15 Be Gentle, Its My First Time... (1/2)
Jam gave Cecily a nod and was preparing to head home, when one of the two unfriendly chaps, who didn't acknowledge Jam before class started, stopped him by the door.
”Oi! Now that class is over how 'bout you and me have some fun?” This boy needed to work on his phrasing as all the words coming from his mouth had a scummy feeling attached to them, assaulting all those who heard him speak. It was of great juxtaposition with his monk-like appearance.
”Oh? What kind of ”fun” do you want to have?” Jam was a bit surprised to see this guy talk to him after repeatedly ignoring him before class started. Unbecoming of his antisocial personality, Jam actually had a curiosity towards this fellow weirdo.
Jam, as expected, didn't understand figurative speech and took his words literally. Jam didn't understand why someone who ignored him, wanted to have fun with him.
”Obviously I'm talking about entering the ring. You know, right? The sparring ring. It's been a while since someone qualified to fight with me has appeared.” This stranger was one of those battle fanatics who only wanted to challenge himself at every possible turn; getting a new classmate would certain tingle his fighting urges.
”??? I have never fought anyone in my life, so I don't think I'm qualified to fight anyone yet.” Jam wasn't lying; even though he had trained to his current stage, he had never crossed fists with others. Even back when he was in the Body Tempering Stage, he spent all his time training.
”...Well whatever, even if you've never fought, we can still spar and get you some fighting experience.” This kid had the mindset of 'if I can't fight you now, I will certainly train you to be someone able to fight me in the future.'
”Ok, can I at least get your name before we start fighting each other?” Jam was happy to comply as he had never fought with others and was in dire need of a sparring partner, especially now that he was going to start taking missions.
”You can just call me Arnold.”
They then headed to one of the sparring rings in the Teaching Department, and Arnold started talking again.
”Alright then, since you've admitted to never fighting before, I'll lower my cultivation to your level and we can start basic sparring.”
”Oh right! Before I forget, I should mention this; I am an Alchemist so don't go too easy on me. I can always heal up quickly. The same goes for you too though! I will try my best during this sparring session, so, If by some miracle I manage to harm you, I have stacks of healing pills.” Jam wanted to make this clear before they began to fight, in an effort to get a feel for real fights. He didn't want to be treated like a sissy here, then get utterly wrecked in a real life or death fight.
Jam and Arnold then proceed to fight each other. However, it was more of Jam getting smacked around. But, as time passed Jam started to get better, make less mistakes, and waste less energy. Arnold knew how to control his strength to a level so precises, he could fight and incapacitate Jam without harming him.
Jam was still used to having a ”mortal” body so he was worried over small injuries like cuts and scrapes. However, that quickly changed after he noticed how quickly his body naturally regenerated itself. Even though Jam hadn't embarked on the path of Body Refining, cultivation processed energy through the meridians all over his body; this meant that slowly, over time, Jam's body would become more and more perfect, the more he cultivated.
When they started sparring, Jam would be downed within three moves, but by the time evening rolled around, he could fight with Arnold for twenty rounds before being subdued. This sparring session was as basic as a cultivator's fight could get; neither Arnold nor Jam used energy and were purely using hand to hand combat while fighting. They didn't want to go around annihilating their surroundings.