The fight.

As I arrived at the dojo, I saw my brother standing in the doorway; he stood there staring at me with a mean glare, I could tell he was here for something. He stood tall with bright hair, a very muscular build and about 6 feet. This was somebody I didn't want to have on my bad side.

Brother: Hachi

Me: Yea?

Brother: I think it's finally time for me and you have ourselves a checkup, there's a thing or two I want you to see. Sence dad is gone today, I think it's time you see the truth

Me: The truth?

Brother: Yea, you're not weak because you're not able to become stronger. Dad won't show you a key skill, I want to see if you're ready. Im tired on waiting for his go.

When he said this, my heart beat out of my chest. What did he mean? Was he hiding something? I had put so much trust in this man, and this is what I get. Realizing I needed to keep my cool, I accepted my brother's offer, and we headed into the dojo. With only occasional small talk we went to the changing room and put our gear on, just the basic set. Since our dad wasn't here, we didn't want to risk ruining everything. My brother didn't say it, but I knew this was a fight that was going to comprise our full strength. After the awkward moment of silence we shared getting ready, we stood on the matt and put up our stances. My brother always held his right fist up and let his left-hand droop around, He rarely uses his left hand in fights. My stance was just the regular boxing stance with the exception being my footwork differing slightly from the normal. We stared at each other for a few seconds, and I was the one to decide to finally break the awkward silence growing between us.

Me: I hope you know I can only currently last for 5 minutes in this fight at full strength.

Brother: you better be very careful than, I plan on keeping this fight nice and long; I intend to test your limits; I want to see how far my little brother can go. Unlike dad, I have faith in your stamina abilities.

He said this with cockiness in his voice, the same kind that pissed me off my entire life. My brother wasn't a bad guy, he's the type of guy to give you the shirt off his back. His only problem is he thinks he's the best, and if he's not, then it's an enormous problem.

I chose not to activate my power at the start and walk up towards him; I threw around 5 punches that did got blocked by him holding an x with his two shoulders. On a whim, I kicked at his arms to break his block, but it failed miserably, so I jumped back. I immediately knew that I was no match, so I pulled out my spirit. With this the playing field instantaneously evened out, the huge jump in power could even give my father a run for his money. The second my brother saw the mark appear on my right shoulder, he put his guard up. Even he could tell that it was time to stop playing around..

We kept coming at each other but because of the evening out of our strength; we continued to throw blow after blow at each other for about 2 minutes, that's when his stamina took the test of time and failed. I could visibly notice him grasping for air, he slowly could not handle my speed, which was in another league compared to his. When I would always try to last my longest in fights, my dominant strategy would be to be faster my opponent in the fight. It took me about 5 years to get to where I'm at now. I have the clear advantage because he's always used to ending the fights as quick as possible with raw power. As much as my mind tried to tell me it set me up to fail, my gut kept telling me this would be my first fight won. I had excitement pumping through me for what felt like the first time in my life since I was just a little kid, this excitement felt like an additional reason to strive, maybe I could finally win.

With my advantage clear, I decided it was time for me to end this fight, and I was also nearing my time limit to, it's just been about 4 minutes. Only a minute and I'd be heading back to my base strength, this 30% boost was the only thing helping me even last in this fight

I had this; I was clearly going to win. I walked up to my brother; he looked up at me with his bangs let down over his eyes. I looked back at him, smiled and kicked him right in the stomach. I felt this sensation when I was winning and I enjoyed it, I just wanted to keep fighting, but sadly I knew I had to end this. My inner shock opened something inside me, a new, really dangerous feeling began brewing inside me. This sensation was so powerful, I could even ignore how sluggish I felt after that kick.

Me: It's over brother, I'm finally able to walk hand in hand with the family, I'm not the weakest anymore.

Brother: I guess it really is true, you're my equal now.. I was always stronger than you after what happened and now were here.

Me: What? Something happened?

Brother: ...

Me: Wait, what happened?

This, the time for my time limit was up and I fell to my knees. My breath was stripped right from my lungs, my body starting shaking, and then I passed out. Darkness surrounded me and I knew what was happening. The spirit wanted to talk to me again, Reighard wanted to see me. I was slowly picking up that passing out and being conscious meant someone was trying to get my attention,

As I regained consciousness, I saw the white glow in a plane of darkness. Even though it was just a glow, I knew it was him.

Reighard: I see my power is really taking you place, huh?

Me: Yeah, I won my first ever fight. All thanks to you.

Reighard: Save your sentimental thank you's for later, you might not want to thank me after the news I'm going to break.

Me: Wh-What kind of news are we talking about?

Reighard: Sence you started using me, I noticed something taking place in your mental state, it's not good at all. When you use me, your emotions slowly start fading. During your current fight, I noticed your sense of mercy fade completely. When you had the edge on your brother, you wanted to keep fighting him, That's not like you.

When he said this, I realized what that sensation was almost instant.

Reighard: I may raise your time with my power because of your lost emotions, but you're going to lose yourself when I'm active, try to learn how to fight without me.

Me: But I clearly can't do that.

Reighard: I will not try to stop you. But remember, there's a huge consequence when you use me now. You may do something you regret when times up. I'm also going to extend your time, You have 10 minutes now.

As he said this, the white glow faded away, and I really fell asleep. No thoughts, nothing.

Before I knew it, I felt myself getting slapped in the face. I was being woken up by my brother. I felt an odd sense of calmness upon waking up; it was like even though things took a turn for the worse; I wasn't angry or sad about it. As a matter a fact, I didn't feel sad at all.