Chapter 256 Clean Hit
Roman raised his hands in front of him, copying the stance she had taken. His posture wasn’t bad, but she could tell he hadn’t received much formal close combat training. His feet were placed a little close together, and his weight wasn’t balanced properly.
’I’ve never really seen a male interested in magic like this, not that I’ve seen many males, but this is my big chance to get close to him, and maybe one day, I’ll lose my virginity’
"Move your foot a little farther back " she told him. "Yes, like that. Keep your knees bent and don’t stand too stiffly. You need to be ready to move in any direction."
Roman adjusted his stance.
"Better. Now try to hit me with a punch. You can put as much power as you want"
He looked at her for a moment. "Are you sure?"
She smiled. "Don’t worry. I can handle it."
Roman moved forward. Threw a punch toward her shoulder. She stepped to the side. Lightly pushed his arm away making his attack miss without much effort, though he didn’t put in much effort.
"Good!" she said. "But don’t lean forward too much. You need to keep your balance, or your opponent can use your movement and momentum against you"
Roman nodded and tried again. This time, he moved faster, his fist coming toward her upper body. She raised her arm and blocked it before turning slightly to avoid his next movement.
"That’s better," she said. "You’re learning quickly."
’He’s actually pretty fast, even though he isn’t versed at close combat, I hope he stays longer, that way we’ll get to spend more time together’
She had expected him to be a complete beginner, but his movements were already improving. There was still a lot he needed to learn, yet he seemed to understand her instructions after only a few attempts.
"Now, let’s make it a little more difficult," she said. "Try to land a clean hit on me. You can use your speed, but don’t use any offensive spells. I’ll do the same."
Roman gave her a small nod. "Alright."
She took a step back, raising her hands into a proper fighting stance. Her expression became more focused, though the slight blush on her face hadn’t completely disappeared.
"Come at me whenever you’re ready."
Roman didn’t waste any time. He pushed off the ground and rushed toward her, moving much faster than before. His first punch came toward her chest, but she shifted her body just enough to let it pass.
Before he could pull his arm back, she raised her hand to block his next attack. He followed with another punch from the opposite side, and she caught his wrist before gently pushing it away.
Roman stepped back, looking at her with a hint of surprise.
"Don’t focus on throwing as many punches as possible," she reminded him. "You need to think about where your opponent is going to move. If you attack without a plan, you’ll leave yourself open."
"Got it." Roman replied. ’Close combat is a lot trickier than I thought, I guess it’s different from using a sword’
Roman rushed forward again, this time changing the direction of his attacks. His speed was a little different as he adjusted to fit hand combat, and he was no longer moving as awkwardly as before.
He threw a quick punch toward her side, then tried to follow up with another aimed at her shoulder. She blocked the first, turned her body to avoid the second, and stepped around him before he could react.
Even so, Roman wasn’t slow. Every time she thought she had found an opening, he moved quickly enough to make her adjust her position. His speed was impressive, especially for someone she believed had little experience with hand combat.
But speed wasn’t everything.
She had spent years training, learning how to read movements and react without wasting time thinking about every little detail. She could tell where Roman’s attacks were going before they fully reached her, allowing her to block or avoid every strike. Whenever he tried to catch her off guard, she was already moving out of the way.
Roman stepped back a bit breathing a little heavy, she could see he was a little exhausted after just a small lesson but before she could speak, he suddenly increased his speed dashing forward.
He moved in from her right, throwing a punch that she barely managed to block. Before she could fully recover, he shifted his weight and came at her from the other side. She stepped back, but he followed closely, refusing to give her much room to move.
’He knew I was looking at his body and used it against me, he’s getting faster!’
For the first time, she had to focus completely on the fight.
She blocked another punch, moved her head away from the next, and quickly turned to stop his final attack from reaching her side. Roman was now moving fast enough that an ordinary person might have struggled to follow his movements.
Yet she still managed to keep up.
She caught his arm, redirected his punch, and moved into the small opening he had left. In one smooth motion, she brought her other hand toward his chest and stopped just before making contact.
Her hand remained only a few inches away from him, and then she hit his chest lightly pushing his backwards since he wasn’t balanced.
She had a clear chance to land the hit. If this had been a real fight, she could have struck him before he had time to react.
"I... I think that’s enough for now," she said quickly, taking a step away.
Roman looked down at the space between them, then back at her. "You stopped, are you afraid of hurting me, you know I’ve been in duels before"
She lowered her eyes. "I mean... I didn’t want to hit you too hard."
"I thought we were trying to land a clean hit"
"Y-Yes, but...You’re still learning, so it didn’t make sense to go all out" She replied.
"Just so you know, If I had the chance I would have gone all out" Roman replied with a smile.