Chapter 28: No style


    As Novis turned around, he could see what looked like a girl in a school uniform charging at him. The girl was currently holding a wooden sword. Unlike Novis stick, this was a real wooden sword used for sporting events.


    "Huh, is sheing at me?"


    "I''ll teach you never to bully people again!" the girl shouted as she brought her sword down on Novis''s head.


    Novis had been through simr situations with Arthur many times, he acted on pure instinct. As the de came down Novis parried it away throwing the charging girl off bnce. Then Novis went for a strike of his own. Now releasing what his body was doing Novis managed to stop at thest second with the stick inches away from the girl''s face.


    The businessman got up and came in between the two of them.


    "Wait, wait this is a misunderstanding."


    "Wait a minute don''t I know you from somewhere." The girl said.


    The man then bowed down to the girl, "Yes miss Ashley, we met a while back at your father''s ce."


    As the man was bowing down talking to the girl. Novis finally managed to get a good look at her. She was a bit shorter than himself and had brown hair in the shape of pigtails. She was currently wearing the same school uniform as Novis.


    "That''s odd, I don''t think I''ve ever seen her before." Novis thought to himself. Novis was right, Ashley was currently in the year below Novis so the two of them had never interacted with each other before this day.


    As the man finished exining what happened to the girl, she quickly ran over to Novis and started bowing down to him.


    "I''m so sorry for what happened," Ashley said, her face was a little red from the embarrassment.


    "Don''t worry about it." Novis too was a little red thinking the girl looked a little cute.


    After the girl left them be the police hade over and arrested the four men. The men screamed saying that Novis had injured them like this but the police couldn''t believe a mere fifteen-year-old could do this sort of thing. The men also had a past record so they were quickly cuffed and sent away.


    The businessman then handed Novis a business card "The name is Tom Dane, I wish to repay you for this favour. If you send me your address perhaps, I could return the favour to you somehow." Tom said with a smile.


    As Novis looked at the business card he noticed the VSW logo on it. It also stated that this man was a developer.


    "You work for VSW!" Novis shouted.


    "So, you know of us, well it''s hard to find a kid who hasn''t."


    Novis quickly handed the man his parents address. And the man smiled. As the two of them were about to part ways from each other. They realised that they were both heading off in the same direction.


    "Do you live this way?" Tom asked


    "No, but I''m heading to my Grandfathers dojo which is just up ahead."


    The man was suddenly startled.


    "May I ask, the name of your grandfathers'' dojo."


    "Sure, it''s the Talen Dojo, it specialises in weapons but it''s closed down now."


    Upon hearing this news Tom was upset. Tom was a developer for the Game VSW, he travelled to many ces around the world for research on the game. He would often visit different dojos and martial arts halls for inspiration when creating a new character. While he was in this town, he wanted to check out the Talen dojo but it was said for him to hear it had closed down.


    "That was actually my destination. I had no clue it had closed down." Tom thought for a while then suggested, "do you mind if I stille and have a look?"


    Tom thought he might still be able to find something by watching his grandfather fight or even find a unique weapon.


    Novis saw no harm as long as his grandfather agreed to it. The two of them carried on walking until they eventually reached his grandfather''s dojo. The dojo was a bit run down since there were no students. There was no need to waste money on renovation costs.


    As Novis and Tom entered the dojo, Tom was surprised to see the inside was so clean, it looked almost brand new.


    "Didn''t you say it was closed, why is it so nice in here."


    "There are no students but I still train in here."


    In truth, Arthur was the one that made Novis clean the ce. Arthur wanted to discipline Novis, he wanted him to respect the dojo and weapons he was using and this would make him look after things and appreciate it more.


    Tom was intrigued, He had seen Novis fight against the four men and thought he was indeed skilful with the stick. As Tom was looking around the dojo, he noticed there were currently four different weapons out on a rack. The long sword, two short swords, a spear and the chain sword.


    "Which one of these do you practice with?"


    "Actually, I like all four of them so I practice with them equally at the moment," Novis said while rubbing his head. He was slightly embarrassed and thought perhaps Tom didn''t think he took it seriously because he couldn''t focus on one weapon.


    "Do you mind showing me a few things?"


    "I was going to train anyway, so you can watch if you like?"


    This was the first time someone was interested in something Novis wanted to do. Novis thought this was perhaps the same feeling that Arthur felt when he started teaching him.


    Novis then demonstrated the skills he had learnt with each weapon one by one. After an hour and half of hard work, Novis was now drenched in sweat.


    Tom had been sitting at the side watching intently the whole time. Although he had seen people more skilful then Novis with weapons in his time. Novis had a certain charm when using all four of them. Tom came to the same conclusion as Novis. All four of the weapons suited him, there was not one that Novis was better with or worse. Tom was also really interested in the chain sword, he had never seen such a unique weapon before.


    While looking at Novis, Tom hade up with a brilliant idea.