A body at the level of an almost sixth circle—this was the level Velka's body was at now, and all of this was because Enrico had passed on the characteristic of his body's evolution to her. Of course, Velka was still not at his level and could never reach the same level as him and Victoria in terms of evolution, and of course Kai was also third in terms of physicality in this generation.
'But at least if the two of us work to strengthen her body, she could reach a ninth circle in terms of physical abilities.'
Having a body similar to his or Victoria's was the only way for her to be strong. Enrico chose her precisely because she had not a single spark of mana, because if he chose people with magic, the result would not be as great.
'Did Lord Enrico do something to my body?'
She looked at Enrico for a second before her body dodged a high kick from her opponent. Taking a few steps back, she realized that Velia's fighting style resembled a dance, using her feet a lot. From afar, Enrico raised his eyebrows, still a little impressed by the strikes.
'It looks a bit like tap dance.'
Some sounds came from her shoes like a musical rhythm. She was using that rhythm to try to guide her opponent to follow her movements, but what really surprised him was that this existed more than a thousand years ago.
[And what's surprising about that?]
'It's a thousand years ago from a time that still doesn't seem so modern… even so, it's impressive for what they are capable of.'
His thoughts were that when they reached the same level of technology, they would certainly do even better things—though maybe not, because honestly the levels of absurdity here were very high.
"She's doing well; it's possible she might actually win."
"No, Velia still isn't using everything, but if she underestimates Velka too much, she will lose."
Beside him, both Narisse, who had come closer incredulous at Velka, and Siena were analyzing the fight. Elowyn simply observed the battle deeply; without a doubt, if she won her fight, things would become easier for her.
'It's good that we take advantage of this surprise.'
"She's still very inexperienced in physical combat."
"You're right, Lady Siena, she's only dodging so far."
Enrico had noticed that too, so before coming he showed Velka some movements. It was very possible she thought it was meant for her to be a shield of flesh, but now she knew why.
Turning her gaze to her savior once more for just a second, Velka clenched her fist for the first time in the fight. In the time she had been with Enrico, she had only been able to learn two of his special moves.
'Zero Impact.'
Her fist disappeared from Velia's sight and struck her in the stomach, making her spit blood onto the ground. The blow was so strong that it created a shockwave around the entire zone and sent Velia flying upward, opening a hole in the dark place where the shadows screamed Velia's name.
'So that was it?'
Velia seemed to have flown far away, as there was not even a ceiling above, but while flying in that place, some dark puppets fell onto the destroyed ground while others flew.
"She hurt our Velia?"
"Materialize her, let's go."
'It seems she likes to assert herself.'
As they flew toward her, she realized that obviously they were made by the guardian's magic. Taking a step back, she placed her hand on the ground and propelled herself upward, dodging several punches covered in a shadowy light.
'What an incredible body.'
Even though she lacked experience, her body seemed to act automatically at times, because Enrico, besides placing his own body's characteristic into her, had also managed to transfer a bit of his bodily experience, so he was calm about this fight.
Two puppets appeared on both sides of her with dark blades. Raising her hands, she managed to stop the attacks easily by gripping them with her palms. Veins appeared in her hands as she used pure strength to spin the two opponents in the air. As if it were simple, her body acted on its own and kicked one of them away while spinning; the other she held with her hand and threw it onto five others that were attacking her from behind.
'I… I'm managing it.'
Her heart began to race faster, but not like before. It was because of the excitement running through her veins. She was feeling as good as she used to when she had magic, even though she was still not that strong.
'I feel useful again.'
Her fear, her deep self-contempt, and previous nervousness seemed to be fading with time as the fight continued. Each movement she made also seemed to improve with time, which surprised Siena when she noticed the improvement.
'But how did she manage to improve like this? From what I know of the others, she wasn't that incredible physically before, from what Zenaria said.'
Her movements were very fluid, something perfect for a knight. She would say she was only below the three aberrations. Noticing Enrico's small smile, she began to suspect something and remembered how he had been taking care of her moments ago.
'I felt a different magic at that time.'
Three puppets merged into one, transforming its appearance into something more human but with six arms. Jumping to the ceiling, it threw several dark spiderwebs down at Velka. Pressing her thighs, she made a high leap over the web.
"Stop moving, you evil human, you must regret touching our Velia."
"Sorry, but I prefer not to get hurt."
[It seems she's getting confident.]
The system was right; she was even managing to respond well to the opponent's lines. He felt that even in a few days he had done a great job with her body, so he scratched his nose with pride, making Siena suspect even more and step closer with a curious expression.
"You did something, didn't you?"
"Yes, but it's a secret."
[You're admitting it just like that.]
Now he had stirred Siena's curiosity even more, making her want to know and ask how, but he stayed quiet as he lifted his face. Siena had noticed it much earlier with the others too, but she didn't mind.
"She's back."
An injured Velia floated back, her lips bleeding and her face irritated. She admitted she had underestimated her opponent, but now she would go all out.
"I'll make you regret it."
"I doubt it."
For the first time since she woke up, Velka gave a small smile of happiness and confidence, for now she was much stronger than before.