Academy's Rebel (3): "Let's Have a Spar, Sis."
"Let's have a spar, Sis."
I found Ea and said it straight to her face. She was practicing swordsmanship in the private dojo in the mansion's inner courtyard. She glanced at me like I was nothing and replied.
"What makes you so confident?"
No matter how much of a fool her little brother was, she couldn't possibly be unaware of the massive gap in their skills—or so she seemed to think, eyeing me with suspicion.
"I want to learn a bit. But if I just ask you to teach me, you'd obviously refuse, so I figured I'd have to wring it out of you the hard way."
Ea narrowed her eyes. With a sigh, she waved me off dismissively.
"I don't want to waste my time on the likes of you. Get out."
"If you spar with me once, I'll leave. Otherwise, I'll keep bothering you."
Annoyed by my words, Ea sprang to her feet in an instant and swiftly closed in, pressing the blunt tip of her bokken against my throat.
"You want to get beaten?"
"Doesn't that mean you'll spar with me?"
My heart skipped a beat when the blunt end jabbed at my neck just moments ago, but I played it cool as best I could. Ea responded with a sinister smile, clearly intending to toy with me thoroughly now that things had come to this.
"If you're that insistent, fine. But don't expect me to go easy."
"Sweet. But plain old sparring would be boring, so how about we add a condition?"
"A condition...?"
"Loser obeys one command from the winner, no matter what. Except nothing like 'die,' obviously."
Just in case I lost, I had to cover that base. She probably wouldn't give her own brother such an order anyway, but who knew.
"You're serious? Doesn't matter to me."
She figured there was no way she'd lose to a talentless slacker of a brother. Ea stared at me like I was digging my own grave, utterly baffled. Of course, I had no intention of losing either.
"Then it's a deal?"
"Do whatever you want."
"Okay. I'll go change."
I headed into the changing room inside. I swapped into a men's dobok and grabbed a bokken before coming back out. Ea looked at me like I was an idiot.
"Why are you wearing Father's?"
"This was the only one that fit."
It felt kinda big, too.
"Well... it's been over four years since you last set foot in here. No idea what wind's blowing in your sails now."
The Leonin family—Id's house—was a lineage of mages, but they placed great emphasis on swordsmanship too. All because their grandfather had been a legendary magic swordsman. In the story's lore, he was the kingdom's greatest powerhouse. Thanks to that, even Id's father, a mage, was skilled with the blade, and Ea was straight-up following in her grandfather's footsteps. In the original story, she eventually grew into a magic swordswoman of terrifying prowess. Id, on the other hand, retired in humiliation early on and was never mentioned again, so who knows. But given his innate mana reserves, a bit of effort probably would've made him above average. The problem was, he never bothered.
"Inferiority complex, I guess."
I said it, recalling Id's past. When I possessed this guy, I inherited all his memories intact, so I knew the details. In the novel, he was just a minor villainous extra, so I hadn't realized—but he had his own backstory. With a famous grandfather and father boasting incredible achievements and renown, Id had grown up under immense expectations from childhood. But Id wasn't ambitious; he was laid-back. He wasn't even that bad compared to his peers—in some ways, he was better—but to those around him, it all fell short. And then there was his sister, two years older, who unfairly seemed to have been blessed with all the talent from the gods, shining brightly from a young age while being diligent to boot. Over time, resentment festered inside him until it hit a breaking point, twisting the boy's very humanity.
It was a common story, really. Even so, I didn't think it justified his thuggish behavior or rotten personality. If anything, he seemed spoiled rotten. But at the same time... it made him a little pitiable. No one in the world would take his side. Even if he spilled his sob story, no one would sympathize. After all, he was the spoiled one. But that's precisely why his tale—no one else would understand it—tugged at the heartstrings. Only another pathetic, petty villain could comprehend a pathetic, petty villain.
"...Your eyes look different. Like you've become a whole new person overnight."
Ea clicked her tongue, muttering as if it irked her.
"What're you doing? Get in stance."
I stood there gripping my bokken, so she spoke up impatiently.
"Like this?"
I held the bokken two-handed and stepped one foot forward roughly.
"...What were you even thinking, challenging me?"
Ea scoffed.
"I'll end this quick."
Done wasting time, she charged without warning, swinging her bokken. Fast. The gap—easily ten meters—closed in less than a second. The blunt tip aimed straight for my crown, slashing down from above. That was agility 169 in action. I'd checked a maid's stats for fun earlier; mine were over three times hers. To a normal person, it was invisible speed.
But.
"...Ngh?!"
I had agility 212. [Succumea Support: Seolwol]. Power borrowed from another world. Id's base 62 + Seolwol's 150. And it wasn't just stats—skills came too. My body moved on instinct, parrying Ea's blade. Then, seamlessly, I countered with flawless form. Ea barely blocked and was sent staggering back from the impact. Right now, with a genius exorcist's stats flowing through me, I outclassed her in strength, speed... maybe even technique.
She stared in disbelief at her bokken, then at me, alternating.
"How...?"
"Sis, did you really think I'd just been slacking off all this time?"
True enough.
"I've been training in secret to catch up."
Lie.
"...You expect me to believe that?"
"There's a saying: Reality doesn't change whether you believe it or not. The numbness in your hands is the weight of truth."
Words flowed smoothly from my mouth, even though eloquence wasn't my strong suit. Probably Id's influence.
"Insolent!"
Truly pissed now, Ea lunged faster than before. Her first strike must've held back for her brother's sake. Clang, clang, clang, clang. The wooden clashes echoed ferociously, hard to believe they were just bokken. I parried every wild attack, but honestly, I had no idea how. Whoa, shit, my body's moving on its own!
Sword Magic: Wave Cutter
A blue glow flickered at her bokken's tip. Magic. One of Ea's signature moves—releasing mana from the blade to fire a slash of energy... or something. Anyway, getting hit would've wrecked me. I backpedaled as far as I could and cast a defensive spell. Good thing Id knew basic magic, at least. Obvious for a mage family's kid, but still.
Ea's blue slash hurtled forward, smashing my barrier to pieces with a boom. The shock snapped my bokken, hurling me back.
"That it? All that confidence."
Ea looked down triumphantly.
"This is a spar. Magic's allowed?"
"Why not? You know I'm a magic swordswoman. If you're mad, use it yourself."
Fine, if that's how she wanted it.
"Okay. Let's do that, then."
"What...?"
She narrowed her eyes. She knew better than anyone that her wastrel brother had no flashy skills or techniques. True, Id didn't. But Seolwol did.
"Liberation: Guiwol"
Shing. A gently curved blade materialized in my hand, gleaming with a cold, moonlight sheen despite the daytime. An eerie, otherworldly sword.
"A magic sword...?"
"It's magic too, so it's fair game, right?"
Technically sorcery. But by this world's standards, it counted as magic.
"Fair warning: you might get hurt. I already did."
I wiped the blood trickling from my mouth with the back of my hand. If I'd eaten that Wave Cutter head-on like a chump, my bones would've shattered. I'd been holding back, but now? Gloves off.
"Bluffing!"
Ea charged, swinging. Her blade glowed blue again—prepping the same attack. This time, with intent to hospitalize me for sixteen weeks easy. I swung my yodo in response.
Yodo: Ghost Slash
The power of Yodo: Ghost Slash cleaved space itself. Not like Ea's energy slash—this erased a slice of coordinates equal to the blade's width. No travel time, no blocking it. Dodge preemptively or bust. Ea, of course, had no clue.
"...Huh?"
Just as she fired her slash, her bokken snapped with a crack. Panicking, she looked up. Seizing the opening, I closed in and slammed the hilt into her solar plexus.
"Guh...!"
Ea crumpled to her knees, face twisted in agony. I pointed my blade at her and declared.
"I win."