The Day He Saw Me

Time blurred into repetition. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months… and months into two long years with no literal progress.
Not a glimpse. Not a flicker.

And on this day, in the training ground, the one standing before me is none other than my beloved brother.

He stood across from me like a monolith. His mane shifted in the breeze. There was no hostility in him. No arrogance. Only stillness, as if he knew I would come to him first.

"Are you ready, Basil?" His tone smooth.

Lady Temina’s voice cut through the silence. "Begin."

My grip tightened around Hellframe. I lowered my stance.

"I’ve been ready for years," I said, heartbeat rising in my chest. I surged forward, blade arcing toward his shoulder with all the force I could muster.

But...
Whoosh.
Air.

He’d already stepped to the side. No wasted motion. No effort, even.

I turned fast, slashing again from the right, only to watch his body slip backward, just enough that my blade missed by a hair.

Again, I attacked. Diagonal strike—dodge. Feint to the left, real attack from the right—dodge. Spin around and stab at the back—he leaned to the side like he’d seen it coming before I’d even moved.

A quiet chuckle escaped me.
Yeah! This is it. Brother...
...You're the same as always. 'Torque' over 'Force'.
But doing his imitation won't do the job here. So, I must keep going.

"What happened, Basil? Show me what you've truly learnt through these two years."
His precision as sharp as before.

He didn’t even raise his own weapon. Not once.

He was toying with me. Each time I struck, he danced away with no effort. No strain in his face. No sweat. Just cool, perfect calmness.

His eyes met mine across the ground.

"Only avoiding my attacks won't let you win, brother!"

"Then, show me that you're worthy to make me strike." His stance was unshaken.

"Fine, you asked for it."

Then let's get loose.

I closed my eyes and steadied my breathing.

Every muscle in my body screamed for motion, for brutal swings, for brute strength to break through his ghost-like defense.

I charged.

My blade blurred through the air. A horizontal slash.
He moved.

Not this time, brother...

I twisted my stance mid-step, following his dodge with a second strike aimed at his waist.

His eyes flicked downward, catching it. And evading.
But only barely.

I kept going.
Strike. Sidestep.
Lunge. Withdraw.
One after another.

And then, for the first time, I saw it.
The faintest ripple in his calm.
The subtle twitch of muscle as he leaned backward just a moment too late.

My blade grazed the edge of his tunic.
Just a thread. But it was real.

He stepped back. Still graceful, still unshaken. But there it was. Contact.

His eyes gazed at mine, and I caught something in them.
Approval.

"You’ve improved," he said quietly.

I didn’t answer.
I couldn’t.
Every inch of me burned... not with exhaustion, but something else.
Pride. Resolve.

I didn’t stop.

I pressed in again. More carefully now. Testing the range, baiting him.

He dodged.
Again.
And again.

But slower now.
More deliberate.

And then—he moved his right arm.
For the first time since the fight began...

I froze mid-swing.

Finally! His fingers wrapped around his blade.

A slow shing rang through the quiet field as his Amberocule left its scabbard.

Just halfway.
But enough.

My breath caught in my throat.

"You’ve forced my hand, Basil," he said, voice steady. "Be proud of that."

And in the next instant, he vanished.

CLANG!

Our blades met for the first time.

His strike wasn’t reckless. It wasn’t crushing.
It was clean.
Precise.

I stepped back, just barely deflecting his next blow.

He wasn’t dodging anymore.
He was... fighting.
And I...
...I was still standing.

I grinned.

Finally...
He sees me.

Sparks flew as our blades collided again and again.

Each strike reverberated through my arms, but I didn’t falter.
I parried. Countered. Advanced.

Brother’s movements remained graceful, effortless, like wind gliding through the trees.
But now there was weight behind every exchange.

His sword danced, yet no longer toyed with me.

Then, his brows furrowed.

Just slightly. I caught it. That shift.
That flicker of thought behind his eyes.
He was analyzing something.

What is it? What changed?

Our blades locked again.
This time, I pushed.
He resisted.

And for a moment, just a heartbeat, his foot slid backward across the dirt.

A puff of dust rose beneath him.

Brother disengaged cleanly, taking a step back. His golden eyes didn’t leave me.

"...Your strikes," he said slowly. "They’re much heavier than before."

I didn’t respond.
I didn’t need to.
He wasn’t asking.
He was observing.

"Your strength," he added. "It’s grown... significantly."

I exhaled, sweat clinging to my brow. My whole body was burning.

"Two years," I said between breaths. "I didn’t waste them completely."

He smiled faintly. Not the condescending kind. A real smile.

"Good!" he said.

Then—
He moved.
Faster than before.

Amberocule blurred through the air, crashing down toward me.

CLING!

I parried. He kept pressing, but I locked the position.

"You won’t beat me in brute strength, brother." I pushed harder, breaking the position-lock as he stepped back.

He didn't respond to my statement. But,

Another slash came from the side.
I ducked.

A third from above.
I deflected and drove back his strike, which forced him to stagger to the side.

Now he was thrusting harder.
Testing me.

I gritted my teeth, bracing as his next strike came harder, fiercer.

I shoved against him, throwing my full weight forward.

Our blades clashed again with a brutal, echoing ring.

And he—Pholomin V Lenard, the prodigy—lurched half a step back.

His eyes widened for a fraction of a second.
Then narrowed.

"It seems you're not joking about your strength," he muttered. "Also, you’ve learnt to use it."

I adjusted my stance, breathing heavily, sweat dripping from my chin.
"Let’s just say... there’s a... reason behind it."

"Then let's see how much you can keep up with that strength."

His aura was flaring now. Focused, alert.
He was no longer holding back. At least... not completely.

And yet...
I was still standing.
Still swinging.
Still fighting.

I raised Hellframe again, meeting his gaze.

And today for the first time...

He is taking me seriously.

And the next moment I blinked, he was right in front of me with a vertical slice.

I blocked at the right time.

I grit my teeth, shoving it back, every fiber in my arms burning with effort. I had strength now. More than him.
And I was using it.

"I told you it wouldn't wor—"

Suddenly, his sword pivoted.

With a sudden twist of his wrist, he unhooked his blade from mine, fluid as water and before I could react—

THWACK!

Amberocule's hilt slammed against my ribs.
Air exploded from my lungs. I stumbled back.

Before my foot even landed—

CLANG!

He was already in front of me, blade sweeping low. I barely blocked it.

Too fast...!

He didn’t let up.
Another strike came from above, faint.
I raised my blade.
But it was a feint.
The real blow came underneath.

I twisted just in time... But his foot smacked against my gut, sending me skidding backward.

"You're stronger," he said calmly, walking toward me. "But you're still predictable."

I coughed, regaining my breath, and adjusted my stance again.

"How are you so fast?!" I gritted my teeth.

"This is Terris. My additional contract with Terris lets me use the ground like a spring with my each and every step."

What! Additional contact?! 
That's on a whole other level...
But still, if every step of his is enhanced—

"Then... how can you walk normally?"

"That is something I earned." He made it sound so easy with his ever-calm voice.

But I knew at that very moment what it meant to get that much control over your power.
I was aware of how much effort he put into that skill of his.
I wasn't even close to that kind of mastery.

And then—he disappeared again.