After a while of training, I gained the Accuracy skill, which improves my chances of hitting my target within a set range. Now I see that there could be better skills than that, thanks to Azathoth. Apart from that, I've been slowly improving in close-quarters combat. Still, I'm terrible at it and have no idea what to do.
Everyone else has improved as well by honing their skills or acquiring knowledge in certain situations. How can I catch up with them? It feels like they are so far ahead of me when I spar with them. It's surreal.
"Master! You've been in bed thinking for a long time. What's wrong?" Vijaya says this out of curiosity as she plays around my room.
"Oh, it's nothing; I'm just fascinated by my peers as well as wondering how I can improve." There's a component I'm missing. Something that knocks the dominoes down in the right direction. But what? I keep seeing and hearing random notes in my head— is that what I'm missing?
Even with Gaia's and Azathoth's Factors, I came off short. Both take immense magic to pull off in the first place. But recently, it has dwindled more and more.
I'll see if I can find that later today. Today is a day of rest for everyone. But I want to train this one time to test myself.
"C'mon, Vijaya, I want to train a bit today." I pick up Vijaya, who agrees to train with me and head out of the house. We're going to the guild to find a quest we can satisfy ourselves with.
While walking with Vijaya, who is singing a lullaby, held hands with her to keep her from running wild until I was stopped by a random guy who wanted my attention. In all honesty, I believe he is after me, just like what happened in the guild before.
"Hello there, miss. Would you like to attend a fighting tournament in a club hosted here?" He says as he hands me a piece of paper with an address and time. Did he call me a miss?
"I, uh, will think about it, thanks," I say as I leave to walk toward the kingdom holding the guild.
Upon arriving at my destination, Sara welcomes me into the room.
"Hey there, Sara, I need a quest. Got one for me?" I walk up to the counter Sara occupies.
There's one that the king just added." He's advertised it all day. If you'd like to try that." She handed me a paper.
According to the paper, you must win the tournament in a fight club. I looked at the location where it's held, and it says the same thing as the paper I had earlier. The prize is generous too. Two rings of the king's treasure and a hefty amount of gold.
"Uh, sure, I'll do it." I roll the paper up and give it to Vijaya.
"Okay! Good luck with that, sir!" Sara bids us farewell as I wonder if I can win this tournament. How long will it take?
We walk towards the location as I tell Vijaya to turn into a bow. Holding her in her bow form as I walk in.
Walking in, the atmosphere is intense. With a few glares as I walk toward the counter.
"My guess is you want to join the fighting tournament?" asked the bartender. His accent is very country-like.
"Ah, yes, please include me in that. My name is Polyphormes Raijin, thank you." As I said this, the bartender raised an eyebrow. He wrote my name on a piece of torn paper and put it in the box.
Now we wait for it to start.
"Hey partner, are you just in it for the money and experience?" Azathoth asks as I take a seat at the table nearest the corner.
To be honest, it's mostly for the experience. I can grab money whenever I want from Gaia's Treasury. As well as those rings from it too.
"Tch, alright then. Let me advise you. Pay attention to the fighter's movements." To be honest, I was already planning to do that. But alright, I will do that.
Shortly after, the king arrives with many royals and bodyguards. Announcing he'll be the host today. He announced who would fight in round one. This one was hand-picked by the king himself to provide good entertainment. They were the two most skilled fighters in the room. He listed their names, but I couldn't care less about what they were.
As the fighters prepared to fight, all hands. I walked up to the second floor to get a more detailed view of what was happening. As the round started,
Wham.
Pow.
Their fighting is unique; one is old-style boxing, and the other seems to be taekwondo but is more aggressive. Due to her skill in martial arts, my sister only uses that on me until I am good enough for her to use magic on me.
I'm seeing it again in notes, and I'm hearing it too. What is this?
What is that melody?
The boxer throws a jab, then a hook. I see and hear two notes.
The kicker throws a jab, then a roundhouse kick. I see and hear the same note, then another different note entirely.
People looked at me as if I was going to make a mistake when I said out loud, "The boxer counters with a jab, no, two jabs, then an uppercut."
According to my prediction, the boxer threw two jabs and an uppercut. The kicker avoided it, however.
People look at me shocked at how I know that. However, even if I answered, I wouldn't know.
I think this is the piece I needed all along to catch up with my peers. Examining the two fighters in detail. I widened my eyes and contemplated what was going to happen next.
"There you have it. You synesthesia freak." Said Azathoth, in a tone as if she had planned this all along.
What the hell did she do?