6 The Second Apprentice

"You shall be meeting your new sparring partner today." Master Seris explained as we walked down the halls of her estate.

Yeah I call her Master now, she's been teaching me pretty damn good for the last 3 years, and she deserves that much respect.

'She's better than my old teachers who just didn't care about me as long as I got the job done.'

I'm still confused on why you're even helping me, considering I made it that way.

'I don't believe that you created my entire life and all my experiences out of nowhere, you must have caught a glimpse of my life somehow. No one has that much power, not even the so-called gods of this world.'

It's a possibility, probably is. I was totally powerless before I came here.

Yeah you got that right, the voice in my head is none other than Markus Henderson, a person I had created and inserted into this world. From what I have deduced, the events leading to his rebirth occurred as planned, but before he could actually reincarnate, I interfered by taking control of the body. In layman's terms, there are 2 souls in this body, one more dominant than the other.

'Who are you talking to?'

Oh, nobody. Just the readers.

'The what?'

Never mind that now.

Was that a fourth wall break? Absolutely. Will it happen again? You can count on it.

'You're one strange individual.'

You got that right.

By now we had reached the room the mystery person was staying in, and Master Seris opened the door with a click.

Inside was similar to my own, a simple bed, a dresser, a table for studying, and a bookshelf.

Well, the last two did not apply to my room, since I had already been educated in my last life, albeit I could not finish it before I was sent here. As such the only books in my room were the more mana related ones.

"Master," The recipient of the room bowed curtly as we entered. Upon closer inspection she, for it was a girl, had midnight blue, almost navy hair and a pair of red eyes.

"You may rise," Master Seris spoke with a hint of distaste, she wasn't particularly fond of such formalities.

The girl arose, and upon noticing me bowed slightly again, "Caera of Highblood Denoir," she introduced herself.

I inclined my head in response, "Fayden Vritra." I had been taught to refrain from using my last name. I was an orphan with an uncanny talent for mana manipulation and caught Master Seris' eye, leading to her adopting me. That was supposed to be my backstory.

Caera widened her eyes, glancing between me and Seris, probably searching for similarities.

"I'm adopted." I clarified, wanting to get that out of the way. Don't need people thinking I'm blood related to her.

Her widened eyes went back to normal and she nodded in understanding.

"Get to know each other, and get to the sparring room in an hour." Master ordered as she walked away.

"I suppose we'll be partners from today." I began, "So maybe get to know each other? Our weapons of choice? Or I dunno, hobbies or something?"

'Very smooth.'

Oh, shut up. I have no experience in talking to women okay?

"I am proficient in swordsmanship. And hobbies, really? You had nothing better?" She cracked a small grin at that.

"Hey, I haven't talked to people other than Master in like 3 years, cut me some slack." I retorted, suppressing a smile.

"Three years? Were you not allowed to go outside?" she asked, intrigued.

I shrugged in response, "Not until I have proven I can handle myself."

"I... see," she muttered, off-put by my situation.

She doesn't even know half of it.

"So, what weapons do you use?" she changed the topic.

"Oh, I use two daggers as my primary weapon and a bow as my secondary. I'm not really that good in either though." I admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of my head.

'You're pretty proficient in two-handed weapons Fayden, don't compare yourself to Seris. She's literally a demigod.'

I suppose...

"Daggers? Sevren uses those too." she blurted out.

"Sevren?"

"Yeah, he's my adoptive brother." she nodded in reply.

"Huh? Maybe I could ask him to show me some moves. If we ever meet, that is." I pondered out loud.

"Tell you what? Once you are allowed to leave, I will take you to my estate to meet Sevren. Although my parents may not like that." she offered, hesitating at the end.

"It's fine, Master can teach me well enough."

"I'll try anyway." she persisted, shaking her head.

"Thanks, I guess." I muttered, "Now, without the formalities, you can call me Fay."

"Call me Caera." she smiled coyly, and I could feel a small amount of blood rush to my face.

________________________

"You're pretty good." she commented, ducking below to avoid my blue and black daggers.

(Daggers look like this but blue and black, mostly black with blue at the ridges and the edge. I have no idea how to describe it.)

"I suppose." I muttered offhandedly, more focused on the battle.

I had no idea how magic worked here, but from what I had seen, they seemed to contain runes down their back. Don't ask me how I knew that.

'I swear if you turn to a pervert I'll take control of this body and kill you myself.'

Okay, one, I'm not a pervert, that was genuine curiosity. She's not even old enough to be ogled. And two, wouldn't that kill you too?

'Irrelevant.'

... Suicidal maniac.

'Perverted moron.'

I'm not a fucking pervert!

'I'll be keeping a close eye on you.'

You're literally able to see any action I commit.

'...Whatever, get back to your fight.'

I widened my eyes, realizing I had been spacing out, and that Caera's practice sword was a bit too close to my face.

I couldn't possibly move in time to avoid that, so I did the only thing I could. I used magic.

I had been prohibited from using magic in physical spars, but considering I had basically lost this round and the fact that I'm not a masochist like a certain someone, I decided it was worth the risk.

Her crimson sword stopped midair, streams of green tinted air rushing to prevent it from striking me.

She raised an eyebrow, letting her sword arm drop. I raised my arms, "I forfeit."

"Why?" she demanded, genuinely curious.

"I had no way of dodging or blocking that physically, so I had to use magic." I reasoned.

"There were multiple ways you could have countered that." Master Seris' stern voice made me flinch.

Ah yes, she had been watching.

"For example, you could have used one of your daggers as a projectile, forcing her to divert her attack." she explained further as she walked closer.

"I'll keep that in mind next time." I muttered to myself, inclining my head.

"There should be no next time, don't space out in the middle of a battle, that will only kill you." she spoke bluntly, not sugarcoating her words.

"Understood master." I withheld a sigh, turning back towards Caera and brandishing my twin daggers, "Shall we go again?"

She nodded hesitantly, still afraid of Master Seris.

"Use your glaive." Master ordered.

"Huh?" I sputtered, surprised by the sudden decision.

"Your skills with daggers... are passable. Practice your polearm skills."

I knew there was no arguing with her, so I silently went ahead and swapped my dual daggers with a single large stick, a metal blade fitted to one end.

I placed my left leg behind my right, crouching ever so slightly, and held my weapon with both hands, the tip of the blade pointing downwards, and took a deep breath in.

"Begin!"

And I lunged forward.

Caera tightened her grip on the sword, her eyes watching my every movement.

And then I struck.

Metal clashed against metal as sparks filled our vision, but one thing was clear, we were both grinning.

I never thought sparring could be this exciting... when I'm not being absolutely massacred that is.