A Powerful Martial Artist Reincarnates as a Nun Knight

At the very moment Maria overcame her immediate threat, Conra was also moving to subdue the Tibicena. Lowering his center of gravity to the utmost, he sprang toward the Tibicena with movements akin to a sprinter.

Although the spear he wielded was a fundamentally defensive weapon focused on parrying and deflection, Conra’s true forte was not such parrying or defense. Rather, his greatest confidence lay in a fighting style that endlessly created variables through bestial agility and ever-changing techniques.

One moment, Conra’s pupils dilated, then contracted, his senses alternating between liberated and concentrated states. It was at this precise moment that the boy’s innate neural and muscular systems, his astral brain and astral muscles, were fully utilized for instantaneous action.

With a scratching sound, Conra’s figure clung to the ground, sweeping in all directions as if a snake were slithering. Wherever his serpentine movements passed, one by one, the Cernunnos Tibicena lost their antlers, were seized by the scruffs of their necks, and collapsed with rolled-back eyes.

Within that brief span, he had mastered the art of infusing druidic mysteries into martial movements befitting a warrior.
Even Esras-Hermes and Lugus-Artaios, who had guided him, could not hide their astonishment at his absurdly rapid acquisition of these skills.

{I taught him, but his pace of mastery is unbelievable. This is not a technique that can normally be grasped so easily.}
{He simply needed the catalyst to take that final step, having already fulfilled all the prerequisites. A prodigious heroic seed has been receiving the teachings of an excellent mentor. As you’ve witnessed, that nun knight’s education is no ordinary matter.}
{I understand. Indeed, her pedagogy seems designed to wring out one’s potential to the limits, and not just that…}
{It’s obsessively systematic.}

The presiding and guiding spirits could only marvel at how Sophia had trained her disciples, having witnessed it firsthand. The insights into humanity accumulated through the modern era of dramatically awakened and expanded human reason and cognition had clearly informed her impressive teaching and training methods.

Indeed, Conra had made astonishing progress in the roughly one year since first meeting Sophia. Even considering the relatively short time Esras-Hermes and Lugus-Artaios had known Conra, his rate of growth was unprecedented in their experience.

As the spirits marveled, Conra had already neutralized a third of the twenty-five Cernunnos Tibicena. However, one hand cannot fend off ten, as the saying goes. In the meantime, the remaining Tibicena had scattered and were moving to attack others.

“Aaack, I’ve been bitten!”
“Damn mangy mutts!”
“Kkkhh-huck!”

With some being bitten, others gored by antlers, and still others struck by spells, chaos was erupting. However, this very pandemonium ironically allowed Conra an opening to cast a spell.

“Enamnacha eimhidh eigius phlendai! Keageil mo naimd (Spirits of plants and animals, bind my foes)!”

The moment the spell was invoked, things ill-suited to the magic tower’s brick and marble construction appeared amidst the ruckus inside.
Roots and vines sprouted from the ground, while beast-like astral forms resembling bears and monkeys emerged and dwelled within them. The roots and vines inhabited by these animal spirits moved dynamically, like living creatures, and began binding the antlered death spirits.

“Grrrr!”
“Kkhh-hehh!”

The bound Cernunnos Tibicena thrashed, but the vines only tightened further without any sign of loosening.
Ultimately, their misfortune lay in the antlers adorning their heads. As the druidic bindings took hold of the Cernunnos Tibicena’s antlers, they became ensnared in an inescapable noose that constrained their movements.

What followed was swift. Once Conra completed the ritual Esras-Hermes had taught him to return the symbolic antlers – the emblem of Cernunnos’ denizens – the belatedly arriving Berber summoner recalled the spirits, no longer denizens of Cernunnos. And with that, the commotion ended.

After witnessing the entire process from start to finish, Sophia shrugged at the desk clerk as if to say, “See?” The clerk let out a soft “Huh” and remarked, “He’s an exceptional one.”

“Huhuh, that boy is my disciple,” Sophia said, curling her lips. She was deeply savoring the pleasure of nurturing an exceptionally talented disciple – an experience she had never had in her previous life.

“Anyway, it seems I should tend to those bitten by the death spirits, so let’s proceed with the transaction promptly.”
“Ah, yes. What would you like to exchange for, then?”
“Hmm, these two items from the list are catching my interest. Are immediate exchanges possible?”
“Oho, an inner armor made from a sea serpent’s hide, and a rune codex. Excellent choices. Have no concern about the exchange – all items listed in the catalog are available for immediate transactions.”
“Good. Let’s proceed, then.”

Satisfied with the clerk’s response, Sophia urged the transaction forward with a smirk. Some time later, after completing the task of lifting the death curse on those bitten by the Tibicena, Sophia departed the magic tower with her disciples, a look of satisfaction on their faces.

+++++

When Sophia and her disciples returned, only Ezio and his divine spirit Saraswati remained on the ship.
“Hilde must have gone for a drink…”
As if she had expected as much, Sophia nodded. Hildegard’s love of alcohol was that sincere.

High-ranking clergy, privy to more truths about the world than others, continually engaged in ascetic practices to maintain their innate human goodness and humanity. As such, it was common for highly accomplished clergy to carry one or two eccentricities.

In Hildegard’s case, her fondness for drinking served as such an eccentricity. Still, she knew moderation, so she would return in due time.

Ezio and Saraswati had just finished their warm-down exercises.
Ever since contracting with Saraswati, Ezio’s recovery abilities had become exceptional. Even after completely depleting his stamina through one-rep max weightlifting, he could restore over eighty percent of his strength simply by resting and regulating his breathing.

Ezio exploited this to dramatically increase his training volume. He would lift the maximum possible weight until utterly spent, then recover his strength through regulated breathing before lifting again.
Alone, such reckless behavior that risked his life with a single mistake would have been impossible. However, with the assistance of the divine spirit Saraswati, Ezio could safely engage in such extreme training regimens.

“Hrrrrrggghh! Hrrrgghh!”
[…!]
Grunting as if wringing himself dry, Ezio lifted the heavy barbell while Saraswati helped maintain its center of gravity.

To avoid disturbing them, Sophia and her disciples quietly entered their assigned private quarters. It was now time to evaluate the disciples’ experiences from the day’s battle.

“Using the elemental banishing spell in the initial confrontation was somewhat hasty. If you had not subsequently mastered the art of infusing druidic techniques into martial kata, you would have struggled to extricate yourself from that predicament. Do you acknowledge this?”
“Yes. Certainly, choosing to use the spell banishing at that time caused me to surrender the initiative in the subsequent developments, creating a situation I had to manage.”
“Good. Then do you also understand what would have been a better response?”

As Conra objectively evaluated the dynamics of his battle, Sophia inwardly revealed her satisfaction and anticipation as she posed a question to confirm if the boy had progressed to the next level. Conra lived up to his mentor’s expectations.

“If I had deployed a binding spell preemptively instead of waiting for the opponent to complete their spells, I could have taken the lead in the subsequent developments.”
“Haha, correct. In battle, there is nothing better than seizing the initiative if one wishes to gain the upper hand. Of course, recklessly forcing the initiative risks falling victim to the opponent’s unexpected moves. In such a case, what should you do?”

Pleased with Conra’s response exceeding her expectations, Sophia smiled contentedly as she posed a more advanced question. Frowning in thought at the relatively difficult query, Conra eventually offered a cautious answer he had arrived at.

“One must be able to discern the gains and losses of each momentary choice with utmost precision?”
“Well, can one truly make such discernments amid the crossing instants of combat?”

Sophia could not help the corners of her mouth curling upward at Conra’s response. Yet mischievously, she did not stop probing for gaps even in that answer. Eventually, unable to formulate a reply and stammering, Conra let out a sigh and said, “In the end, it can only be mastered through training, can’t it?”

That was precisely the answer Sophia had been waiting for. As if she had been anticipating it, she clapped and nodded, confirming that Conra’s conclusion was correct.

“Precisely! In that sense, allow me to prepare a training manual for you to pursue starting tomorrow.”

As always, Sophia and Conra’s question-and-answer session concluded with progressively intensive training regimens. Witnessing this, Maria wore a jaded expression, prompting Sophia’s gaze to shift toward her second disciple.

Bracing herself, unsure what questions or reprimands might come her way, Maria waited with a hunched posture for Sophia to speak. However, contrary to her expectations, Sophia’s words were not criticisms but praise.

“Maria, you handled the situation well according to what I’ve taught you so far. Today, you did your utmost within your capabilities, so I have nothing further to say.”

Maria’s complexion brightened at the unexpected praise. However, one should always listen until the end, for Sophia soon wiped the smile from her face and adopted a stern expression.

“However, you understand that you cannot always rely on such methods, don’t you?”
“Yes. I cannot remain a burden to my brother disciple forever.”
“Exactly. What I’ve taught you these past few days has mostly been simple calisthenics, self-defense techniques, and exercises for building stamina. And you are not yet ready to formally study inverse muscle cultivation. So until your body is prepared, practice weighted spin and sphere training.”

The weighted spin involved maintaining a unique meditative stance while turning in circles, while sphere training involved manipulating a large ball – sometimes rolling it within one’s hands and arms, sometimes tossing it into the air, stepping through stances, and catching it again.

Combining these two practices was the weighted spin and sphere training. Prolonged practice would enhance one’s stancework agility and stability, increase flexibility, and accustom one to handling forces and weights – no doubt helpful for laying the foundation before Maria formally studied martial arts.

After imparting the necessary advice and assigning training regimens to Conra and Maria, Ezio had also finished his training session. It was about time for Hildegard to return as well, yet there was still no word of her whereabouts.

Sophia, Ezio, Conra, and Maria were all puzzled by Hildegard’s continued absence despite the appropriate timeframe having passed.
At that very moment, Hildegard was facing a rather precarious situation.