Chapter 81: A Familiar Pair of Eyes

As Eris’s fist approached my face, I moved my head to the side. I managed to dodge the punch, but the palm she pressed against my shoulder immediately afterward threw me off balance. By the time I stepped back and recovered, she had already moved away.

“You put all your weight forward again.”

I breathed out through my nose and raised my hands.

Eris had tied her hair up and changed into her training clothes. She was still as relaxed as she had been when I entered her room. Her breathing hadn’t quickened, and there wasn’t a trace of fatigue on her face.

Meanwhile, my T-shirt was starting to stick to my back.

We had been training for about twenty minutes. After spending the first few minutes correcting my stance, we had started sparring again. Sometimes Eris attacked, while other times she simply deflected my strikes and pointed out the openings in my defense.

Even without her Nexus, her movements were still difficult to follow. Still, I was falling less often than yesterday, and I wasn’t closing my eyes every time I raised my arms.

In my opinion, those weren’t small improvements.

When Eris raised her left hand, I didn’t jump back this time. I pushed her fist aside with my forearm and reached for her shoulder with my right hand. But before I could fully extend my arm, she struck my wrist and redirected the attack.

“Don’t lower your other hand when you counter.”

Her fingers lightly touched my exposed cheek.

I gritted my teeth and pulled back.

I understood what she was saying. The problem was remembering all of it at once while she came at me. If I thought about my stance, I forgot my hands. If I focused on my hands, I placed my feet incorrectly.

And she wasn’t giving me enough time to notice all of it.

My eyes moved from Eris’s shoulder to her feet. When she struck my wrist a moment ago, she had briefly left an opening on her right side. She had probably ignored it because she knew I couldn’t reach her at my normal speed.

Just once…

I took a small step forward.

When Eris saw me move and shifted her weight back, I activated Storm Heart.

Warmth appeared in my chest, and my steps quickened. This time, I didn’t shoot forward uncontrollably like I had that morning. As I closed the distance between us, I tried to keep my eyes on her shoulder.

Eris’s eyes widened for a moment.

For the first time, retreating hadn’t created as much distance as she expected.

I extended my right hand. My fist came so close to her shoulder that I could almost feel the fabric of her shirt against my fingers.

At that exact moment, Eris turned to the side and caught my wrist.

She pressed her other palm against my chest and hooked her foot behind my leg. While I tried to free my arm, the pressure against my chest sent me falling backward. There was no room to move my heel back.

The impact knocked the air out of me as my back hit the ground.

“Ugh!”

I immediately deactivated Storm Heart. As Eris released my wrist and straightened up, I spent several seconds simply trying to get air back into my lungs.

I had really thought I would reach her this time.

“That was close,” I said between breaths.

Eris leaned over me. The surprise on her face had already been replaced by that irritating smile.

She poked my cheek with her index finger.

“Yes. Any closer and you might have wrinkled my T-shirt.”

The arm I raised to push her hand away stopped in midair.

“How did you do that?”

The voice hadn’t come from Eris.

When I turned my head, I saw Talia standing a few steps away. Her hands were clasped in front of her, and she was looking directly at me. I hadn’t seen her enter the training area or heard a single footstep as she approached.

“How long have you been watching us?!”

“I was already here.”

As she spoke, she briefly glanced at the pillars along the edge of the training area, as though failing to notice her was entirely my problem.

I propped myself up on my elbows.

“You could at least make some noise. Don’t you have any—”

“You haven’t answered my question.”

She hadn’t raised her voice, but she had interrupted me so casually that my mouth stayed open for several seconds.

As Eris straightened up and looked between us, Talia continued.

“Eris may not have noticed yet, but you’re faster and stronger than an ordinary person. And just now, you moved at 1.3 times your normal speed.”

I frowned without meaning to.

I could understand her noticing that I had sped up. Eris had been surprised too. But this woman could even tell me exactly how much faster I had become.

She had calculated something I hadn’t yet had a chance to measure myself simply by watching from the sidelines.

“How did you do that?” she asked again.

I pressed a hand against the ground and got to my feet. Although the ache in my back made me grimace, I didn’t want to remain seated in front of Talia while she questioned me.

I glared at her as I brushed the dust off my clothes.

“Stop spying on people and sticking your nose into everything… You psycho elf.”

Eris’s head suddenly turned toward me.

“An elf?”

Only a faint smile appeared on Talia’s face.

“You have a good memory, young master.”

My hand stopped against my T-shirt.

That way of addressing me was enough to confirm a suspicion that had been lingering in the back of my mind.

Talia’s face had seemed familiar when I first saw her. Especially those eyes that looked tired whenever I glanced at them… I had encountered that gaze in Noctis’s memories, but at the time, I couldn’t place where I had seen it.

Now, I was certain who the woman standing in front of me was.

Talia was a Guardian who used to serve the Evernight family.

I didn’t have many memories of her. I had seen her around my father a few times and passed her in crowded hallways. I didn’t know her well enough to say much about her, but I remembered her face and the weary expression she wore while studying people.

I also remembered why she had left the family.

This lunatic had once tried to kill my father.

I swallowed without taking my eyes off her face.

The fact that she had attacked someone like my father and was still alive was surprising enough. What I couldn’t understand was why a woman like her was at the Arclight mansion.

The two families were close. How could Uncle Alaric have taken in a Guardian who had tried to kill his friend?

And she was training Eris.

That was far more than simply giving her a room to stay in.

I didn’t think she was making much effort to hide her identity either. She had concealed her elven ears, but her face was the same. She hadn’t even bothered to change her name.

It was unlikely that Uncle Alaric didn’t recognize her.

So what was I missing?

“What are you two talking about?”

Eris’s voice interrupted my thoughts. She looked from me to Talia.

“Did you already know each other?”

Talia didn’t answer. She continued watching me with that small smile on her lips, as though she was curious how much I would tell Eris.

But right now, I had no intention of discussing her past or answering her questions about my speed.

I picked up my towel from the ground.

“I’m going to take a shower.”

The surprise on Eris’s face grew, but I walked past her before she could ask another question.

I didn’t look back as I headed toward the mansion. I didn’t know whether Talia was still watching me, and I had no desire to check.

A little later, I closed the guest room door behind me and went into the bathroom.

After removing my sweaty clothes, I turned on the water. The warmth running down my shoulders slowly relaxed the muscles that had tensed during training. I felt a slight ache when I turned to check my back, but there was no serious injury.

Even when taking me down, Eris knew exactly how much force to use.

I lowered my head beneath the water and closed my eyes.

Talia’s voice was still in my mind.

You have a good memory, young master.

I needed to find out what this woman was doing here. But if I asked her directly, I could guess what answers she would demand from me in return.

As I raised a hand to wipe the water from my face, a blue light appeared in my vision.

Frowning, I opened my eyes.

[New mission assigned.]

[Objective: Kill Marven Voss.]

[Reward: 10 Eclipsie Points]