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Chapter 19: Vytal Festival (Part 6) Acupuncture

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As the whistle blew, the boys covered themselves with their auras. Silver and green covered their bodies as the match started. The boy named Ren charged forward and began throwing quick jabs in succession. Robin raised his arms to block the damage as he examined the status of his enemy.

Lie Ren (Lvl 9)HP:255/255Aura:262/310

-13

-15

-16

= Ok so his strength isn't that high and neither is his health or aura. Good, I can out-trade him then. =

Ren then gave a wide left swing. This time, Robin didn't block and leaned back to dodge it. The other boy used the momentum to turn and send a high kick aimed at Robin's face. Robin caught it with both hands and sent more aura to his upper body. Turning around, Robin lifted and threw Ren towards the edge of the ring-- or that's what was supposed to happen.

Ren, however, grabbed Robin's shoulders on the way there and stopped himself from flying. The momentum pushed Robin forward, and he found Ren's other knee heading towards his face. He quickly moved his arms in front to guard the attack, but at that moment Ren's thumbs pressed into Robin's shoulder. A feeling of numbness filled his arms as pain shot through his shoulders and face when the knee broke through his guard. The blow sent him staggering back.

-33

-40

When Robin tried to hold his face with his hands, he found them hanging limply at his side. A window popped up in front of his face.

You've lost feeling of your arms for 58 seconds. Thanks to your class, you've identified the technique as Acupuncture. As you study and experience more of the technique, you will become able to use it.

He cursed under his breath. Ren landed on the ground. His hands could be seen to glow brighter as more aura was sent to his fingers.

= Acupuncture! How could I be so stupid to forget that just using fists isn't the only way to fight. Techniques can change the whole battle. His hit then was also a lot stronger than before. Hiding his strength, was he? I underestimated him. =

Ren advanced and started throwing out kicks at Robin. Unable to use his arms, Robin responded in kind. Their legs connected mid-air, stopping each other. Both fighters exchanged various kicks until Ren used the momentum of one to once again spin into a low sweep.

Robin jumped up as Ren's leg passed by underneath. However, this was a bait. Ren immediately jumped forward, his hand heading toward his face. Robin kicked Ren in the stomach and widen the distance between them once again. As he landed, Robin noticed he was rapidly getting closer and closer to the edge. Robin took this chance to run away from Ren, and towards a more favorable position with his arms dangling by his sides.

= I can't do this. I need to wait it out until I can use my arms again. =

Robin put more aura into his lower body. This time he concentrated on speed rather than strength. Of course, Ren did not just idle sit and wait. He also increased his speed and tried to catch up to Robin. The game of cat and mouse continued. Robin ran and evaded any attempts to catch him as Ren followed and attempted to grab anything with his hands. More aura was pumped out as one would increase the distance and the other would close it.

Finally, Ren backed Robin near the corner. There was only couple feet before Robin was near the edge. At this point, Robin did the one thing he hadn't done yet – rushing forward. Ren also charged, but Robin had faked it and instead jumped backwards. Ren continued on, thinking Robin had nowhere to go. However, the moment Robin landed, he pumped aura to his legs and jumped up into the sky.

Ren slowed down to avoid accidentally falling over while Robin did a front-flip into an axe kick. The force broke through the guard and Ren fell to the floor.

-68

In the process, Ren gripped Robin's leg and once again pressed a pressure point. A numb feeling spread through his left leg.

-23

You've lost all feeling in your left leg for 30 seconds.

Robin jumped over Ren's body using his remaining appendage, towards the middle of the stage, and rolled on the ground. As he sat up, Robin noticed Ren had gotten up and turned towards him. Ren charged towards Robin with his hands aimed for Robin's neck. If they connected, it was his lost.

However, Ren's hands were stopped by Robin's own. The numbness was finally gone. With a tight grip, Ren could not budge no matter how hard he tried.

“My turn.” Robin smiled.

He pulled Ren forward and greeted him with a headbutt. After doing so, his kicked his working leg into Ren's stomach while rolling backwards. After that, he let go and Ren's body flew a couple of feet away. Robin rolled over and got into a pounce position. When a burst of force, his body flew towards the boy. Grabbing onto Ren, Robin continued to roll towards the edge of the stage. After spinning a bit, Robin once again kicked Ren and sent him flying off the stage.

*Whistle* “Lai Ren has left the stage, therefore the winner is Robin Wolfheart!”

The crowd erupted into a mixture of cheers and boos. Many had been thoroughly impressed with the fight, but there were those that didn't like the concept of a faunus child besting a 'regular human'. However, Robin heard the loudest applause coming from the seats of his friends and family. They all had smiles on their faces.

= Man, these racists just have to ruin everything. Don't they? =

Robin frowned at the lack of sportsmanship in the crowd. Ren at this moment walked up to Robin and held out his hand.

“That was a good fight. Your instincts are really good.”

“Thanks,” Robin said as he shook his hand, “your techniques were a lot more difficult to deal with than I thought.”

“Thank you. I still need to practice though. I let my guard down at the very end.”

As the boys chatted a bit, an elixir was handed to the both of them. They drank the vial and headed to the bleachers where their friends sat waiting for them. Feeling refreshed, Robin sat down between Blake and Conner.

“Good job Robin.” Blake smiled at him.

“That was sooooo intense!” Conner exclaimed.

“Yep, we were all on the edge of our seats. I thought you were gonna lose for a second there.” Ophelia agreed.

“You are showing off too much.” Adam had a sour look on his face.

= Wow, can I hit you? =

“But it was pretty good though.”

As he said thanks to his parents as well as the other parents with them, he noticed a window in the corner of his vision.

You have acquired a basic understanding of pressure points. Thanks to this, you can now use the skill 'Acupuncture'.

AcupunctureThanks to your experience and previous knowledge, you have a basic understanding of pressure points. When activated, all known pressure points will light up on the areas indicated on your enemies to guide your hits. The number of spots that show up depends on how vast your knowledge is.

Current Number of PP: 4

Cost: 10 Aura per minute

= Ohohoh. So this is want it meant by me being able to learn general skills? I really do need to expand my skill set. Even if using it depends on the user, just having it is very useful. I'll have to invest some time into this later. =

As he was pondering on his new skill, the next battle had started. This time it was Yang vs. Bill. The boy was heavily outmatched, and Yang toyed with him the entire time. Eventually she got tired of it and gave an uppercut that lifted his body up in the air. As it descended, she punched in the gut, sending him flying and tumbling off the stage.

*Whistle* “Once again, Bob Frank has left the stage, the winner is Yang Xiao Long!”

The next battle was between the mysterious girl named Raven and Joe Cunningham. The entire fight she was lost in thought with a frown on her face.

= What is heck is this? First I save a kid that is named Robin, and now I'm beating up another one that has the last name Cunningham? Does the world like to toy with me or something? =

As she was thinking about this, she absently dodged all the slow hits dished out by the boy. Since she wasn't really paying attention, she got hit on the cheek by a punch that was filled with desperation. Glaring at the boy, a chill went down his spine as he suddenly felt a pressure on his chest. The next thing he knew, he was off the stage and sitting in the grass.

*Whistle* “Ended in one hit, Raven Branwen has won her match! Let us move on to the final match.”

Steve Gates and Bill Jobs stepped up to the stage. Their eyes showed an intense light probably hinting a tense rivalry. The fight was horrendously pitiful as they both relied on their aura to outlast the other. Eventually, the last one standing was Steve.

*Whistle* “In a brilliant blow, Steve Gates has won! This ends Round 1 in the Junior Hunter Tournament! Please take a look at the match-ups for Round 2!”

Round 2Robin S. Wolfheartvs.Yang Xiao LongRavin R. Branwenvs.Steve Gates

Looking to the side, Robin noticed a blonde girl making a hand motion. She pointed her finger at him and moved her thumb across her throat. Robin smirked.

= Bring it on. =

Yay. Our first real (?) skill. I hope you liked the fight as much as I had thinking it out. I'm gonna wait a couple of days before I churn out another chapter. I feel sick recently. Comment, rate, tell me if I gave crappy material cuz of my sickness, etc. I'll be back soon guys! Thanks for reading!

Edit: I wanted to clear up any confusion from last chapter. I made a mistake chp 18 and called the guy Bill Frank. He was supposed to be Bob Frank. There is only one Bill as said in chapter 17. Yes I know I switched Steve Jobs last name with bill gates. That was on purpose. I'm sorry for the confusion.