“Virtue +50.”
“Current Virtue: 324.”
“Virtue +50.”
“Current Virtue: 374.”
“Virtue +50.”
“Current Virtue: 424.”
“Admit defeat, got it? Little girl?” Vinny grasped the delicate foot of the Elf Princess Milian and continued to tickle the soft, smooth sole of her fair foot with his fingers.
“You! You despicable, shameless scoundrel, how dare you use such underhanded methods against this princess, hahahaha!... Stop, stop it now! Hahaha...” Milian laughed uncontrollably, her ten pearl-like toes curling involuntarily.
“I, I must let Dell know, hahaha, your, your ugly, hahaha, vile face! Hahaha... So she’ll never dare to approach you again! Hahaha...” Milian laughed so hard that tears streamed down her face, her petite, adorable face flushed red.
Her fingers, which had been gripping Vinny’s clothes, lost all strength, and her feet flailed as she tried to kick him away.
“What you do later is none of my business. Just admit defeat to Daddy here, or you’ll keep laughing until class ends.” Vinny remained unfazed and continued his threat.
“Hahaha, you, you villain! Shameless! Despicable! Hahaha...” Milian had already used the most venomous words she could think of, but with her melodious, delicate voice, it sounded more like coquettish teasing than actual insults.
In fact, some people with particular tastes might even get more excited the more she scolded him.
“Seems like I’m not being harsh enough? Little girl, you still have the energy to talk. Am I being too kind to you?” Vinny raised an eyebrow. “If you don’t admit defeat, I’ll make you laugh so hard in front of the whole class that you’ll collapse, okay?”
With that, Vinny increased the intensity.
“Virtue +80.”
“Current Virtue: 504.”
Now, Milian was so ticklish that she couldn’t even muster the words to insult him. All she could do was laugh uncontrollably and cry.
Many eyes in the class were fixed on Vinny and Milian, especially the boys, who were practically glaring at Vinny with hatred, condemning his actions in their hearts.
This damned Camella scoundrel is truly vile! How dare he use such despicable methods to bully the beautiful elf maiden!
Well, they wouldn’t admit that deep down, they were actually quite envious.
“Hahaha, stop, stop! Hahaha...” Finally, under the watchful eyes of everyone, Milian, who was laughing so hard she could barely breathe, couldn’t endure the physical and mental torment any longer and gave in.
“Oh? Finally admitting defeat?” Vinny, seeing this, reduced the intensity, allowing Milian to catch her breath and speak a few words.
“Yah!” However, as soon as Vinny stopped tickling her, Milian immediately tried to break free and retaliate. Caught off guard, Vinny took a kick to the face from her.
But Vinny wasn’t completely unprepared.
After being kicked, he quickly grabbed Milian’s feet again and increased the intensity of the tickling.
“You ungrateful little girl! Daddy here was kind enough to let you go, but you resort to trickery and sneak attacks? How about it, still daring? If you don’t admit defeat, I’ll make you laugh until you can’t even muster the strength to surrender!”
“Virtue +100.”
“Current Virtue: 604.”
“Hahaha, shameless! Hahaha! I, I admit, hahaha, defeat, I, I surrender, hahaha!” The sensitive soles of her feet, which had never been touched by anyone since birth, were being relentlessly tickled. Milian had never endured such torment before. Seeing that Vinny wasn’t joking, she quickly chose to surrender.
“That’s more like it.” Vinny released Milian, stood up, straightened his clothes, took a deep breath, and struck a triumphant pose, basking in the joy of victory.
Feeling the strange gazes from below, Vinny remained unfazed.
This was combat training. Though not as intense as actual combat, one should still use every means possible to fight without regret.
As long as the methods were within the rules, it didn’t matter what they were. If it led to victory, then it was a good method.
In real combat, who cares about underhanded tactics? Sorry, but as the notorious Camella scoundrel, I only know that the winner takes all!
The loser can only lie on the ground, panting in front of everyone, humiliated!
Vinny glanced at the golden-haired elf girl, who was still catching her breath, her hair damp with sweat, her body glistening with fragrant perspiration, and struck a victor’s pose.
Heh, little girl, look at you, all high and mighty, but still brought to heel by Daddy here, right??
Virtue exploded, and I won. A total victory.
MVP victory animation, play!
However, strangely, the classmates who had watched the entire scene remained silent. Many of their gazes were filled with oddness, even resentment and disdain.
“Teacher, you saw it, right? Milian lost, she admitted defeat, I won.” Vinny waved to the teacher, who was also silent in the audience.
“...” The teacher remained silent. While it was true that in combat, any method that led to victory was a good one, Vinny’s tactic was too underhanded, making it difficult for the teacher to declare who had actually won.
“You, you shameless villain!...” Milian, having caught her breath, curled up, hugging her knees and scolding him.
“Milian, if you’re weak, practice more. If you can’t handle losing, don’t play.” Vinny chuckled and waved his hand. “All I know is that I won, and you admitted defeat, completely crushed, ohohoho.”
“Trash, trash blue-haired girl, stinky trash! Wuwuwu...” She had actually admitted defeat to this infamous, despicable scoundrel.
Since birth, her feet had never been touched by anyone, but today, they were touched by a disgusting human male, and she made a fool of herself in front of the whole class.
Overwhelmed by complex emotions, Milian didn’t even know why she suddenly started crying.
“Virtue +60.”
“Current Virtue: 664.”
Wait, why is she crying now?
Vinny was momentarily at a loss for words. It wasn’t his place to {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} comfort her, nor did he know how, so he could only watch as several elf girls from the class helped Milian off the training field.
As they passed by Vinny, the elf girls shot him fierce glares.
Wait, bro? Why am I suddenly the target of everyone’s ire?
Is it possible that I never wanted to train one-on-one with this girl in the first place??
She was the one who insisted on sparring with me, aiming to beat me up. I couldn’t just stand there and let her hit me, right? If I couldn’t win with brute strength, I had to find another way, didn’t I??
Feeling the gazes of his classmates, Vinny suddenly realized something.
He realized he was wrong, wrong in not being a beautiful girl. If he were, everything he did would be right, and no one would care about wins or losses.
Shaking with anger, do men have no rights??
Just as Vinny was about to step down, several figures appeared in front of him.
“Long have we heard of Vinny’s esteemed lineage as a descendant of the Varelis. We’d like to spar with you, hoping you won’t refuse.” After Milian left, several boys approached Vinny with smiles, issuing a challenge.
Damn it.
“Sorry, I just finished a match. I’m out of energy, can’t fight anymore.” Vinny frowned slightly.
“Vinny, what are you talking about? Look, I’m drenched in sweat too. We’ve all just finished a match. We’re in the same boat, so what’s there to fear? Besides, can a man say he’s not up to it?” One of the boys egged him on.
Well, these guys. Judging by their attitude, it seemed like they wouldn’t let him leave without a fight.
“Sorry, everyone, I already have an appointment with Vinny. It’s my turn to be his opponent next. Could you all wait for another time?” At that moment, Aesphyra walked up with a smile. “I haven’t trained with anyone in this class yet.”
“Oh, it’s Aesphyra. Then, please go ahead.” Seeing it was Aesphyra, the boys immediately changed their tone, becoming very accommodating.
On one hand, everyone had to give Aesphyra a face. Who in the academy didn’t know of the genius with the [Breaking Shackles] affinity?
On the other hand, having the top-ranked Aesphyra teach this scoundrel a lesson wasn’t a bad idea.
So, as soon as Aesphyra spoke, those who were looking to trouble Vinny or wanted to trouble him all backed off.
If Vinny could still rely on wit and psychological tactics to defeat Milian, there was no such possibility with Aesphyra.
Not only was he outmatched in wits, but Aesphyra also had a strong resistance to his psychological attacks, rendering them ineffective. Even if they did work, Aesphyra would only respond with even greater composure.
In summary, Aesphyra was an opponent Vinny couldn’t defeat through underhanded means or trickery.
It’s over.
He was going to get beaten up by Aesphyra for meddling in her harem.
“Vinny, could you spare a little more effort~?” Aesphyra smiled as she looked at Vinny.
...Well, Aesphyra had indirectly helped him out of a tight spot. Being beaten by her was better than being harassed by those scoundrels.
Besides, he could also see just how big the gap was between him and Aesphyra.
“Let’s go.” Vinny sighed lightly.
Vinny returned to the training field.
“Aesphyra, go easy on me, okay?” Vinny knew saying this was pointless, but he felt he had to say it anyway.
After some thought, Vinny realized he had indeed taken advantage of Aesphyra quite a few times.
Letting her beat him up once seemed fair. Otherwise, if her resentment kept building up without an outlet, one day it might not just be a beating, it could cost him his head.
Honestly, gaining power by exploiting the heroine’s resources was already going against the natural order. A few mishaps were to be expected.
Vinny stood firm, watching as the silver-haired girl took off her indoor shoes and stepped onto the training field in her black stockings. He took a deep breath.
There was no way he could use the same tactics on Aesphyra as he did on Milian.
He had to face her head-on!
Burn! My Cosmos!
Take this! Deadly Scissor Hands! Desperate Nineteen Punches!
As soon as the teacher signaled the start, Vinny roared and charged forward. What did the roar accomplish? Well, it boosted his morale, but that was about it.
Vinny threw a punch at Aesphyra. In an instant, Aesphyra’s figure blurred like a ghost, dodging his fist with a speed Vinny couldn’t even follow. Then, he felt a gust of wind sweep past below him.
Vinny froze. He was still in the motion of throwing his punch, but no pain came.
However, he sensed something was off. His gaze slowly lowered, and he saw Aesphyra’s raised, elegantly curved leg in black stockings, poised just half an inch away from a certain critical private area.
“Huh?”
Yikes, yikes, yikes!!!?
Vinny nearly turned to ash from fright.
Half an inch. Just half an inch, and he would’ve been...
Gone!!!
Ruthless! Absolutely ruthless!
Vinny stumbled back several steps. Even though Aesphyra had stopped in time and he hadn’t been directly hit, he felt a phantom pain that was almost unbearable.
The speed and force were terrifying. Vinny hadn’t even realized when Aesphyra had closed the distance or when she had launched her kick.
He hadn’t even registered that his punch had missed before Aesphyra could have struck his weak spot.
“Spare me, spare me! Big sis, I surrender, I surrender!” Vinny immediately pulled out a white flag he had somehow prepared earlier, with the words “I surrender” written on it, and began waving it frantically.
Aesphyra’s movements were so fast that many students didn’t even see how Vinny had lost. They only saw him stumble back a few steps, his face pale, before surrendering.
However, the teacher on the platform had caught a glimpse of what happened and couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat, marveling at Aesphyra’s talent.
Even someone of her skill level could only barely make out the blurry afterimage of Aesphyra’s movement. The speed was simply astounding.
Thankfully, Aesphyra had stopped in time. Otherwise, Vinny might have been rushed to the infirmary for emergency treatment.
“Pfft.” Seeing Vinny’s reaction, Aesphyra couldn’t help but laugh. “Thank you, Vinny, for being willing to spar with me again.”
“No need for thanks, you’re too kind. It’s nothing.” Vinny, still shaken, his face pale, hadn’t suffered any physical injuries, nor had he been beaten up as he had expected. But he had suffered a severe psychological blow.
In the world of combat, what goes around comes around. As a master of psychological warfare, he had finally experienced the backlash of his own tactics.
Aesphyra smiled as she looked at Vinny, who had surrendered so quickly and knew when to back down.
This version of Vinny was much more interesting.
His character was far better than the demon lord of the previous life, and his personality was quite amusing.
Usually, he was always provoking others, acting all high and mighty, but the moment he sensed even the slightest danger, he would immediately back down and surrender.
The Vinny of the previous life would never have known when to stop.
For some reason, the more Aesphyra interacted with this Vinny, the more she felt that he was a completely different person from the Vinny of the previous life.
Aesphyra walked to the edge of the training field, slipping her black-stockinged feet back into her indoor shoes. Just as she finished changing, the bell rang, signaling the end of class.
Perfect timing.
This was the last class of the morning. After this, everyone would head to lunch.
After saying goodbye to the teacher, Aesphyra left the training field. Recalling the various shameless moments Vinny had put her through and how he had turned pale and surrendered in fear earlier, Aesphyra felt a sense of relief and amusement.
Outwardly strong but inwardly weak, yet in a way that wasn’t entirely unpleasant. At least, bullying him was quite entertaining~
In this regard, Vinny was quite similar to Milian.
“Virtue +40.”
“Current Virtue: 704.”
“Hey, Vinny, what’s wrong with you?” Meanwhile, in a restaurant somewhere on the Carillian Islands, Fred poked Vinny, who was sitting in a daze.
Ever since they arrived at the agreed meeting point, Vinny had been in this state, as if he had lost his soul.
“Nothing, just feeling that it’s good to be alive.” Vinny snapped out of his trance and said blankly. “You know, today, I almost didn’t make it back!”
“Huh? Vinny, what are you talking about?” Fred was completely baffled, not understanding what Vinny had gone through that morning.
Did something happen on the first day of class?
“I, I almost...” Vinny couldn’t bring himself to say it.
He had almost become... Vanessa!