Dungeon Raider System-Chapter 569: Martial arts practice Part 1

A couple days passed after their Vlog and thanks to the peaceful atmosphere inside the safety of the Pegasus, the Dungeon Raiders were finally at ease and things started to fall back into place. As usual, Luna continued compulsively researching cyrptids to scratch the itch of her obsession and Medusa kept busy trying to set the comms center in the Pegasus with a passion that matched Luna's.

It could be argued that it was only because they were in dire need of a way to hail cities and other ships and that having a communication center in the ship would also allow them to communicate with each other if they got separated. But the truth of the matter was that if it wasn't the communications, Medusa would have simply found something else to either fix or improve.

To her, the fact that they were short staffed was as much a curse as it was also a blessing. It meant that whatever she was working on would take longer, but at the same time it allowed her to do everything with her own two hands.

"I'm not done yet!" Medusa replied to a knocking on the door and placed her blindfold back on as soon as she finished soldering.

"I've been looking for you all day, it's almost as if you're running away from me." Longlegs complained.

"It's not that, I've just been really busy. This damned antenna won't stay in place, I think I may need to use a lighter material." She sighed.

"Have you thought about my proposal?" The long legged martial artist asked in an excited voice.

"I... huh... I don't think It will be possible. I would love to spar with you, but this is really important."

"I figured you would say something like that!" Nika showed up from the shadows, failing to startle Medusa who already felt her presence and couldn't see her anyway.

"I really am busy, though."

"Yeah, I know. We all are, in fact, some of us have been busy trying to get you to get off your ass and do some training." Longlegs scoffed.

"Hey, It's not my fault Uriel is too cheap to hire more people."

"And how is he supposed to hire more people if our communication array is offline?" Nika tilted her head.

"My point exactly, now, if you excuse me..." Medusa caressed the blindfold, hinting that she needed to be left alone, but Nika didn't move.

"Could it be, you're scared?"

"Scared? Me? I'm a heavenly rank hunter and my trait is so powerful I can take on almost anything." For some reason, Medusa's voice became thin.

"I knew it! You're scared because martial arts are useless against cryptids and your trait is a single use trump card."

"That's absolutely not true! Thanks to martial arts I was able to defeat cryptids on my own as soon as I acquired a trait. Any hunter with a hint of survival instinct would benefit from it." Medusa said, thinking of Uriel's reckless fighting style which was closer to Luna on her werewolf form than to martial arts.

"My point exactly, but you're blind now. You trigger your trait by opening your eyes and you have no control over it. Last time you used it, you dropped on the ground like a wet noodle because you used too much flux. You're lucky you're even alive now!" Nika lost her composure for a second, but then calmed herself and continued.

"You have two choices now: You can either become a one trick pony that will do nothing in combat until you activate your trait and then turn into a hindrance for your team; or you can practice martial arts to be an asset even without your sight. The choice is yours." Nika's monologue hit all the right nerves, leaving Medusa with no choice but to admit it.

"The reason why I activated my trait last time despite being attacked solely by beast level hybrids is that I panicked. The thing is, martial arts were designed to fight against humans. I felt the cryptid's presence and I readied to strike, but that thing was way smaller than a human. It was the same as being hit by a bullet and no one can stop bullets."

"That's not true," Longlegs butted in. "You may know martial arts, but you don't know every possible style. I was a pretty successful cage fighter in the underground ladder. There, I learned different styles that compliment my fast reactions and I can definitely stop a bullet."

"That wasn't even my point, cryptids are too varied. Some have more limbs than I can count, others have none. What am I supposed to do against that?"

"The same thing everyone does, you either adapt or you die." Nika left the room taking Longlegs with her.

***

"Alright guys, your goal today is to defeat Miss Longlegs in combat. Whoever does it gets to sleep with Uriel for one night." Nika declared with a mischievous smile in front of everyone in the gym. Usually, the place would be filled with training equipment, but Nika had everything stored on the cargo bay after Medusa finally agreed to join. ƒгeewёbnovel.com

"I have two questions," Uriel lifted his hand, clearly unamused by Nika's ploy. "What about those who already defeated her? And what exactly gives you the right to offer me as a reward?"

"To answer your first question, it didn't count because you used your trait. As to your second question, when I asked you if I could buy a prize for the winner that would motivate everyone you said it was a waste of money, so this one is on you." Nika's worlds caused Uriel's face to twitch.

"Miss Nika, I have a question too." One of the few remaining Armstrong men and also the youngest of them lifted his hand. Like all the members of the Armstrong crew, he was in pretty good shape and Nika didn't miss it as his chiseled abs showed through his unbuttoned shirt.

"Shoot, hot stuff."

"I'm Liam, I was your student back in college. Remeber?" The young man who seemed to be right about Nika's age if not a bit younger tried for the umpteenth time to remind her his name.

"Sure, hot stuff." She uttered without taking her eyes from his abs.

"What about those who don't want to sleep with a dude? No offense, Uriel." Liam let out an awkward smile.

"None taken." Feeling reassured by this, Uriel let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Just the thought of sleeping next to a manly man made him shudder.

"Then you can sell your prize to anyone willing to pay."

"One million credits!" Bella blurted out.

"Huh... what are you even doing here? This is only for company members." Nika pushed the floating witch outside the gym before Uriel jumped to take her offer.

"Uhm... rules." Luna tilted her head.

"We don't have much space so rules are simple: Whoever stands inside this circle after a minute passes wins, no traits, no shapeshifting, no weapons, other than that everything goes. " Nika nodded.

"Just... try not to open a hole in my ship, please." Medusa begged, already anticipating people getting carried away in the combat.

"I'll go first." Miss Dragonfang coquettishly winked at Uriel as she took a step forward to face Longlegs who honored her hunter name with her long slender legs that made her stand out in any crowd. Compared to her, Miss Dragonfang looked like a child with her modest curves and petite height, but being a veteran hunter and a former lieutenant, she knew looks didn't matter in a fight.

In the safety of the Pegasus, Uriel had some flux energy to spare and decided to activate Dash to see the fight in detail. He watched as both huntresses performed a salute consisting of a small bow in front of each other and before Miss Dragonfang managed to stand upright a feet had already landed on her cheek, disfiguring it under the pressure.

"Ha, ha, ha! Nice one, Lizzy! It's my turn now." Phlox took her fighting stance. It wasn't the first time she sparred with Longlegs and already knew to expect that opening move. Without her trait, Phlox knew she wasn't a match for Longlegs on a fair fight, which is why she didn't intend to fight fair.

She used both arms to block the first right kick, then lifted Longleg's leg with all her force in hopes of sending her to fly away, only to receive a left kick to the face that knocked her out cold. Something similar happened to Liam Armstrong, with the difference that he was able to withstand the second kick but was pushed outside the circle.

"This is completely out of my level..." Emma tried to sneak away, but was caught by Nika who blinked in the shadows to block the entrance.

"If anyone needs training here it's you." She said as she pushed Emma inside the circle. This time, Longlegs was careful and just pushed her outside the circle with a gentle kick in the butt.

"Who's next? Is this all you guys can do?" Longlegs shouted her challenge causing an uproar that only ended once Medusa opened her lips.

"I'll give it a try."