"Is it this way? No? Is it that way then? No as well?"
Blink faced south.
"That leaves only this path then?"
Blink was staring at a path covered with dried leaves that hadn't been disturbed for days, probably even a month.
"Are you sure?"
Anyone who would see Blink at this time would think he was some loony. Talking to oneself definitely wasn't something normal people did.
As it happened, two young men in their twenties had been carefully observing Blink from behind two large trees. They had been trailing him ever since he followed the path leading to the forest southeast of town.
Without turning their way, Blink shouted, "Why don't you two come out of those trees now?
"You've followed me long enough."
The two took sometime but eventually emerged out of their hiding places. Blink turned around to face them very slowly. His hands were on his back. "What do you want?" he demanded.
The older of the two men spat on the ground then drew his sword. He said, "We know you are a guest at the inn.
"Give us all your money and we'll let you live!"
"You'll let me live? Really? I highly doubt that. You are too much of a coward for that."
"You called us cowards!" the younger of the two shouted. "How dare you. Fine we'll just kill you then!"
Blink laughed at the threat. "Just the two of you? You're funny. I'll only need one hand to deal with you both."
"That's it! You're a dead man!" The younger of the two ruffians drew his sword then charged at Blink. He slashed downward the moment he was within striking range.
Blink stepped to the left and tilted his right shoulder backward just enough for the sword to pass through harmlessly. He then stepped forward to bump knees with his attacker. At the same time he struck below the man's navel with a forward punch.
The blow took the wind out of the would-be-robber. He dropped to his knees and clutched at his lower abdomen. He tried to stand up only to crash back down on his knees.
"Are you alright?" his companion asked.
"I'm okay!" the younger one shouted. "I just took a lucky shot!"
Blink roared out laughing at the man's choice of words. "Lucky shot, huh! Well then. Why don't I give you enough time to recover your strength and let's do that again? I'll use exactly the same technique and use only my right hand."
Shamelessly, the younger robber did take several minutes to recover. When he had returned to peak condition, he sprang into action.
"Let's go!" he shouted confidently.
He charged at Blink right away, sword raised high as if going for a downward slash anew. But before he got within range, his sword drew an arc above his head. This time it was a horizontal slash.
It would have been the perfect technique for initiating the action. Except for that unnecessary sword arc over the head. The time it took the robber to draw that arc was all the time Blink needed to step forward for a punch.
This time Blink unleashed the full power of his [Roaring Tiger] technique.
When the punch hit right below the robber's diaphragm, the air got sucked out of the poor guy before he was thrown away by the impact of the punch. He rolled several times, ending up lying on his tummy. It was hard to tell whether he was alive or dead.
"You're a dead man!"
Upon seeing the sight of his seemingly lifeless companion, the older thug drew his sword and attacked Blink, first with a horizontal slash then followed it up with an upward slant. Slash after slash followed with very little time intervals between slashes.
Not finding any opening, Blink kept retreating in a zigzagging motion. Even when he side-stepped off a horizontal slash, the opening didn't come as the guy flicked his wrist for a return slash.
The last slash was enough to convince Blink that he was facing a much better opponent this time. The first opponent swung his sword with his elbow and often with his shoulder, too. This one kept his swings short and also avoided unnecessary motions.
However, there was one fatal flaw to his fighting style. He only knew how to slash with his sword; he never tried to stab with it.
Knowing that a slash would be followed immediately by another slash, Blink waited for the robber to go for a backhanded swing. As soon as the man slashed out, Blink settled into the starting position of the [Serpent Bares Its Fangs]. When the blade passed him, Blink extended his right leg forward while his right hand shot a fist strike right after the right foot landed on the ground. [Serpent Bares Its Fangs] wasn't as powerful as [Roaring Tiger], but it could effectively stun the opponent enough to set up a more powerful technique.
Blink's fist struck the edge of the man's jaw, forcing him to take a few steps back. It was all the opening Blink needed to move in with a [Roaring Tiger]. Once more, Blink hit the area below the diaphragm.
This time the enemy didn't get thrown backwards. He just went down on his knees before falling face forward with a loud thud.
With his life force detection skill, Blink saw that both men were still alive. He poured water on their faces from his gourd, which he kept inside his dimensional ring. The two robbers woke up and looked at Blink with pure hatred.
Blink let them recover for a few minutes. The whole time they were looking at him as if they wanted to carve him up while Blink merrily laughed at them.
"I have a proposal for you," Blink said as soon as the two were able to recover a little. "Since you're both trash, why don't you attack me at the same time? I will use the same technique."
This enraged the two who immediately picked up their weapons. "You're a dead man!" they both shouted as they attacked Blink from both sides.
"Why do you keep saying that?" Blink laughed at the two. "You sound like idiots always saying, 'You're a dead man!'"
Blink noticed soon enough that his enemies didn't have a technique for a two-against-one duel. Their sword strikes were also purely slashing. Blink believed that the older one saw would have done better just fighting by himself. Their dual attack had no cohesion at all.
With a simple but precise forward step, Blink knocked the younger robber out with a [Roaring Tiger] to the gut.
Facing the older robber, Blink was forced into a retreat once more. Miffed that he couldn't find a good opportunity for either [Roaring Tiger] or [Serpent Bares Its Fangs], Blink blocked the man's sword arm with a chopping motion to the wrist. He followed through with a palm strike to the man's left shoulder joint.
Blink merely wanted to push the man off. Otherwise, with the effect of his training with [Collapsing Mountain], the man's left arm would have been dislocated from the shoulder.
"You!" the ruffian said as he massaged his shoulder joint. "That's a different move! And you used your other hand!"
Blink responded with boisterous laugher. "You're complaining that I used a different technique? Of course! Or did you actually think I was that stupid?"
"You're shameless!" Blink's foe looked astounded.
"Now you call me shameless? You attacked me with a sword and expected me to use only one hand while fighting you both. Who's the shameless one again?"
The man with the sword found himself unable to say anything for several breaths. When he could finally clear his mind a little, he said, "You're the one who said you'd only use one hand and use the same technique as well."
"Oh, yes I did. Indeed!" Blink smiled in a mocking manner. "But not to you!"
"What do you mean not to me? You told us both that you'd handle us with one hand only!"
"Oh, I see what you're trying to do! You're trying to make a bargain, aren't you? Alright, since I do not want it to be said I bullied a much weaker opponent, I'll use only one hand and only one technique. The technique is called [Roaring Tiger], and you've already been sent to sleep by it. Will that be okay with you?"
The robber looked too dumbfounded to respond once more. He winced and opened his mouth wide at a lot of the things Blink just said.
Having waited quite a bit for a response, Blink said, "I know, I know, I'm cool and I'm awesome.
"But you don't have to stand there in ceremony. Just tell me you're fine with my proposal."
The other guy just stood there as if the words Blink just said racked his brains senseless.
"One technique, one hand only?" Blink reiterated.
Blink's would-be robber responded with a snort. "Yeah, sure, like you'd actually honor your words. As shameless as you've been."
"Ouch! That was uncalled for! Surely, an honest and just man like you are deserves nothing less than a just and honest fight. Whatever that is." Blink's mocking mood knew no bounds. "But since I'm so cool and awesome, I really am going to beat you up with one hand only using just one technique."
Blink raised his right hand. "This hand," he said.
When the man didn't say a word nor made a move, Blink stepped up his provocation. "I was right after all. You're actually a coward. A scheming, spineless, cockless coward."
Blink's foe roared in anger at that. "You're a dead man!"
As the man rushed forward, Blink circled left twice. The first one allowed him to evade a downward slanting slash while the second one brought him directly to the enemy's back, out of reach of the attacker's return slash.
Blink pushed the thug's back then followed it up by nudging the man's butt with his foot. The guy was sent running for five steps before he managed to stabilize himself.
"Is that actually a battle shout? I am really wondering why you have to keep saying the same thing before you attack. Somebody with a sick mind must have told you that it increases your battle prowess, and the two of you are stupid enough to believe it."
"You asshole! Now you're gonna get it! You're a d…"
"A dead man? Yeah, I've heard you shout it to me all day!"
Blink stepped forward, his right hand balled into a fist.
The robber slashed out in front of him, which forced Blink to diagonally slide back to the left.
After a few more slashes, Blink raised his left palm against the man's raised sword hand as though to block while seemingly pushing up a palm strike with his right hand from his hip.
Upon seeing Blink's open palm, the thug's eyes widened in recognition and he took several steps backward in a jiffy.
Blink laughed heartily. "Didn't I tell you I'm going to beat you up with my [Roaring Tiger] fist?" he told the guy.
The enemy was about to respond, but Blink stepped forward, his right hand prepped for a forward punch. The guy took a hurried step back as he shifted his sword for a backhanded swing.
However, Blink stepped forward once more. Then, he unleashed a left-handed forward punch before the enemy could swing his sword.
The man jumped backward to evade the blow. But he was shocked at the next instance as Blink had already stepped forward. [Roaring Tiger] hit the man's left chest squarely, sending him five steps back. He tried to stay on his feet but ended up kneeling on one knee. He coughed a painful cough. Blood poured out of his mouth. He pressed a hand on the spot on his chest where Blink's punch struck.
He tried to stand up, but the coughing fit started again and he ended up sitting on the ground clutching his chest. The man coughed up plenty of blood. His face turned deathly pale.
"I told you, right hand only," Blink said with a mocking grin.
The poor thug was about to say something but ended up coughing more blood out of his mouth.
"Why don't you lie down so I could help you?" Blink stood right in front of the man.
The ruffian tried to swing his sword at Blink instead. Weakened as he was, it was nothing more than a feeble attempt at restoring his dignity. Blink merely kicked at his wrist, and the sword flew out of his hand.
Blink pushed the man onto his back before proceeding to rub and poke here and there. The man's coughing stopped. His pallor eventually returned to normal.
When the man had recovered, Blink woke the other guy up by squeezing his nose until the guy ran out of breath, forcing him to wake up.
After a few minutes, Blink asked the two, "Ready for another round?"
The robbers just looked at Blink resentfully but otherwise didn't move from their spot.
"Alright, since you two don't want to fight anymore, then this robbery attempt of yours is over."
Hearing that, the younger of the two was about to head towards his sword intending to pick it up.
"Oh, I'm gonna take your weapons," Blink said, stopping the man off his tracks. "You can have them back, but you'll have to fight me for it. And this time I'll have to kill you."
Despite Blink's gentle and almost effeminate voice, the robbing duo knew better than to take his threat lightly.
"If we leave our swords behind, will you let us live?" the older of the two asked.
"Yeah, sure, I'll let you live."
With that the two took a few steps backward. "We'll be on our way then," the older robber said. The two of them walked away as fast as they could. They had not yet taken ten steps when they heard a shout from behind them.
"Wait! Who says I'm letting you go just yet?" Blink had a sinister smile on his lips.
"But...But…Didn't you say you'll let us live?" the older of the two robbers said.
"You said if we leave our swords behind, you won't kill us," the younger one said.
Blink's face contorted into an evil grin. "I said I'll let you live. I didn't promise not to do anything to you."