A Powerful Martial Artist Reincarnates as a Nun Knight

The silence persisted momentarily. Lying sprawled on the lobby floor while staring upward at Niu de Corb’s ceiling, Adrien chewed on his suppressed sigh resentfully.

‘Damn it all, where did these monstrosities suddenly emerge from? Just what unfathomable entanglements precipitated this debacle?’

Initially scoffing dismissively upon receiving belated reports regarding some unidentified nocturnal intruders, Adrien now found his mind utterly consumed by indignant frustrations and confounded disbelief over this catastrophic turn of events.

Disorienting opponents through imperceptible ambushes represented his quintessential area of expertise. Yet Adrien remained utterly unable to coherently recall that critical moment when Conra somehow circumvented and neutralized his decisive strikes so decisively.
Within a mere instant, his wielded blade simply vanished from his grasp before that same disorienting blindspot deposited him splayed helplessly upon the ground – dazed incomprehension leaving him staring upward in that same defenseless posture.

The violence of that impact reverberated excruciatingly throughout his entire skeletal structure alongside radiating concussions undoubtedly rattling his tailbone. Adrien remained thoroughly stymied attempting overcoming those profoundly disruptive shockwaves rippling throughout his corporeal essence.

And that debilitating trauma paled compared to the viscerally unsettling chills lancing down his spine upon registering the hooded nun nonchalantly supervising her subordinates pulverizing any remaining defensive perimeters – as if intuitively dissecting Adrien’s every metaphysical facet through her piercing scrutiny alone.
Sophia indeed focused her profound extrasensory acuities upon comprehensively analyzing Adrien’s neuromuscular architectures alongside historicizing their cultivated developmental origins through correlative psychotronic triangulations.

‘Hmm, I believe I’ve deduced their underlying principles and training methodologies. Perhaps assimilating my own adaptations could produce interesting variations?’

As the quintessential pioneering genius historically renowned for reverse-engineering extinct disciplines’ comprehensive overviews through mere archaeological relics’ residual impressions, Sophia hardly required more explicit demonstrations for conceptualizing potential permutations once elucidated through her incisive psychometric deductions.
In fact, she already contemplated incorporating those freshly acquired insights within Conra’s future cultivation regimens as potentially invaluable modifications.

‘It seems Conra has inadvertently stumbled upon the path toward Mushin-dō (The Way of No-Mind). His future training must inevitably incorporate these revelations…’

The triad of mind, energy and body simultaneously comprising martial arts’ fundamental pillars while constraining its ultimate limitations – Mushin-dō, Mugen-ken (Formless Sword) and Shin’i-dō (Mind Determination Acts) represented the various transcendent paths conceived for circumventing those intrinsic constraints.

Regardless which specific path one ultimately achieved utter mastery over, that pivotal breakthrough enabled directly accessing reality’s pre-cognitive perceptual layers.
Once overcoming their mental, physical and technical limitations obstructing pre-conscious insights, martial artists could manifest those microscopic dimensional principles within the tangible macrocosmos through innumerable paradigms: ranging from esoteric skills like Gekken-ken (Swordsmanship of Untraceable Origin), Goukou-ryu (Saber of Luminous Passage) and Chuugekka-hou (Technique of Overwhelming Multiple Strikes) toward more sublime expressions like the Sword of Epiphany, Mind Actualization and complete simultaneous multiplexed kinetics.

Once internalizing those axioms through Mushin-dō, Conra would undoubtedly qualify as a worthy recipient for receiving Sophia’s authentic inner transmissions.

‘However, first we must address the innate vulnerabilities accompanying Mushin-dō’s initial plateaus…’

Those shortcomings followed an unmistakable pattern – relying purely upon autonomic instincts without conscious input inevitably manifested instinctive habitual response patterns easily readable by seasoned experts intimately familiar with their subtle physical ticks and blindspots.
Every reflexive motion invariably contained infinitesimal discontinuous gaps even a body operating through sheer muscle memory alone could never completely eliminate. For truly formidable masters accustomed toward exploiting precisely those microscopically minuscule openings, Mushin-dō initiates became transparently predictable straight lines awaiting decisive counterattacks.

Conra’s fascination with Adrien’s distinctly inhuman somatic and neurological architectures stemmed from recognizing their incorporated randomizations’ potential for concealing movement discontinuities and blindspots plaguing Mushin-dō’s preliminary stages.
Those erratic non-anthropomorphic dynamics interpolated within a loosely humanoid matrix could randomize his autonomic reflexes sufficiently for avoiding easily readable habitual patternings.
Of course, assimilating and internalizing those distinctly xenomorphic kinetic paradigms would undoubtedly represent an excruciatingly torturous ordeal for Conra – requiring modifying his already-cultivated second binding’s ethereal musculature and neurology before beginning that third binding’s incorporations.

Obviously that process represented the disciple’s personal responsibility, not the mentor’s direct obligation.

Meanwhile, remaining completely oblivious toward Sophia’s contemplations, Conra focused upon interrogating the still-prostrated Adrien without acknowledging those nascent existential horrors plaguing his psyche:

“Apologies, Mister Boss – but I must insist you answer my questions.”

Despite being violently overpowered within his own sanctum, an embittered sense of indignation prompted Adrien’s contemptuous snarling rejoinder:

“Hah, so having reduced this entire district into your personal playground, you now deign interrogating your helpless victims? What precisely do you hope extracting from me?”

His sneering retort represented more an outlet for venting his simmering humiliation than any genuine query – yet Conra’s subsequent words spontaneously rekindled Adrien’s dormant self-preservation instincts like an electric jolt:

“Maria Francesca. She came through here recently, did she not?”

That single uttered name ignited instantaneous petrification before he instinctively recomposed himself – but far too belatedly given Conra’s preternatural perceptiveness already cataloging every microsecond of hesitation alongside the flash of emotional tells accompanying their lightning-swift manifestation within Adrien’s eyes.

Recognizing the futility of continued mendacity, Adrien instead defaulted toward uncompromising obduracy while thickening his facial composure into an inscrutable stonewall:

“Hmph, and what makes you believe I’d recognize such a random peasant’s irrelevant appellation within my sovereign domain?”
“I never realistically anticipated earning your candor through mere politeness.”

Contrary to Adrien’s assumptions, his unconcerned deflections failed eliciting any Conra’s disappointment whatsoever as the youth retorted imperturbably:

“Since you remain unwilling divulging those answers through affable congeniality, we shall simply accelerate that friendship-forging process through alternative supplemental methodologies.”

Regardless of Adrien’s dismissive sneers or petrified silence, Conra stoically continued his soliloquy while casually gesturing preliminary motions:

“Truthfully, this represents my inaugural attempt deploying these applications in live combat scenarios – so I cannot guarantee flawless execution. A few accidental mishaps may potentially occur, perhaps resulting in permanently losing functionality over one or more limbs if I commit any egregious errors. But ultimately no lasting harm shall result either way.”

“Wait, what…?! No, just a moment here…”

As Adrien’s complexion paled in visceral terror from those utterly nonchalant threats accompanied by ominous bodily motions, Conra’s hands blurred far too swiftly for his desperate objections – an innumerable flurry of instantaneously precise digital impacts impacting Adrien’s entire body almost simultaneously.

Pwapwat!

The next instant witnessed Adrien involuntarily writhing and wailing in indescribable agony – as if his bones and musculature contorted in opposite directions while grinding excruciatingly against each other in a grotesquely unnatural ballet.

“Aaauuurrrggghhhh!”
“Oh, I seem to have overlooked restraining those meridian pressure points governing circulatory regulation. My oversight – let me quickly rectify that little oversight, shall I?”

Punctuating those perfunctory understatements, Conra’s finger unerringly targeted several additional impact zones as his writhing victim attempted evading those supplementary strikes through reflexive convulsions.
However, Adrien found his reflex pathways already compromised, every neuromuscular spasm opening further vulnerabilities for those ruthless precision strikes lancing inward throughout his body.

Within moments, he experienced the visceral horror of his vocal apparatus alongside corporeal motor functions completely paralyzed despite excruciating inner reverberations of bone-shearing agony continuing unabated – potentially intensifying without any screaming outlets for venting those overwhelmingly torturous sensations.

Sensations akin to being systematically dismembered like discarded carrion. Sensations reminiscent of agonizing amputations via serrated sawblades grinding directly against exposed marrow.
Unfathomable tortures transcending linguistic articulation or rationalized comprehension – spontaneously manifesting catastrophic torments outraging every conceivable limitation while entirely uncontrollable and unmitigable.
Sensations utterly shattering Adrien’s sanity into infinitely bifurcated shards.

How long did those unendurable spasms persist…? To Adrien’s subjugated psyche, each distended infinitesimal increment could have encapsulated entire eternities before Conra finally concluded that agonizing dissection with another series of percussive impacts – instantly alleviating those previously unrelenting tortures as if they had never manifested.

Yet despite their sources’ cessations, resonant aftershocks continued reverberating throughout Adrien’s corporeal vessel – leaving him utterly depleted alongside ragged, labored respirations his only capacities before drifting into blissful unconsciousness.

“Upon further contemplation, perhaps our friendship-forging processes demand additional temporal investments.”

Conra casually musing over some apparent oversight while observing the thoroughly devastated Adrien convulsing in shock prompted the criminal lord’s resentful internal cursing through a gasping wheeze:

‘This…maniac…what deranged depravities…?’

Remaining oblivious toward that mental vitriol, Conra imperviously continued pontificating:

“Therefore, I shall proceed implanting this specialized agent-laden acupuncture needle within your cervical vertebrae. Once properly administered, it should induce profound neurocognitive acceleration approximately tenfold normal parameters due to my own proficiency limitations. Essentially condensing each subjective second into experiencing nearly ten objective seconds’ duration.
After initiating that drastically dilated temporal flux, I shall then subject you to another immersive instance replicating our previous interaction so you may comprehend its full extent more intimately. An exciting prospect, wouldn’t you agree?”

Utterly appalled by those cheerfully delivered threats, Adrien’s ravaged consciousness roiled within his mind’s fractured landscape as his composure completely disintegrated despite his corporeal inability voicing any audible objections whatsoever.
That mute helplessness ultimately proved futile, with Conra unceremoniously implanting that specialized acupuncture needle regardless – the agonizing instant stretching into an infinitely dilated eternity from Adrien’s perspectival flux as every ponderous reverberation decelerated into distended visceral impacts.

Light, sound, even the most minuscule environmental impressions – all slowed into this lugubrious tar-pit viscosity while Conra’s fingers mercilessly probed and navigated throughout Adrien’s meridians and chakras in torturous slow-motion despite those radically decelerated temporal dynamics.
Once more, excruciating anguish inundated Adrien’s synapses – yet this latest metamorphic torment transcended even his previous experiences into an entirely unprecedented realms of sensorial shock as every neuron combusted into kaleidoscopic supernovas of unendurable mental trauma.

Surges of psychogenic pain so overwhelmingly intense, Adrien oscillated between blacking out into blissfully unconscious reprieve before the unremitting reverberations instantly rekindled his neural networks into excruciating wakefulness – an endless infinite loop repeatedly shattering and resurrecting his sanity nearly every second.

Observing those piteous contortions with dispassionate detachment, Conra eventually shifted his focus toward the approaching Sophia still observing her disciple’s systematic immobilization and interrogation techniques while verifying his targeting precision governing those dismemberment-binding paralytic acupoints.

“Your neuroapunctural acuity has progressed considerably – remaining admirably composed throughout that inaugural field application.”

Despite Sophia’s acknowledgment, Conra failed reciprocating her pleased demeanor – undoubtedly due to the profoundly ambivalent sentiments generated from previously encountering Niu de Corb’s criminal underworld alongside these victimized innocents like Maria entrapped within their depravity’s wake.
That initial exposure toward humanity’s darkest underbelly, witnessing personifications of unrepentant evil thriving through mutually parasitic co-degradations rather than elevating one another from shared miseries – witnessing Maria’s unfortunate entanglement within those very same corrosive societal cancers clearly shattered something deep within Conra’s heart.

His overtly violent treatment toward the likes of Adrien unquestionably manifested as distorted emotional catharsis erupting from those ambivalent spiritual complexities presently plaguing his psyche.
And Sophia, having already discerned those brewing maelstroms from her disciple’s tumultuous aura, contemplated potential guidance for recentering his disturbed equilibrium.

Yet for all her preternatural insights, restoring another’s internal dissonance represented a profoundly personal navigation she could never unilaterally impose as a mere martial instructor rather than some form of spiritual counselor or religious guru.
The most pragmatic advisement under such circumstances involved reinforcing more mindfulness exercises into his curriculum:

‘It appears allocating more meditation hours seems prudent.’

Since cultivating sufficient spiritual vessels for accommodating sovereign and porting spirits required extensive meditative conditioning, increasing those contemplative sessions appeared the wisest recourse under this scenario.

Meditatively divesting oneself from egoistic preoccupations gradually dissolved all superfluous attachments and tribulations plaguing consciousness – anger, judgment, confusion, all eventually sifting away like errant breezes once shedding that self-imposed delusion.
Introspective meditation represented the most traditional and orthodox pathway toward internalizing that detached objectivity transcending subjective entanglements.