Chapter 26: Tekken Advances
Before me stands a weird fusion between a traditional dojo and a second story house. Or is it more correct to say a second story house with the style of a dojo? A dojo in the style of a house? Either way, this is where the address on Tekken's card led me to so it has to be it. After walking the stone walkway that cleanly cuts through the snow and leads to the porch, I knock firmly on the wooden part of the shoji door.
"Hey, Tekken! You here?!" I ask loudly. Almost instantly, I hear footsteps rapidly approach the door before it slides open.
"Leon! I didn't think you would come so soon!" Tekken exclaims happily, hugging and holding onto my left arm. G-Geez, my arm is all up in her cleavage! No way she doesn't know what she's doing! Must stay focused on why I came here and not let her tempt me.
"W-Well, yeah. Early bird gets the worm and all that," I say, trying my best to ignore what she's doing.
"Come on in. I'm sure you don't wanna be in the cold any longer," she pulls me inside and slides the door closed. Yeah, this certainly looks like your typical dojo. Wooden training dummies, punching bags, kendo swords and the like are set up throughout the open space. I wonder if it's always like this or she specifically set it up for me.
"Very impressive. This should shake off the rust easily," I say, slipping my shoes off.
"Before you do that, are you hungry by chance? I just made breakfast," she asks. I'm sure her cooking is spectacular and healthy but it's most certainly a ploy.
"Thanks but I already ate before I made my way h—," my growling stomach cuts me off. "Damn it," I mumble, blushing.
"That sounds like an empty stomach to me," she smirks. "You'll be worse for wear if you don't eat before training so let's get that belly full of rich nutrients first," she leads me to the kitchen, still not letting go of my arm.
"Very well," I sigh. A vast assortment of fruit, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, bran muffins and a mountain of pancakes are spread across the table. None of those apples from the store though. She must've ran through them. "Wow! You really pulled out all the stops!"
"O-Oh, that's just normal for me at this point. It's kinda required for me to rigorously train almost every day," she explains shyly.
"You certainly know what you're doing to be able to put all that food away on the daily," I tease, poking her sleek flat belly with a finger. "No flab whatsoever," I chuckle.
"L-Leon, q-quit it!" She blushes deeply, covering up her midriff with her arms.
"Aww, but it's so fun!" I feign my whining. Tekken is definitely prime bullying material but I'm sure that leads down the same road I'm not interested in at the moment. I came here to sharpen my skills and that's what I'm gonna do. Nothing else!
"A-Anyway, please help yourself. There's more than enough to share," she says.
"Don't mind if I do," I reply. Having slapped a whole lot of everything on a plate, I take a seat at her table. By the time I start digging in, Tekken has already scarfed down half of what was on her plate. Geez, talk about making an understatement. No need for me to eat properly then if she isn't. I start shoveling food into my mouth too. Clearing our plates clean, we both let out a heavy sigh. "Ah! That really hit the spot!" I rub my stomach.
"I know, right?!" She lets out a small burp. "E-Excuse me," she sheepishly giggles.
"Alright, let's get down to business!" I jump to my feet. Moving back to the dojo area, Tekken and I get into our fighting stance.
"First things first, let's practice some evasive maneuvering. Know how to backdash?" She asks.
"You mean like this?" I inquire, doing a small leap backwards.
"Nicely done, Leon! We can move onto doing a KBD then," she says.
"A KBD?" I raise an eyebrow.
"Yeah, like you can do in some fighting games. I know you'll realize what I'm talking about when you see it. Here's a demonstration," she backdashes twice with no pause in between.
"Oh, you mean that!" I say, understanding her. "That's a piece of cake!" Attempting to mimic the way she moved, I immediately trip up and land on my back. "Geez," I wince.
"You were saying?" Tekken smugly smiles as she pulls me back up on my feet.
"Okay, not a total piece of cake," I sigh. "Where did I mess up?"
"Your balance and footwork is off so practice it until you can do it consistently," she advises.
"Gotcha," I nod. After a half hour of failure, I'm managing to successfully perform the KBD, no longer falling over. "Finally!" I exclaim, slightly exhausted. I didn't think something so simple looking could be a bit tiring.
"Great job! It seems you got it down to a T." She applauds. "Now come back and stand right here in front of me."
"Alright, now what?" I ask.
"Use the KBD to dodge my combo," she responds, putting her fists up. "Here I go!"
"W-Wait, I'm not read—gah!" I take a swift punch to the cheek, quickly followed by Tekken stringing together eight hits of powerful kicks and punches that I fail to defend against. Getting a moment to finally react, I put my guard up but she suddenly crouches and spins around twice, electricity crackling around her body.
"Huh?! Oh shit!" I yell.
"Lightning Screw!" She shouts, lunging from her crouched angle and obliterating my block with a mighty uppercut that connects with my chin. The sheer force lifts me off of the floor, landing on my side.
"S-Sweet Gamindustri! That rocked me!" I groan painfully. Tekken could've at least held more of her strength back! That's about on par with Magic throwing me into that tree!
"L-Leon, are you okay?!" Tekken rushes over to check on me.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just didn't expect you to whip out something fast like that," I answer, making sure my bottom jaw is still intact.
"Sorry, I got a little too excited wanting to show off for you! Let's maybe revisit that another time and focus on your sword stuff instead since that's your primary expertise," she suggests.
"Probably for the best," I grunt, getting back up. Pushing onward to sword training, she pulls out a rack of shinai swords.
"What kinda sword do you use the most?" She asks.
"Giant greatsword. I like how heavy it is and the fact it makes for a really good shield when needed," I explain.
"I think I've got just the one for you," she simply grabs a wooden sword like it's light as a feather. "Catch, Leon."
"Doesn't look like anything special to me," I catch it and suddenly find myself forced to the ground. "What the hell is this?!" I grunt, straining to lift it and myself up from the floor.
"There's a weighted metal rod inside of it. How much does one of your typical greatswords weigh?" She inquires.
"A-Around fifty pounds at most I would say," I make a guess, starting to get some progress in picking it up.
"That shinai is probably about double that then," she smirks. "If you can wield it effectively, then that should increase your attack speed when using lighter swords and let you handle heavier stuff."
"That's nice and all but would it kill you to properly warn me in advance?" I ask.
"It's funnier to watch you struggle," she giggles.
"Is that so? Well, I ain't gonna let it happen anymore!" I successfully lift the sword up, holding it firmly with two hands. Really wish I could one hand this damn thing right away but maybe in due time I will be able to.
"There you go! With you learning this fast, I know for certain you will achieve plenty of spectacular feats in the future," she compliments. "Now practice some swings until you get acclimated to the weight." As I focus on slashing at the air, Tekken pushes a couple of training dummies into position. "Got it covered?"
"Good enough I think," I reply, facing towards the dummies.
"Then try to take them out!" She instructs. Tightening my stance up and keeping my feet firmly in place, I manage to knock the head clean off of the first one. Using the momentum of the first swing to quickly do a backswing, I easily decapitate the second one. Just one more! Needing to get closer, I take a big step forward and extend my arms as much as possible as I commit to the third swing. Everything seems to drastically slow to a crawl in an instant.
"Don't do it, Leon!" An all too familiar witch's voice echoes in my head, sounding pained. A-Arfoire?! Time begins to go back to normal and I end up missing the dummy in its entirety, smashing the sword into the tatami mat floor. "Good boy," she whispers, giggling. G-Go to hell! I'm starting to think she's actually messing with me instead of it being my mind playing tricks.
"S-Sorry about the floor, Tekken," I apologize.
"It's fine. I do that all the time. More importantly, what's up with you? Your form and flow was top notch until that third swing," she points out.
"B-Beats me," I look away from her and scratch my head with my left hand. "Maybe the weight shifted weirdly and threw my aim off." Tekken's not gonna buy that one bit.
"Your right hand is trembling," she says, stepping closer and laying a hand on top of mine. "Something the matter?" She says softly, her face getting close to mine.
"I-It's nothing!" I answer swiftly.
"Can't be nothing," she gets behind me, keeping her hand on mine. "Whatever it is, I'll help ease it off of your mind." She overlays her left hand over mine as well and we grab the sword together.
"T-Tekken," I stutter. "I-I don't need your help!"
"Your hand stopped trembling when I put mine on top of it so clearly you do right now. Just relax and we'll hit the final dummy together," she says.
"F-Fine," I submit.
"Keep it steady and focus. When you're ready, we'll swing," her hands tighten their grasp more around mine to ensure that I won't slip up again.
"Understood," I nod. Breathing in and out, my mind begins to stabilize back to normal. Okay, I got this now! United by the hilt of the sword, we deliver a swing even faster and much stronger than my previous two, cleaving the last dummy's head in two with a light green glow faintly encompassing the sword. "Whoa!"
"Pretty cool, right?" She smirks.
"Like you wouldn't believe!" I answer excitedly.
"Unfortunately, that's only the incomplete version. It utilizes your body's energy to go super fast compared to your natural speed as well as far more powerful than your standard attack. Be careful when you use it because it can exhaust you quickly which leaves you wide open for a counterattack," she explains. Sweet! This will definitely enhance some of my special techniques!
"For a martial artist, you sure know how to apply what you know to a sword," I comment.
"I mean you were taught to treat your weapon as an extension of your body, weren't you? It's pretty much the same way I channel lightning in my punches and kicks." She points out.
"That makes sense," I say.
"For the complete version, you need to focus even harder than you did previously. Holding your stance and closing your eyes should help you to get there," she recommends. Submerging my vision in darkness, I slowly breathe in and out deeply. From the void emerges a tiny green orb gradually getting bigger by the second. Is that what my energy looks like? "Are you seeing it yet?"
"I… I think so," I answer, not exactly confident in my guess.
"Then wait until it gets really massive then direct that power into your swing just like before. Might take a minute before you can do that though," her hands unclasp from mine and start caressing my waist.
"W-What the hell are you doing, Tekken?!" I shout, not breaking from my stance. The orb's growth starts speeding up.
"Don't worry about what I'm doing. Keep concentrating," she mutters in my right ear while pressing her boobs against my back. The ball of energy expands rapidly.
"I-It's really hard to do that when you're distracting me!" I yell, feeling blood rush to my face as well as down south.
"That's kinda the point, Leon," she whispers suggestively, rubbing my inner thighs and dangerously close to my crotch. Okay, this thing has gotten far too big way too quickly! My entire body feels really heavy now. When will she allow me to let it rip?!
"I swear if this is all some convenient bullshit excuse to persuade me for sex, then I'll be super pissed at you!" I groan, having difficulty maintaining the stance.
"You're all set! Release all that power now!" She shouts.
"Hrragh!" I grunt loudly as I swing the sword downward, unleashing a giant dark green laser beam that makes my mouse jacket flap wildly from the strong gusts of wind it's generating. It effortlessly obliterates the wall on the other side of the dojo and keeps traveling forward for a few seconds before dissipating. The orb I was seeing disappeared too. Feeling drained, I drop the sword and kneel. "H-Hah! Holy shit!" I pant. "I did that?!"
"Yep! That was all you! Aren't you glad I wasn't telling you everything?" She questions.
"Y-Yeah, but what was with all the touching?! What purpose did that serve?! It was just for fun, wasn't it?!" I point an accusing finger her way.
"Actually, I was trying to see if I could influence your energy and the results were greater than I accounted for," she reasons. "It would seem that you can actually pull energy from a… particular d-drive as a source of power. A-A drive that is clearly… v-vast." Her voice stutters. U-Umm, is she implying what I think she is? Does that mean I can wield my libido as a weapon? T-That's certainly a weird combat enhancement skill to spec into. Gonna need to test it out on a guild quest or something. Maybe… it's strong enough to get rid of Arfoire even. That's really hopeful wishing.
"Well, it's cool and all to unlock a new power I didn't know I had but need I remind you that it blew a massive hole in your dojo?! Smashing a part of the floor in is not that serious but this actually is! What are we gonna do about that? Lowee is much too cold to go without fixing it!" I say, feeling the cold draft invite itself in through the hole I created.
"You seem to have already forgotten that I casually walk around outside in this getup," she reminds me.
"Which I still think is nuts by the way," I comment, planting my butt on the floor.
"Well, I was gonna renovate the dojo some more today anyway so it's far from a problem," she shrugs. "But if you're that worried, then… you can pay me back," she sits down beside me.
"I've got plenty of money so just name the pri—," her soft lips instantly smother my words. Managing to pull my lips away from hers, I take a deep breath. "T-Tekken."
"Let me… put that s-sex drive of yours to the test," she mutters softly with red cheeks, keenly biting her bottom lip with a hand on my crotch.
"W-We agreed to just training. Besides, I-I just had sex yesterday," I stammer.
"A-And it still wasn't enough, was it?" She tries to put on a seductive voice, pressing her boobs against the side of my body. I knew better than to act like this wasn't going to happen. I probably should've called Kei or maybe Iffy and Marv instead to help. Damn it. Giving in, I answer Tekken's question by kissing her back and throwing an arm around her. The way our lips and tongues mash into each other is like a fight in of itself. Reaching down further behind her, I grope her ass for a few seconds before giving it a playful smack.
"Harder, Leon," she requests. Oh, she's totally a masochist too, isn't she? I should've figured as much. "Aah!" She yelps amorously when I don't hold back on the next smack.
"Bzzt! Dimension tripper!" My phone's ringtone blares, startling us but also snapping me out of the sexual tunnel vision. Whipping my phone out, I realize it's a big alert for an urgent hunting quest posted by the guild. Well, I did hope for a quest so I guess it's my time to finally return to adventuring. Perfect timing too.
"S-Sorry, Tekken. I really need to go help handle that," I apologize as I pull away from her.
"Leon!" She whines, hugging my right arm to stop me from standing up. "Let the other adventurers handle it." She tries to persuade me with puppy eyes.
"Don't give me that sad face. This is exactly why I came to train a little bit and now it's something big enough to get me properly back into the swing of things. This is important to me," I say, yanking my arm free and rising to my feet.
"Then… let me tag along to help!" She shouts assertively, standing up as well.
"No can do. You'll probably one shot whatever kind of monster it is. There's just no fun in that," I decline her offer.
"Fine. I'll let you have it your way. Promise me you'll come back," she says.
"Not today. Some other time maybe," I avoid eye contact while rubbing my neck.
"Did you have to say it so quickly?! How cruel of you! You… You're really gonna be a tease and not take responsibility?" She questions assertively.
"You're the one who kissed me first!" I remind her.
"Same difference!" She yells, pouting.
"I don't really think so but whatever," I chuckle. "Thanks for the power-up. I'll be sure to think about you when I use it," I start to make my way to the front door.
"D-Don't tell me that!" She says, embarrassed.
"I mean you are the one who helped me get it so it only makes sense I would," I point out.
"Yeah, but still," she sighs, preparing to slide the door open.
"In all seriousness though, I'll definitely visit again soon," I hug her.
"Will you let me release that tension when you do?" She inquires, hugging back.
"Maybe," I snicker.
"Stop teasing! Yes or no, Le—," my kiss interrupts her. After a few seconds, I withdraw my lips.
"How's that for an answer?" I smirk.
"S-Satisfactory. See you later, Leon," she says, sliding the door open.
"See ya, Tekken," I wave goodbye as I step back outside into Lowee's chilly climate. Before I can head to the quest marker, I need to hurry home to get my weapons and equipment. I wonder what type of monster is capable of generating such a high priority quest.