NOVPUBWith the twirling of the skirts and dancing women, the guitar's strings played a lively tune that filled the streets with joy and energy.
The guitarist's fingers pulled the strings, creating sounds out of nowhere and filling the air with an infectious rhythm that made everyone want to join in the celebration.
In the town square, men asked their dates to dance, and with their hands on their partners' waists, they moved in perfect harmony to the music.
"Whoah~!"
Aoi's eyes brightened as they saw the crowded streets, filled with laughter and joy.
She saw dozens of stands offering delicious street food, colorful decorations hanging from the buildings, and children running around playing games.
It made her quite overwhelmed, as she didn't know where to begin.
"Thanks."
Kiernan handed a gold coin to the stand owner and looked at the stick with a large, juicy piece of meat stabbed through it.
When he took a bite, the delicious flavors exploded in his mouth, and it fulfilled all of his expectations.
"Damn…"
Kiernan thought to himself as he realized he had found the best street food in town.
"Kiernan!"
Aoi suddenly grabbed his arm and started dragging him towards the dance floor, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"We're going to dance!"
"What? I don't know how!"
Kiernan quickly ate it all, tossed the stick in the nearest trash can, and allowed Aoi to lead him towards the dance floor.
She spun around, facing him with a sweet smile on her face, and guided his hand towards her lower back.
Kiernan moved his left hand towards her lower back as well, and while she wrapped her arms around his neck, they began to sway together to the music.
Their bodies were close, almost glued to each other, and they lost themselves in the rhythm of the song.
With his hands moving further down, she felt a rush of heat spread through her body, and then he twirled her around before pulling her in for a passionate kiss.
The kiss lasted a second, as she was too embarrassed to kiss in the middle of the town, where everyone could see them.
She then laughed and whispered into his ear.
"Let's save that for later~"
Kiernan smiled, gave her final twirl, and then the music came to an end.
Another song started right away, but while holding hands, they moved out of the dance floor to give those wanting to give it a shot a chance.
At that moment, one stand caught Kiernan's eye, and as he started walking towards it, Aoi had no choice but to follow as they were holding hands.
She looked at the stand, and her eyes rounded up in surprise as it was a strange-looking party game.
There were two tiles—red, and blue—and above them, there was a bucket of water dangling from a rope.
In front of the tiles, there was some kind of punching machine.
When one punched it, one of the buckets would tilt and splash water all over the person standing below.
"Sir, what is this?"
Kiernan asked the stall owner.
"This is one of the most popular party games—Punch or Splash—you, and your opponents will punch the machine.
"The machine will calculate the strength of your punch, and let's say you start first, and you'll record a score of 1000. Your opponent must hit harder than that, or they'll get splashed with water."
The stall owner said.
"Oh. Interesting."
Kiernan took his spot at the blue tile, tossed a gold coin to the owner, and then turned to Aoi with a smile.
"Well, Aoi. Do you want to play with me?"
"No! I don't want to get splashed and get wet! I would have to return back to the dojo and get changed, which would take time, and I wouldn't have time to see everything else that the festival has to offer!"
Aoi stated, and tugged his sleeve, pleading for him to leave as well, as it wasn't worth getting drenched over a stupid game.
However, Kiernan didn't move and, with a smile, kept waiting for his opponent to arrive.
"You boys…"
Aoi whispered in exasperation, but she then smiled and kissed him on the cheek while taking a seat on the side.
She hoped that his opponent would be a weak one and not a chosen fighter from one of the dojos.
"Oh? I was looking for this stall everywhere, haha!"
With a booming laugh, a blond-haired man paid the owner and took his spot at the red tile, turning his ferocious gaze towards Kiernan.
"Master Garcia, welcome~"
The owner greeted him warmly.
"You know him?"
Kiernan asked the owner.
"Of course~ He is a longtime customer of this little party game, and he has had great success over the years. This must be your first time trying this, and it looks like you drew a tough matchup~"
"Oh?"
Kiernan looked at the smiling young man and returned the smile with an excited chuckle.
"Kiernan…"
Aoi walked to him and whispered into his ear.
"He is Leon Garcia of Ghoul Dojo—he was already a participant in last year's tournament of dojos despite being much younger than his peers back then.
"He is very dangerous and powerful."
She warned him.
"Did I hear that right? Miss Aoi, when did you regain your lost senses? Well, I'll be damned, but as I expected, your voice is indeed as sweet as you."
Leon said with a charming smile and bowed respectfully. 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝔭𝖚𝖇.𝔠𝔬𝖒
Aoi responded with a smile, kissed Kiernan on the cheek, and sat on the side while anxiously waiting for the game to begin.
She trusted in Kiernan's strength, but the game of Punch or Splash was vastly different from just an ordinary fight.
It didn't matter that Kiernan's defensive prowess was absolute, as this game was all about offensive strength and endurance.
"I heard Miss Aoi got engaged to you. Congratulations on your engagement!"
Leon clapped his hands with a smile on his face.
"Appreciate it. Who will start?"'
Kiernan asked.
"Since you're a newbie, I'll let you start. It is usually decided with a coin flip, but since you're new, I'll give you the first turn.
Leon said with a smile.
Kiernan nodded, clenched his hand into a fist, and looked at the punching machine—it had a red cushion where he needed to aim his punch.
He swung his fist and landed a soft, quiet punch.
It looked effortless, and honestly, weak.
The punching machine's score slowly rose up and then came to a stop.
[SCORE: 111]
"Starting slow? I'll do that as well."
Leon tapped the punching machine, and the score rose slowly until it finally came to a stop.
[SCORE: 112]
'His mastery of his strength is incredible. If he had been even slightly weaker, he would've already lost the game.
'It was his way of saying that he is on completely another level and that I shouldn't even think about trying to beat him.'
