Reincarnated into Two Bodies

After my back-to-back fight with Attila, the joint training session continued.

Everyone slowly got their turn to do their favorite matchups.

Villius put up an impressive showing against both Kyro and Attila. His match with Kyro was a grueling battle of strength versus technique. Villius ultimately secured the win, but not before Kyro executed a devastating tackle that nearly plowed Villius flat into the floor mats. Villius only dodged in a nick of time.

His bout with Attila, on the other hand, was an absolute standard in high-level swordplay. The two traded parries and exchanges for a while until Attila found an opening, brutally striking Villius's knuckles. The impact loosened his grip, sent his sword spinning across the room, and left him thoroughly disarmed.

Attila herself capitalized on that momentum, riding a spectacular win streak against Kyro and Eve. Her explosive, heavy-hitting style seemed completely unstoppable… until she challenged Clarissa, of course.

As it turned out, Clarissa was an entirely different beast. The moment I established the house rule that a solid hit to the torso or head meant victory… the shy, stuttering marksman went on an absolute rampage.

Her relentless rain of blunt arrows became a nightmare for anyone on the receiving end. Just as he had grimly predicted earlier, Villius was sniped down by her second arrow. Eve couldn’t even manage to deflect the first one. And Attila, despite all her terrifying reflexes, was eventually shot right in the center of her chest.

How in the world did I underestimate a monster like that?!

I was on the verge of punching myself for being so arrogant.

As for my remaining matches, I used them as training grounds for my new techniques.

—

First up was Feyt versus Kyro.

To be honest, using my new muscle-hearing technique against Kyro felt like cheating. The guy’s muscles were practically yelling out attack moves. Every time he prepared to launch a heavy bash or a fast swing, the violent contraction of his massive bicep and thigh muscles practically echoed through the room.

Okay, maybe not through the room, but it was clear as crystal to me.

I could hear his move seconds before he executed it. It took a bit of footwork, but I smoothly slipped past his guard and tapped his sides with a wooden blade.

“Wha—! Again?!” Kyro roared, throwing his hands up in defeat, though a massive grin split his face. “Man, Feyt, it’s like you’re inside my head!”

Not your head, bud. Just your muscles.

—

Next up was Carine versus Villius.

He, for one, seemed genuinely excited to spar with me, a proud yet soft smile plastered across his face as he took his stance.

The moment Lionne dropped the flag, he exploded forward, unleashing aggressive, high-pressure strikes that forced me onto the defensive immediately. The clattering of our wooden swords echoed sharply through the room as he actively tried to break my guard, mixing his hybrid style seamlessly with the Sareid fundamentals.

He was as confident in his attacks as he was with Eve and Feyt last time. I saw countless openings to exploit because his hybrid style wasn’t perfect, but I let them go to hopefully learn more about his fighting style.

However, as the exchange pressed on, I noticed something strange.

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Every time his blade hit mine, or whenever it swung in my general direction, there was always a slight hesitation at the end, near the moment of contact. It was as if he was afraid of… damaging my blade?

I mean, I wouldn’t want Mother to yell at me to wear out her gifted wooden blade in a random practice session, especially after she told me not to… But holding back against me offended me more.

Either way, his constant hesitation to land a heavy hit, fully commit to a parry, or just get close to me in general eventually showered me with more openings than I knew what to do with. As a fellow Sareid practitioner, watching him leave himself so exposed was starting to actively annoy me.

Eventually, I grew tired of the dance. I stepped sharply into his guard and delivered a swift, decisive strike, ending the match right then and there.

Villius froze, staring down at the wooden tip resting over the side of his chin, before letting out a slow, defeated breath. He lowered his weapon and offered a respectful bow. "Your ability to seize an opening under pressure is truly remarkable, Lady Carine. I concede."

"Thank you for the match, Villius," I replied smoothly, keeping my tone perfectly dignified before narrowing my eyes slightly. “But please, do not hold back on me next time we fight. Understand?”

He stiffened instantly, a visible shudder running down his spine as goosebumps broke out on his arms. “O-Of course, Lady Carine… Forgive me….”

I lowered my sword, sighing silently.

Seriously, it’s just a piece of wood. It's not like Mother’s going to hunt him down if it gets a scratch.

—

My next match after that was against Clarissa as Feyt. This was fresh off of her absolutely annihilating Attila too, so everyone was holding their breath for the match.

Clarissa stood across the mat, nocking a blunt training arrow with a level of quiet, serene focus that was frankly a little terrifying. It seemed the win streak earlier had put her into a flow state of some kind.

I decided this was the ultimate testing ground. I wanted to see how far I could push Feyt’s limits. I completely closed Carine’s eyes and pretended to doze off again, effectively blinding half my consciousness, and resolved to keep things fair by relying strictly on Feyt’s ears.

That was a mistake.

The moment Lionne dropped the flag, I heard the sharp, sudden snap of Clarissa’s bowstring. I immediately tried to focus on the arrow and Clarissa’s movements… But then I realized that, apparently, arrows don't have muscles.

I could hear the wind whistling furiously against the wood, but my ears alone couldn't calculate the exact trajectory or predict where the projectile was aiming in mid-air. All I knew was that it was coming straight at me at ridiculous speed.

Before I could even attempt a side-step, a blunt training arrow slammed squarely right between my eyes, with enough force for me to send my head snapping back.

“A-Ah! Sir Feyt! I am so sorry!” Clarissa squeaked, her terrifying sniper aura vanishing in an instant. She dropped her bow to the mats and frantically ran towards me. “Are you alright?! Did I hurt you?! We should get you to the infirmary!”

I rubbed the bridge of my nose, blinking away the blurry vision that slowly cleared. “I’m fine, Clarissa. Really. That was… a great shot.”

If that was a real arrow… I would’ve…

A heavy, cold shudder spread through me.

Note to self: Clarissa, actually scary.

—

Finally, as the afternoon wore on and the designated rental time for the private training chamber drew to a close, the frantic energy in the room began to wind down.

Matches still continued, with a few eager rematches along the way. Kyro and Villius stepped onto the mat for round two, and this time, Kyro actually managed to secure the win, roaring in victory while Villius offered a wry, respectful smile, rubbing his back from tanking Kyro’s tackle.

With every passing match, the atmosphere slowly shifted, feeling less like a training session and much more like a genuine bonding session between friends as talks and gossip sharing became more prominent.

By the time we were all spent with matches, we were all just hanging around in the room. Some of us sat on the mat, some didn’t look tired at all, et cetera.

Leila, who had been guarding the door this entire time, despite my repeated, ignored invitations for her to just sit with us, finally stepped away from her post. She returned carrying a large tray of deeply refreshing, chilled drinks she had prepared for everyone.

When did you prepare that? You haven’t left your spot in over an hour!

Lionne eagerly jumped up to help her, distributing the cups along with fresh towels to wipe away our sweat.

With that, our joint training session finally came to a close.

All in all, it was a very productive day.

I learned something new about both of my bodies. I got in some nice workouts with the matches. I took note of a dangerous potential opponent—Clarissa, ahem. And on top of that, Attila even made some new friends.

…Okay, perhaps the last one wasn’t too good news for me.

But it was safe to say we would all walk out of the practice chamber stronger than we were when we entered. I could only hope that, in the future, be it before or after the tournament, we could do something like this again.