Volume 2, Chapter 40 – The Battle in the Backyard

—Slash.

“Eek.”

With a light tap of wood against a head, Camilla and Mary, who had been sparring for a while, finally separated, both exhaling deeply.

“Alright, that’s enough for now.” Yisi clapped her hands, signaling them to stop. “Take a break.”

“Yes, Onee-sama.”

Camilla set down her wooden sword and nodded at Yisi. This had been combat training between Camilla and Mary. Of course, for safety reasons, both were using wooden weapons, and with Yisi supervising, any injuries could be quickly healed.

As for why they were training in the first place—it was simply because they had too much free time. Initially, the fallen girls would start cleaning the tavern early in the morning, but the place wasn’t very large, and with seven people working together, it was soon spotless.

Ordinary people might pass the time by strolling through the streets or gathering firewood in the outskirts, but Mary couldn’t go outside freely, and most of the fallen girls were still too shy, not yet recovered from the trauma of being ostracized in the past. So, they had no choice but to stay inside the tavern, making their idle mornings unbearably dull.

Fortunately, Yisi had recently crafted a simple deck of playing cards and taught the girls how to play, giving them a way to pass the time. However, this only applied to girls like Fran and Sera, who weren’t versed in combat. Serious-minded Shinku and the overly innocent Mary didn’t join the card games. Left with nothing to do, they could only spar with Camilla to kill time.

“Mary, wipe off your sweat.”

“Thank you, Master.” Mary’s voice sounded muffled as she buried her face in the handkerchief. “Camilla is really strong. Even when I defended with all my might, I couldn’t stop her attacks.”

“Your fighting style is too one-dimensional. If you didn’t just defend but tried attacking occasionally, you wouldn’t be stuck in such a passive position.”

Unlike Mary, who was drenched in sweat, Camilla only had a light sheen on her skin, clearly holding back.

Shinku, who had been observing from beside Yisi, also pointed out Mary’s flaw.

“Mary, your fighting style isn’t so much ‘combat’ as it is ‘protecting something.’ There’s no initiative to attack at all. Earlier, you had a chance to counterattack when Camilla was exhausted, but you didn’t push your shield forward.”

“Ehehe… My previous master forbade me from attacking. He told me to focus entirely on blocking attacks for him, so I gradually forgot how to strike back.”

Mary scratched her chestnut-brown hair, laughing awkwardly. In truth, the round shield she used was meant to be paired with a one-handed sword, but Mary had abandoned the sword entirely.

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Yisi couldn’t help but feel puzzled. Since they were in the secluded backyard with no outsiders around, she asked directly.

“Mary, you once said your ability is to ‘instantly know how to use any weapon you pick up.’ Doesn’t that mean your body moves on its own? Can you consciously choose to attack?”

“I’m not sure what Master means by ‘body moving on its own’… But when I fight, many ideas about what to do next pop into my head. I just pick one, and my body moves accordingly.”

“If I thrust like this, what strategies would appear in your mind?”

Yisi mimicked a thrusting motion toward Mary, who pouted in thought.

“Dodge left, dodge right, block with the shield, duck and charge at Master… and a lot of other vague things.”

“Vague things? What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. If I choose them, my body still moves, but I don’t know what will happen. Sometimes it doesn’t listen, so I haven’t picked those unclear options in a long time.”

“I see…”

At first, Yisi had thought it might be something like precognition, but now it seemed slightly different.

Well, Mary’s other ability is definitely precognition.

She just hadn’t let Mary use it yet, and Mary still kept her left eye bandaged.

“If you can’t even defeat me, Mary, your strength is only slightly above an average soldier’s. This ability is more useless than I imagined.”

“Mm.”

Camilla’s blunt words made Mary freeze, her head drooping in dejection.

This had also been Yisi’s initial doubt. If Mary could instantly master any weapon she held, how skilled was that mastery? Was it at the level of a grandmaster or just a novice warrior?

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Shinku patted Mary’s shoulder reassuringly.

“A fallen’s abilities grow stronger with use. Mary still has a lot of room to improve. Besides, Mary doesn’t have to rely solely on her ability to fight. If you want to get stronger, I can train with you every morning.”

“Eh? Really?”

In an instant, Mary’s expression shifted from gloom to excitement.

“Of course.”

“Then let’s start now! I need to become more useful!”

Pumping herself up, Mary immediately grabbed her wooden shield and dashed to the center of the backyard, readying herself against Shinku. Shinku didn’t refuse either, picking up two one-handed swords and tossing one to Mary.

“Use this. Otherwise, you’ll never beat me.”

“Ehh…”

“Mary, listen to Shinku. I don’t need you to just protect me. Also, could you try choosing those unclear options during training? I want to see what happens.”

“Understood, Master.”

Mary took the sword from Shinku and swung it awkwardly a few times. Then, with Camilla acting as referee, the two slowly distanced themselves.

Level-wise, Shinku was one level below Mary, but her combat skills were on par with Camilla’s. The two had fought once before, and if not for Camilla’s ability to switch between warrior and mage roles—along with her advantage in water magic, which countered Shinku’s abilities—Shinku would have won.

Of course, Yisi wasn’t just interested in who would win. She was also watching their experience bars.

For some inexplicable reason, Camilla, Mary, and Shinku all appeared in Yisi’ friend list, meaning she didn’t need to use God’s Eye individually to check their experience values. According to the omniscient map, after the earlier fight, all three had gained varying amounts of EXP—though the total increase was less than 1%, it was still noticeable. Mary’s EXP had even reached 99.7%.

This raised a question.

As Mary and Shinku began their duel, Yisi turned to Camilla.

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“Camilla, can you level up without fighting monsters?”

“Yes. Battling humans also grants experience, according to the magic textbooks.”

So, gaining EXP wasn’t like in Ragnarøk, where you had to kill monsters to level up.

If that was the case, could one gain EXP just by practicing alone, without fighting anything? What about studying books?

In Ragnarøk’s lore, some NPCs would tell players they gained experience by reading magic tomes, so Yisi wondered if the same applied here.

Well, I’ll test it later. Though I doubt I can level up.

Nearly three months had passed since arriving in this world, and even after defeating the fallen angel Samael, Yisi hadn’t gained a single 0.1% of EXP. She had long given up on leveling.

Maybe, as a transmigrator, I’m just incapable of gaining experience.

Yisi shrugged it off.

Meanwhile, Mary and Shinku’s battle had moved past the probing phase. Though Mary now wielded a sword, she was still at a disadvantage. Shinku coated her weapons in flames during combat, while Mary, lacking magic, could only defend, leaving her stuck in a passive position.

I’ll need to equip Mary with some anti-magic measures later. Maybe I should start learning about this world’s alchemy and magic equipment crafting.

“Mary, if you don’t counterattack now, you’ll never get the chance.”

Noticing Mary’s hesitation, Shinku struck her raised shield with a sharp crack. Unlike a longsword, Shinku’s preferred weapons were dual short blades. But since Mary was so weak and rarely attacked, even an unfamiliar weapon was enough to corner her.

After the hit, Shinku retreated a few steps.

“But Shinku’s magic looks like it hurts…”

“If I were an enemy, Mary, you’d have to attack even if it hurts. Enemies won’t spare you just because you surrender. Losing only leads to something worse. How about blocking with your shield and countering with your sword? Dual-wielding is hard at first, but once you get used to it, it’s stronger than single weapons.”

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Yisi nodded at Shinku’s words. The same principle applied in Ragnarøk. Without considering magic, dual-wielders had an advantage over single-weapon users. The game had even hosted events where magic was banned, and pure skill decided the matches. Often, single-weapon users would block one attack, only to forget their opponent had a second weapon—leading to a quick defeat.

Yisi smiled wryly. She had once lost to a dual-dagger user in such an event, failing to even reach the semifinals.

Weapon matchups mattered too, though.

Yisi shrugged. Her favorite weapon, the Sacred Hammer, was inherently less agile than dual daggers.

Once again, Mary and Shinku clashed. This time, Shinku deliberately slowed her attacks, giving Mary openings to counter with her sword. Mary didn’t waste the opportunity, leveraging her fallen ability to strike back whenever Shinku left an opening.

“Mary, I’m getting serious now.”

Putting about five meters between them, Shinku raised her sword with both hands. Mary, meanwhile, stepped back slightly, raising her shield.

“B-Bring it on! I’ll use magic too!”

“[Flame Blossom]!”

As Shinku lifted her wooden sword, a two-meter-long tongue of fire engulfed the blade, its scorching heat palpable even to Yisi on the sidelines.

Shinku had used this spell against Camilla before, but Camilla had immediately dispelled it with [Fire Destruction], so Yisi hadn’t seen its full effect.

“This is bad… If Shinku lands this, Mary won’t be able to block it.”

“She’s probably pressuring Mary,” Camilla observed, eyes fixed on the duel. “Pure defense can’t win fights, so Shinku’s forcing her to either dodge or counter with a stronger attack. Mary won’t learn to attack unless she experiences this firsthand.”

“Camilla, you’re a mage, yet you know more about close combat than most warriors.”

“Not at all. Compared to how much I want to support Onee-sama, I’m still far behind. When you fought the fallen angel Samael, I couldn’t even follow your movements.”

“Ah…”

That was just a stat difference, really.