Free Web Novel"We're done with the first part of the training."
Noxx blinked, confused.
"First part?"
"Yes."
She looked at him with suspicion.
"So now I have to do something even more painful?"
Matt didn't deny it, and that was enough. Noxx took half a step back and her legs trembled.
Matt looked at her without expression.
"Are you scared?"
"No, I'm fine… talk."
Matt was quiet for a moment.
It wasn't a long silence.
But it was a strange one.
Noxx noticed it immediately.
Matt wasn't someone who hesitated much before speaking. When he had something to say, he said it. Even if it sounded horrible. Even if it made her feel bad. Even if it was a correction that came right after killing her.
That was why seeing him quiet like that gave her a bad feeling.
A very clear one.
"Are you nervous?"
Matt looked at her.
"I'm not nervous."
"I think you are."
"No."
"Your face says otherwise."
"Shut up and listen."
Noxx swallowed.
"You're not going to fight the boss alone."
She went still.
For an instant, she felt relief.
A lot of it.
Too much.
The idea of returning to the real world, taking control of the body, and trying to face that eight-armed mechanical skeleton alone was something she didn't even want to imagine. She had fled from it once. She survived because she squeezed through a narrow hole.
But if she had to face it again alone…
Noxx tightened her fingers.
No.
She didn't want that.
"Then what are we going to do?" she asked.
Matt looked up at her.
"We're going to practice a technique in the real world."
Noxx tensed.
"A technique?"
"Yes."
"What technique?"
"A soul division technique."
Noxx went quiet. Then blinked.
"A soul… division?"
"Yes."
She opened her mouth slightly.
"Like what you did with Iris?"
"Not exactly."
Noxx felt that didn't make things any better.
Matt leaned back in the chair.
"When I was fused with Iris, I researched a lot of things to separate us. Spells, rituals, forbidden methods, incomplete techniques, old notes from dead vampires… anything that had even a minimal chance of working."
Noxx listened carefully.
"Some techniques were useless. Others were outright suicidal. Some needed materials I couldn't obtain without the queen noticing. And several could only separate memories, not souls."
Noxx swallowed.
"And this one?"
Matt looked at her.
"This one can separate souls, but it's incomplete. The main flaw is that the separation only lasts ten minutes."
Noxx's eyes opened wide.
"Ten minutes?"
"Yes."
"And after?"
"The souls rejoin."
Noxx stared at him.
"Even if we don't want them to?"
Matt nodded.
"Even if we don't want them to."
The silence returned.
Noxx looked down at her own hands.
Ten minutes.
It wasn't much. But after everything that had happened during mental training, ten minutes could feel like an eternity if something went wrong.
"Why do you want to use a technique like that?" she asked. "If it only lasts ten minutes…"
"Because maybe ten minutes will be enough."
Noxx looked up.
Matt was still serious.
"The cave may have designed that fight in a way that one person can't win it alone."
Noxx remembered the boss.
The enormous body.
The eight arms.
The regeneration.
The metallic sound of its movements.
The pressure of the room.
The feeling that no matter how hard they tried to damage it, it always repaired itself.
Her mental body tensed.
"You think the cave did it on purpose?"
"Yes."
Matt got up from the chair.
"I entered at the highest difficulty. The cave isn't a fair place. Its purpose isn't to test whether the challenger can win comfortably. Its purpose is to push them to their limit and see what weapon is born from that."
Noxx said nothing.
Matt continued:
"But now there are two of us."
The phrase fell between them.
Noxx felt something strange hearing it.
There are two of us.
Not "it's me and a parasite."
Not "it's me and another Iris."
There are two of us.
Noxx's fingers closed slightly.
"And we have three ego weapons."
Noxx blinked.
"The bow-spear and the two guns."
Matt began to walk slowly across the grass as he explained.
"If we separate, each of us can use one weapon. You can use the guns. I can use the bow-spear. If we coordinate the attacks well, maybe we can break the boss's regeneration or destroy several parts at the same time."
Noxx frowned.
"What if that's not enough?"
"Then we improvise."
Noxx pressed her lips together.
The plan made sense.
If the boss regenerated because they couldn't damage it fast enough, then two bodies attacking simultaneously could change the fight. If one distracted while the other aimed at the important parts, maybe they'd have a chance.
Maybe.
But the problem was still that the technique was incomplete.
Noxx looked at Matt steadily.
"That technique has another flaw, doesn't it?"
Matt stopped.
Noxx felt like she had guessed right.
"Yes."
She closed her eyes.
"At the moment of division, the vampire power doesn't always split evenly."
Noxx opened her eyes.
"What does that mean?"
"That one of us might end up with more vampire power than the other."
"How much more?"
"I don't know."
Noxx took a step toward him.
"Matt."
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He looked at her.
"One of us could end up with almost all of it."
Noxx went still.
"And the other?"
"With very little."
She swallowed.
Matt held her gaze.
"Or with nothing."
The word hung there.
Nothing.
No regeneration.
No vampire strength.
No wings.
No that absurd resilience that let them stay alive after things that should have killed them.
Noxx felt an uncomfortable cold.
"Are you sure about that?"
Matt let out a low laugh.
It wasn't cheerful.
"Yes."
Noxx looked at him without understanding.
"Why are you laughing?"
"Because I tried it many times."
"With Iris?"
"Yes."
Matt crossed his arms.
"When we were still fused, I used that technique several times. Not because it was good, but because I was desperate."
His voice dropped slightly.
"I couldn't stand the idea of sharing a body with her forever."
Noxx stayed quiet.
Matt continued:
"Sometimes I ended up with most of the powers. Sometimes she did. Sometimes we both had something close to a balance. And once I ended up with no trace of vampire power at all."
She opened her eyes.
"Nothing?"
"Nothing."
"What happened?"
Matt looked at her.
"Iris used it as an opportunity to threaten to kill me if I kept trying to separate us permanently."
Noxx went still.
"The rest is history."
Noxx looked up.
"I'm not going to try to kill you."
Matt blinked.
"What?"
"If when we separate you end up without powers," she said, with a firmer voice, "I'm not going to try to kill you."
Matt looked at her for a few seconds. Then frowned.
"Don't say stupid things."
Noxx opened her eyes.
"It's not stupid."
"Yes it is."
"I'm being serious."
"I know. That's what makes it more stupid."
Noxx gritted her teeth.
"Why?"
"Because you shouldn't waste time promising something obvious."
"For me… it's important that you know."
Matt went quiet.
Noxx continued:
"I'm not Iris."
Matt looked at her.
She held his gaze.
"You promised."
Matt let out a long sigh.
"Yes. I promised."
"Then don't answer like I'm the same as her."
Matt closed his eyes for a moment.
Noxx thought she might have gone too far.
But Matt didn't get angry.
He just seemed tired.
"Fine," he said at last. "Then don't."
"Don't what?"
"Try to kill me if I end up without powers."
Noxx looked at him seriously.
"I won't."
Matt opened his eyes.
"Fine."
"And if you end up weak, I'll protect you."
Matt looked at her. Then his expression went flat.
"Don't get carried away."
"I'm not getting carried away."
"It sounds like you are."
"I'm being responsible."
"That was a very strange thing to say coming from someone who a few days ago couldn't stop faceplanting into the ground."
"I was learning!"
Matt looked away before saying:
"I'm going to take control of the body."
Noxx tensed.
"Right now?"
"Yes."
"Shouldn't we rest more?"
"We don't have time."
"You always say that."
"Because it's true."
Noxx frowned.
Matt looked at her.
"Get ready."
"For what?"
"For the transition."
Noxx swallowed.
"Is it going to hurt?"
Matt didn't respond right away.
Noxx closed her eyes.
"That means yes."
"It won't be worse than dying in the mental world."
Noxx wanted to complain, but Matt had already closed his eyes. His presence inside the mental world started to shift.
First it was as if his figure lost weight. The gaming chair behind him trembled slightly. The grass around his feet moved, though there was no more wind.
Noxx felt a pressure in her chest.
Matt was leaving.
He was going to take control of the real body.
The body they now shared.
Her body, or maybe both their bodies. She still didn't know how to think about that.
◇◆◇
Matt opened his eyes in the real world. The first thing he felt was the softness of a pillow under his head.
The second was exhaustion.
A lot of exhaustion.
The body was lying on the rest room bed, and for a moment Matt stayed looking at the low stone ceiling, trying to remember exactly at what point he had left the real world before entering the mental training.
Noxx had put the body to rest.
That was good.
Surprisingly good.
Matt blinked several times and moved his fingers.
The sensation was different.
In the mental world, he still had his male body. His height. His hands. His voice. His normal weight.
That helped him think clearly and not lose his mind.
But in the real world…
Matt slowly looked down.
No.
He wasn't going to think too hard about that.
Not now.
The real body was still the vampiric feminine body that the cave, the blood, and all that disaster had formed around Noxx.
Light hair, pale skin, and vampire strength. Features too similar to those of the family Matt hated.
Matt closed his eyes for a second.
'Don't think about that.'
Thinking about that would only give him more of a headache.
And he was already about to give himself a pretty big one with the spell.
Matt sat up slowly.
The bed was simple, much less elegant than the castle rooms. Stone, a thick blanket, a pillow, and all around the quiet air of the rest room.
The fountain was on one side, its water dark and still.
Matt glanced at it sideways. His stomach still reminded him that the water could ease hunger and thirst.
On the bed, close to him, were the weapons. The bow-spear rested to one side, with its strange and increasingly refined shape after everything that had happened in the cave. The two guns were nearby, placed with care.
Noxx had left them ready.
Matt looked at them for a few seconds. Then ignored them.
The technique first. Then the weapons.
Matt got off the bed. His feet touched the cold floor. An uncomfortable sensation traveled up his legs.
Not from the cold.
From the body.
From the balance.
From the way the weight was distributed.
Matt clenched his jaw.
'No.'
He wasn't going to stand here thinking about that.
He took several steps away from the bed.
One.
Two.
Three.
He stopped in a clear area of the room, away from the weapons, the fountain, and the wall.
He needed space.
Not much. But enough to not fall on something if the spell went wrong.
Matt closed his eyes and breathed slowly.
Noxx was inside.
He could feel her.
Not clearly, not as if she were speaking right beside him, but as a nervous presence at the back of his mind.
Alert.
Scared.
But ready.
'Listen,' Matt thought.
He didn't know if she could hear him well from that position, but he continued anyway.
'When it starts, don't fight the pull. If you try to resist, it might hurt more.'
There was a faint response.
Not with words.
More like a sensation of affirmation.
Matt gritted his teeth.
'Good.'
He raised a hand and brought it in front of his chest.
He didn't need blood to initiate the spell.
Not at first.
The technique was mental, but the body had to serve as the point of separation.
The problem was that separating souls wasn't like separating two objects.
There were no clean lines.
No clear edges.
Matt and Iris had been mixed together for too long when he found this technique. And now, with Noxx, even though the situation was different, the origin was still a problem.
Vampire blood.
Fear.
Fragments of consciousness.
All bound inside the same body.
Matt began to concentrate mana in his head.
The effect was immediate.
Pain.
"Ghk…!"
Matt gritted his teeth and brought a hand to his forehead.
It was as if his brain were splitting from the inside.
Not cleanly.
Not all at once.
Slowly.
A pressure opened a path between his thoughts. The magic spread through his mind, searching for the boundary between himself and Noxx.
Matt felt her presence react.
Fear.
Pain.
Confusion.
"Stay still…" Matt murmured.
His real voice sounded different.
Higher.
Softer.
He hated it immediately.
This wasn't the moment.
The pressure increased.
Matt raised his other hand and started forming the magical pattern.
It wasn't a visible circle in the air. It was more like a sequence of impulses inside the mind, reinforced with mana. Each part had to activate in order. If he made a mistake, he could cause the technique to fail before it started.
Or worse.
He could make the separation come out incomplete.
Matt had lived through that before.
He didn't want to repeat it.
"Noxx," he said through his teeth. "Don't move."
This time he felt a clearer response.
"I'm trying…"
Noxx's voice appeared at the back of his head, trembling.
"It hurts!"
"Hold on."
Matt almost smiled.
Almost.
But the pain tore through his head with more force and his breathing cut off.
"Ugh…!"
The magic found the point.
That strange place where his consciousness and Noxx's touched.
Matt tightened his fingers.
'Now.'
He activated the technique.
The room lit up.
A pale light began surrounding his body, first faint, then more intense. The air vibrated around him. The blanket on the bed shifted. The guns trembled slightly on the sheets.
Hmmm!
Matt felt something inside him being pulled.
"Agh!"
The sensation was horrible.
His mind split with a brutal clarity. It wasn't like dying in the mental world. It wasn't like scattering. It was different. It was feeling that a part of his being — a part that was attached to him — was being forced to take its own shape.
Noxx screamed inside his head.
"Matt!"
"Don't fight the spell."
"I'm not fighting it!"
"Then hold on."
"That's what I'm doing!"
The light intensified.
Matt dropped to his knees.
Thud!
His hands touched the cold floor.
The pressure climbed from his head to his chest.
He felt his breathing break apart.
He felt a pull in his bones. In his blood. In the very center of his body.
The spell was creating a second point of existence.
A bodily copy.
Matt felt nauseous.
'Damn technique.'
The book containing it had been written by an ancient vampire with too much confidence and very little success. According to his own notes, the original goal was to create a copy of himself to use as a second body.
It hadn't worked well.
But the incomplete result could serve to temporarily divide two souls inside the same body.
Ten minutes.
Only ten.
Matt gritted his teeth harder.
The light covered him completely.
For an instant, he saw nothing.
Just white.
Pain.
Pressure.
And Noxx's scream mixing with his own.
Then everything cut off.
VMM!
The light burst outward and went out all at once.
Matt fell to one side.
Thud!
His shoulder hit the ground.
At the same moment, he heard another body fall near him.
Thud!
The room went silent.
Not for long.
Just a few seconds.
Then came the breathing.
Two ragged, irregular, pained breaths.
Matt opened his eyes with difficulty.
The floor was cold against his cheek. His head hurt. His chest was rising and falling too fast.
For a moment, he couldn't move.
That was a bad sign.
He tried to sense his blood.
The response was faint.
But it was there.
Vampire power.
Not complete. But he had something.
Matt pressed his fingers to the floor and started pushing himself up.
Every movement hurt.
"Ugh…"
A few steps away, Noxx was lying face down, breathing hard. Her light hair was spread across her face in disarray.
Her body was trembling.
Matt looked at her. Then looked down at himself.
He wasn't wearing clothes.
He closed his eyes.
'Great.'
He wasn't going to think about that.
He wasn't going to look too much either.
It was an incomplete body division technique. The clothes didn't divide.
He remembered that from the tests with Iris too.
An irritating detail.
Very irritating.
Matt got up with effort, ignoring the cold floor and the pain in his head. He used one hand to brace against the nearest wall, breathed slowly, and forced his legs to hold him.
Then he looked at Noxx.
"Get up."
Noxx didn't move.
She just raised a weak hand.
"Give me… a moment…"
Her voice came out broken.
Matt was still for a second.
It was strange to hear her like that.
Noxx breathed hard and slowly rolled onto her side.
"That… hurt…"
Matt brought a hand to his forehead.
"I told you it would."
"That doesn't help…"
Noxx tried to sit up.
She failed.
She ended up half-collapsed again, with her hair covering part of her face.
"I feel… strange."
"Normal."
"Am I… weaker?"
Matt looked at her carefully.
"How much?"
Noxx moved her fingers. Then closed her fist. Her hand trembled.
"I don't know… but my body feels heavy. Like everything is responding late."
Matt clicked his tongue.
"Tch."
"Is that bad?"
"It's the split going unevenly."
Noxx looked up with difficulty.
"Do you have power?"
"Some."
"How much?"
"I don't know yet."
Noxx breathed slowly.
Then tried to sit up again.
This time she managed it.
And then she saw Matt — standing with no clothes, just like her, acting as if that were unimportant.
But that wasn't the main problem.
The problem was his body.
Noxx opened her eyes.
"Matt…"
He looked at her.
"What?"
Noxx pointed at him with a trembling hand.
"You're still…"
Matt narrowed his eyes.
"Finish that sentence carefully."
Noxx swallowed.
"You're still a woman."
Matt closed his eyes.
"I noticed."
"You don't have your male body."
"Thank you for the observation."
"But in the mental world you did…"
"Yes."
"Then… why not here?" freewebnovёl.ƈom
Matt let out a long sigh. A very tired one.
"Because this technique doesn't create a body based on mental image."
Noxx looked at him, confused.
Matt continued:
"It creates a temporary copy using the existing physical body as its base."
Noxx blinked.
Once.
Twice.
"I don't understand."
"The spell was in an old book. It was written by a vampire from many centuries ago who tried to clone himself."
Noxx looked at him again.
"Clone himself?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"He didn't explain it well."
Matt walked to the bed and took a blanket, wrapping it around his body with quick, annoyed movements. Noxx watched him.
He took another blanket and tossed it at her. The blanket landed over her head.
"Mmph!"
"Cover yourself."
Noxx pulled the blanket off her face, red from embarrassment and exhaustion.
"You could have handed it normally!"
"You could have caught it."
"I'm weak!"
"Then train and get stronger."
"I just divided my soul!"
"And now you're going to train divided."
Noxx looked at him with disbelief. Matt went back to the explanation as if nothing had happened.
"The vampire who created this technique wanted to make a copy of himself. But he couldn't create a stable or permanent body."
Noxx wrapped herself in the blanket as best she could.
"That still sounds horrible."
"It is."
"And we're going to use it against the boss?"
"Yes."
Noxx looked down at her hands.
"So… we both have the same body because the spell copied this body."
"Exactly."
Noxx looked at her own hand. Then at Matt's.
Even though they had the same body, the difference was in the expression.
Matt was still Matt, even in that body.
Noxx, on the other hand, was sure she looked as confused as she felt.
"This is very strange," she said.
"Noxx."
She went still.
Matt had called her just by her name. Again.
The irritation faded a little.
Just a little.
"What?"
"Stop complaining."
Noxx frowned. The warmth faded pretty quickly.
"That ruined the moment."
"It wasn't a moment."
"It was for me."
"Then you have very low standards."
Noxx puffed out her cheeks slightly.
Matt walked to the bed and looked at the weapons.
The bow-spear was still there. The two guns too. Matt reached a hand toward the bow-spear, but stopped before touching it.
First he had to check something.
He closed his eyes.
He tried to bring out the wings and felt a faint response in his back.
Not enough to fly properly, not even enough to stay in the air.
Matt clicked his tongue.
"Damn."
Noxx looked at him from the floor.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't have all the powers."
Noxx swallowed. Then looked at herself.
"And me?"
"Check."
"How?"
"Try to form blood in your hand."
Noxx looked at her palm and breathed slowly, concentrated, and a small red line appeared on her skin that began to spread and grow.
"It seems like I have them intact…"
"Get up."
Noxx went still.
"Right now?"
"Yes."
"Matt, everything hurts."
"I know."
"And I'm weak."
"But you have the powers."
Noxx gritted her teeth.
"I need a few minutes to adjust…"
"We have ten minutes."
Noxx went still. Matt looked at her.
"The technique started counting from the moment we divided."
"I hate training so much…" Noxx muttered under her breath.
