Chapter 12
Duel with Sylvia (seeking donations and gifts)
Continue," Sylvia said by his side, gesturing him to continue to attack with his skill.
"Alright," Jarvis said as he directly aimed for Sylvia's side with a quick blow
but unfortunately unlike the last punch redirected by Sylvia this one was much weaker, less precise and lacked the correct timing.
Sylvia easily deflected the flow of the blow and dispersed the somewhat little power the blow may have.
"Huh, what did I do wrong? Why couldn't I harness my power." Jarvis pondered, trying to know where he's wrong.
Sylvia saw through his thoughts and smiled before continuing. "Young Master, try remembering the flow of your body when I redirected the blow,"
"You would need to memorize and master the instantaneous use of the flow state. Only when you can put your body in the same flow state can you create such power."
'Remember the flow state...." Jarvis slowly absorbed her words thinking back on the difference between he's blow and the one Sylvia directed.
Slowly Jarvis adjusted his approach, he bodyweight became balanced, he's stance full of gaps had been corrected and became solid defence style.
Sylvia seeing Jarvis in that state tried advising him more. "Focus on your core, The power comes front the center. You'll need to feel and channel it."
Jarvis lauched a swift kick from the side, aiming for her head, Sylvia deftly reflected it, "Young Master, you're close."
Jarvis nodded, he pondered a bit, trying to change he's movement's origin. Then he launched at Sylvia, his punches flowed with atleast 3 times more power and his kicks could cut through the air with breakneck speed turning them into a blur.
Many prompts appeared in Jarvis's mind, but in the end, he chose to ignore them
Even Sylvia couldn't keep up with Jarvis attacks anymore. "Yay, Young Master you've mastered the flow state. Congratulations." A subtle smile on her face.
"That means I don't need to hold back anymore from now on Young Master." Sylvia subtle smile turned into a devious one.
She moved towards Jarvis like a slithering snake, Jarvis blows couldn't touch her at all, after dodging all Jarvis moves she counterattacked.
Her attacks were intense. Launching three quick punches towards Jarvis most vulnerable areas and finishing it off with a sweeping kick, each one testing Jarvis's defences.
Jarvis blocked and dodged, his foot work was nimble, his mind constantly thinking of strategies to counter attack and make adjustments to errors.
Another series of prompts appeared in his mind but Jarvis was too focused and subconsciously ignored it.
Jarvis could feel power coursing through him, each strike was more impartial than the last.
"Sylvia watched him closely, her eyes mixed with approval and a glint of playfulness, "You're doing well, Young Master, but remember your precision and timing could be more crucial than strength."
Jarvis nodded, focusing on his breathing, aligning it with his strikes. He was a whirlwind of motion, his attacks were all a seamless blend of techniques and instinct honed through this very practice with Sylvia.
They circled each other, the air between them charged with tension and pressure.
Jarvis launched a series of feints, drawing Sylvia into the rhythm and even managed to land one strike in but it didn't last long as Sylvia broke it with a sudden unexpected strike.
Jarvis lunged at her with a flurry of blows but Sylvia deflected it with ease, her movements a dance of skill and elegance.
"You want to use unpredictability against me, then I guess I won't be polite anymore." Sylvia's devious smile lingered on her face.
"Yeah, sure, show me your best." At this point Jarvis confidence had been bolstered with the spar with Sylvia whom he was afraid of before, now he did not think she could pose a threat to him as much as before.
But that was a fatal mistake–" Young Master overconfidence is never a good thing you know" Sylvia said with a hint of caution in her tone of voice as she lunged at Jarvis.
Jarvis saw her coming but didn't panic. Instead, he went head-on to confront her. With only a few inches away, he decided to strike Sylvia with his elbow.
But that was another blunder Jarvis couldn't help but fall for.
Jarvis elbow simply passed through thin air, hitting nothing "Huh? Where's Sylvia?" Jarvis expression became puzzled. He checked his surroundings, he didn't believe what he punched through was just an afterimage
As Jarvis turned around, his pupils constricted immediately, almost into small dots. The only thing he could see was a kick coming towards his face at a speed that seemed impossible to dodge.
Jarvis instinct subconsciously made Jarvis put his hands in front of his face.
Bam!
Arrgh!
Two sounds echoed in the garden, a dull sound and a scream, but the scream was especially exceptional
"Hehe, Young Master, this is what happens when you're too confident,"
Jarvis clutched his throbbing arm, the roundhouse kick Sylvia just launched at him, almost fractured his arm, the pain was exceptionally fierce.
Jarvis saw Sylvia watching him shout in pain. Putting on a Victorious smile that jarvis was beginning to hate, "What the heck Sylvia!" Tears formed in his eyes because of the pain. Jarvis held it in and changed focus to his arm.
But how could Sylvia miss such a rare moment? "She appeared beside Jarvis."Hehe, are those tears? " she said while grinning ear to ear,"is a whole dignified Young Master crying." Her tone of voice was unbelievably provoking.
Jarvis couldn't hold his tears as well as he could after hearing Sylvia provocation, he could only comfort himself, "bear with it, bear with it, Jarvis,"
he knew that even with his Adrenaline Surge skill in effect fighting Sylvia with his current arm would be no different than throwing an egg at a stone. It just wasn't worth it."
But just as Jarvis was getting better, until he heard Sylvia's last remark. "And here I thought our Young Master was a man." As soon as Jarvis heard this he's defences couldn't help but come crumbling down.
Tears gushed out of Jarvis reddened eyes, heat he has been trying so hard to hold finally came flooding out, "f*ck it, even if it's not worth it I'll still do it." He charged towards Sylvia who had her back turned on him.
"Hehe, it seems like Young Master hasn't learnt his lesson," Sylvia turned and gave Jarvis her wicked, devious smile, causing goosebumps on Jarvis skin.
Jarvis wanted to stop but due to inertia he continued forward, only to be swept to the ground by one of Sylvia's low kick.
"I'll meet you inside, Young Master~," she said seductively before stopping and making another casual remark. "Oh, I forgot, you're not a man," Before swaggering our of the garden.
Jarvis heard those words that pierced he's heart like a bloody spear
But he couldn't even refuse at the moment, he could only stare at the ground listlessly as tears fell from his reddened eyes.
In his heart Jarvis could only silently swear an oath, " One day, One day Sylvia ill show you am a man inside out and return what you did to me a thousand fold."
Finally the sun began to dip below, casting a golden glow over the field, Jarvis looked up with a bitter smile and wiped he's tears
"I guess it's time I check the system prompts."