Free Web NovelAfter repeating the technique several times, Noxx reached a very simple conclusion.
Soul division was horrible.
Every time Matt activated the technique, her consciousness was torn from inside the shared body and forced to take its own shape in the real world.
For a few seconds, she felt her thoughts stretch, her chest tighten, and every part of her pulled apart with too much force.
Then she appeared outside.
With a body.
With hands.
With legs.
With a voice that came from her own mouth.
And for a moment, that felt incredible.
Then she remembered they only had ten minutes.
And then it stopped feeling incredible and started feeling like a countdown.
The cave's rest room had become a kind of improvised training ground. The bed had been pushed to one side, the fountain was still there, still and unpleasant, and the stone walls were covered in new marks.
Bullet impacts.
Cuts from the bow-spear.
Small cracks.
Mana burns.
The cave seemed to repair itself slowly, but not fast enough to erase all the damage Matt and Noxx were making.
And then there was the other problem.
One Noxx was trying very hard to ignore.
The technique split bodies.
Not clothes.
At first, Noxx had tried to cover herself every time she appeared in the real world. She had tried to grab a blanket, wrap it around her body, and pretend that wasn't costing her time.
It didn't work.
The first time she tripped on the fabric trying to take off.
The second time, one of her guns got tangled between the blanket and her arm.
The third time, Matt looked at her with that flat expression and said:
"That's going to get you killed."
And since he wasn't wrong, Noxx had nothing to say.
So now they trained without clothes.
Completely.
Nothing.
Noxx hated it.
Matt seemed to have decided to ignore it.
That was worse.
Much worse.
Because Matt didn't act uncomfortable. He didn't cover himself. He didn't hesitate. He didn't awkwardly look away. He simply picked up the bow-spear, scanned the room, gave instructions, and moved as if being naked in the middle of a dangerous cave were just another irritating detail on a list of problems that was already too long.
Noxx, on the other hand, was trying not to think about it.
She was trying not to look too much.
She was trying not to notice how the same body could look so different when he used it.
That was the most unfair part.
They had the same face.
The same light hair.
The same pale skin.
The same vampiric body.
But Matt didn't look like her.
Not exactly.
The way he stood was different.
The way he held his weapon was different.
The way he frowned was different.
Even naked, even using that body he clearly hated, he still looked like Matt.
Noxx didn't know how he could be so different if the body was the same.
And for some reason, she found it difficult to look at him.
Very difficult.
'It's embarrassment.'
Yes.
It had to be embarrassment.
It was normal to feel strange being naked in front of another person.
Even if that other person had the same body.
Even if that other person was Matt.
Especially if it was Matt.
Noxx pressed her lips together and raised the guns.
Matt was on the other side of the room, also separated, also without clothes, with the bow-spear in bow mode.
His expression was so serious that it made the whole situation more absurd.
"Noxx."
She immediately straightened up.
She didn't respond.
Just nodded.
Matt pointed at a crack to the right.
"Double shot. Then rise half a meter, turn left, and fire again."
Noxx nodded again.
Her heart started beating faster.
Every time Matt gave an order in that firm tone, her body reacted before she could think. She straightened her back. Adjusted her posture. Gripped the guns tighter.
And the worst part was that a part of her felt good obeying.
That was embarrassing.
Very embarrassing.
'Focus.'
Noxx raised both guns while Matt watched.
"No tensing the shoulders," he said.
Noxx corrected her posture instantly.
"Good."
That word tickled something in her chest.
Noxx clenched her jaw.
'No. Not now.'
She aimed and fired.
BANG! BANG!
Both bullets hit near the marked crack.
Not in the center.
But close.
Noxx moved her wings.
Fwoosh!
Her body rose too fast.
Not like the first time, when she hit the ceiling, but still with more force than necessary.
She gritted her teeth, corrected with her wings, and turned left.
The body responded late.
The right gun drifted.
Noxx adjusted her wrist.
Fired.
BANG!
The bullet hit the wall, though lower than she wanted.
Matt fired right after.
Fwip!
The dark mana arrow passed beneath her and hit the crack Noxx had marked.
Crack!
The stone opened a little more.
Noxx landed clumsily, but didn't fall.
That was already an improvement.
Matt lowered the bow-spear.
"Better."
Noxx went still.
Then nodded.
She shouldn't smile.
It was just a correction.
But her mouth tried to move anyway.
Noxx looked away before Matt noticed.
Or before he commented on it.
"You went too high on the takeoff," he said.
Noxx looked back at him and nodded.
"Use less force. You're not in the mental world. Here the wing pushes real air. If you use the same movement intent, you overshoot."
Noxx nodded again.
Matt narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Are you listening or just nodding?"
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Noxx opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
She felt warmth in her face.
"I'm listening…"
"Then repeat it."
"Less force on takeoff. The wing pushes real air. If I use the same intent as the mental world, I overshoot."
Matt nodded.
"Good."
There it was again.
That damned word.
Noxx looked down slightly.
Matt watched her.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You're acting strange."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Noxx."
She tensed when she heard her name.
Matt said it in that firm tone. Not angry. Not cruel. Just direct.
The problem was her body reacted too fast.
She straightened up.
Gripped the guns.
And for some horrible reason, felt her face get a little warmer.
Matt raised an eyebrow.
Noxx turned her head.
"I'm focused."
"That didn't look like focus."
"It is."
Matt looked at her with suspicion.
She kept her gaze on the wall.
She wasn't going to explain anything.
She didn't even understand what was happening herself, so it was impossible to explain.
And she was definitely not going to tell him that when he called her by name in that tone, her body did something strange.
No.
Never.
It had to be the technique.
Or the embarrassment.
Or the exhaustion.
Or the fact that they were both without clothes.
There were many possible explanations.
All of them were better than thinking too hard.
Matt let out a sigh.
"Fine. Again."
Noxx was silently grateful he didn't press further.
She raised the guns. This time, when she moved her wings, she used less force.
Fwoosh!
Her feet left the ground more steadily.
She didn't go too high.
She didn't hit anything.
She didn't lose her balance.
Matt also rose from the other side of the room.
It cost him more.
That was still clear.
In this division, Noxx had ended up with most of the vampire power. Her wings responded with strength. Her blood obeyed faster. Her body had more energy.
Matt, on the other hand, had less.
He wasn't defenseless. But it showed that every aerial movement demanded more from him.
His wings were stable, though smaller. The bow-spear vibrated in his hands as if protesting the reduced mana. His arrows were still precise, but didn't carry the same force as before.
Noxx glanced at him sideways.
Matt noticed.
"Don't look at me. Move."
Noxx nodded immediately and shifted left.
She didn't think.
Just obeyed.
Her body responded better.
Fwoosh!
She fired in motion.
BANG!
The bullet hit near the marked point.
Matt fired from the opposite side.
Fwip!
The arrow impacted after her bullet.
Crack!
The wall shook.
"Right now," Matt ordered.
Noxx turned.
"Lower."
She dropped her altitude.
"Fire."
BANG! BANG!
Two impacts.
One missed by a little.
The other hit.
Matt moved back with difficulty, raised the bow-spear, and fired.
Fwip!
The arrow entered right between the two bullet marks.
CRACK!
The crack opened wider.
Noxx landed, breathing hard.
Matt came down too, though he put a hand against the wall for a moment.
Noxx saw it.
She said nothing.
He didn't want it pointed out.
She was learning that.
Matt looked up.
"How much time do you think has passed?"
Noxx thought.
"Four minutes."
"Three and a half."
She frowned.
"It feels like more."
"Because you're using the body on your own."
Noxx nodded.
Matt walked toward the center of the room.
Noxx tried to keep her gaze on his face.
Just on his face.
That was safer.
Though it wasn't as safe as she'd hoped.
"The problem isn't just fighting," said Matt. "It's controlling the time."
Noxx lowered the guns slightly.
"Ten minutes."
"Less than ten if you count the first second of pain and the last of the fusion."
Noxx pressed her lips together.
That was true.
The technique didn't give them ten full minutes of usefulness.
First came the separation. It hurt, disoriented, and stole seconds. Then they had to orient themselves, take up weapons, check how much power each of them had, and move.
Then, when the limit hit, the chain appeared.
And after fusing, they were left exhausted and useless for a while.
Noxx looked at the marked walls.
In training, that was unpleasant.
In a fight against the boss, it was a death sentence.
Matt kept talking:
"If the fusion happens while the boss is active, it'll kill us."
Noxx nodded.
No need to respond.
She understood.
"During the fusion we won't be able to dodge."
Noxx nodded again.
"After the fusion, the body is slow."
Another nod.
Matt looked at her.
"It's not enough to know how to shoot. You have to feel when to pull back."
Noxx gripped the guns.
"Understood."
Matt seemed satisfied with that answer.
Not because it was long.
But because it was firm.
"Good."
Noxx swallowed.
That word again.
She was really starting to hate how much it affected her.
"Another sequence?" she asked, trying to sound normal.
Matt nodded.
"Now with crossing flight."
Noxx looked up.
"Like before?"
"No. Faster."
She nodded.
Matt pointed at two areas of the wall.
"You attack left. I attack right. Then we cross positions and repeat. Don't collide with me."
Noxx nodded again.
"I won't collide."
"You said that the second time."
Noxx went quiet.
The second time she had collided with Matt.
Not hard.
But enough that they both ended up on the floor.
And enough that she had landed on top of him.
That had been uncomfortable.
Very uncomfortable.
Especially because Matt had calmly moved her aside, made her stand back up, and then corrected her posture as if nothing had happened.
As if they weren't both without clothes.
As if their bodies weren't the same.
As if she hadn't felt the warmth of his skin against hers for one second that lasted too long.
Noxx felt warmth in her face remembering it.
'It's embarrassment.'
Yes.
That made sense.
It was embarrassment.
Nothing more.
Definitely nothing more.
Matt narrowed his eyes.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing…"
"Noxx."
She straightened up again.
Matt looked at her.
Noxx realized.
She went still.
Matt raised an eyebrow.
She pressed her lips together.
"Stop saying my name like that…"
Matt blinked.
"Like what?"
"Like that."
"That doesn't explain anything."
Noxx looked to one side.
"It doesn't matter."
Matt watched her in silence for a few seconds.
Then decided not to press.
"Focus."
Noxx nodded quickly.
Too quickly.
That was worse.
Matt breathed slowly.
"Start."
Noxx spread her wings.
Fwoosh!
She moved left. Matt rose at the same time, slower, but controlled.
Noxx aimed.
BANG! BANG!
Two shots against the left wall.
Matt fired an arrow to the right.
Fwip!
Impact.
They crossed positions.
Noxx dropped her altitude slightly to pass underneath.
Matt rose just enough to avoid a collision.
For a moment, they were very close.
Too close.
Noxx saw Matt's face pass in front of hers.
The firm expression.
The red eyes focused.
The pressed lips.
The control with which he managed a body he didn't even want to have.
And because of the closeness, she also felt the brief brush of skin when their shoulders almost touched.
It was nothing.
Barely a light contact.
Less than a second.
But Noxx's chest tightened in a way that had nothing to do with the spell.
Her right wing lost its rhythm.
Matt noticed.
"Correct."
The order was short and Noxx reacted instantly. She adjusted the wing, recovered her balance, and fired at the new mark.
BANG!
The bullet hit.
Not perfect.
But it hit.
Matt landed first.
Noxx landed second. Her legs bent slightly, but she didn't fall.
Matt looked at her.
"You got distracted."
Noxx lowered the guns.
"A little."
"Why?"
She didn't look at him.
"For no reason."
"Noxx."
The way he said her name made her grip the guns harder.
Not from fear.
Not from anger.
From embarrassment.
"It was just a mistake…"
Matt watched her.
"That's fine. Then don't repeat it."
Noxx nodded.
"Alright."
Matt didn't push further.
That relieved her.
And also bothered her a little.
She didn't know what she wanted.
For him to ask.
For him not to ask.
For him to notice.
For him not to notice.
It was absurd.
The soul division was messing with her head.
Yes.
That had to be it.
There was no other reasonable explanation.
◇◆◇
They repeated the sequence several times.
Each attempt was a little better.
Not perfect.
Never perfect.
But better.
Noxx learned not to take off with too much force. Learned to fire with the body tilted without letting the recoil spin her all the way around. Learned to use her wings to compensate for the weight of the guns.
She also learned that looking at Matt for more than two seconds was dangerous.
Not because he was going to attack her.
Not because he was going to lecture her.
But because her concentration started to fail for reasons she preferred not to examine.
Matt, for his part, learned not to rely on his usual strength. His arrows had less power, so he started using more precision.
Instead of charging shots, he looked for cracks, edges, and weak points opened by Noxx's bullets.
The coordination began to take shape.
Noxx fired first.
BANG!
Matt used the mark as an entry point.
Fwip!
Noxx fired again.
BANG!
Matt switched the bow-spear to spear mode and drove into the wall at the same spot.
THUD!
It wasn't a real fight.
But it worked.
The wall was covered in deep marks.
The cave repaired the damage slowly, but for a few minutes the cracks stayed.
That was important.
Noxx started understanding the idea without Matt having to spell it out.
The boss regenerated.
But if both of them could accumulate damage at multiple points simultaneously, maybe they could force an opening.
Maybe they could destroy a part before it repaired.
Maybe they could make its regeneration slow down.
Maybe.
Just maybe.
"Stop," said Matt.
Noxx landed.
This time correctly. She bent her knees, folded her wings slightly, and let her feet touch the ground without slamming into it.
Matt watched her.
"That was good."
Noxx felt her ears warm.
She wasn't sure if ears could warm up like that in that vampiric body, but she felt it.
"Thank you," she murmured.
The word came out low.
Lower than normal.
Matt tilted his head slightly.
"Are you alright?"
Noxx nodded quickly.
"Yes."
"You seem off."
"I'm tired."
"Did the pain come back?"
"No."
"Short of breath?"
"No."
"Dizzy?"
"No."
Matt studied her more carefully.
Noxx forced herself to look at the wall.
Not at him.
That was the problem.
Looking at him.
When Matt gave orders, corrected her posture, or called her by name, she could blame the training. She could say she was nervous. She could say it was fear of the boss. She could say it was the faulty technique.
But when she just looked at him standing there, serious, firm, without clothes, and completely indifferent to the situation…
Her head stopped working properly.
And that was the technique's fault.
It had to be the technique's fault.
Matt frowned slightly.
"Then you're just off."
"I'm tired," she repeated, this time a little louder.
Matt didn't look convinced.
Noxx turned her head toward the wall.
"How much time is left?"
Matt closed his eyes for a moment.
His expression shifted.
"Not much."
Noxx tensed.
"How much?"
"Less than a minute."
The room seemed to go more silent.
Noxx looked down at the guns.
Less than a minute.
Her body was still outside.
Her hands were still hers.
Her voice was still hers.
Her wings too.
In less than a minute, all of that would disappear back inside Matt.
Not forever.
But for now.
Noxx tightened her fingers.
She didn't want to admit that bothered her.
Not because she wanted to leave Matt behind.
No.
She wanted to go back with him. She knew the technique was temporary. She knew the fusion was necessary.
But after feeling again what it was like to be outside, even in a horrible room in a dangerous cave, losing that felt unfair.
Matt looked at her.
"Get ready."
Noxx nodded.
She didn't ask what to do.
She already knew.
Don't resist.
Let go of the weapons.
Let the chain pull her in.
Hold on.
Matt carefully set the bow-spear on the ground.
Noxx did the same with the guns, placing them side by side.
Then she breathed slowly.
"Noxx."
She looked at him.
Then the mark appeared.
First in her back — a hot point between her shoulder blades.
Noxx gritted her teeth.
Matt tensed too.
The red mark lit up in both of them at the same time.
Hmmm!
The chain appeared.
It wasn't real metal. It was red light, blood, and compressed magic, emerging from the backs of both bodies.
Noxx felt the strong pull.
CLANK!
Her body was dragged toward Matt.
Fast.
Too fast.
The floor passed beneath her feet.
The air hit her face.
Noxx opened her eyes, but didn't resist.
Neither did Matt.
Both were pulled to the center of the room.
Their bodies collided.
Skin against skin.
A brief, warm, painful impact.
And the light exploded.
VMM!
The pain arrived immediately.
Noxx stopped feeling her hands.
Then her legs.
Then her wings.
Her body grew heavy and then began to disappear.
Not like a death in the mental world.
Not like scattering.
This was different.
It was feeling how the body she had used closed around her, and how her consciousness was pushed back inside Matt.
Noxx gritted her teeth, even though she no longer knew if she had teeth.
'Don't resist.'
She repeated that to herself.
Not because Matt was telling her.
But because she had decided it.
Don't resist.
Hold on.
Return.
Matt's body became the center.
The light sealed shut.
The pressure peaked.
And then everything dropped.
THUD!
Matt hit the floor on his back.
The single body was there again, breathing hard.
Matt opened his eyes.
He didn't get up right away.
Not because he didn't want to. But because the body wasn't obeying well.
The stone ceiling of the rest room was up there, still, dark, and irritating.
Matt breathed once.
Then again.
His body was too heavy.
He was still without clothes.
He still hated that too.
But after several repetitions, even that was starting to feel like just another annoyance.
"Seventy seconds…" he murmured.
Noxx's voice appeared inside his mind.
She sounded exhausted.
But not broken.
"What?"
"Seventy seconds, give or take."
Matt tried to move his fingers.
They responded late.
Very late.
"That's how long the body took to start obeying after the fusion." frёeωebɳovel.com
Noxx was quiet for a moment.
"You're counting that?"
"Yes."
Noxx seemed to have no answer for that.
Matt closed his eyes.
The fusion still hurt.
That hadn't changed.
But the pain no longer surprised him.
After repeating the technique several times, his mind was starting to recognize the pattern. The pull in the back. The pressure in the chest. The loss of strength. The exact moment when the two consciousnesses fit back together.
Still horrible.
But no longer new.
And if it wasn't new, it could be measured.
It could be analyzed.
It could be used.
Matt gritted his teeth and moved his hand again.
The fingers responded a little better.
"Sixty-eight… maybe seventy-two if the split goes wrong."
"What are you talking about?"
"The dead time."
Noxx didn't respond.
Matt felt her trying to sort out her thoughts.
She was tired.
So was he.
But that didn't matter.
They couldn't afford to rest every time something hurt.
Not with the boss waiting outside.
"Ten minutes aren't ten minutes," Matt murmured.
"You said that before."
"Not like this."
Matt opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling.
"Separating costs time. Stabilizing costs time. Uneven power distribution costs effectiveness. The fusion leaves us useless for about a minute."
Noxx understood immediately.
"So we actually have less."
"Much less."
Matt breathed slowly.
His chest was still rising and falling with difficulty, but the body was starting to obey.
Slow.
Faster than the first time.
That was important.
"This doesn't work if we use it as a single desperate move. We have to improve it," said Matt while trying to adjust.
"How…?" Noxx asked nervously.
