Chapter 3

Fire exploded from my palm.

Not like a spark. Not like a normal flame. It was violent and sudden, like something inside me had been waiting for years with its teeth clenched, and the moment it finally got permission, it stopped holding back.

The brute’s fist, the one that was supposed to crush me, stopped midair.

His knuckles trembled against my grip like he’d hit a wall he didn’t understand.

His eyes widened.

For a second, he looked less like a monster and more like a guy realizing his own strength wasn’t enough.

Behind him, the cloaked man’s projectile came flying again, thin and fast, aimed straight at my face.

It vanished the moment it touched the heat around my hand.

No deflection. No rebound.

Just erased.

Touka’s barrier around me flickered, like it didn’t know whether to keep protecting me or step aside and let whatever this was take over.

Rin froze mid-strike.

Even Touka’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second, and Touka almost never showed surprise.

“What… was that?” Rin muttered, like she didn’t trust her own vision.

I didn’t answer.

I couldn’t.

My right arm was shaking, but not from weakness. It was shaking from pressure. From heat crawling up my bones into my chest like it was trying to find a place to live. My breathing was messy. My heart hammered too fast.

And the worst part was that it felt good.

Not in a happy way.

In a dangerous way.

The brute tried to pull his fist back.

I held tighter without realizing I was doing it.

Then I punched him.

No technique. No stance. No skill. Just raw force backed by flame that didn’t feel like it came from me, it felt like it came through me.

He flew back and slammed into the gravel hard enough to crack it.

He coughed.

He didn’t get up immediately.

I stared at my own hand.

Fire wrapped around my fingers like it belonged there.

Like it always belonged there, and I was the one who was late.

The cloaked man laughed softly.

“Oh,” he said. “So you really are the one.”

Rin’s head snapped toward him.

“What do you mean?” she demanded, voice sharp, Blood Veil still roaring around her like a red storm.

The cloaked man didn’t answer her. His eyes stayed on me, the way someone stares at a target they’ve dreamed about meeting.

Touka moved.

“Don’t talk,” Touka said flatly, not to the cloaked man, but to all of us. Like he was cutting off the chance for fear to creep back in through words.

He flicked his fingers and his barrier shifted.

It didn’t stay wrapped around me like a shell anymore. It expanded and angled, creating distance and lanes, turning the space into something Touka could read. I could feel the difference immediately. It was like the battlefield had suddenly gained lines and rules again.

Rin stepped forward.

Her missing hand had started to regrow, still uneven, fingers not fully formed, skin too new, but she held her katana with the other hand like it didn’t matter. Blood Veil flared brighter, the red aura tightening around her body like armor made of her own life.

She stared at the cloaked man.

“Still want to keep me intact?” she asked coldly.

The cloaked man smiled.

“You’re strong,” he said. “But you’re not the priority.”

Rin’s eyes sharpened.

“Say that again.”

He lifted his hand.

Projectiles formed again, multiple this time, faster, cleaner, and they didn’t aim at Rin.

They aimed at me.

My stomach dropped.

The helplessness tried to crawl back into my muscles. That same half second. That same hesitation that ruined everything.

My brain started to freeze.

Then the heat in my arm surged like it hated hesitation more than I did.

I stepped forward.

The first projectile hit the fire around my hand and evaporated.

The second did the same.

The third cracked against the heat and disappeared before it could become real.

I didn’t know if I was blocking them or burning them, but I didn’t stop to think, because the moment I thought, I could feel the fear trying to grab the wheel again.

Rin dashed.

She crossed the distance toward the cloaked man in a heartbeat, katana flashing, Blood Veil leaving red trails behind her blade like she was cutting the air itself.

The cloaked man slid back, calm, not panicked, like he expected her speed.

He snapped his fingers.

An ice wall erupted between them.

Rin cut through it with one swing.

The wall split like it was paper, shards flying, and her blade didn’t slow.

Touka didn’t waste the opening.

He turned to the brute, the one I’d knocked down, who was already forcing himself back up like pain was optional.

Touka’s hand lifted slightly, and wind pressure snapped around the brute’s limbs.

“Level 1 Spell: Wind Bind,” Touka muttered.

The air tightened like invisible restraints.

The brute roared and forced through it anyway, muscles swelling, veins dark, his body refusing to obey physics like it was insulted by the idea.

Touka clicked his tongue.

“Annoying.”

A circle of ice formed under the brute’s feet.

“Freeze Step.”

The ice flashed, slick and sudden.

The brute slipped.

Touka didn’t hesitate. His palm flared.

“Flame Pillar.”

A burst of flame slammed into the brute’s chest and launched him backward again, the heat leaving a short trail in the air like it dragged the world with it.

The brute hit the ground hard.

Still alive.

Still moving.

Touka’s eyes narrowed slightly, like he was counting how much stamina this enemy had left and finding the number disgusting.

“How many times do you want to get up?” Touka muttered.

The cloaked man didn’t even look at the brute.

He kept watching me.

Like everything else was background noise.

“You’re unstable,” he said, voice calm. “You don’t even understand what you’re doing.”

I clenched my teeth.

“Shut up,” I said.

His smile widened.

“You can’t fight like this forever,” he continued. “That fire will eat you first.”

Rin’s blade nearly took his head.

He dodged by a hair, then whispered something under his breath.

“Soul Implementation.”

Dark energy surged.

Not into his allies this time.

Into the air.

For a split second, the pressure changed, like the whole world tilted.

My chest tightened.

The heat in my arm didn’t respond.

Something else did.

A heaviness dropped onto my body like gravity suddenly got stronger, like the sky became a weight pressing down on my shoulders and lungs.

My feet sank slightly into the gravel.

“What the—”

The ground under me cracked.

Not from impact.

From pressure.

Touka’s eyes flicked toward me instantly.

“Hideki,” he warned, voice sharp. The kind of warning that meant move now or you die.

The heaviness got worse.

My lungs struggled.

My vision blurred at the edges.

This wasn’t normal magic.

This was something that wanted to force my body into the ground and keep it there.

The cloaked man’s smile softened like he was satisfied.

“Good,” he said. “That’s it.”

Rin lunged again, katana aimed straight for his throat.

He didn’t dodge.

Instead, he raised his hand and caught her blade with two fingers.

The impact sent a shockwave through the air.

Rin’s eyes widened.

Touka’s eyes widened too.

That was impossible.

The cloaked man tilted his head, bored.

“You’re impressive,” he told Rin. “But you’re still human.”

He flicked his fingers.

Rin’s katana was forced downward.

Her body stumbled forward, off balance for half a second.

And in that half second, a projectile formed in his other hand.

It aimed for her neck.

My body moved before my brain could argue.

Not fire.

Something else.

The heaviness around me exploded outward.

The ground rose.

A slab of earth surged up between Rin and the projectile like the world itself jumped to protect her.

The projectile slammed into it and shattered.

Silence.

For one second, everyone froze.

Rin turned her head slowly, eyes wide.

Touka stared at the earth wall like he was recalculating everything he thought he knew.

Even the cloaked man blinked.

My right hand still burned with flame.

But the ground…

The ground listened too.

“He… used another element?” Touka muttered, almost to himself.

Rin didn’t say anything, but I could see it in her face. She was trying to understand, trying to figure out who I was now.

The truth? I didn’t know yet.

All I knew was this: the power inside me wasn’t just fire. It wasn’t just earth. It was more than that, and I had barely scratched the surface.

They were stronger than me in every way, in experience, in knowledge, in discipline.

But right now?

I was the only one evolving.

And something told me

This fight was just the beginning.

“Cih, a dual element user…”

The cloaked man growled under his breath, clearly not expecting a second element to emerge from me. His confidence faltered for a moment but the big one didn’t wait. With reckless abandon, the brute lunged at us, his fist crashing down like a meteor. Touka’s “Barrier” cracked under the force.

“Gahh…!” He stumbled back, sliding across the dirt, his heels digging into the ground as he steadied himself.

But just then, Rin’s eyes sharpened. She understood it was her role now, her opponent to face. Touka glanced at her and gave the subtlest of nods before stepping forward, switching his focus to the cloaked one.

“Let’s do this, guys.” Rin’s voice echoed with confidence, and something about it snapped me back into the moment.

I wasn’t ready, at least mentally. But my body knew. I raised my hand again, releasing my earth elemental power, and with it, the previous “Barrier” that was barely holding together shattered completely.

This time, though, we were positioned correctly. Touka with the cloaked one, Rin with the brute. It clicked perfectly, like we had rehearsed this a thousand times, except we hadn’t. It was instinct. Maybe luck. Maybe something more.

In truth, I shouldn’t have been able to do that, release an element like that, flawlessly, on my first attempt. But I had imagined it countless times, during sleepless nights, watching anime, dreaming of what it would feel like to wield magic. That “imagination” somehow translated into reality, even if it was far from easy.

Touka didn’t waste time. He began casting again, evolving his level 1 spell into something greater: a level 2 version that pushed the limits of his mana. It wasn’t fully stable, but it was stronger, and the sheer presence of someone standing with him, me, was enough to ignite his determination.

Rin, meanwhile, had already shifted into full motion. Her speed, her strength, it was beyond anything I’d seen from her. She moved like lightning itself, matching the big man’s brute force step for step.

“This is bad…” The enemy realized it too.

Rin’s strike was about to land, a final blow, but the cloaked man wasn’t done yet. A quick chant, a wave of his hand, and suddenly, a barrier of darkness formed around the brute. It was more than just protection. It was a ritual.

“Something’s happening…” I muttered, stepping forward.

The cloaked man’s lips curled into a cruel smile, a dark symbol unfurling across his face, from his lower jaw to above his brow. A seal. A sign. Something ancient.

Touka’s expression darkened.

“No…” His voice was barely audible, dread sinking in his eyes. “They’re activating Half Burst Mode.”

It was already too late to interrupt. That black sphere began to fade, and from within, the brute emerged. His body was smaller now, more compact but that made him more dangerous. Muscles tightened like steel cables, his aura pulsing like a war drum. Every physical stat had surged.

The cloaked man howled with laughter, his hands gathering a mass of dark energy so dense it looked like a miniature black sun. I could feel it from where I stood, pure destruction. Enough to erase a 200 meter radius.

“That’s… insane…”

But even that wasn’t all. The cloaked man’s aura surged as he too activated a similar technique. They were going all in.

The brute roared, vanishing in an instant then reappeared mid air, his punch targeting Rin directly. She barely dodged it, but the sheer force of the strike was enough to displace air like a shockwave, obliterating the buildings nearby.

“Rin!!”

Touka and I both moved but too late. The cloaked man intercepted us, unleashing a barrage of projectiles, one after another. We couldn’t get close.

Rin staggered, bleeding heavily. Her regeneration was faltering, she had overused her “Blood Veil” and was nearing her limit.

As for me, my inexperience showed. I left too many openings, and I paid for it.

Boom!

The cloaked man’s enhanced projectiles slammed into me, sending me flying like a ragdoll. Pain surged through my body. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. But somehow, I was still alive.

“Look who turned the table now, kid.” That voice. Mocking. Gloating.

I clenched my fists, dragging myself up. My body screamed at me to stop, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. Touka was being overwhelmed. He had cast everything he had. Rin was barely standing.

“You’re out of spells, aren’t you?” The cloaked man raised his hand again.

“Hideki, go!!”

Touka’s voice rang out, and then something inside me responded.

Electricity.

I don’t know how or why, but something surged within me, sharper than fire, more reactive than earth. It cracked through my nerves like a storm. My eyes burned again, this time not red, not brown, but a piercing blue-white, glowing with static.

“No way… That’s a third element?!” Rin surprised by it.

Even the cloaked man stepped back.

I raised my hand instinctively, this time, I didn’t imagine a sword.

I created a spear of lightning. Pure, raw, chaotic energy that sparked and twisted in my grip.

“Damn… He changed a lot.” Touka smiled faintly, before his knees buckled and he collapsed, his mana completely spent.

I didn’t hesitate. My body still hurt. My head still spun. But I gripped the lightning tighter and took a step forward.

This time… I was the one turning the tables.

I remembered what my mentor once told me. “Your element will become your weapon if your will is strong enough.”

Clutching my burned hand, I focused. I imagined a sword, not just any sword, but one worthy of lightning itself. I could feel the crackle of energy building up from my fingertips. In a flash, a lightning forged longsword formed in my grasp, humming with raw power.

No time to waste.

I surged forward, my body propelled by a speed I hadn’t tapped into before. My vision blurred at the edges as I slashed directly toward the cloaked man. But

CLANG!

My sword was stopped mid-air. A shimmering blue barrier pulsed between us.

“What?!” I gritted my teeth.

The cloaked man smirked under his hood. “You can’t defeat me like this,” he sneered. “My Barrier is far stronger than your friend’s little tricks.”

I narrowed my eyes. He was right. This wasn’t some second-rate defense. It completely stopped a blow that would’ve shattered Touka’s barrier in a single strike.

But then a weak voice spoke up behind me.

“You forgot… there’s an Arcane user here.”

Touka.

Barely conscious, bruised and battered, he raised his trembling hand. A small orb began to form, unstable, flickering with violet energy. I recognized the spell immediately.

Dispel.

The orb floated straight toward the barrier.

The cloaked man’s eyes widened. “No!”

The orb detonated against the barrier, not with force, but with pure disruption. The shimmering wall fizzled, twisted in on itself, and then vanished. Instantly.

His defense was gone.

“Nice one, Touka!!” I shouted, glancing back.

He gave me a faint smile before collapsing completely, unconscious but satisfied.

I turned back, raised my sword, and unleashed all the power left in me.

My lightning blade roared as it slashed toward him. He tried to cast something, his fingers moved in desperation but it was too late. I saw his body twist just enough to dodge a direct blow, but not enough.

My sword ripped through his cloak, slicing across his ribs. Sparks scattered as he dropped to his knees, gasping for air. Blood seeped through his side. He looked up at me, furious, shocked, and most of all, exposed.

His hood fell back.

And then I saw his face.

“You…?! You’re the one with that witch, aren’t you?” My voice trembled, not out of fear, but fury.

“Cih,” he spat, annoyed that I recognized him.

Now I knew. This wasn’t just some random ambush. They came for a reason. The witch he worked with… she was part of the deeper plan. And this man, whoever he was, had been hunting us from the very beginning.

He staggered, trying to rise. I pointed my blade at him, crackling with renewed electricity.

“Move, and I’ll finish it.”

But he didn’t. He fell backward, half conscious, his body giving up before his pride did.

The battle was over.

At least, that’s what it looked like.

My lightning sword dissolved into sparks and vanished, like it had never existed. The moment it disappeared, the world felt heavier again. The static in my chest didn’t go away, it just stopped screaming.

Touka was down.

He wasn’t moving except for the faint rise and fall of his chest. His face looked pale, like he had drained everything he had just to keep us alive.

Rin was still standing.

Barely.

Her “Blood Veil” had already faded, but the aftermath was all over her body. Cuts that should have closed already. Blood on her cheek. Her breathing sharp and uneven like she was forcing air through pain. Her missing hand had regrown, but it still looked too new, too clean, like the skin didn’t fully belong yet.

And the brute.

The brute was down too.

Not cleanly, not easily.

Rin had taken him down with pure stubbornness, with sword technique and blood and timing. When he finally collapsed, he did it like a building falling, slow for half a second, then heavy all at once. The ground shook when his back hit.

Rin didn’t look at him again.

Her eyes were on the cloaked man.

The one I cut open.

The one I recognized.

Rin walked to him and stopped right above his head, katana angled down but ready.

“Talk,” Rin said, voice quiet.

The cloaked man coughed, then laughed under his breath like it entertained him that she thought she could force answers out of him.

“You’re not the one I need to talk to,” he whispered.

Rin’s katana shifted, not a swing, just enough for the blade to touch his neck.

A thin line of blood appeared instantly.

“I didn’t ask what you need,” Rin replied. “I said talk.”

His smirk faltered.

For a second, his eyes flicked away, not toward me, not toward Rin, but toward the empty air behind her, like he was checking time.

Like he was waiting for something.

I didn’t notice at first.

My body was still shaking. My ribs still hurt. My head still rang.

But then I felt it.

A small shift of mana.

Not explosive.

Subtle.

Like a thread being pulled.

Rin felt it too, a heartbeat later.

“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice sharpening.

The cloaked man didn’t answer.

His lips moved.

No loud chant, but I could see it now, the way his mouth formed words through blood and pain.

And the air behind him started to shimmer.

My stomach dropped.

Teleport.

“He’s…!” I started.

The shimmer thickened.

A faint circle began to form, unstable, like a door that wasn’t fully opening yet.

Rin’s eyes widened.

She raised her katana to finish it.

Too late.

The circle flared brighter, and the air pushed outward like a pulse.

Rin stepped in anyway, ignoring the pressure.

“Stop!” she snapped.

The cloaked man smiled through blood.

“Too slow,” he whispered.

Then the wind cut through everything.

A purple streak.

A sharp slicing sound, like the air itself got split.

The cloaked man’s head tilted, confused, and then separated.

It hit the ground with a dull heavy thud.

The teleport circle behind him flickered, then collapsed into nothing.

Silence.

Rin froze.

I froze.

A cheerful voice broke through, casual like this was nothing.

“Alright,” it said. “He’s done.”

I turned.

Aoba stood there, lowering her sword like she had just finished cleaning something off her path. A faint purple glow faded from her blade.

“Aoba?” My voice cracked.

She looked at Rin, then at Touka on the ground.

“You guys are really loud,” Aoba said, like she was teasing, but there was relief under it too.

Rin stared at the corpse, then back at Aoba.

“…You killed him,” Rin said, not accusing, just confirming.

“He was escaping,” Aoba replied simply. “I didn’t feel like letting that happen.”

Rin’s shoulders dropped slightly, like her body finally remembered it could stop.

I looked at the place where the teleport circle had been.

If Aoba came a second later, he would’ve vanished.

We would’ve lost everything.

Aoba’s eyes shifted toward me then, not joking anymore.

She glanced at the scorch marks, the cracked earth, the lingering static in the air around my fingers.

Her face stayed calm.

But her tone changed.

“Nii-san,” she said quietly. “We need to talk.”

My throat tightened.

Rin wiped blood off her cheek with the back of her glove, then let out a weak laugh.

“Yeah,” Rin said. “I think we all do.”

For a moment, none of us spoke. Only Touka’s breathing, and the distant sound of the city settling back into normal.

Aoba looked around the battlefield, then clicked her tongue.

“First,” she said, “we move. This place is going to attract attention.”

Rin glanced at the brute’s body.

He was down, not dead. His chest still rose, slow and stubborn, like he didn’t know how to stop.

Rin wiped blood off her cheek. Her regenerated hand still looked too clean, too new, like it hadn’t fully accepted what it just did.

“I can carry him,” Rin said.

Aoba shook her head. “Don’t. If he wakes up and attacks you, you’re too exhausted to fight more.”

Rin’s lips twitched. “Cih. You know me.”

“You say that like you’ve never been surprised today.”

Rin stared at her for a second, then looked away.

Aoba crouched beside Touka and lightly tapped his cheek.

“Touka-san,” she said. “Wake up.”

No response.

Aoba sighed, then tapped harder.

Touka’s brow twitched.

A second later, his eyes cracked open.

“Huh? So it’s already over…”

His voice sounded dry, like his throat was sand.

Aoba smiled, relieved in a way she tried not to show.

“Good. You’re alive.”

Touka blinked slowly, then tried to sit up and immediately regretted it. His body shook once, and he fell back again.

Rin leaned over him, expression still sharp but softer around the edges.

“You’re late,” she said.

Touka stared at her like she was the one who collapsed.

“I was busy,” he replied. “Someone had to keep you two from dying.”

“Yeah,” Rin said, deadpan. “And you did a great job. You died first.”

Touka’s eyes shifted, finally noticing the corpse with the missing head.

“…So you got him,” he said.

Aoba answered instead. “I did. He tried to teleport.”

Touka’s gaze sharpened even in his half dead state.

“Teleport, huh.”

Then his eyes slid to me, slower, more focused.

“And you,” he said.

I tensed.

Touka didn’t smile. He didn’t tease. He just stared like he was rechecking a calculation that shouldn’t be possible.

“You used multiple elements,” he said quietly.

Rin’s eyes flicked to me too.

Aoba didn’t say anything. She just watched my face.

My throat tightened.

“I didn’t mean to,” I said.

Touka’s expression didn’t change.

Then he spoke again, calmer.

“Hideki,” he said, “do you know what you did?”

I shook my head.

Touka exhaled through his nose. “As expected.”

Aoba stood up and looked between us like she was taking control before this turned into another argument.

“Save the lecture,” she said. “We talk after we get out of here.”

Rin lifted her katana slightly. “Before we go, I want answers.”

Aoba tilted her head. “From who. He’s dead.”

Rin’s eyes narrowed, and she pointed the katana at me without actually aiming at me.

“Him,” Rin said. “He recognized that guy. He said ‘the witch’ before.”

My stomach dropped again.

Aoba’s gaze snapped to me.

“…Nii-san,” she said. “Did you mean the one from a year ago?”

I swallowed, then forced the words out.

“That cloaked man,” I said. “I saw him before. With her.”

Rin’s voice lowered. “Her who.”

“A witch,” I said.

Aoba’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second.

“So… they’re back,” she said.

“I know,” I replied, my voice quieter than I wanted.

Touka’s eyes narrowed, and even lying on the ground he looked dangerous.

“Looked like her,” he repeated. “Or…, it might not her.”

Rin’s grip tightened on her katana.

“She’s the witch,” Rin said, voice sharp, like she was rejecting the idea even while saying it. “But it doesn’t make sense. Pillars killed her back then. So how is she alive now?”

Aoba’s face went serious in a way I rarely saw.

“We already know there’s a Great Commander hiding somewhere in the city,” she said. “But if that intel is wrong…”

Touka cut in, quiet.

“A Great Commander wouldn’t die that easily,” he said. “Even if Inners fought it.”

I didn’t understand half of what they were implying, but I understood the shape of it.

It meant the past wasn’t done.

Aoba exhaled and straightened her posture like she was switching from little sister to Outer.

“Okay,” she said. “This is what’s going to happen.”

Rin raised a brow. “Bossy.”

Aoba ignored her.

“I’m reporting this to the school,” she said. “And I’m also making sure nobody touches this scene before the right people do.”

I blinked, then asked stupidly, “Wait. How do you have that much authority?”

Aoba blinked back at me.

Rin stared at Aoba like she was about to stab her socially.

Touka sighed.

Aoba lifted her hands like she was surrendering.

“…I’m an Outer, but support’s division” she said.

I stared at her.

“Hold on,” I said. “You’re an Outer now?”

Aoba pouted. “Yes.”

“When were you going to tell me?”

“I did tell you,” she said. “You just didn’t notice.”

Rin laughed once, tired. “Classic.”

My chest warmed a little despite everything.

Aoba glanced at Touka, then at Rin.

“Touka-san. Rin-san,” she said. “Go rest.”

Rin scoffed. “I’m fine.”

Aoba looked at Rin’s blood-soaked and tored uniform, her uneven breathing, the way she leaned without realizing it.

“You’re not,” Aoba said. “And your uniform needs to be changed. Touka-san’s condition is worse.”

Touka raised a finger slightly like he wanted to argue, then gave up halfway.

“Alright…” he muttered.

Aoba looked back at me.

“And Nii-san,” she said, voice softer. “You’re coming home.”

I opened my mouth.

Aoba narrowed her eyes. “Don’t argue.”

I closed my mouth.

Rin looked at me, then away.

“I’ll walk you to the station,” Rin said, like she was choosing to be helpful instead of emotional.

Aoba glanced at her. “Thanks.”

Rin’s lips twitched. “Don’t thank me. I’m just making sure he doesn’t collapse somewhere embarrassing.”

Touka tried to sit up again.

“Wait,” he said. “Before you go.”

We all paused.

Touka’s eyes were on me.

“You’re not allowed to disappear again,” he said, voice rough but firm. “Not after this.”

My throat tightened.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

Aoba clapped her hands once, cutting the mood before it broke.

“Okay,” she said. “Move.”

—

After that day, everything looked normal again.

The only thing that was not normal was me.

I kept forgetting what lessons I had. And if you forget the lesson, you forget what book to bring. Then you walk into class holding the wrong thing, or nothing, and everyone can tell you are not really back. You are just physically present.

Good thing I had Aoba.

Every morning I would stand in front of my desk, staring at my timetable like it was trying to insult me. Aoba would sigh, reach past me, and quietly stack the right books into my bag. Sometimes our eyes met and I saw it.

Not anger.

Not annoyance.

Just disappointment, soft and sharp at the same time.

The kind that made me want to fix myself more than any shouting ever could.

At school, people stared.

Not openly. Not directly.

But I felt it anyway.

I used to barely show up. Then suddenly I was there again, walking the halls like I belonged. After two years at home, everything outside felt louder. Faster. Like the world had moved on and I was the only one still buffering.

I tried to act normal.

I tried to listen.

But my mind kept slipping.

Back to the smell of burned metal. Back to the clang of my blade hitting a barrier I could not break. Back to the way my body had moved before my brain agreed.

I was alive, but it did not feel like I earned it.

By the time I got home, the apartment felt too quiet. Too small. Like it was trying to pull me back into the same cave I had lived in for two years.

I sat on the couch and waited.

Aoba did not come home early.

Of course she did not. She had things to report. Things to handle. People to talk to. While I sat in class pretending my life had not almost ended.

When the door finally opened, it was already dark.

Aoba stepped inside, shoulders slightly tense, hair not as neat as usual. She looked tired in a way she tried to hide, like she had been holding herself upright through too many conversations.

She kicked off her shoes and exhaled.

“I hate reports,” she muttered.

My mouth moved before I could stop it.

“Aoba,” I said.

She looked up.

And the words came out raw.

“Train me.”

Aoba blinked once.

“…Right now?”

“Yes.”

Aoba stared at me for a few seconds. Not judging. Measuring.

Then her voice softened.

“Nii-san,” she said, “I just got home.”

My throat tightened. I forced myself to nod.

“If you are tired… tomorrow is fine.”

Aoba’s eyes narrowed slightly, like she could see through me too easily.

“You are not asking because you are excited,” she said. “You are asking because you are scared.”

I did not answer.

I did not need to.

Aoba sighed and walked past me, then stopped and looked back.

“Tomorrow,” she said. “Not tonight.”

Relief hit my chest so hard it almost hurt.

“…Okay,” I whispered.

Aoba hesitated, then added in a quieter voice, like she did not want to make a big deal out of it.

“And eat first. If you faint during training, I am not carrying you.”

That was her version of comfort.

I nodded.

The next day, she kept her word.

We could not go to Tomoe-san’s temple. Too far, too late for permission, and honestly, I did not want to be seen yet. Not like that.

So, we trained near my apartment.

I lived on the eighth floor. Obviously, there was no space to swing a weapon or throw spells around in a hallway.

Aoba stepped onto the balcony and looked down at the small field beside the building. It was not huge, not clean, but empty.

“What about that field?” she said.

I stared at her. “Wait… you mean that guy’s field? We cannot just use it without permission.”

Aoba tilted her head like I was being dramatic.

“Whatever,” she said, smiling a little. “I do not think the owner will even notice. Hehe.”

She said it like it was nothing.

Then she jumped.

Just like that.

“Wait, what the hell?!” I rushed to the railing.

Right.

I forgot.

Her power was Gravitation.

Jumping from the eighth floor was nothing to her. She floated down like gravity was optional, then waved up at me like she was calling me to come downstairs normally.

“Come on, Nii-san!”

“Are you insane?! You want me to die?!”

“Just jump.”

I hesitated.

A lot.

My brain screamed that this was stupid. That this was how people died. That I had no technique, no control, no right to do this.

But if I backed out now, what was I even doing.

So, I jumped.

And instantly regretted it.

The air slapped my face. My stomach dropped harder than my body. Panic surged through me like it had claws.

“WOAAAH!!!”

“Gravitational Ball: Control.”

My fall stopped midair.

A glowing orb hovered near Aoba’s hand, and the space around it felt heavy, like the world grabbed me and refused to let me drop. My heart kept racing anyway.

I landed, legs shaking.

“I forgot you could do that…” I muttered.

Aoba’s eyes softened for half a second.

“I told you already,” she said. “Did I not?”

“Ahem… yeah. I forgot.”

“I see.”

Then she cut the power.

I dropped like a stone.

“WH, why would you do that?!”

“Nothing.”

“Then what now?!”

Aoba walked closer and looked up at me, calm as always.

“For the first part of training,” she said, “I want to see how strong you are.”

My stomach sank.

“…Wait. You mean we are dueling?!”

She only smiled.

There was no escaping it.

After two years of doing nothing, this was my first real step forward.

And I knew the gap between us was still insane.

But that was the point.

“All right,” I said, forcing my hands to stop shaking. “Shall we begin?”

“Shall we?”

The moment I lunged toward her, the world shifted.

The scenery warped. Colors twisted. The field blurred into nothing.

And suddenly, we stood in a vast, empty dimension of silver mist and violet skies.

“Wha?!”

Aoba had already activated a Duel Field.

Classic Aoba. Always one step ahead.

Before I could even process it, three orbs appeared floating behind her like silent sentries.

Her Gravitational Balls.

She gestured.

An invisible force slammed into me and hurled me backward like I weighed nothing.

“Cih… that power is seriously annoying.”

Aoba stood tall, relaxed, confident.

“Come,” she said.

That tone. Calm. Unwavering. Like she already knew how this would end.

I clenched my fists.

“All right then,” I muttered. “Let us heat this up.”

Flames ignited from my legs as I surged forward, zigzagging in quick, erratic bursts. Heat distorted the air around me. She tracked my movement with sharp eyes, but I was already above her, launching a searing Flame Burst downward.

She sidestepped smoothly using Flow, like water slipping around stone. With a flick of her wrist, she tossed her Teleportation Dagger behind me.

Shlink.

Then she vanished and reappeared behind me, her blade already mid-swing.

“Crap!”

I barely raised an Earth Shield, but her slash cracked it clean through and sent me crashing back.

“That was close…”

Debris floated around me in slow motion as her gravitational field bent the fight’s physics like it was her playground.

Then she was in front of me again.

Too fast. Way too fast.

Her blade flashed. The ground erupted as her slash shattered my barrier completely. I was knocked back again, teeth clenched, suddenly aware of how wide the gap between us had grown.

“That is it?” she asked. “Do not tell me you are done already.”

“Tch… that was way too fast.”

Aoba stepped forward, that familiar stern look appearing without raising her voice.

“Rule number one,” she said, “never hold back. Even against family.”

She relaxed for a split second.

That was all I needed.

Electricity surged through my body.

I focused on the dagger she left earlier, sending a jolt of Lightning Current to connect with it.

My body blinked across space.

Teleport.

“What?!”

Her eyes widened.

I appeared behind her midair, forming a Lightning Blade in my hand. She twisted instinctively, barely parrying the strike. Sparks exploded on contact, lighting up the gray void.

“You copied my dagger trick?” she said.

“Let us call it inspiration.”

We clashed again, flame, lightning, and steel grinding together. I pushed forward, our weapons locked, pressure screaming through my arms.

Aoba shoved me back with gravity again.

Hard.

I refused to fall.

I forced myself to anchor, and something answered.

Wind.

Pressure gathered beneath me, unstable and messy, but enough to keep me from getting thrown like a doll again.

Aoba’s brows lifted.

“Wait… wind now too?!”

“Guess I am full of surprises,” I said, but my voice shook.

Aoba’s smirk faded into calculation.

She raised her hand and compressed gravity around me, locking me in place. Then, with a flick, she launched me upward like a toy.

I spiraled uncontrollably.

Too high.

If I fell, I would be crushed.

I did not have time to think. I reached deep and focused like my life depended on it.

Because it did.

Something clicked.

A hum filled my ears.

Wind gathered around my body, not gentle, not stable, but enough.

My fall stopped.

I floated.

“You really awakened Wind mid-fight?!” she said, and her voice finally sounded like real surprise.

My lungs burned. My body ached. But I was still moving.

I shot forward.

And in that moment, another element answered without warning.

Water.

A swirl formed in the air like it had always been there, and my body just grabbed it.

Aoba’s eyes widened again.

“W, wait. Water?!”

“I do not know!” I snapped, because I really did not.

Water Swirl wrapped around her like a floating sphere. It held for half a second.

Just enough.

I ignited Flame Sword.

Steam exploded outward.

And before she could fully reset, I drove in with a final Lightning Thrust.

ZAAAP!!

“Agh!”

Her muscles locked for an instant and she dropped to one knee.

The Duel Field cracked around us.

The silver mist shattered.

And the world returned.

We were back in the real field beside the apartment building, both of us breathing hard like we had been underwater.

“You okay?” I asked, voice rough.

Aoba looked up at me, still calm, still soft-spoken, but her eyes were sharper now.

“Yeah,” she said.

Then she smiled, small and proud. “You have changed so much in just two days, Nii-san,” she said. “I cannot predict you anymore.”

“I did not expect Wind to awaken mid-fall,” I admitted. “But… yeah.”

Aoba tilted her head. “When did you get Water?”

“Yesterday.”

She blinked, then chuckled softly like she was trying to process something unreasonable.

“Five elements in two days,” she murmured. “That is beyond rare.” — As she knows what that really means which I don’t even notice, nor do I know what she really means.

As we walked back toward the apartment side by side, her tone turned lighter again, like she was letting me breathe.

“But next time,” she said, “I will not lose. I will fight seriously.”

My eyes widened.

“Wait, you were not serious?!”

“Hehe.”

Even though I “won,” I knew she was still holding back. And I also knew this was just the beginning.

With five elements awakened, things were about to get much harder from here….