprinted right back at him. Right before the man could swing, Calum took out something from his quiver and struck it at his arm.

A dart.

It was just a dart but the man's arm temporarily lost its strength and along with it his balance as the mace dragged him down. But the man dropped his mace and tugged out the dart from his arm with an angry shout—and yet Calum already moved behind him.

He could tackle the man and bring him down, no, he didn't do that. The young man a rope in his hands? Calum threw it at the man's head, and the rope had been knotted, just enough to fit and enveloping his neck. Calum pulled backwards—choking the man despite his smaller frame and lighter weight.

"What the actual…"

The man tried to pull off the rope but it had already dug at his neck, and the struggle continued. His face was slightly blue, spittles of his saliva splattering itself on the grass.

"Alright, that's enough—don't choke him out." Professor Uriel finally spoke up. "Good work… Calum?"

The young man finally let go of the rope without a word. It was there that he began to pick up all of the scattered arrows across the ground, even as the Professor shook his head. He turned back to the other Student who removed the rope from his head, "You should have attacked him faster, Bertrant. Your arrogance made you suffer. A swift attack would have been better if you were fighting a lone Archer. You could have ended the fight if you used your head, you could have still even used the rope against him if you thought about it and swung it."

Han was staring at Calum but frowned at the Professor's words. A little favoritism was showing itself, or maybe he was just a tad too upset. Either way, the dart that Calum used must have had something if it were able to render a man's arm useless.

Did this guy have poison or sedative?

It was too little to say that Han was shocked and impressed. Even a little jealous. But more importantly, it gave him some hope. Maybe he had been too negative? He wasn't sure, but he would have to ask the guy about it.

done.co