From what Jack remembered in the game after attacking, the other person would try to attack right after to get the hit in. Then after, they would back off and try the whole process again.
It sounded simple enough.
Since the monster had attacked him, he retaliated with a flimsy swing, trying to slice the extended arm. Yet, he didn't even hit the arm with the right side of the blade, just making it smack on top.
Jack let out a hum.
"So it's not supposed to be done this way."
The monster moved closer, though Jack jumped back, just barely evading it. After failing his capture attempt, the monster retracted the hand back into his body, before various other hands bulged out of various parts of him.
Jack tapped his chin a few times as he looked at the katana in his hand. He muttered to himself.
"So he wasn't just swinging it that way for no reason. The other part is better at cutting."
Pretty much all the spectators were baffled by Jack's strange performance. I mean, even kids should know you weren't supposed to use the flat part of a sword. In the meantime, the monster began running, but not directly at Jack.
Instead, he went to the side, taking a detour. Jack couldn't help but let out a gasp.
"Wha! You aren't supposed to do that!"
The monster continued on, ignoring the complaints. It was at this point he realized that his logic from the game wasn't exactly going to apply here. Suddenly, the monster's arm shot out once more, prompting Jack to hold the sword in front of him.
In a flash, a bright wave of blood formed.
The monster's hand slammed into the edge of the blade and continued forth splitting apart the arm. Jack nearly lost his grip as it flew back, but recovered after putting both hands around it.
As for the monster's arm, it began spazzing out in pain, facing the consequences of throwing itself forward without any resignation. In the meantime, Jack pulled out the katana from his arm and began rushing towards it.
The monster let out a roar, before belching toxic green bile in his direction.
Jack frowned slightly before jumping above it and gaining a surprising amount of air.
"Ew!"
He then copied the attack he saw in the game, holding both hands around the handle and bringing it down for an overhead strike. It was beautifully executed for a person's first try. Yet, before it could strike true on top of their head, a hand suddenly shot out of its shoulder and directly caught the blade.
It held on tightly despite piercing through the skin and bleeding fairly badly.
Jack tried to reclaim his weapon, tugging on it. However, the monster grabbed onto the blade with several more hands, stubbornly holding on. Although Jack damaged the hands by pulling, it wasn't enough to justify holding on anymore.
He took a few steps back as a few hands reached out towards him, albeit slowly. Jack was able to backpedal enough so that he just barely avoided the hands. And from there, he grabbed onto the wrist of the closest hand.
Jack's fingers suddenly tensed several times over, digging into the skin.
"Hup!"
The veins in his arm bulged as he lifted up the monster into the air, to everyone's surprise. Jack grit his teeth after bringing the thing overhead and slamming it into the ground with a bang.
The sword that the monster was holding ended up slashing into itself, inadvertently piercing halfway through its skull. Feeling the pain, the monster let out a rather loud gurgle.
Jack let out a few pants before wiping the top of his forehead.
"That was really hard!"
The monster pushed the blade away from itself, popping off and clattering off to the side. Though its actions ended up spilling out quite a bit of blood. Even though the skull was exposed, after being split, it began bleeding.
Jack put a finger on his chin as he watched that.
"If you lose this much blood, would you die?"
The monster let out a lively growl and lunged toward him, with most of its hands outstretched. Seeing that Jack let out a laugh, smiling rather brightly.
"Ah, sorry! I was overthinking it!"
While the several hands all shot towards him, sealing out all ways except going backward, Jack let out a soft breath.
And took a step forward.
In a flash, his fist shot forward, landing on the monster's stomach and throwing it back a few steps. Seeing that made one wonder why he even bothered using a sword in the first place.
The monster crashed into the ground, coming to a stop after a bounce.
It immediately stood up once more, wanting to avenge itself. However, before it could even take its first step, the monster stumbled, collapsing in a heap. Then, it stopped moving.
Jack had his fists up for a little while, getting quite excited. For him, he just started getting into it. Yet, his opponent was unmoving on the ground. Eventually, he scratched the side of his head awkwardly.
Stanley cleared his throat while holding up a hand in the air.
"And the winner is our friend here! Let us continue the game from now on."
Jessica let out a sigh of relief with a hand over her chest.
"Thank god! Good job surviving, Jack!"
Mia took a deep breath before clenching her fists.
"Everything turned out alright!"
Kenji shot a glance over at the two of them before turning back to look at Jack, with a raised eyebrow.
"That kid is... pretty strong."
Although the start was a little bit shaky, Jack was able to bring it back in the end.
Stanley clapped, which caused the katana to magnetize toward Jack, and when it got to him, he suddenly teleported back into his own seat. Jack then smiled at the people above him.
"It was fine, see?"
Mia and Jessica both took that personally and began to lecture him for the rest of the game. In the end, no more crazy events like that happened. Jack himself didn't need to use any playing cards to stay within the middle, but the others had to use a few here and there.
In the end, all of them were able to qualify.
Jack got three cards as a reward. He wasn't that lucky, only getting a 2 and a 4 along with the guaranteed 5. But at the same time, cards were cards. On top of that, he got a bonus reward.
[Acquired One-time Basic Monster Summon (1hr)]
It was a small red bead that glowed slightly when pressure was put on it.
Stanley didn't seem too bothered by the fact not much happened, waving his hand leisurely as they all exited the game. The four of them soon appeared back in the caves. Both Mia and Kenji held onto lanterns and soon looked at each other.
After a moment of awkward silence, Mia was the first one to speak up.
"Although things between us started rather rough, in the end, it looks like you are more or less an agreeable person. Would you like to join us?"
Jack held up his hands with a smile.
"Join! Join!"
A bitter smile formed on Kenji's face. He didn't respond immediately, instead thinking over his response for a good while. The slight sounds of the lanterns creaking seemed to be louder than they really were.
Along with that, a light gust of wind blew by, causing their clothes to flutter.
And after the long-awaited response came, Kenji shook his head.
"Sorry. Although I don't doubt any of your abilities, I still feel like it's better for me to be on my own. Perhaps if we meet in the future we can cooperate once more, but for now, I don't think I can."
Jessica looked a tad bit disappointed as she called out.
"Are you sure? It's easier to survive with multiple people, right?"
Jack held out his hands while pouting.
"More people is better!"
Despite their insistence, Kenji shook his head once more. He smiled sadly.
"I'm sorry. Perhaps if we meet in the future I will reconsider your generous offer, but right now I'm not ready to work with other people."
His gaze shifted to Jack as he let out a chuckle.
"Did I get better at expressing myself honestly?"
Jack pursed his lips but nodded a few times.
"I guess..."
Mia let out a small sigh, putting one hand on her hip.
"Well, I don't really get why, but it sounds like we're not going to change your opinion. It's a shame, but hopefully, we'll meet again and you will decide differently."
Kenji gave a small bow with a smile.
"Thank you for your understanding. And also... farewell."
He ended up walking away, leaving the rest of them alone. In the end, the three of them could only give their parting greetings, as Kenji was rather resolute in leaving without them.
Perhaps one day, they would meet each other again.