CHAPTER 814: CHAPTER 637: UNFAMILIAR SWORDSMANSHIP

"What’s going on?"

"What happened?"

"Is someone fighting?"

"Who is it? Such loud noises!"

At that moment, everyone in the House of Dusk was startled by the sudden clash of swords.

"In the courtyard!"

As soon as someone shouted this, everyone in the House of Dusk quickly opened nearby windows or ran to places where they could see the courtyard, eagerly peering outside.

Among them were Finn, Revilia, Grace, and Loki in the office, as well as Theona, Theone, and the now de-petrified Rephia, who were chatting about gossip with a group of female guild members.

"What’s all the racket?"

Even Bert, who had a fierce expression and seemed to be in a bad mood, was startled. He poked his head out of his room to look at the courtyard.

Upon seeing it, everyone’s faces froze.

"Is that... Mr. Reiger and Miss Ais?"

Rephia’s small head was squeezed together with the catgirl Angel and the elf elder sister Alicia, watching the two central figures in their previous conversation appear in the courtyard. Her delicate face was filled with surprise and shock.

Even catgirl Angel and elf elder sister Alicia felt the same.

"Are those two dueling?"

"What an intense sword dance!"

Indeed.

At that moment, Reiger and Ais were dueling in the courtyard.

And it was an extremely intense battle.

......

Just as everyone in the Loki Familia started discussing the two’s gossip, Reiger, who had come to the courtyard, suddenly stopped and said this sentence.

"Want to spar?"

This was a sentence Ais had said to Reiger more than once before.

Thinking back to the past, when Reiger’s level was still low and his strength weak, Ais would often ask Reiger like this to help him train.

Especially when Reiger leveled up, Ais would always make this suggestion.

The reason was simple: every time Reiger leveled up, his body became very uncoordinated. The sudden increase in strength would cause a subtle mismatch between physical and mental sensations, leading to a disconnect between body and mind.

Therefore, whenever he leveled up, Reiger would ask Ais to spar with him. Through intense battle, they adjusted his senses, allowing his mind to catch up with the rapidly increased strength and align his body and mind.

This situation continued until Reiger reached Lv.5 before leaving this world.

In other words, until Lv.6, Ais was always the one helping Reiger, teaching him her magic, her sword skills, and through sparring, allowing him to adapt to his strength and align his body and mind, eliminating the feeling of physical uncoordination.

For the same reason, deeply affected by Reiger’s non-human growth, Ais felt stimulated. Plus, she had reached a bottleneck with no progress for some time. This golden-haired, golden-eyed swordswoman was ultimately driven by her inner obsession to make the decision to descend to the 37th floor of the underground city and face Udaeus, the floor master, in a solo adventure.

Luckily, the result was good. Ais successfully defeated the floor master Udaeus, leveled up to Lv.6, allowing her "vessel" to grow again, entering a new phase, and unlocking new potential.

During the conversation with Ais, Reiger also keenly noticed that, like himself in the past, Ais currently seemed somewhat uncoordinated and uncomfortable in all aspects of movement.

This girl had just leveled up to Lv.6, and although several days had passed, she had no desire to enter the underground city or train during those days, resulting in the upgrade-induced discomfort persisting until now without improvement.

Seeing this, Reiger immediately brought Ais to the courtyard and, like she used to do for him, proposed they spar.

"...Is that okay?"

In response, Ais was a bit surprised but not startled, just somewhat hesitant.

No choice.

Before her upgrade, Ais had been overtaken by Reiger, who had reached Lv.5, her strength temporarily lagging behind him and being completely surpassed.

But now, Ais had also leveled up from Lv.5 to Lv.6.

Her current strength far exceeded her previous self; even with some body-mind uncoordination, she could easily suppress several Lv.5 first-class adventurers.

In this situation, Ais had once again surpassed the newly Lv.5 Reiger, her strength now towering over his at that time.

If they sparred now, it might cause problems.

After all, Ais was currently uncoordinated, and if she accidentally struck too hard during sparring, she might injure Reiger.

At least, that was Ais’s concern.

However, Ais had no idea that in what she saw as just a few days of separation, in Reiger’s world, about a year and a half had passed.

Now, he was not the same as when he had just reached Lv.5.

The golden-haired, golden-eyed swordswoman also didn’t know that the boy standing before her was no longer the budding Lv.5.

Now, Reiger was Lv.7!

Nobody knew the second Lv.7 had appeared in Orario, where only one had existed before!

"Don’t worry." Reiger slowly drew the Sword of the Fool from his waist and smiled as he spoke to Ais, "I haven’t been wasting my time outside these days. If you think I’m still the same as before, you’ll be in for a big surprise, you know?"

Hearing these words, Ais quietly held her breath.

If it were someone else saying such things, Ais would definitely not take it too seriously.

After all, it was just a few days, what major changes could occur?

But Reiger was an exception.

Look at his achievements so far.

In 7 days, he advanced from Lv.1 to Lv.2.

In 15 days, he advanced from Lv.2 to Lv.3.

In 30 days, he advanced from Lv.3 to Lv.4.

In 45 days, he advanced from Lv.4 to Lv.5.

In just 97 days, a little over three months, he rapidly grew from an ordinary person who had never received divine blessing to a Level 5 first-class adventurer. Not just any first-class adventurer—upon reaching Lv.5, he was able to defeat the so-called strongest female swordsman in Orario, the [Sword Princess] Ais Wallenstein.

For someone like Reiger, even a few days could result in rapid, transformative growth.

Seeing Reiger standing so casually in front of her, holding the Fool’s Sword that he was reluctant to use even on expeditions, Ais felt a suffocating pressure for some reason.

(He has grown stronger again.)

Not knowing what changes had occurred in Reiger, Ais could only hold her breath, focus her mind, and silently draw the Sword of Despair from her waist.

The two stared at each other, then, as if sharing a telepathic connection, simultaneously raised their swords, mirroring each other’s movements.

"Hoo—"

A gust of wind happened to blow in from outside the Twilight Manor, lifting the girl’s golden hair and skirt, and causing the boy’s black hair to sway.

A solemn atmosphere filled the entire courtyard.

Then...

"Swish!"

In the sound of slicing wind, both figures vanished from their spots, appearing in the middle, swinging their sharp swords at each other.

"Clang!"

The loud clash of swords reverberated throughout the Twilight Manor, alarming everyone present.

By this time, Reiger and Ais were already locked in fierce combat.

"Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang—"

Accompanied by the incessant sound of weapon clashes, countless sword lights and slashes appeared before the boy and girl, enveloping each other like a storm.

Reiger and Ais entered the fray almost instantly, unleashing a stunningly fierce sword dance upon contact. The crystal-like transparent longsword and the silver-white military saber kept colliding, almost crashing into each other dozens of times per second.

These two top-grade indestructible weapons continuously traced silver arcs, flashing cold glimmers while cutting through the air, engaging in an intense attack and defense.

Such an intense sword dance was rarely seen even in battles between first-class adventurers, causing every observer peering out from the Twilight Manor to freeze their expressions.

For a moment, intertwining sword lights and silver flashes at speeds too fast for the naked eye, constructed a storm of strikes, either slashing at the opponent only to be parried, or repelling the opponent’s strikes and then counterattacking, playing out a thrilling confrontation.

Reiger and Ais also began to dart and move, sprinting through the courtyard of the Twilight Manor at speeds beyond what ordinary first-class adventurers could follow, either chasing each other or colliding, their afterimages mixing with whistling gales, appearing everywhere.

The ferocious sword dance reached a moment where the battle silently changed.

"Bang!"

With a muffled crash, Reiger’s afterimage solidified into his form, delivering a powerful kick to Ais’s hastily raised Sword of Despair, unleashing astonishing force and driving Ais back.

"Watch out!"

At the sight of the retreating Ais, Reiger smiled slightly, swiftly advancing, and unleashing a relentless flurry of sword lights once more.

This time, the sword lights that Reiger unleashed were faster, sharper, and more intense, creating an overwhelming pressure on Ais, who, after blocking a few strikes, found herself unable to hold back, with one of the sword lights slicing across her forehead, cutting off a few strands of hair.

"You..."

Ais unhesitatingly leapt back, performing several agile backflips to create distance from Reiger, her gaze upon him transformed.

"Your swordsmanship..."

Ais recognized something.

"Has changed, hasn’t it?"

Reiger smiled at the surprised Ais and said such words.

Ais silently nodded.

Reiger’s swordsmanship had indeed changed.

Previously, Reiger’s swordsmanship was essentially Ais’s swordsmanship.

His sword techniques were learned from Ais, so his sword skills were identical to Ais’s, to the point they were indistinguishable.

But today, the swordsmanship that Reiger showcased was no longer the same as Ais’s.

It was a swordsmanship that felt unfamiliar to Ais.