After explaining everything clearly, he understood my recent experiences. So I made a request—this was another reason I’d invited him.

"Actually, there’s one more thing. I just became an Angel and haven’t gotten used to this body yet. Be my sparring partner."

Saches was skilled. Sparring with him would help me adapt to my new form. Back when I was human, I’d occasionally duel him with swords. I’d never won. Come to think of it, I hadn’t done any intense, prolonged exercise in this Angel body yet.

I led Saches to the backyard—a small training ground. The maids had already set out two one-handed heavy swords.

These were weapons often used by Knights. They could be wielded with one hand or gripped with both. The blades weren’t particularly sharp; they relied on weight to crush enemies. Without enough strength, they were hard to handle. Before, I’d always practiced with standard one-handed longswords. When sparring with Saches, we’d both use single-handed swords—even rapiers.

This time, I’d specifically asked for heavy swords. I felt my physical abilities had skyrocketed, so my strength should be sufficient. I grabbed the hilt and lifted it effortlessly. It felt like holding a bamboo stick. Beside me, Saches picked up his weapon, eager to start. After all, this was his true specialty.

We took our positions and bowed. We’d done this many times before. I wasn’t planning to hold back. I struck first.

I charged to his right—toward his unarmed left side—and swung my sword. My speed was much faster than before.

Saches didn’t expect such speed. By the time I closed in, he barely turned to block.

*Clang!* A crisp sound of blades clashing. Saches’s sword was deflected. He barely parried my strike, but holding it one-handed and unprepared for my strength, he lost his balance slightly. Still, he was clever. Against my horizontal slash, he angled his blade slightly upward. The sword dipped down, missing him.

After the first clash, my sword dipped low. I didn’t bother retracting it. Instead, I thrust upward. Saches reacted fast, swinging his heavy sword down to meet mine. With momentum-based weapons like this, a downward chop was stronger than an upward thrust. But my strength won out again. I forced him back a step, while I returned to my offensive stance.

After two clashes where he was at a disadvantage, Saches’s balance grew shakier. I pressed the attack. This time, he finally realized matching strength with me was a bad idea. He jumped back to dodge, leaving me swinging at air. He regained his footing.

I noticed his defense against slashes was rock-solid. His fundamentals were better than mine. Time to try something else. I stepped forward and thrust. Back when I lacked strength, I’d excelled with rapiers—weapons focused on thrusting. This thrust wasn’t lightning-fast or pinpoint accurate, but it was decent.

He planted his feet, held his sword horizontally, and pressed his other hand against the blade. He blocked the thrust solidly.

The scene was bizarre. A slender girl wielding a heavy sword one-handed, thrusting fiercely. Opposite her, a tall, burly young man had to use both hands just to barely hold his ground.

Now it was clear. Only by using both hands and bracing himself could he match a casual swing from my single hand. And I wasn’t even trying hard. I hadn’t expected such a huge gap in physical ability. Saches trained relentlessly. With proper medicinal support, the difference might not be so stark.

"You’ve become incredibly strong," Saches said with a bitter smile. His hand trembled slightly, numb from the impact.

"Keep going. Let’s see if you can still beat me?" I grinned smugly and swung my sword one-handed again. Saches could only dodge.

From then on, I dominated the fight. Saches moved cautiously around the arena, dodging my attacks, never engaging head-on. After getting used to the rhythm, he started testing—attempting sudden counterattacks after dodging. I’d thought he was too scared to attack, so I was caught off guard. But my one-handed swings were fast. I easily deflected his counter.

"Child’s play, haha." He looked no threat at all. "Shall we call it quits here?"

He didn’t answer. Instead, he started clashing blades with me. Before, he’d avoided such collisions. Now, he tried striking my sword from the side to disrupt my rhythm. But I just added a bit more force to stabilize it.

I had to admit Saches was talented with swords. No matter what move I made, he’d strike my weapon from the most awkward angles, forcing me to pull back. It was annoying, but he couldn’t actually hurt me. Though I expended more energy, that was all. He was already panting, while I remained calm and composed. With such a huge stamina gap, he couldn’t win. I was finally about to turn the tables.

Then he made a mistake. He met my sword head-on. Instantly, his stance collapsed. He stumbled and half-sat on the ground. Quick on his feet, he raised his sword to defend. I seized the chance. I lifted my sword overhead with both hands for the first time and swung down hard. This strike would shatter his defense completely.

He stared intently at my descending blade. At the moment of impact, he twisted his body to the right, spinning to stand up. His sword flipped to meet my heavy chop. I felt like I’d swung at nothing. My sword slammed into the floor, the recoil making my hands lose grip.

Using the force from my strike, Saches spun his body outward. His heavy sword swept in a wide arc from the right, aiming for my back.

Damn it! That mistake was a trap! I tried to drag my sword back to block, but it was stuck in the floor. I was shorter now, and the heavy sword was nearly two-thirds my height. Without lifting my hands, I couldn’t pull it free. But there was no time.

Just as his sword was about to hit me, Saches lifted it at the last second. It barely missed my head, whistling past. He fell sideways from the momentum. When he climbed up, dusty and disheveled, a triumphant smile spread across his face.

"Looks like I still win this time."