As Kari backpedaled, Queen Medusa created several ethereal poison snakes, glowing purple creatures made from Spiritual Power. They launched themselves at Kari, but she wouldn’t be beaten. She danced across the ground, swung her ranseur, which glowed with a bright light that made her look divine, and sliced each snake into pieces.
I judged the distance between myself and the group of Lamia. It was probably… I’d say about twelve meters or so. Nodding, I walked back to the edge of the building, turned around, and channeled Spiritual Power into my legs. I counted down to three, two, one. Then I burst forward, propelling myself across the building and leaping off.
My body soared through the air, the wind whistling all around me. Circulating more Spiritual Power through my body, I channeled it all into the khopesh.
I had aimed myself so I would land among the section of the Lamia circle furthest from me. None of them saw me until it was far too late. One of the Lamia looked up, her mouth open in surprise, and then I was swinging the khopesh in a wide arc with all my strength.
Lightning exploded from the khopesh, which shattered as the Spiritual Power surging through it became too much. It didn’t matter now. A wide arc of lightning slammed into the ground, erupting in an explosion of pale blue light. The Lamia who were immediately below the attack when it struck were fried. Their bodies became steaming black corpses that twitched as arcs of pale blue energy skittered over them.
It wasn’t just the Lamia in the immediate vicinity who were affected. The lightning spread out in a ripple that sent numerous snake people flying backward, killing some and paralyzing others. Quite a number of them flopped to the floor, their bodies twitching like a fish on dry land.
“Eryk!” Kari shouted as she and Queen Medusa stopped their battle to look at me.
“Let’s go!” I shouted back as my Spiritual Power surged and a Spiritual Aura that looked like a combination of lightning and water swirled around me. “There’s no point in sticking around here any longer!”
“Right!” Kari laughed as she raised the ranseur over her head and shuffled along the ground, moving to a rhythm I couldn’t hear.
“You… this queen will murder both of you!!” Queen Medusa shrieked.
The woman raised her hands high above her head, and a massive ball of purple energy gathered above her. A strange scent filled the air. As I glanced at the ball of condensed Spiritual Power, I noticed how the air was hissing and sizzling as though it was being vaporized. Poison. The thought struck me. That ball of power was a massive poison attack that was so strong even the atmosphere was affected.
With a loud shriek, Queen Medusa threw the giant sphere at Kari. By this point, Kari’s ranseur was glowing so brightly I couldn’t look at it directly. With a cry of her own, she swung her weapon down.
No beam was created. No attack was launched. What happened instead was that Kari’s ranseur sliced right through the sphere of condensed Spiritual Power, cutting it in half. The two halves flew away from her, striking some of the Lamia who hadn’t moved out of the way in time. It seemed they weren’t immune to Queen Medusa’s poison either. The Lamia who were caught up in her attack screeched as their bodies melted from the acid-like poison. Even the ground began melting.
Kari must have used a lot of power in that last attack of hers, for her breathing had grown heavy. Still, she rushed forward, her blade glowing again as she swung it at the shocked Queen Medusa, who tried to move back. The Lamia queen wasn’t fast enough. Blood sprayed from her shoulder as Kari sheared her arm right off. A shriek, this time of pain, erupted from Queen Medusa’s mouth.
Rather than finishing her off, Kari decided that it was more important for us to escape. I agreed. There were still plenty of Lamia around who weren’t injured.
“Come on!” she shouted at me as she raced past.
The two of us ran into the desert, the shrieks of agony and anger echoing behind us. I wasn’t sure how long we ran for, but no one followed us. I guess ensuring their queen survived after having her arm cut off was more important. If nothing else, I had to respect their decision. They had their priorities straight.
“Thanks for saving me,” I said after we’d run for some time.
“Isn’t it only natural to save the man I love?” asked Kari with a smile.
I laughed. “I suppose so.”
“That said… do you mind if I ask something?” she continued.
“Go ahead.” I gestured toward her.
“Why are you naked?”
I looked down at myself and suddenly realized that, yes, I was still naked. My dick was out for all to see, flopping around as I ran. Now that I remembered my own nakedness, I also realized that running without undergarments to hold my junk in place was really painful.
“You know… I wish I knew the answer to that question myself,” I said as I looked back up at Kari.
Kari’s response was to shake her head.
The spear twirled in Kari’s hand as she backpedaled, dancing along the ground as the person before her thrust the sword in their hand forward, seeking to penetrate her defenses. The clang of metal striking metal echoed all around them. Each thrust of this person’s sword was a blur that could scarcely be followed by human eyes. Kari was able to follow them fine, however, having trained hard to be capable of tracking her opponent’s incredibly swift attacks, and she continued spinning and twirling her spear to knock the attacks away without a moment’s hesitation.
It was early morning. She and her instructor were sparring in the courtyard of the Imperial Royal Palace. The crisp morning air burned her lungs as she continued to move, continued to defend.
“You’ll never defeat me if all you do is defend yourself!” Her trainer’s harsh words echoed in her ears, but Kari couldn’t help that. This woman wasn’t allowing her any time to attack!
The dance continued. The woman before her took a step forward and thrust out her sword again. Kari twitched as she moved her ranseur to intercept it. However, this time, she didn’t just try to defend. She placed the spear tip into a position so the sword slid between two of the trident-like tips, then moved it forward until her weapon rested against the sword’s crossguard. After which, she locked their weapons together and pulled.
A loud grinding noise followed by a woosh sound like rushing wind echoed around the courtyard, preceding a low whistling as the sword flew through the air, spinning several times before clattering to the ground a few meters away. Kari stared at the sword in disbelief.
“I did it,” she muttered, her excitement growing. “I did—oof!”
The harsh blow to her chest sent Kari sprawling to the ground. She gasped and heaved several times as she raised a hand to her chest, massaging it as though that would somehow ease the pain.
“You might have disarmed me, but that didn’t mean the battle was over,” a stern voice lectured her. “Remember this, in battle, you must always make sure your opponent is either dead or incapable of attacking. Just getting rid of their primary weapon is not enough. They might have a secondary weapon. What’s more, if you’re up against a Spiritualist, they will still have their Spiritual Techniques.”
Kari looked up at her trainer with an embarrassed smile. “Right. I’m sorry, Instructor Brynhild.”
The person Kari called Instructor Brynhild was a powerful-looking woman with a squarish face that looked like it had been hewn from stone. Her strong jaw and dark gray eyes lent her a somewhat frightening appearance, further enhanced by the jagged scar running down her left cheek.
She was a solidly built woman, with broad shoulders and muscular arms. Her body was clad in chainmail and a chestplate that gleamed like silver in the morning light. Sturdy pauldrons sat on her shoulders, vambraces covered her forearms, and her hands were protected by a pair of thick gloves with segmented metal plates. A simple skirt covered her knees. When she moved, it revealed that she was wearing brown pants beneath the skirt, and each time she walked, the metal of her greaves clinked together.
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��Well, at least you managed to disarm me this time.” With a resigned smile, Instructor Brynhild shook her head and held out her hand. “That is something you have not done ever since we began training. Your improvement this past month has been astounding.”
“Thank you, but I’m still not good enough to beat you.”
Kari grabbed her instructor’s hand and allowed the woman to pull her up. She dusted off her bottom, wincing only slightly as she realized a bruise had formed there. Sitting down was going to hurt.
While she was lamenting over how sore her butt was going to be, Instructor Brynhild walked over to her sword. It was a single-edged sword with a moderately curved blade, though the last few centimeters of the back edge were sharpened as well. This weapon was called a sabre, and its primary use was for slashing or chopping. However, the moderate curve also allowed them to be reasonably effective for thrusting too.
“Really, though, I am impressed.” Instructor Brynhild glanced at her weapon, and then looked over at Kari. “Your training speed is something that I’ve never seen from anyone else. If I didn’t know any better, I would have said you were training in secret without my knowledge.”
“No, no. I have just been taking what you’ve taught me to heart,” Kari said as she rubbed the back of her neck. There was no way she could tell her instructor that the reason for her success was because Eryk had made Body Forging Pills to help build up her physical strength.
“Well, either way, now that you have reached this stage, I believe you should take a break,” Instructor Brynhild announced.
“A break?” Kari’s eyes widened.
Sliding her sabre back into the sheath attached to her waist, Instructor Brynhild nodded. “You have been doing exceedingly well. However, training is only truly effective when people allow their body to rest. For the last month, you and I have been training almost nonstop, and this is on top of your studies for the Spiritualist Academy. So I will be giving you a few days off to relax and recuperate.”
Kari felt like someone had shocked her with a Spiritual Lightning Technique. She was getting a break? She would have a period of rest? The temptation to pinch herself and see if she was dreaming was so real that the only reason she didn’t was because she knew Instructor Brynhild would give her a strange look.
As the realization that she would really get to take a break finally settled in her mind, a smile formed on her face. She knew just what she wanted to do on this break.
I woke up to the feeling of being wrapped in something. My body felt constricted, like someone had taken a really large rope and tied me up. However, this felt different than rope. For one thing, the thing wrapping around my arms, legs, and chest was smooth and soft. For another, it was very… thick. I had no better way to describe it.
Opening my eyes just a crack, I stared at the face of a snake just centimeters from my own. As I blinked several times, wondering why this snake was so close, I realized that I was lying on my side and hugging it. Not only was I hugging the snake, but the snake was hugging me. Well, it had wrapped all six meters of its long body around my own. I guess that constituted as a hug.
“Hey…” I mumbled. “Hey, can you unwind? I can’t get out of bed with you wrapped around me like an overly affectionate scarf.”
The snake required a lot of effort to wake up. Its forked tongue flicked in and out of its mouth, a strange hissing noise that sounded an awful lot like snores emitting from it. Simply talking to it didn’t work. That being the case, I channeled the lightning element through my body, giving it just enough of a jolt that it opened its eyes. I didn’t want to hurt it.
“I need to get up,” I said as the snake looked around in what I could only assume was confusion. It turned its head to me and hissed. “Yes, now. Look, today might be a day off from the library, but I still have things to do.”
The snake did not look convinced, but it slowly unwound itself from around me, allowing me to climb out of bed. As my feet touched the cool floor, I stretched my arms and let out a loud yawn. I was completely naked. However, it wasn’t like my nudity would bother anyone. The only one in here aside from me was the snake, and, well, it was a snake.
I washed my face in the basin and cleaned my body with a wet cloth and some soap. After using a small towel to dry off, I got dressed in the clothing that Fay had bought for me quite a few days ago. Tapping my boots against the ground to make sure they felt right, I nodded once.
“All right,” I mumbled to myself before turning to the snake. “You coming or staying here?” The snake shook its head and buried its face into my pillow, causing me to shrug. “Suit yourself.”
Upon leaving my room, I bought a loaf of honey-glazed bread for breakfast and ate as I walked through the early morning streets. It wasn’t too crowded at this time. Aside from people like bakers and stall owners who were setting up for the day, there were only a few people present.
I thought about what I should do as I walked. It was my day off from the library, Fay had to attend a family function of some kind, and I didn’t need to visit the Alchemist Association for anything. This was the first time in a long time that I had a free day.
Two months had finally come and gone since I was thrown back into my seventeen-year-old body. So much had happened during this time. I’d met Kari again, begun training, cured Fay Valstine of Spiritual Poisoning, had her join me in training, made a deal with the Alchemist Association, confessed my love to Kari, and had Fay confess her love to me. It was enough to make my head spin.
While letting my feet take me wherever, I ended up somehow traveling to the library. This didn’t surprise me. Within Nevaria, the library was still the place I visited the most, and it was also the place where I could meet Kari. It was almost like my body just instinctively wanted to come here.
As I stood in front of the library, debating whether or not I should go in, the decision was taken from me when a soft voice reached my ears.
“Eryk?”
I turned around to discover Kari walking toward me. The sleeveless white dress she wore swished around her thighs. It didn’t extend past her knees, instead stopping just a few centimeters above. She was not wearing a cloak this time, allowing me to see her impressive breasts, which strained against her dress even though she was clearly wearing breast bindings. I looked down and saw that she was wearing sandals. Her cute toes wiggled a little as she stood there.
“Good morning,” I greeted Kari with a smile. “I’m surprised to see you here so early. What’s the occasion?”
“Instructor Brynhild gave me some time off from training.” Kari wore a happy smile as she announced this, and she even went so far as to thrust out her large chest, causing it to bounce a little. “She says I’ve been exceeding her expectations with my training, and that I should take a break.”
“And so you decided to come here.” I nodded before giving her a teasing smile. “Were you hoping I’d also be here?”
Kari’s cheeks flushed only a little as she looked away. “Would it be imprudent if I was?”
“Not at all.” I shook my head. “In fact, I was hoping I’d be able to see you as well. You see, I also have some free time today. I’m not working, I’m taking a day off from training, and I have nothing that really needs to be done. Since we’re both free, I was thinking the two of us could spend that time together.”
The way Kari’s eyes shone as I finished talking caused a warmth to spread through my chest. Her pretty pink lips curled into a delicate, artful smile, and her cheeks remained a light pink.
“I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to escort me around Nevaria,” she said, her polite, restrained voice shaking just a little. It sounded like her emotions were being held back by a very thin leash.
“In that case, why don’t we wander around and talk a bit?” I offered my hand to Kari, who stared at it for several seconds before acting.
“Yes!” She reached out and placed her hand in mine. Her fingers were soft and delicate. She looked at me with a smile.
“I would love to walk around with you!”
Hand in hand, the two of us began walking through the city.
I don’t believe either of us had any real destination in mind. We walked wherever our feet took us, talking about the most recent stories we had read, the latest news concerning old and new ruins found in the Demon Beast Mountain Range, and anything that caught our interest. I made it a point to mildly tease her whenever I could. Sometimes that meant slipping in a random compliment. Other times it meant poking fun at her strong wanderlust. She accepted them gracefully—that is to say, she blushed and poked me in the cheek, but she was smiling as she did so.
We reached the Merchant’s District at some point, which had become quite lively now that it was nearing noon. As we looked at the stalls selling everything from produce to jewelry, a strong, slightly salty scent wafted through the air. Our stomachs growled at that time, as if to remind us that we hadn’t eaten since beginning this date.
“How about something to eat?” I suggested.
Kari nodded. “That sounds good.”
The scent that had caught our attention came from a stall selling grilled meat and vegetables on a stick. The meat was lightly browned and seasoned with a combination of salt, pepper, and something a little spicy. The vegetables were similarly seasoned. I recognized quite a few of them. Cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant, and pineapples.
“How many do you want?” I asked as we walked up to the stall.
“Oh, I can pay for myself,” Kari said, but I wasn’t having it.
“I know you can, but I want today to be my treat.” I saw Kari frowning at me. Her mouth was opening to refute me, but I quickly forestalled her. “Since I asked you to accompany me today, please let me treat you. Next time, you can ask me to accompany you and treat me instead. Sound good?”
WIEDERGEBURT: Legend of the Reincarnated Warrior: Volume 2 Page 17