Sparring
“But... you two seem awfully close.”
Rina’s voice, cold as a sheet of ice, drove itself straight into my ears.
I stopped breathing for a second.
The face that had been pouring out loneliness just moments earlier, looking ready to cry at any second, was gone. Now she was glaring at me and Senior Bella with a chillingly settled gaze. The look she directed at Senior Bella in particular seemed laced with blatant displeasure.
“W-What are you talking about!”
I stammered first in my fluster. Beside me, Senior Bella also wore a surprised expression at Rina’s sudden change.
“Close? What nonsense!”
I forced myself to sound nonchalant—no, I shot back with a voice laced with irritation instead.
“Th-That... we were just checking if an item was working properly and got caught by the professor...”
Why am I even making excuses for this?
Had my excuse worked, though? The icy aura vanished from Rina’s face in an instant. As if nothing had happened, she put on her usual gentle, kind smile and said,
“Ah, so that’s what it was.”
She spoke with an expression that seemed truly regretful.
“What a shame. I was hoping you’d found someone close you could rely on. Walking around alone every day must get lonely, right?”
Her gaze flicked over Senior Bella. But there wasn’t a shred of actual regret in her tone.
The unexpected three-way confrontation at the dessert shop ended more anticlimactically than I’d expected.
As soon as she finished her cake, Rina hurried off, saying her prayer time was up. Her retreating figure heading toward the single-room dormitories looked somehow busier than usual.
Well, a candidate Saintess is supposed to be busy, after all.
But thinking that...
That icy gaze. A chilling expression I’d never once seen in the game.
Did I do something wrong?
In any case, since I couldn’t afford to get closer to her... I decided not to worry about it any further.
Once again, it was just me and Senior Bella left alone.
On the way back to the Academy after leaving the shop, the evening streets, free of the earlier commotion, were quite quiet. With nothing particular to say, we just walked side by side. An awkward silence hung between us, but strangely, it didn’t feel uncomfortable. In fact, this was far better than the subtle tension from a moment ago.
“Hey, Yeon.”
How long had we been walking? Senior Bella was the first to break the silence. She hesitated for a moment, fidgeting, then continued while slightly averting her gaze.
“If... if you still have time, maybe we could...”
...Huh?
Do what together? Surely she wasn’t suggesting we go eat dessert again?
“Th-That is...”
Senior Bella cleared her throat once, then continued as if it were nothing.
“I was thinking we could spar together or something.”
“Spar?”
I looked at her with a puzzled expression. Out of nowhere? Of course, Senior Bella was an instructor at the Academy and I was a student, so it wasn’t strange, but... the timing was way too sudden.
And more than anything...
My training isn’t something I can show other people.
Breaking my fingers, deliberately wounding myself, or worse—my “training” methods were far beyond the common sense of ordinary people. I had no confidence I could do that casually in front of Senior Bella. Besides, it would only cause her more unnecessary worry.
As I hesitated without answering, Senior Bella asked again. This time, her voice held pure curiosity.
“Come to think of it, I’ve been curious—why don’t you use any martial arts at all? The Bennet family is a renowned house of swordsmanship. You should have at least learned the basics... but your fighting style is too... how should I put it, inefficient.”
She was right. The Bennet family’s swordsmanship was known as top-tier even in Tera. In the original game, Serena Bennet had shown powerful sword skills.
But...
I had no choice but to answer with a slightly dejected expression.
“Well... I don’t have the talent for it.”
At my answer, Senior Bella stared at me with a look that said, “What kind of nonsense is that?”
“That’s impossible.”
She immediately refuted.
“Six high-rank monsters. The number of people who can fight like you against those things... you can count them on one hand even on the front lines. And you say you have no talent?”
Senior Bella’s gaze was serious. She seemed to think I was lying out of humility or for some other reason. But this was the plain truth.
“It’s true. I’ve tried all sorts of things since I was little... but strangely, I never improve at all. Other than wrapping mana around my body and swinging, there’s nothing I can do.”
I said with a shrug. This wasn’t an excuse or an act. I really was a complete zero when it came to talent for martial arts. I couldn’t even properly follow the basic martial arts that street thugs pick up.
“Strange...”
Senior Bella still looked unconvinced as she looked me up and down, as if there was some secret hidden somewhere in my body. After a moment lost in thought, she seemed to make up her mind and grabbed my wrist again.
“Follow me.”
“Where?”
“The training room. I need to check for myself.”
Without hesitation, Senior Bella led me deeper into the Academy. The place we arrived at wasn’t the common training ground used by regular students, but a private training room assigned to professors or special students. The interior was quite spacious, with various training equipment neatly arranged.
“This is my private training room.”
Senior Bella said as she closed the door.
“No one can enter without permission, so you can relax.”
She brought me to the center of the training room.
“Alright, then let’s see. Whether you really have no talent for martial arts.”
Her eyes were serious. I sighed. Did she really need to confirm this to be satisfied? Well, there was nothing to hide anyway, so I might as well show her. What a hassle.
“First, let’s start with a light spar. With wooden swords.”
She tossed me one of the two wooden swords hanging on the wall. A solid, heavy feel. It had been a while since I’d held a sword.
“Ready?”
She lowered her stance and aimed her wooden sword. A flawless stance.
“Whenever.”
I also raised my wooden sword and took a stance, however clumsily.
Whoosh—!
Senior Bella moved first. A fast, concise movement. The wooden sword flew toward my shoulder with a sharp whistling of wind. It wasn’t an unavoidable attack. But I deliberately didn’t dodge. Because that was the fighting style that suited me.
This much is nothing.
Thud!
A dull sound, and impact transmitted to my shoulder. A slight ringing in the bone, accompanied by a bit of pleasure.
“…!”
Senior Bella flinched for a moment and stepped back. Her expression was tinged with bewilderment.
“Haa...”
She let out a deep sigh and pressed her forehead.
“Right, I know about the regeneration magic circle carved on your back and that... bizarre unique ability of yours. And that maybe for you, that might be more helpful.”
She paused for a moment and looked at me. Complex emotions were in her eyes.
“Since it’s a spar, it can’t be helped, but... still, I’d prefer if you didn’t deliberately allow unnecessary attacks.”
“…….”
...What a shame.
I smacked my lips a little inwardly. But with her asking like that, I couldn’t just keep taking hits. And the fact that someone was worrying about me wasn’t a bad feeling in itself. I answered with a shrug, as if I had no choice.
“…Alright. I’ll do that.”
I adjusted my grip on the wooden sword and refined my stance. This time, as she’d said, I decided to fight in a proper, orthodox way.
The spar resumed. Surprisingly, at first I almost overwhelmed Senior Bella. Unlike before, I paid attention to evasion and defense as well, but my reaction speed and mana-enhanced movements were far better than I’d thought. Senior Bella was flustered by my unexpected skill, but gradually seemed to engage in the spar in earnest. The sound of wooden swords clashing rang sharply through the training room.
At this rate, is it about to end soon?
After a few more exchanges, I aimed for Senior’s opening to deliver a finishing blow. It was right then.
Whoosh—!
Senior Bella’s movements changed in an instant. She lowered her body and dove into my right blind spot. A movement I would have sensed and reacted to easily under normal circumstances. But right now...
Thud!
“…Ugh!”
A strong impact hit my right side before I could react. It was a good thing it was a wooden sword; if it had been a real blade, it would have been a fatal wound. I staggered back from the unexpected blow.
“Kh... I got hit. As expected, Senior is strong.”
Contrary to my expectations, Senior Bella didn’t smile in victory or tease me. Instead, her expression had gone cold and stiff. Without a word, she took her stance again and once more dove without hesitation into my right blind spot.
...Damn it!
This time, since I’d predicted it, my body reacted. I raised the wooden sword to block, but perfectly defending against an attack coming from an invisible direction was impossible.
Clang!
The sound of wooden swords colliding rang out, but I couldn’t withstand the impact and lost my grip on the sword in my hand. The wooden sword fell to the floor with a clatter.
“…….”
Senior Bella didn’t attack any further. She stared at me with an expression as if she didn’t want to believe it. Senior’s gaze lingered on the area around my right eye. After a suffocating silence, she asked in a low, trembling voice.
“Yeon... what happened to your right eye?”