Ten minutes later...
“Ah, I’m beat! It feels good!”
Having finished his training with Rio, Masato was sprawled on the ground in a corner of the garden. He had been running around while swinging a large sword, so he was sweaty and out of breath. In contrast, Rio returned to where everyone else was with a refreshed look.
“All right, can you face me next?” Satsuki asked, seeking to swap in for Masato. They had used rock-paper-scissors to decide the order they would face Rio in while he was fighting Masato.
“Of course. But are you sure? Your wounds may have closed, but you were gravely injured just yesterday...” Rio said, worrying about Satsuki’s condition.
Although wounds could be healed through magic and spirit arts, the pain lingered for some time afterward. That’s why it was recommended she rested for another day or two, but...
“Yeah. Everyone must be really good at healing, because I feel perfectly fine. Like my body’s gotten lighter and I’m brimming with energy.”
Satsuki swung her short training spear energetically.
Her assimilation with her upper high-rank spirit progressed after the fatal wound yesterday... Rio thought while staring at Satsuki.
“If you’re sure, then okay... But let me know if it starts to hurt,” he eventually said.
“I could say the same to you, Haruto. I heard you were exhausted after the battle yesterday.”
“Aha ha. Well, I was able to get a good night’s sleep...”
“I slept well too. So there’s no problem.”
“Then let’s give it a go first,” Rio said, putting down his sword and shield and picking up a wooden bastard sword instead.
“Yup, let’s go.” Satsuki nodded cheerfully and started walking towards an easy spot to spar. Rio followed right behind her.
“Let’s allow physical body enhancements in our fight. Low-power arts are also permitted.”
I want to see how much the assimilation affected her, Rio thought as he made his suggestion.
“Sounds good.”
“Gouki, can you act as a referee?” Rio asked, thinking that their match could get intense.
“Gladly.”
Gouki followed after Satsuki and Rio as well. Thus, after distancing themselves enough from the others, they stood facing each other with their weapons held at the ready.
“Begin!”
Rio and Satsuki began sparring.
“Hah!” Satsuki started running at the signal, charging towards Rio. The distance between them vanished in an instant. But her speed appeared to be faster than even Satsuki herself had expected, as she had a look of surprise on her face.
“Whoa!”
Instead of crashing into Rio, Satsuki diverted her route to the side and swung her spear while passing Rio. The decision to deviate to the side was made on the spur of the moment, so it was impressive that she could still time an attack like that. Fortunately, it also served as a feint against Rio.
But Rio had swung his sword to slash at Satsuki as she passed. Wooden weapon clashed against wooden weapon, creating a clamorous sound. Immediately after, Rio fired a weak bullet of light at Satsuki’s back. It was a follow-up attack that was aimed perfectly at her blind spot.
“Wha—?!”
Satsuki whirled around with a gasp and mowed down the light bullet with her spear. It was proof her senses were sharpened right now.
“Oh?” Gouki murmured in awe.
“Jeez, you really don’t know how to go easy on someone,” Satsuki said, protesting with a grin.
“Well, you seemed to be in as good of a condition as you said.”
Even if he had directly hit her, the bullet only had the speed and power to hurt like a rubber ball.
Satsuki nodded fearlessly. “Right? Even I’m surprised!”
She resumed running at Rio, this time striking with her short spear from the front.
Her physical enhancement has indeed improved from before.
Rio chose to stop moving and receive Satsuki’s blow directly. At the moment of impact, he leaped back a little to stifle the force of the blow.
Her power has increased too. There’s no mistaking it, he thought as he landed.
“Heh heh! Today is the day I’m going to win!”
Satsuki grinned brightly and closed in on him at a rapid speed.
✦ ✦ ✦
Two more hours passed, during which Rio faced not only Satsuki, but all different kinds of opponents.
“I couldn’t win against Haruto today either. Or Gouki, or anyone else...”
In the end, as training wrapped up, Satsuki was unable to strike back against Rio. Gouki had faced her too, and she hadn’t been able to beat him either.
Gouki laughed heartily. “Ha ha ha. I won’t be losing yet.”
“I thought I’d win at least once today...”
“Your physical enhancement was powerful, but it was like you were unable to keep up with the movements of your body.”
“Hmm. I see.”
Satsuki tilted her head and hummed at Gouki’s advice.
“But you were truly amazing today, Satsuki. Either one of us could have won our match,” Sara said, commending Satsuki’s growth.
As warriors of their village, Sara and the spirit folk girls had received combat training from a young age, placing them one step ahead of Satsuki. Sara also had better physical abilities due to being a werebeast, which Satsuki struggled against, but Satsuki’s physical body enhancement had helped her put up a good fight.
“Your physical body enhancement has gotten much stronger.”
“Did you figure out the trick to it?”
Orphia and Alma both questioned Satsuki.
“The trick to it... I guess you could say that?”
Satsuki didn’t seem to understand the change that had happened in her body, as she merely tilted her head curiously.
Looks like she’s noticed something’s different.
Now that Rio knew about the relationship between heroes and upper high-rank spirits, he couldn’t keep the information hidden forever. It’d be better to explain things sooner rather than later. That was the thought that passed through Rio’s mind as he looked at Satsuki’s profile.
“That aside, Sora was really impressive. I was shocked,” Latifa said, praising the smaller girl. She had invited Sora to spar with her earlier. Sora had refused because she considered it a bother but had eventually given in to Rio’s request. As a result, Sora had deftly handled Latifa with a single finger.
“Of course. Sora is the second-strongest in this world after Master Haruto.”
“But Aishia is just as strong as Onii-chan.”
“Hah. Sora’s far stronger than the likes of Aishia.”
“Really?”
“Yes. The last time we fought, Sora came out on top,” Sora said triumphantly. Meanwhile, Masato and Komomo joined the conversation.
“Over Aishia? I guess you did fight amazingly yesterday.”
“Please spar with me next time!”
“In reality, how strong is she?” Sara asked from a short distance away, as she approached Rio.
“Strong enough that I don’t even know. There’s no doubt she can fight on more than even terms with Aishia.”
Sora had definitely fought seriously against the golem yesterday, but it was unlikely she had used absolutely all of her strength. She’d had to suppress some of her power to prevent unnecessary damage to the city.
“She’s a strong ally,” Orphia said, giggling as she watched Sora.
“Good grief. It’s too annoying to take you all on one by one, so the three of you can come at Sora together!”
Latifa, Masato, and Komomo were pestering Sora for another match. Sora was too shy around people to act honestly, but her reply showed she wasn’t entirely displeased.
“Yes,” Rio agreed happily as he watched over Sora.