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Boreas Estate – Courtyard – Afternoon
The sound of wooden swords splitting the air never ceased.
Each strike sent vibrations through the space between the increasingly similar-looking siblings, their hair flaring out as their gazes locked mid-motion. The echoes of their clashes climbed past the black-tiled rooftops, lingering faintly before scattering into the wind.
Before the remnants of one strike could fade—
"Again!" Allen barked.
His foot lashed out, kicking Eris' hastily raised Water God-style guard. The impact sent her flying backward.
"Tch!"
Her sword spun wildly through the air like a windmill caught in a storm. Eris gritted her teeth, mid-flight—
Then snatched the hilt mid-rotation.
Her body twisted like a crimson butterfly, one foot slamming into a nearby tree for leverage before she shot back toward Allen like a cannonball. The air cracked in her wake as she thrust the blade straight at his face.
The sword split the winter chill but froze inches from his skin, trembling against an invisible barrier.
Allen's steel-gray eyes held a single, unspoken verdict:
Too slow.
Eris snarled and whipped the sword toward his neck—
"Aren't they cold?"
Under the tree, Rudy blew into his cupped hands, watching the duel through puffs of mist.
Ghyslaine didn't glance his way. "Battle aura regulates body temperature. They're fine."
Rudy eyed her perpetually exposed midriff and sighed. "Right. Of course."
He rubbed his arms, shivering as the clash of wood reverberated through the courtyard. Nearby, a beastgirl servant swept snow off the walkway. A clump of white dropped from the branches above, landing at his feet with a plop.
Winter had arrived in full force.
Even layered in academy-style wool, Rudy couldn't shake the cold. The Boreas estate, nestled against the mountains, was somehow colder than Buena Village—and without last life's swordsmanship training, his tolerance had plummeted.
As he debated casting a fireball for warmth, Ghyslaine spoke again, admiration in her tone:
"Allen's 'blade' is faster now."
Rudy blinked. "Blade?"
He turned back to the duel. Allen hadn't moved an inch from his starting position, deflecting Eris' whirlwind strikes with bare hands.
No sword at his hip.
No weapon in sight.
It had been three months since Allen last practiced his swings on the rooftop—three months since he'd drawn a blade at all. Yet the air around him thrummed with a razor's edge, sharp enough to make Rudy's eyes water.
Like that night in the snow valley.
But Allen's sword had shattered there.
"You mean that… sharpness he radiates?" Rudy ventured.
Ghyslaine's finger tapped rhythmically against her bicep. "Rudy. There are more sword styles than just the Three Great Schools." Her ears twitched. "My master once spoke of a fringe sect where swordsmen never draw their blades after adulthood."
Rudy's brows shot up. A 'sheathed sword' philosophy? Here?
"What do they call that?"
Ghyslaine's face stayed deadpan. "'Bullshit swordsmen.'"
"…What?"
"Master's exact words." She shrugged. "He said, 'Lifetime of buildup for one strike? Worthless. I butcher those pretentious hacks before they twitch.' But…"
"But?"
"He admitted their first draw is fast. And strong."
Rudy exhaled. So it's a 'stored potential' technique.
"Allen's different, though."
"How?"
Ghyslaine frowned, struggling for words. "His battle aura… it's like he's found his desire again. But he's holding it. Waiting." She glanced at Rudy. "For an answer."
Rudy grinned and laced his fingers behind his head. "An answer?"
"One that'll let his fire burn fully."
A sudden hiss cut their conversation short.
Eris' sword blurred toward Allen's neck—only for his palm to intercept the exact landing point. Her strike skidded off his flowing deflection, momentum yanking her forward—
But she planted her foot, pivoting behind him in one fluid motion.
Her eyes blazed.
The sword moved.
No wind. No sound.
Just a single, silent thrust—
Straight for his spine.
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Note: So far this story is published up to chapter 260 on my patreon, go check it out and remember that if we reach the goal of 60 power stones I will publish the next chapter.