Chapter 10: Friendly Spar, Unfriendly Results

Nero stared at the notification in disbelief.

He had actually mastered the Combat Fundamentals!

Curious about how much he had improved, Nero closed his eyes and focused on the knowledge he had just obtained.

There was an enormous amount of information inside his head, covering everything from proper stances and footwork to timing, positioning, and exploiting an opponent’s weaknesses.

And the strangest part was that he understood all of it.

It felt as though he had spent years practicing these techniques, even though he had only started learning them a few hours ago.

The Special Combat Fundamentals Manual certainly lived up to its name.

Before using it, Nero couldn’t even throw a proper punch. Now, after getting killed by a bear countless times, he had somehow mastered the fundamentals of combat.

’Isn’t this basically cheating?’

Nero couldn’t help smiling.

He had been rather embarrassed about his conversation with Lilly earlier, but that embarrassment seemed insignificant now.

If forcing himself through a few awkward situations could earn him rewards like this, he was more than willing to do it again.

Just then, another notification appeared.

[Choice Completed: First Day of Training]

[You trained at the combat facility until the university day ended.]

[Reward Distributed: Instant Fatigue Reliever (Legendary)]

Nero checked his inventory and found the Instant Fatigue Reliever sitting among his other rewards.

He was curious about its effects, but since he didn’t need it right now, he decided to save it for later.

At that moment, the transparent barrier separating the training room began disappearing.

Lucas walked over from the other side, looking rather confused.

"Hey, Nero. What exactly have you been doing over here? You’ve been standing still for hours."

"Huh?"

Nero blinked before realizing what Lucas meant.

While he had been fighting inside the simulation, his actual body hadn’t moved at all.

From Lucas’s perspective, he had probably been standing there doing absolutely nothing for the entire afternoon.

’I guess the simulation only affected my consciousness.’

But how was he supposed to explain that?

"I..." Nero hesitated for a moment. "I didn’t really know what to practice."

He scratched the back of his head.

"I’ve never learned how to fight before."

Lucas blinked.

"Wait, seriously? You’ve never trained? Not even the basics?"

"Not even the basics."

Hearing this, Lucas immediately became excited.

"Then why didn’t you say so earlier? I could’ve helped you!"

He cracked his knuckles and grinned.

"Come on, I’ll teach you some basic techniques. I’m pretty good at explaining things, you know."

Nero was about to respond when another golden window appeared.

[Choice Detected: The Friendly Spar]

[Option 1: Accept Lucas’s challenge and fight him.]

[Reward: Thunder Resistance Fragment (Rare)]

[Option 2: Politely decline and say you’re too tired.]

[Reward: A Cap with a Cooling Fan (Common)]

[Option 3: Laugh arrogantly and say. "You think you can defeat me? I mastered the Nine Heavens Umbilical Cord Strangulation Technique before birth!"]

Nero immediately selected the first option.

A Thunder Resistance Fragment sounded far more useful than a cap with a cooling fan.

Besides, he was curious about something.

He had just mastered the Combat Fundamentals, but how well would those techniques work against an actual Awakener?

"Actually, how about we spar instead?" Nero suggested. "That way, you can see how good I am."

Lucas grinned hearing his words.

"Now that’s what I like to hear!"

He walked toward the center of the room and began stretching his arms.

"Alright, let’s have a light spar. I’ll go easy on you so we can figure out where you’re at."

"Sure."

Nero followed him toward the center.

Lucas was already thinking about how he should approach the spar.

Nero had only recently experienced a half awakening, and according to him, he had never received any combat training.

There was no point in going all out against someone like that.

He would start with a few simple attacks, correct Nero’s mistakes, and gradually teach him the basics.

"Ready?" Lucas asked, raising his fists.

"Ready."

Nero settled into a fighting stance.

Lucas blinked seeing his stance.

’Huh?’

Nero’s stance was surprisingly good.

His feet were positioned at the correct distance, his weight was properly distributed, and his hands were raised in a way that allowed him to defend or counterattack.

It was practically perfect.

’Didn’t he say he’d never trained before?’

Lucas found it a little strange, but he didn’t think too much about it.

Maybe Nero had watched some combat videos and copied the stance.

"Alright, here I come!"

Lucas stepped forward and threw a light jab toward Nero’s shoulder.

He deliberately slowed the attack, intending to see how Nero would react.

However, Nero simply shifted his body to the side, allowing the punch to pass harmlessly beside him.

At the same time, his feet moved into a position that would allow him to counterattack.

Lucas raised an eyebrow.

’Not bad.’

He immediately followed with a low kick aimed at Nero’s lead leg.

Nero lifted his leg and checked the kick without any difficulty.

"Huh?"

Lucas was beginning to feel that something wasn’t quite right.

He decided to increase his speed and threw a combination of three punches.

A jab, a cross, and finally a hook.

Yet Nero avoided all three attacks with surprisingly little movement.

Then, before Lucas could recover from his final punch, Nero counterattacked.

A straight punch shot toward his chest.

Bang!

Lucas barely managed to block it, but the impact still forced him half a step backward.

"Whoa!"

He quickly regained his balance.

"Where did that come from?"

Nero didn’t answer immediately.

To be honest, even he was surprised.

He hadn’t needed to think about how to dodge or counterattack. The moment Lucas moved, his body seemed to know exactly what to do.

’So this is what mastery feels like...’

The experience was completely different from what he had expected.

Lucas, meanwhile, was beginning to take the spar more seriously.

"Alright, let’s try that again."

He approached Nero and threw another combination, but this time, his attacks were noticeably faster.

Nero avoided the first punch, slipped past the second, and immediately struck Lucas in the ribs.

"Ugh!"

Lucas quickly jumped backward.

"Okay, okay!"

He rubbed his side before laughing awkwardly.

"Guess I underestimated you a little."

Nero smiled.

"Maybe."

"Oh? Getting confident now, are we?"

Lucas raised his fists again.

"Alright, let me get a little more serious."

This time, Lucas stopped holding back his physical abilities, although he still refrained from using his Thunder Spark Talent.

His speed increased considerably as he launched a series of punches toward Nero.

However, Nero managed to keep up.

He blocked the attacks he couldn’t avoid and moved around Lucas whenever an opportunity appeared.

His movements weren’t particularly fast, but they were precise enough that Lucas was having trouble landing a clean hit.

’What the hell?’

Lucas was genuinely confused now.

He was an Awakener, while Nero was supposedly just a half-awakened student who had never trained before.

So why was he having so much trouble?

He threw a powerful right hook, hoping to force Nero backward.

Unfortunately, that turned out to be a mistake.

Nero immediately noticed the opening on his left side.

He stepped forward and drove a punch into Lucas’s stomach before following up with an uppercut.

Bang!

Lucas’s head snapped backward, and he stumbled several steps before regaining his balance.

"What the hell?!"

He couldn’t believe what was happening.

Nero’s movements were far too clean for someone who had never trained.

Every time Lucas attacked, Nero seemed to know exactly where to move. Even when he tried changing his attack patterns, Nero would adjust almost immediately.

’Is this guy seriously a beginner?’

Lucas gritted his teeth and attacked again.

This time, he increased his speed even further, determined to land at least a few proper hits.

Unfortunately for him, things only became more difficult.

Nero was beginning to understand Lucas’s fighting habits, and with every exchange, he found it easier to predict what the blonde Awakener would do next.

Of course, Lucas was still physically stronger and faster than him.

However, the difference in their techniques was becoming increasingly obvious.

Lucas had plenty of raw power, but he often left openings whenever he attacked.

And Nero wasn’t letting those opportunities go to waste.

After another exchange, Lucas suddenly found himself being pushed backward.

"Wait, wait!"

He tried to regain control of the fight, but Nero had already stepped forward.

Nero feinted a low attack, causing Lucas to lower his guard.

The moment he did, Nero drove his knee into Lucas’s stomach.

"Ugh!"

Lucas doubled over from the impact.

Before he could recover, Nero hooked his leg behind Lucas’s and swept him off his feet.

Thud!

Lucas landed flat on his back.

For several seconds, he simply lay there, staring at the ceiling.

"..."

Nero stood nearby, breathing a little harder than before.

He hadn’t expected the spar to go this well.

Even though Lucas hadn’t used his Talent, he was still an Awakener with superior physical abilities.

Yet Nero had managed to defeat him using nothing but the techniques he had just learned.

’This Combat Fundamentals Mastery is ridiculous.’

Meanwhile, Lucas was having a much harder time accepting what had happened.

"How..."

He slowly sat up, rubbing his stomach.

"How the hell did you do that?"

Nero scratched his cheek. "Uh... I guess I got lucky?"

Lucas stared at him.

"Lucky?"

He almost wanted to curse.

There was no way someone could fight like that through luck alone.

"Bro, you just beat me in hand-to-hand combat, and you’re telling me you got lucky?"

Nero didn’t know how to respond.

He couldn’t exactly tell Lucas that he had spent the entire time dying inside a mysterious combat simulation.

Fortunately, before Lucas could question him any further, the training room door suddenly slid open.

"Lucas, you idiot. It’s time to go home."

A lazy female voice came from the entrance.

A young woman walked into the room with her hands tucked into her pockets.

She had long, light blonde hair that fell past her shoulders in gentle waves, and a pair of golden eyes almost identical to Lucas’s. Even her facial features resembled his, making it obvious the two were related.

A thin black choker wrapped snugly around her slender neck, resting against her tender, pale skin and drawing the eye down to the low neckline of her fitted top. The fabric stretched tight across her full chest, her breasts pressed firmly together beneath it. The top ended just above her navel, showing off a slender, toned waist before giving way to a pair of tight jeans that hugged her hips and thighs.

She was Lucas’s twin sister.

However, the moment she entered, her words came to an abrupt stop.

Lucas was sitting on the floor, still rubbing his stomach, while Nero stood a short distance away.

The girl looked between the two of them, clearly confused about what had happened.

Then she recognized Nero.

"Nero?"