"You said that I can't get hurt in this universe. So then, what happens if I die here?"
The man seems taken aback. Corrin's voice is no longer hesitant, but determined.
"Die? You'd wake up. But nobody has ever died here before. This is a place of peace."
Corrin unsheathes his sword and swings it to the side.
"Then fight me, for real! I want you to try to kill me!"
The man laughs a bit.
"Do you want me to go easy on you?"
Corrin's expression thickens.
"No. I don't."
The man shrugs. Then Corrin wakes up in a sweat. He takes a look at his hands; he's sweating. For a moment, he wondered why he woke up, then it hit him.
The man had moved so fast that he had been killed in a split second. Corrin went back into his covers and tried to fall back asleep.
Corrin opened his eyes again. He looked around and saw the man.
"Time moves differently here. 10 minutes in real life is only a few seconds here."
Corrin is angered. He unsheathes his sword again. His wounds were completely healed.
"Are you stronger than the Queen of the Shem?"
Corrin wanted to know if he would be up to something of similar strength or stronger. The man holds his hand to his ear.
"What was that? I thought you wanted me to kill you? Oh well."
Corrin woke up again. He slammed his hands into the sheets.
"Dammit!"
Corrin fell back asleep again and woke up in the world.
Without thinking, Corrin unsheathed his sword and lunged at the man. His scar began to glow more fiercely, and even he was surprised by how quickly he moved. The man lunged under the attack, and Corrin woke up.
Corrin's anger was rising. Through the night, he would repeatedly fall asleep and wake up. He gritted his teeth. Corrin opened his eyes and saw the man standing there. Corrin lunged forward, and for the first time, he had the opportunity to use a technique.
"Light Katana…"
Corrin screamed the name of the sword technique Forrest had been teaching them.
"...Twirling Serpent!"
Corrin's feet began to glow a golden color with light radiating off of them and reflecting in the water below. He pushed off the wet ground with immense force and twirled his body in such a way that he did a barrel roll. Golden color began to illuminate off of Corrin's blade as he swirled his sword towards the man. His blade inched closer, then it tapped his neck.
Corrin woke up abruptly. He was astonished, covered in sweat, and furious.
"How is he that fast!?"
Edwin shot out of his bed and instinctively grabbed a knife from his bedside table.
"Oh gods, what's wrong?!"
Edwin's eyes flickered open, and he sprang out of bed. He looked at Corrin, who was sitting in his bed and panting.
"Nightmare?"
Corrin looked at him and nodded his head.
"I guess so."
Edwin took a sigh of relief and dropped back into his bed, his messed-up brown hair plummeting down. Corrin watched as Forrest came in to wake them up, but they were both already awake.
Corrin spent the following weeks, every night, trying to land a hit on the man. Waking up so often at night also made Corrin tired during his lessons, and he found himself falling asleep during the few breaks they did have throughout the day, which, strangely, he wouldn't have to fight the man during these moments.
Corrin had constant deep eye bags. Forrest came to him one day during one of the breaks, which Corrin was annoyed at for keeping him from sleeping.
"Are you having trouble sleeping, Corrin?"
Corrin shook his head.
"Only a bit, nothing I need to be whaling about. Just the physical strain, I guess."
Forrest sighs. He gets comfortable on the bench they were sitting at.
"I doubt that. Merri checks all of your wounds to see if they'll hinder you and treats them if they will. Something else is bothering you."
Corrin looked away. He wiped his face.
"How do you defeat somebody stronger than you?"
Forrest looked confused.
"Is this about our sparring matches?"
Corrin looked away and shook his head.
"I mean, stronger than any of us here. Like how strong the Queen is."
Forrest rubbed his chin slightly. He looked at everybody around.
"I would say, you get help. Sometimes doing something alone is too difficult."
Corrin shakes his head.
"What if you had nobody to help you? What then?"
Forrest raises his eyebrow. He stands up.
"You have to learn to walk before you can run, Corrin. Fighting somebody that difficult may land a person lots of experience on the battlefield, but it's all in vain if they die, wouldn't you agree?"
Corrin nods his head.
At night, he opens his eyes. The man is about 20 feet away from him.
"Wait!"
Corrin feels the man's sword against his neck.
"Oh, what is it?"
Corrin takes a step around and faces the man. He takes a deep breath.
"Go slower! I clearly don't stand a chance as I am now. You need to go slower for me to even have a chance at beating you! Go slow enough that it's still challenging, but possible for me!"
The man laughs.
"I've been wondering how long it would take you to speak up, Hisstion."
The man dashes forwards; this time, Corrin can see it. The blade edged closer to his neck from Corrin's right.
He threw his upper body left, and his lower body right, spinning himself 180 degrees. He kicks his leg with all his might at his face. The man brings his head back, dodging the kick easily.
Corrin pushes his body forward through the air, spinning around 360 degrees, and brings his blade near the man's neck again.
Corrin's blade shoots forward. Corrin grits his teeth; he had dodged it effortlessly!
The man uses his fist and slams Corrin into the ground. Corrin watches his teeth fall out and blood fill his mouth. Corrin flies upward from the knockback of being hit into the ground, and the man thrusts his sword forward towards Corrin's chest. The tip began to pierce through his clothing.
Corrin spins to the left and kicks the sword away. He throws a desperate punch with his left hand towards the man. The man pulls his face back, but Corrin wasn't aiming for his face.
Corrin grabs the man's beard, pulling him around as he brings his right leg around as quickly as possible into the man's head.
The man punched Corrin's leg upward. He heard a crack as he was forced to let go of the man's beard.
Corrin flies away and splashes into the water. The droplets soar into the air.
Corrin reaches into his pouch and grabs a small, broken-down, hollow stick. Inside was a string pulling itself together. Corrin latches the pieces together and grabs a thin rope. He throws the stick down to his leg, straightening out his leg, and he ties the rope to the stick.
In no time at all, he forms a makeshift splint.
He releases his leg and seems to shock the man.
"Well, that was unexpected. I haven't ever seen somebody form a splint so suddenly like that. On that note, I was also surprised when you grabbed my beard; that was quite a smart move. You took advantage of your enemy's physical appearance. Smart."
Corrin didn't let his eyes drift away from the man.
Corrin gritted his teeth. He pushed off the ground with his good foot towards the man. The man suddenly appeared below Corrin, and Corrin felt a whirl of pain and heard the snapping of a bone.
Corrin flew forward. Without his legs to support him, Corrin twisted his body and landed on his back, lessening the effect of the fall. When he hit the ground, he shifted to the left and scraped his shoulder until he stopped.
Corrin coughed up blood. He looked down and saw his other leg bent the wrong way.
"You don't have two, do you? Nor did you expect me to go for your leg again."
The man smiled. Corrin lifted himself with his arms. Both of his legs were broken, and the one that had a splint could survive one more big jump before it would break.
The splint was designed to keep the leg straight, not to jump with.
Corrin watched as the man shrugged.
"Guess you'll have to try again, huh? Oh well, that was a good attempt."
Corrin desperately looked around; he couldn't lose. He searched for anything that could help him. He looked at the man's sword. It was a rapier. Corrin took in the weapon.
He knew that meant that it was better for stabbing, so Corrin tried to use this to his advantage.
As the man came closer, Corrin made his move. He brought up his stilted right leg, then the pain exploded through it as he leapt forward. As expected, the main stabs towards Corrin.
He brought his sword down to his left side, holding it with only one hand. He moves his body to the left, only slightly dodging the attack. The blade slits deep into Corrin's right cheek as Corrin inches closer to the man.
"Light Katana…"
Corrin grips his katana and begins his swing upward.
"...Power!!"
The sword explodes upwards in a brilliant flash of golden light. Corrin falls to the ground and the man dodges backwards. He looks shocked. He brings his hand up and scruffs his beard. Corrin looks up.
Floating in the air is a small tuft of hair.