Chapter 528: An Orchestra For You, Part 10
Author's Preface
A-An, Ancie, Ancien-en-en-en-en-en, Ancient Battlefield... (Eyes roll back)
Martial arts, martial arts. That bard's pseudo-intimidating martial arts gave me an epiphany.
There's no need to carelessly increase my weapon types. If I put my mind to it, I'm confident I can handle anything from a whip sword to a chakram, but there's no denying it would just be a hastily-acquired, makeshift skill.
The worst-case scenario is me using a makeshift weapon while the other side completely masters it; I'd just be handing him an advantage. Besides, if I try too hard to meta-game "Me", there's a risk it'll just bounce right back and bite me.
But what about martial arts? Martial arts, empty-handed combat, Bare-Knuckle Brawling—in other words, the absolute bare minimum unit for a human being to fight.
It means wielding the most primitive weapon every single player possesses from the very start of the game. The mastery level goes without saying; after all, I've been using them non-stop from birth until now, in both games and real life.
Even if the opponent uses the exact same martial arts, and even if it's a strictly superior version.
If this is a game, I can deal with it, I will deal with it!!
"Fight twice, and you can generally see through it."
That AI really does have an absurd level of reproduction. I'm not talking about weapons or skills—those are just data, you can copy-paste them endlessly. The crazy part is the motion tracking that traces my movements...... but, strictly speaking, it's slightly different from my actual movements.
"Self-hatred? No, that's not quite right...?"
But it's close. Because it know me best, it can counter me best... That thing is an AI that reads my movements and "responds" to them. It's not just a mirror-image trace, it's a meta-gaming AI that uses traced information to formulate countermeasures, so strictly speaking, there's some other thought routine mixed in alongside the trace of me.
"If you're dealing with a guy who constantly charges in with his back to the wall, obviously you're going to become a counter type."
The number of attempts is low, but the number of times I've been hit is quite high, so even if the outline is blurry, I can see it. It's not like "Me" doesn't attack voluntarily, and he does set Traps, but his true essence lies in baiting my actions to land a counter.
It doesn't change the fact that he's a pain in the ass, but that's exactly why I'm going with martial arts. Martial arts means bare hands, in other words, a state where your weapon's reach is zero. Normally, this is purely a demerit, but in very specific, limited situations, it flips into an advantage.
Because it's the absolute shortest, it can be handled optimally.
Because it's the absolute shortest, it can be struck the fastest.
"In other words, an Ultra-Close Range Brawl...!!"
I'll close in to point-blank range and smash an extra turn into him before he can counter—that's the only plan I can think of right now to defeat him...!!
Strictly speaking, I do have one other idea, but "We both use Levin Trigger: Hazard to shred our HP, blow each other up with AoE magic, and aim for a win via 'Lucky Endure'" is an RNG-fest trash-game strat meant as a last resort, an absolute last resort...
When you think of empty-handed combat, you think of Iai Fist, but strictly speaking, that's a style or a technique, so the drawback is that there's no specific "move" associated with it. The true value of Iai Fist lies exactly in the fact that it can be incorporated into any battle style.
Therefore, the martial art I'm looking for is one that has a high compatibility rate when combined with Iai Fist, a combat style that also heavily emphasizes the mobility to instantaneously dive into the opponent's guard and smash an attack in──────!!
.........Wait, isn't that just boxing?
"............No, I don't know yet, I still don't know."
ShanFro is Fantasy. Maybe there's some kind of martial art out there that uses completely unknown movements! Yes, like right here at the Dirmonton Style Dojo!!!
Changing the subject here, but let's do a quick recap and review regarding "Styles" in ShanFro.
ShanFro has implemented so many weapon types that people say "if you try to make it, you probably can," but naturally, empty-handed combat is also properly recognized as a playstyle. Katzo's Monk lineage is also categorized under empty-handed combat, even though magic is involved.
But that's strictly a job-based thing. A "Style" is something much more accessible... basically a bundled assortment of skills (and occasionally magic).
The "Seiten Style" that I got by defeating Wethermon and having some mysterious machine do unmentionable things from my retinas to my brain is completely unhelpful as a reference, so we'll exclude it. Basically, just like real-life martial arts, the major prerequisite for Style skills is to "enroll" as a disciple at a dojo or similar place that teaches the style. The conditions for enrollment vary—some require you to take on a specific job like "Monk," others require you to fight a specific NPC bare-handed... And then, to learn the skills and magic belonging to the style, you have to clear fetch-quest-like tasks... Well, you get the point, it takes time.
But unfortunately, I don't have the free time to spend on training; I sure as hell ain't "waxing on, waxing off." However, as is common with this kind of content, you can't just see the style's higher-tier skills just by enrolling. It's like a skill tree. So, what should I do?
What's important here is that "I want to see what kind of style it is for now," "I want to take a look at the style's secret arts," and "I want to test if it's effective against 'Me'."
And unlike the self-proclaimed intelligence of Saina, my miracle neurons—which, in a different Era, earned me grand titles like "Human Rancher" and "Nomadic Barbarian"—arrived at a single answer.
"I challenge this dojo, you bastards!!"
───Yes, dojo-crashing.
"Who goes there!!"
"I came to meet guys stronger than me!!"
『Unique Scenario "Dojo-Crashing: Dirmonton Style" has started』
It seems there are players mixed in with the NPCs, and curious gazes are directed at me, wondering what's going on.
The dojo-crashing event is the easiest Unique Scenario a player can trigger; you just have to attack the doors of a dojo while walking in. Because it's actively triggered by the player, it's quite memorable that no Yes/No prompt appears.
"I am the Dirmonton Style Assistant Master, Gandon!"
"Starting with the opener, huh? Fine, I'll take you on."
A giant of a man appears before me, looking as if he's trying to say that most things in this world can be solved with muscles and a size advantage. The size difference puts me at a sudden disadvantage; I wonder if I can actually win......... Ah, but if I may add one detail.
"Iai Fist Application: Triple Agony."
"Gyah! Guhyuh! Guboa......!?"
We're in Secondill right now, so the level difference is pretty self-explanatory, you know.
"Enjoy the Hell!"
While watching Katsudon-san collapse after taking straight punches to his eyes, throat, and solar plexus, I struck a mysterious pose and delivered a taunt taught to me by a Spaniard.
Author's Afterword
Iai Fist Style "X-Hit Agony"
The Iai Fist Style is fundamentally a battle style that strikes at the player's own instincts. Therefore, by accurately targeting the human body's vital spots, it stuns the player operating the avatar rather than the avatar itself. That is the Iai Fist Style's "Agony."
The triple combo Sunraku used was a three-hit consecutive strike hitting the eyes, throat, and solar plexus. However, this is a downgraded version; the true form is a four-hit combo that adds a knee strike to the groin at the end.
If one becomes a master, it's possible to string the four-hit combo into a leg sweep to knock the opponent down, then mount them and relentlessly beat their face in.
───Perhaps, that is because it resembled the style used on a certain isolated island.
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