A Powerful Martial Artist Reincarnates as a Nun Knight

As Conra and Adrien trained their respective weapons upon each other, both scrutinized their opposition with heightened focus.
Warriors cultivating inverse strengthening attain the ability to perceive ethereal musculatures belonging to opponents beneath their own spiritual tiers. Therefore, such mutual assessments enabled gauging their comparative standings – and if outmatching their adversaries, even precognitively anticipating their impending maneuvers by reading those perceptible subtle cues.

Unfortunately for Adrien, Conra occupied the distinctly superior position along that inverse strengthening’s hierarchical continuum despite only recently completing its second inner binding compared to Adrien’s initial first binding breakthrough.
Whereas Conra could vaguely discern Adrien’s ethereal musculature albeit indistinctly, that inverse relationship precluded any comparable reciprocation from the lower-ranked Adrien whatsoever.

Yet Adrien harbored no despondency regarding that inherent disadvantage. As Valencia’s reigning criminal kingpin, he anticipated routinely opposing more formidable adversaries – his uniquely pioneered inverse strengthening variant deliberately engineered specifically for confronting such superiorly gifted opponents under those very circumstances.

And it was precisely that unconventional idiosyncrasy prompting Conra’s present bewilderment while attempting discerning Adrien’s ethereal musculature:

‘I…cannot read his movements?’

Typically, ethereal musculatures manifested forms anatomically approximating their original humanoid progenitors – an inevitable byproduct of cultivating intrinsically human physiological foundations through progressively more rigorous physical conditioning regimens over prolonged periods.
Even distinctly inhuman derivations fundamentally adhered toward relatively constrained morphological deviations – exaggeratedly simian upper bodies, prodigiously developed leporine or struthious lower extremities, etcetera.

Yet Adrien’s ethereal musculature represented an absolutely alien configuration defying Conra’s ability to relate its unfamiliar dynamics toward any anticipated behavioral patterns.
While superficially conforming to an overall humanoid silhouette, its underlying myological structures more closely resembled distinctly non-mammalian biological paradigms – something akin to cephalopodic neuromuscular matrices seamlessly integrated within that humanoid framework.

Naturally Conra found himself utterly unable to instinctively interpret those completely foreign kinematic patterns through conventional psychometric perceptions derived from studying human martial applications. Despite outright superiority, Adrien’s unorthodox physiological idiosyncrasies effectively neutralized those innate advantages.

Yet ultimately, combat remained an intrinsically improvisational undertaking superseding systematic analytical frameworks.
Pragmatically accepting the necessity of improvising against unknown quantities rather than relying upon incomplete theoretical models, Conra initiated their skirmish through a conventional frontal spear thrust.

Admittedly, his chosen armament represented an inherent stylistic disadvantage against blade-wielding foes.
Historically, spears versus swords overwhelmingly favored the latter due to swords’ enhanced maneuverability for penetrating spears’ distinctly limited offensive attack vectors once those extended reaches became compromised.

Adrien’s opening maneuvers, while compact, exhibited conspicuously aggressive Intent – his peculiarly serpentine epee footwork eerily reminiscent of a viper’s darting tongue as that slightly curved blade flicked forward in sinuous feints probing Conra’s defenses.
Those insidiously fluid motions thoroughly disoriented Conra despite his concerted attempts disregarding Adrien’s alien physiological cues – inadvertently succumbing to their inherently serpentine hypnotic undulations restricting his own preferred aggressive high-mobility pressure tactics.
Unable to overwhelm Adrien’s deceptive guard through sheer ferocious onslaught, he defaulted toward cautiously defensive postures severely compromising his greatest strengths.

“Nnghh…a most uncanny fencing style!”

Grimacing frustratedly after nearly falling victim to several perilously narrow deflections, Conra inadvertently complimented Adrien’s unorthodox techniques prompting a strained smirk from his opponent.
While successfully capitalizing upon that disorienting unorthodoxy initially, the seasoned criminal lord recognized Conra’s considerable martial prowess – the youth’s extensive skills and keen instincts transcending any physical disparities imposed by their inverse strengthening differentials.
For now, exploiting that innate intuitive genius represented Adrien’s sole viable recourse against a more powerful foe.

However, Sophia refrained from immediately intervening despite comprehensively analyzing Adrien’s idiosyncratic physiological peculiarities alongside that distinctly inhuman neuromuscular architecture and esoteric sword style.
Assessing this engagement as invaluable developmental exposure promoting Conra’s personal growth, she deliberately abstained to allow that indispensable learning experience reaching its fullest potential unbridled.

Adrien initiated this challengingly risky confrontation precisely due to his canny pragmatism – recognizing his unorthodox unpredictability represented an inherently ephemeral advantage diminishing proportionately alongside Conra’s progressive familiarity.
The instant his ethereal musculature’s underlying patterns became thoroughly deciphered, any lingering prospects for victory would evaporate completely.

“Pinguimiento (Camouflage)! Engãno (Deception)!”

That frantic decision manifested instantaneously – Adrien’s ethereal musculature seeming convulsing erratically for a flickering instant before Conra suddenly lost all visual tracking as his opponent’s figure blended seamlessly into the surrounding environmental backdrop like a chameleon.
Simultaneously intoning those two rapidly interconnected incantations triggered a disassociative psychological dissociation thoroughly bewildering Conra’s cognitive processes.

Swish!

Exploiting that momentary perceptual blindspot accompanying such tactile disorientation, Adrien surged forward like an assassin – his epee blade lancing toward Conra with decidedly lethal intentions.
Unquestionably, that strike represented a genuine life-threatening crisis only averted through Conra’s instinctive reflexes autonomically deflecting that lethally efficient attack – any conscious hesitation undoubtedly resulting in losing at minimum three fingers from his leading hand.
Under those compromised conditions, not even Conra could maintain any definitive dominance over Adrien.

“Hmph, for a mere child to somehow react despite that…”

Sucking his teeth with begrudging admiration, Adrien inadvertently complimented the startling instincts enabling Conra to narrowly evade that decisive strike despite its imperceptible camouflaged setup. Yet simultaneously, Conra remained utterly confounded regarding what exactly had just transpired – prompting supplemental commentary from his mystical mentors:

{By dynamically modulating his ethereal musculature’s myoglobin concentrations, he essentially achieved partial self-camouflage while simultaneously chaining his auditory illusion incantations – utilizing that perceptual gap to conceal his physical relocation from your line of sight before blindsiding your sensory blindspots. An inherently lethal stealth assassination technique any shinobi would envy.}
{More importantly, average spellcasters cannot seamlessly integrate multiple distinct invocations into an uninterrupted continuity like that unified sequence. To vocalize two compound incantations as a single fluid articulation requires extraordinarily unorthodox neurolinguistic architectures – clearly this individual’s ethereal neurological structures parallel his musculature’s distinctly cephalopodic patterning in some manner?}
{No doubt purposefully cultivated that optimal synergistic compatibility across both cerebral and somatic paradigms – likely deriving from prestigious ancestral martial lineages renowned for their esoteric techniques.}

Processing his mystical companions’ revelations alongside that harrowing near-death experience instilled newfound vigilance throughout Conra’s wariness as he lowered his stance while pointing Ogmios’ spearhead forward contemplatively.

‘Merely feeling unfamiliar cannot justify succumbing without comprehending its underlying mechanics – is that not the epitome of martial disgrace?’

‘How did I even react at all just now? My body moved preemptively without any conscious intent guiding its responses. Can I reproduce those autonomic overrides despite lacking any volitional understandings?’

Frankly assessing that specific query, Conra doubted successfully replicating that prior instinctive save if Adrien repeated those tactics – an introspective skepticism prompting Lugus-Artaios’ sagacious counsel:

{Conra, you possess exceptionally heightened perceptual acuities ill-suited for conventional combat applications where warriors routinely suppress their sensory inputs for optimizing tactical focus. Your innate hypervigilance results in over-processing those superfluous informational inputs – ironically rendering you susceptible to precisely those disorienting misdirections you’ve fallen victim against.}
{Your solution involves one of two potential recourses: Disregard all extraneous sensations while imposing rationally predetermined combat heuristics exclusively – or conversely, disregard all conscious perceptions altogether while solely relying upon your body’s autonomic instinctual responses preceding any cognitive deliberations.}

Considering that stark dichotomy presented an obvious impasse under their pressing circumstances:

‘I lack sufficient preparation time for the former methodology…’
{Precisely – leaving the latter recourse as your only viable option. And you possess the innate talents alongside spiritual attainments for rendering that a genuine possibility compared to your adversary’s lower standing.}
{In other words: Suspend all conscious decision-making and simply allow your body’s instincts to guide themselves unfettered – no other path remains viable.}

Under typical circumstances, advocating dismissing all rational thought processes represented suicidally reckless advice when confronting superiors overwhelming Conra’s skills and abilities.
Disregarding conscious perceptions in favor of blindly trusting his instinctual talents only remained feasible due to Conra’s marginal advantages over this specific opponent despite their dramatic disparity in combat experiences.

As Conra inwardly debated alongside Lugus-Artaios over this admittedly unorthodox methodology, their confrontation’s dynamics steadily shifted – Adrien detecting increasingly concerning discontinuities within Conra’s movements alongside accelerating feralisms:

‘Tch, this situation grows progressively more perilous. If I fail achieving a decisive breakthrough, then…!’

Having already squandered his initial unexpected lethality from that stealth assassination technique’s opening impact, Adrien found himself rapidly depleting any remaining stratagem reserves for regaining his severely compromised initiative against this formidable adversary.

Once again modulating his ethereal musculature’s kinetic camouflage through partial environmental phasing, Adrien promptly relocated into Conra’s visual blindspots via those evasively deceptive footwork techniques before intoning:

“Pinguimiento! Engãno!”

And once more exploiting the disorienting perceptual gap accompanying those invocations…Adrien lunged toward that transient blindspot targeting a definitive lethal strike against the distracted Conra, only for his blade to clatter uselessly against the ground – leaving his entire body splayed out in one utterly dumbfounding instant from that instinctive reactive deflection.

“Impossible…how could this…?”