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Chapter 24: Sneaking
🕑 Added 2024-08-10 13:30:01 +0000 UTCI removed the ropes around Feyt’s arms using Carine’s teeth. It was a struggle, but I managed. After that, I used Feyt to remove the rest.
With our hands finally free, we had to act quickly.
I listened carefully to the guards outside, they were still arguing if cooking steak underground was a good idea or not.
Good, they’re distracted.
No torches or candles were lit in the deeper parts of the base, so I had Carine take the front for her eyes with Feyt following closely behind, his ears keeping the surroundings in check.
We first entered the room across from us. After a quick scan, it was a similar room to where we were thrown in, empty and dusty.
We headed back down the hallway and headed to another room. This one had three wooden crates, but we didn’t have the tools to open them, and we couldn’t even risk trying it with our bare hands, so we headed back out.
The next room had a few liquor bottles stocked on some shoddy shelves, some of the bottles were already emptied. Nothing noteworthy here.
The room after that had cigars—hundreds if not thousands of them. Thank god I didn’t have a super nose or I’d choke to death in that room.
We sneaked our way into another room where there were dozens of crates filled to the brim with books. I felt a strange urge to try and see what the books were all about, but I managed to control myself.
So far, there hadn’t been anything useful. At all.
What kind of bandit base is this?!
No, wait, we haven’t checked everything.
There were still a few rooms deeper, but they were pitch black. Could Carine’s eyes see through them?
…
Turns out, my eyes had night vision I hadn’t even thought possible. From Feyt’s perspective, this room was completely pitch black. But from Carine’s, it was as bright as day.
Freaky eye abilities aside, I inspected the room and…
Jackpot!
Scattered along the room were several swords and bows, some of them were rusty, and some of them were carelessly shoved into crates.
Unfortunately, there were no arrows, leaving us with only the swords.
I picked up a sword for each body. They were heavier than the training swords Carine was used to and much heavier than the tools Feyt was familiar with.
But it would have to do. There was no other choice.
For practice, I tried to take a stance with my sword. I nearly tripped doing that. Turns out you can’t spread your legs a lot when wearing a long skirt.
Using the sword’s edge, I slowly cut my dark blue dress. Sure, the dress might be expensive and all, but my life was on the line here!
For better air flow, I also cut my long sleeves carefully.
Feyt’s clothes were pretty much made for movement already, so I didn’t need to cut anything off of his.
With the wardrobe sorted out, I tried to take the stance once again.
I pulled out past memories of my training. All the stances Father and Mother had taught me. All the basic techniques and such.
Once again, that feeling of confidence surged within me. My body was ready to mimic everything it had been taught.
I began to deeply wonder. Extreme eyesight, perfect night vision, mimicking movement… were all these truly just from [Enhanced Sight]?
Definitely not… Maybe…
My common sense ain’t sensing…
Anyway, what about Feyt? Carine had her sword training to rely on, Feyt had… farming skills?
Yeah, that wasn’t going to work.
But wait… We share memories somewhat… right?
Curious, I tried taking the stance as Feyt by accessing Carine’s memory of it. Legs spread apart, body leaning sideways with my gaze straight forward.
Of course, I was staring at nothing since Feyt couldn’t see anything in this room, but I used Carine’s vision for reference.
It wasn’t as solid as Carine’s stance, but I was surprised by how well it worked. As long as either body had knowledge of something, the other could use it.
Good to know.
I got the general gist of how to do the things I was taught, but just to make sure it worked, I tried a few test runs.
I recalled the moment we were kidnapped, a few moments before it, actually. Father was being attacked by a mysterious man, and when he pulled out a dagger, Father parried it away easily.
I could easily mimic Father’s movement from that moment as Carine, but I had to break it down into a series of moves for Feyt’s body to comprehend.
First, use your back foot as a base to solidify your stance. Position your sword at an angle and keep a focus on the incoming attack.
I tried mimicking Father’s stance during that time as both Carine and Feyt. Carine did it perfectly and I could also do it as Feyt. Perfect!
I wanted to test a few more techniques before heading out, but that was when something happened. The bandits were on the move.
I heard their footsteps approaching the dusty room we were in before.
“Oi!! The kids are gone!!”
“What?! How in the world did they– Dammit! They must be in the weapons section! Hurry!”
Shit– What do I do?!
I heard their footsteps growing louder, their lantern light flickering at the doorway. Before I could even set up a surprise attack or even plan one, they arrived.
The pitch-black room was illuminated by a lone bandit holding a lantern. He stood at the doorway and glared at us.
“Don’t play with those things!” He bandits shouted at us.
He pulled out a dagger, his face contorting with anger.
“I told ya’ to stay still, didn’t I?!”
The man lunged at us, lantern and dagger in hand. Both of us jumped aside, narrowly avoiding the attack.
We couldn’t afford to relax. He shouted angrily as he swung his dagger again, targeting it at Carine. I tried to parry his attack with my sword, but the heavy blade felt unwieldy and unfamiliar in my hands, turning my movement sluggish.
I managed to block his attack and move out of the way, but only barely. With the bandit’s focus on Carine, I lunged forward as Feyt to attack, but that too was anticipated as the bandit redirected the sword with his dagger.
I was moving too slowly, it was hard to coordinate both bodies effectively, especially in a tense situation like this.
Before we could even catch our breath, the second bandit bursts into the room. He carried with him a crossbow and a short sword strapped to his belt.
“Get out of the way, idiot!” The second bandit shouted at the first. “Let me handle this.”
“Who are you calling an idiot?!”
The first bandit glared at the second for a split moment, giving me enough time to find an opportunity to attack.
I swung my sword in an upward arc, aiming for his neck and chin. But he twisted away just in time, my strike barely grazing his shoulder.
“You’re gonna pay for that!!”
Anticipating his attack due to my eyes, I dodged his downward strike that chipped the rocky ground.
Meanwhile, on Feyt’s side, I was dodging the crossbow man every time he shot an arrow, yet I never had an opening for an attack of my own. He was reloading like crazy!
I could see the trajectory of his shots through Carine’s eyes, but focusing on two enemies at once with my eyes was starting to get tiring.
I struggled to coordinate between Carine and Feyt, each movement feeling more labored than the last. The heavy swords were cumbersome, and every attempt to anticipate and counter the bandits’ attacks seemed slower and more desperate.
I was slightly thankful to the first bandit for bringing in a lantern to the fight. Carine might do well, but I couldn’t imagine fighting as Feyt in the dark.
…Wait.
The lantern. It was the sole light source in the entire room. Were it to be gone, the room would revert to its pitch-black state from before…
A plan was forming in my head, a risky one, but it might just work.
Instead of holding back two targets with both of my bodies, I decided to focus on one target.
The first bandit’s left arm!!
