Chapter 65

65th Episode: Fake Massage Therapist Hassan

The stars twinkling in the night sky resemble salt sprinkled on deep blue silk. Amidst this, the two moons hanging at the center gently illuminate the training ground’s objects.

Swish.

Hippolyte, rising from the bench, spoke.

“I hear, Hassan, that you possess some extraordinary hand skills?”

Hippolyte’s voice was calm and gentle, yet for some reason, my neck prickled with goosebumps. It was as if she knew everything and was urging me to confess before it got ugly.

“Where did you hear that…?”

Where had Hippolyte heard of my secret skills? Could Daphne have broken her oath by the River Styx and spread it around? Just as my thoughts were wandering in various directions—

“I heard it from Valtma.”

“Valtma?” Who is Valtma again? After some recollection, I remembered the middle-aged man with one eye who saved me from Daphne’s slap when I first joined the guild.

Was his name Valtma? I had forgotten because I hadn’t seen him since that day. Oh, right, that man was the first to tell others about my gift.

“…So, what exactly do you want to say to me?”

“At night, when you tried to overpower me, surely you know why I refuse promotion to Gold Tier.”

“Eh?”

I don’t know what she’s talking about. In fact, I only recently learned that Hippolyte had refused promotion to Gold Tier.

Before I could make an excuse, Hippolyte continued.

“My overall stats are already over 40. I’ve surpassed the requirements for Gold Tier long ago. But that’s only when the sun is up. I’m weak under the moonlight, probably as weak as an untrained civilian.”

Her words reminded me of when I encountered her during a bath recently. Her level was unusually decreased, barely staying at 3.

“In light of this, Hassan, how about a bout of sparring?”

With her fists tightly clenched, Hippolyte assumed a fighting stance resembling a Muay Thai boxer.

After claiming how weak she was under the moon, she’s now challenging me to a fight? I don’t understand this situation.

“Are you serious?”

“Come at me. Our last duel ended unexpectedly due to interference, so let’s consider this a continuation.”

Her mention of interference in the previous duel made me realize that Hippolyte had figured out something about that halted time. The warrior shrugged her shoulders slightly.

“Unless you’re scared of me, Samaritan?”

“Well, then don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Even though it might seem like I was angry at the provocation, this time, I had a strong advantage. After all, I had managed to overpower a bathing Hippolyte last night.

Back then, Hippolyte was so weak that I could easily subdue her with my strength. If her words are true, she should still be weakened under this moonlight.

During our sparring match, I could pretend to make a mistake and grab her large, soft chest—thoughts like this started to motivate me.

“Alright, your expression shows you’re ready. Then, let me go first.”

Pounding against the ground with her feet, Hippolyte rushed toward me at a swift speed.

Though fast, it was nothing like the near-instantaneous movement in our last duel. Of course, seeing it and reacting to it are two different things.

Whoosh.

Suddenly, Hippolyte’s palm reached me, grabbing the front of my shirt and before I knew it, my body was lifted into the air, slamming me hard onto the ground.

“Uhgh!”

In an instant, all the air was expelled from my lungs. It was painfully hard to breathe, but what I found more baffling was how exactly this happened.

“There, you’ve died once already.”

Hippolyte’s foot pressing against my chest. From below, I could see her slender calves, muscular thighs, firm abs, and the prominent upper part of her bust. It was a pleasant sight.

“Would you like to try again?”

Swoosh.

She removed her foot from my chest and offered her hand to help me up. In a very disoriented state, I grabbed her palm, pulling myself upright.

Ding.

‘Name: Hippolyte Heavensinger Lv. ?? 3

Status: Boiling bl**d〉Moonlight Allergy〉Severe Menstrual Pain〉????’

From the floating text, it’s clear her level is indeed down to 3, most likely due to the ‘Moonlight Allergy.’ Yet, I couldn’t understand how someone at level 3 could slam me down like that, while I’m nearly double her level.

“Your face shows confusion. Let’s keep going until you understand. If you manage to hit me even once, I’ll reward you.”

A reward? Actually, I’ve been hiding my true abilities up until this point, trying to lure her into a state of complacency before striking her where she’s vulnerable. This was my strategy.

“Come on, using brute force alone won’t help you attack.”

“Grghhh!”

But no matter how many times we repeated the sparring, none of my attacks landed on Hippolyte.

“Come on, try it out, hurry up.”

With both my arms pinned, her muscular thighs tightly wrapped around my neck.

Gaaaahhh!

As pleasant as the firm and soft thighs pressing against my neck were, I couldn’t breathe, and the sky began turning yellow in my vision.

“Erm….”

When I was finally suffocating to d*ath, she finally released her grip.

“There you go, you died again.”

The constriction around my legs abruptly loosened, giving me back my breath. It felt like electric currents surged through my brain, while the exhaustion coursing through my whole body made everything incredibly dizzy. This is what they call faint-play, probably.

“Ugh, cough, cough.”

“Hassan, tonight alone, you’ve already died twelve times. When will you land an attack on me? I don’t mind continuing this sparring all night.”

Amidst her taunts, as I panted heavily, I realized there was no way I could defeat the weakened Hippolyte.

After several failures and near-fainting pains, the fighting spirit in my body was significantly diminished. There’s definitely something different from the last time I subdued her with brute force. Is she somehow cheating?

“Your face suggests you don’t understand. From the stats now, your attacks, twice my level, should hit me, but it’s strange that they don’t. Right?”

“That’s true, but…”

“Since the discovery of epic relics’ appraisal needle, adventurers have become too reliant on numbers. But battles and struggles are not a philosopher’s game of numbers. Experience and techniques aren’t expressed in statistics.”

Hippolyte was implying that regardless of level, a lack of combat experience and technical skill makes outcomes unpredictable.

Honestly, losing to a level 3 Hippolyte was a real shock. Level alone doesn’t win fights.

“Now, you understand, Samaritan. You don’t seem to possess any sense of combat. You’re at novice level, not even having grasped the basics. It’s such a waste that you carry such potential and squander it.”

“Does that mean you called me here at night to teach me this?”

“Yes, those gifted with favors easily fall prey to arrogance. Breaking one’s pride before bad habits form is beneficial.”

Indeed, Hippolyte was right. With increasing profits and being favored recently, my arrogance had indeed grown.

After enduring these overwhelming losses, humility started growing within me. sh*t, I’m still a nobody!

After helping me up and brushing off the dust from my body, Hippolyte said,

“Still, you’re the first to challenge me more than ten times without giving up after two or three tries. I’ll acknowledge your determination and tenacity. Not wanting to stay a loser is a good quality.”

“R-really?”

It appeared Hippolyte was misunderstanding my reasons. I didn’t keep attacking because I hated losing. Whenever Hippolyte used ground-based grappling techniques, our bodies had to be tightly pressed together.

I enjoyed the sensation of my knuckles slipping between her br*asts while locked in an arm-lock or catching the sweat scent when my face was squeezed against her thighs. In fact, this fight can be called a victory to me—an absolute genius.

But while I was giggling to myself,

“Great, now that you’ve enjoyed a thorough defeat, you’re now my property for the rest of the night. Actually, I’ve wanted a Samaritan servant for a while. Samaritans are wild horses that are hard to tame, but they’re robust, so they are considered precious goods, aren’t they?”

“Y-yes!?”

Startled by this unexpected remark, I couldn’t help but tremble. A servant? sh*t, what’s this all about?

Had this duel turned into something else without me realizing it? Dang, I’ve become a slave again, too unfairly.

“What’s this nonsense about slavery?”

“Why are you so surprised? Surely you know that the life of one who loses a duel or a battle belongs to the victor?”

“But wasn’t this a practice fight?”

“There’s no such thing as a practice or pretend fight in struggle. There’s only the struggle itself. Would you negotiate with monsters trying to take your life?”

“Well, that’s not the point. Real slavery is rather….”

“Don’t worry, I won’t treat you harshly. Now, let’s start with running five laps around the training ground—rabbit hopping, of course.”

sh*t…

That’s how I had to perform every prankish exercise commanded by Hippolyte: running around the training ground doing rabbit hops, the invisible chair challenge, and even PT exercises. It felt like every calorie in my body was draining away.

“Hurry! Just one more!”

“F-for real, my body… doesn’t have any strength left. Ugh…”

“Only by surpassing your limits do you properly develop endurance and muscles. Faster!”

“N-nineteen…”

“Good, then really, the last one!”

“Wait, didn’t you say the last one was before….”

“Nope, we’ll finish at twenty. Let’s go!”

“S-s-sweeeeet….”

“Sweet? You must’ve stuttered ‘twenty.'”

“Ugh….”

After doing twenty push-ups with Hippolyte on my back in five sets, I collapsed onto the dirt, completely drained. I couldn’t even move a finger.

“How weak, Samaritan. Even young children in the beginner class at Kairos can easily do this. You said you wanted to become a hero, didn’t you? A Gold Tier hero.”

“That’s true, but…”

d*mn, this brutal training feels like my very life force is being drained, not like my body is getting any stronger.

“Now, the night is still young. There’s mountains of training left for you. You won’t reach level 40 with regular training.”

“But you said battles aren’t fought with numbers, right?”

“But promotion is determined by numbers. You need to pass 30 to challenge Silver Tier and 40 for Gold Tier. Now, stop overthinking and get up!”

“Really, I can’t move a finger. I surrender.”

“You’re personally being trained by me, Hippolyte. Don’t you know this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? One that costs a gold coin? Hurry up!”

“Arrgh….”

But my mind was spinning, and my body was completely drained of all strength.

The first thing that came to mind was the face of my drill sergeant from the army. My drill sergeant was notorious as the “hell instructor” of the brigade, always dragging me to physical training and putting me through all kinds of torture.

His catchphrase was also: “This is something you can’t buy, even if you paid for it.” d*mn, do all exercising types think alike? Is it some timeless connection beyond era and world?

While I was groaning face-down on the ground,

Suddenly, a strong grip pressed against my back, and with a loud “Crack!” sound, my spine’s joints screamed in protest.

“Ugh!”

The unexpected pain made me yelp.

“Then, stay facedown. Let me loosen up your muscles and joints.”

Hippolyte, seated on my back, started pushing hard with her large palms against my lower back.

Her technique was crude but surprisingly refreshing against my overexerted muscles.

Though Luna’s massages felt somewhat precious but slightly amateurish, Hippolyte’s massage felt like the real deal.

Do people who exercise really know how to relax bodies better?

Starting with my shoulder blades, up to my neck where the muscles were already stiff and bulging, she worked her way through, and it really felt like my entire body was melting.

“You’re talented at massage. Did you study the human body?”

“I’ve killed many. By learning how to hit vital points to induce d*ath, you naturally gain these skills.”

d*mn, that was the wrong thing to ask. The pleasant massage suddenly felt like I was some kind of lab rat as an unsettling feeling washed over me.

“Still, this is the first time I’ve touched a man’s body. To begin with, it’s been since my Father that I’ve been alone with a man. Oh, since we’re talking about my father, have you met him?”

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