The early morning sun hung low in the sky, casting a warm glow inside the training room. Julian rolled his shoulders with a light crack, gripping the spare bokken loosely.
Across from him, Kang Sena stood with her aloof confidence, her bokken resting casually on her shoulder. But her eyes remained sharp and focused as she smirked playfully.
"Same rules as always," she said, tapping her weapon against her shoulder while licking her lips. "First to three points wins."
"The Winner gets to ask the loser one favour?" Julian nodded, stepping forward and taking a loose stance—he wasn't talented with a sword, and in his last life, this limited his growth.
'Though I haven't miraculously gained the skills of a master swordsman.'
He could feel the difference in his muscles and body response, and the way the world seemed sharper in his eyes.
Sena tilted her head. "Don't tell me you're actually confident this time?"
"Maybe," Julian replied, his voice calm and his lips faintly smiling. "You'll see."
She giggled, a soft, teasing sound. "All right, show me what you've got."
Sena moved first—her bokken sliced through the air in a controlled arc. Julian's eyes narrowed, stepping back as the strike missed him by inches. Her follow-up came instantly, a fast thrust aimed at his chest. He parried this time, the clash of wood echoing in the quiet room.
Tak!
Her eyes widened as she lifted a brow. "Not bad."
Julian pressed the advantage, swinging low. She blocked with ease, her footwork carrying her out-of-reach while countering with a sharp riposte, but with his keen eyesight, Julian twisted away and narrowly avoided the blow.
Her eyes narrowed. "Okay, where's this coming from?"
He smiled at her question, his bokken shifting into a low stance. "You said you liked strong men. So I became stronger."
Her eyes trembled momentarily before she pressed her lips into a thin line, though a blush crept across her cheeks. "Don't get cocky."
Sena attacked again, faster this time, as if to forget her embarrassment. Her strikes came in a flurry, each one testing his defences.
Tak!
Tak!
Tak!
Julian met her blade, step for step, using the rhythm of their sparring to build a steady tempo. Thanks to his evolved body, It was the first time he didn't fall behind. The magic locked inside his abdomen started to spread into his muscles, flesh, and bones.
Sena's frustration became clearer.
She lunged, her bokken arcing towards his shoulder with a hasty blow. Julian sidestepped smoothly, countering with a quick thrust that barely tapped her ribs.
"Point," he said, stepping back.
Sena froze, staring at him in disbelief. "You? You actually scored?"
Julian shrugged, his expression calm. "Looks like it."
Her cheeks puffed a little as she huffed a rare crack in her usual composure. "Beginner's luck."
"Maybe," he said, though the faint smile on his lips said otherwise.
The next clash became more intense, faster, and fiercer.
Sena no longer held back and moved precisely, her strikes coming at angles meant to trip him up.
To her dismay, Julian's reactions became sharper as if tempering himself—his footwork mirroring hers, and adjusting his movements swifter with each clash.
He then scored again, a light tap on her wrist.
"Two-zero," he said, trying to hide the satisfaction in his voice.
Sena stomped her foot lightly, her eyes sharpening. "This isn't fair. What happened to the clumsy guy who couldn't fight to save his life?"
"I lost you," He muttered to himself, raising his bokken once again. Julian answered her question instinctively because his memories and emotions overflowed from inside after seeing that vision of her dead.
"W-What?!" For a moment, she stared at him, confused, as she blushed.
The words meant something different to Sena, but she became angry because Julian was the one who broke up with her. Then, to his surprise, she chuckled in a warm tone. "Fine. One more point, but don't think I'll go easy on you."
Her attacks continued with an invigorated intensity—her movements started to blur, speeding up as if she had tapped into some hidden power. Julian could barely keep up, his arms burning as he parried each strike.
Tak!
Tak!
But when the opportunity came, he seized it, using a quick feint, then followed up with a clean strike to her side as she thrust her bokken into his throat.
"Ugh. Three-One," he grunted, lowering his bokken while rubbing his throat.
Sena still stood in silence, her chest rising and falling with her rapid breaths. Then she jabbed her bokken lightly into his stomach, her expression a mix of annoyance and excitement.
"You cheated."
Julian chuckled. "I didn't."
"You must have," she insisted, crossing her arms. "There's no way you could've improved this much in a week."
He shrugged. "Guess you'll just have to train harder to keep up."
Her eyes widened before she narrowed them and grinned. "Oh, you're so full of yourself now." But her faint smile and red blush betrayed her words. Sena turned away and whispered, "You're still an idiot. Don't make my heart race so much."
'She's alive. Smiling. Fighting.'
'How did I miss this beautiful side of her in the past?'
He couldn't understand his past self, feeling different due to the memory loss.
Julian carefully watched her grab a bottle of water, his heart lighter than a week earlier. Though he noticed her tapping into the power given by the game near the end, he felt like he was finally able to catch up to her in more ways than one.
"What are you looking at?" Her lips curled as she drank water with a pout.
"I was just wondering what to ask for."
Pfft
Sena's face became bright red as she choked and spat water everywhere. "W-Why are you looking at me like that?"
He suddenly noticed that he was enjoying her figure in the training outfit, and while teasing her, she seemed to have become embarrassed.
'I feel so energetic.'
Julian's hand-rolled the wooden sword before gazing back at Sena, who looked at him from the corner of her eyes. "Shall we fight again, same deal?"
Her face bloomed like a bouquet of roses, attacking faster, a relentless storm that pushed Julian to his limit. His arms burned, every swing and parry a desperate effort to keep up with her. Sena's eyes gleamed with determination, her strikes blurring as she almost seemed to dance.
"Don't hold back!" she shouted, her bokken arcing toward his side like a crescent moon.
Julian grunted, twisting to dodge, his counter falling short. Sena's bokken slipped through his guard, landing a sharp blow to his ribs.
The sting of the impact froze him, but it wasn't the pain that made him falter—it was the rain.
The rain on that day.
Drip.
Drip.
Something dripping echoed in his ears, drawing out the heat and sounds of the training room. His vision blurred as the morning light shifted into the grey of night, broken streets marred with destruction from his memory.
'No.'
Julian's mind trembled, an immense pain as the cracked fragments started to piece together a scene more which became more vibrant and clear with each raindrop.
'Please don't show this moment.'
Sena's body lay in his arms, her warmth fading as blood soaked into his clothes, washed away by the acidic rain. Her lips moved faintly, words he knew too well, but her voice was lost in the storm. He clutched her tighter, desperately willing her to open her eyes, to stay, to live.
He screamed in despair, but his mouth didn't open.
"Not again!" He pulled the words from his throat, but the rain swallowed them, leaving him with nothing but the weight of her cold, lifeless body.
"Julian!"
Sena's voice snapped him back to the present.
He blinked, the memories of that cold, dark day fading as the warm light and sweet scent of the training room returned. She stood facing him, her bokken resting on his cheek, concern etched into her face.
"Are you okay?" she asked, frowning. "You totally spaced out."
Her eyes widened as a tear dripped down his cheek, but she remained silent.
Julian exhaled with a weak voice, forcing a smirk. "Guess I was thinking about how I let you win."
Her eyes narrowed, her pout returning immediately. "Let me win? You're delusional. I earned that point."
Julian lowered his bokken, his fingers able to feel the cold warmth of her body trembling faintly. He glanced at her, alive and vibrant, the memory of her death lingering in his chest like a warning.
"You're really annoying when you're smug, you know that?"
Sena jabbed her bokken lightly into his stomach. "And you're annoying all the time."
He chuckled, rolling his shoulder. "One more match?"
Her lips curled into a grin, the challenge clear in her eyes. "You're on."