Chapter 84: Weaponless Resolve

“You don’t even have a weapon, so what kind of sparring are you suggesting?”

“You just want me to have a weapon, right? Wait just a second!”

After saying that, Reysir Daudabina headed for the shower room.

A few seconds later, he returned to the training hall, holding a blunted practice spear.

It was obvious he’d pulled it out of his Inventory.

I could infer as much, but considering the place Reysir had gone in and out of, I couldn’t help but nitpick.

“You just brought your weapon out of the shower room, didn’t you?”

“Hm? Why?”

“Don’t you even know the basic rule that you shouldn’t store weapons in a humid place?”

“Uh… Well… I do know that much…”

“Then… Don’t tell me… You didn’t wash up…?”

“No!!”

“Then you really must not have any common sense.”

“……”

I could see Reysir’s face turning red with injustice.

How many times had he had to bite his tongue, unable to retort, even when he felt wronged, including being treated like a fool before training?

Thinking that Reysir was feeling the same way brought me a wicked sense of satisfaction.

While feeling triumphant inside, I maintained a look of scorn on the outside. Suddenly, Reysir’s eyes sparkled as if he’d made up his mind about something.

My curiosity lasted only a moment. Soon enough, I was forced to be shocked.

The reason for that became clear in less than sixty seconds.

“This spear, and even the clothes I’m wearing now—they weren’t actually stored in the shower room.”

So saying, Reysir put the spear back into his Inventory and took it out again. The space rippled like a wave, and the long spear disappeared and reappeared before my eyes. How could I not gape at such a bizarre phenomenon?

‘This guy… Just because he didn’t want to be called an idiot for storing weapons in a shower room, he revealed his Inventory ability…?!’

I was so dumbfounded, I couldn’t even speak.

But Reysir seemed to think my reaction was due to the shock of seeing something disappear and reappear from thin air.

“Why are you so surprised? Your contracted beast’s orb-shaped artifact also ignores the laws of physics and lets you store things. I just don’t need a medium like that, that’s all.”

Apparently, Reysir had mistaken the Yeouiju for an item-storing artifact.

For the record, such artifacts don’t exist in this world. It’s a setting designed to highlight the uniqueness of Awakeners.

Still, if you don’t know what a Yeouiju is, you’d have no choice but to assume it’s some sort of artifact.

I had no reason or desire to correct him, so I let it slide.

“That ability…”

“I’ve been able to do it ever since the Silver Aether appeared. I’m fine now, but there was a time when I felt anxious if I didn’t have a weapon on me. But a spear is so long, it’s a hassle to carry around, right? So, the moment I thought it was bothersome, it felt like a glass pane appeared in midair.”

Reysir explained at length, describing how, when he brought an item close to this invisible thing, it would pass right through, and a simple drawing of the item would appear on the glass. I already knew about the Inventory, so I half-listened to the end, focusing on his earlier words.

‘He must’ve been unable to let go of his weapon out of anxiety, probably because of the trauma from the first time the Demonic Realm appeared. When the Demonic Realm is created, monsters suddenly pop up too! I was planning to at least get a hit in during our spar, but he unexpectedly dropped that kind of sad backstory? That’s just foul play.’

“For the record, only Diyuf Bitnir and Helly know about this ability. I tried to keep it secret, but on second thought, there’s no need to hide it from you. I’ve already told you about the Silver Aether anyway.”

Opening the Inventory window is a perk of Awakening and has nothing to do with the Silver Aether.

But the reason Reysir said that wasn’t to cunningly mislead me.

At this point, he’s the only Awakener in existence. He just mistook the Inventory as something he got thanks to the Silver Aether.

In other words, Reysir was expressing genuine trust.

‘He drops a tragic story to tug at my pity, and now he’s confiding in me with a secret that only a select few know…! The fact that he does this unintentionally is what’s truly shocking. I should never let my guard down around a main character.’

“Anyway, you said you’d spar if I had a weapon, right?”

“I never said that.”

“But that’s the vibe I got from what you said, right?”

“I won’t deny it.”

Satisfied with my answer, Reysir chuckled.

Then he spun the spear shaft lightly, loosening up his body.

“But Karvald Austri, you’re planning to Buff yourself, right?”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to say that’s not allowed?”

“No, it’s just… could you Buff me too?”

“Absolutely not. I’m already at a disadvantage here. Why would I make you even stronger?”

“I was just curious what it feels like to be Buffed…”

Though Reysir looked a bit disappointed, he didn’t beg me to cast a Buff on him.

Instead, he bent his knees slightly, gripping the spear’s middle and rear with both hands and pointing the blade in my direction.

It was his way of signaling the end of the chatter and the start of the match.

I, too, readied myself for the duel by reactivating my Buff, which had worn off.

“I’ll give you the first move.”

“I never learned how to attack first.”

“Oh, really? Then try attacking in your own way.”

It was quite a difficult demand.

But thinking of the future, this was something I needed to experience at least once.

You can’t always wait for the enemy to make the first move and just stand there.

‘In novels, when a character is supposed to attack first, what do they usually do?’

First, they’d carefully observe the opponent’s stance and try to find an opening.

The problem was, whether Reysir’s form was perfect or my eye was untrained, I just couldn’t spot any gaps.

That left me with only one thing I could do.

A mindless charge.

I could already guess the outcome, but what could I do? I couldn’t give up without even trying.

I stamped my foot hard, closing the distance between myself and Reysir while estimating my attack range.

When I reached a spot where my whip could just about reach him, I swung my arm from the inside out, lashing the whip.

Reysir lowered his stance further, dodging the whip flying at his waist while simultaneously kicking off the floor.

His movement had the recoil of a spring.

In an instant, the gap between us closed, and I realized I was within his attack range.

Even though I expected it, I felt a surge of panic.

I hurriedly swung the whip again as I retreated. But it wasn’t enough to stop Reysir.

He dodged my attack yet again, barely moving his upper body.

By that point, the gap was so close that I couldn’t even swing my whip.

At this distance, even Reysir couldn’t swing his spear.

But he hadn’t misjudged the distance—he was just going easy on me.

At some point, Reysir shifted the spear to one hand and opened his left palm wide.

Instead of striking me with his spear or his fist, he gently pushed my torso with his palm.

Here, ‘gently’ refers only to the movement, not the force.

The strength in that arm was anything but weak, and I was sent sprawling backward.

So much so, that my feet didn’t even touch the ground as I fell. Even if it was for the briefest moment, my body was airborne.

“Are you alright?”

Reysir offered his hand, as if to help me up, and asked how I was.

Aside from my pride being bruised at losing the duel in barely a minute, my body was completely fine.

In fact, the spot where I hit the floor hurt more than where his palm had touched, which says a lot about how much Reysir was holding back.

Nevertheless, his attitude felt a bit like giving with one hand and taking with the other.

Even if I hadn’t felt that way, I wouldn’t have taken his hand to stand up.

I ignored Reysir’s outstretched hand, got up on my own, and dusted off my clothes.

“Let’s go again. This time, I’ll attack first.”

Even though I’d ignored his hand, which must have been a little awkward for him,

Reysir just accepted my attitude as a matter of course and suggested round two.

Judging by the way he dodged my second whip just as easily, changing who attacked first probably wouldn’t change the result.

But on the other hand, it was proof that Reysir wasn’t going to get hit by my whip no matter what.

It was a good opportunity to get over my hesitation about actually swinging a whip at someone.

We widened the distance and started the match again.

And this time, I finally understood why Reysir said dealing with projectiles and with people were different.

Unlike projectiles, which have a set trajectory once thrown, a person’s movements change constantly.

Just like in the first spar, Reysir didn’t rush in and topple me right away.

He moved in all directions—forward, backward, left, right—dodging my whip. Sometimes, he’d parry my attacks with his spear.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t get to me; he simply chose not to.

Even after I realized this, at first I kept swinging the whip, determined to at least graze his clothes.

But before long, I started to feel like I was just helping him train rather than training myself.

So I lowered my whip-wielding hand.

“Huh…? You’re quitting already?”

“We’ve already repeated closing and opening the gap several times, haven’t we? If we’ve come this far, I think that’s enough practice for closing the distance against someone with longer reach than a spear.”

“Ahaha… Sorry.”

Reysir laughed awkwardly, apologizing, and I accepted it as only natural.

He’d said he wanted to watch me train, but ended up using me for his own practice.

If he has a conscience, feeling sorry is the right thing.

“By the way, it seems like you’ve only learned the basics of the Whip Technique? I don’t think you’re ready for real combat at all. You have way too many openings.”

“Openings? Where exactly?”

“Uh… from head to toe, all over…?”

“……”

I’d tried my best to prepare for real combat, but as expected, there’s a limit to self-study.

When vacation comes and I return to my original body’s family home, I’ll have to find a proper Whip Technique instructor.

If I can’t find the right expert, I’ll just have to learn it the hard way, endlessly sparring until I master it myself.

‘Maybe I should consider switching to a different main weapon…?’

That’s what crossed my mind at this moment.

But, for the sake of any frustrated readers, let me give a small spoiler: there’s no need for that.

In a rather ambiguous way—though it was fortunate—I’d soon have the chance to learn actual combat Whip Technique.

But today’s training isn’t over yet.

That story will have to wait until a little later… probably around the episode after next.