32.

{3rd PoV}

On her way home, Adjest was so deep in her thoughts that it looks a little close to brooding, in the carriage.

'Aegis is so strong. I thought that I would be able to catch up to him if I practiced harder.' Adjest thought as she recalled the fight earlier.

'The two fought for a few rounds but Aegis never moved from his initial spot. The sway he used to evade Argeria's attack was perfect. What shocked me was that punch after he raised his body. How did he do that? How did he create that kind of force? Magic? No, he didn't cast an enhancement spell. Is that his raw power? No, its not. I'm missing something but I don't know what it is.' Adjest thoughts continued until she reached the royal palace.

'I can't keep myself from falling behind. I need to train harder or I won't be able to catch up to him and stand beside him.' Adjest thought before she felt her cheeks burning.

'What am I saying?! Why do I need to catch up to him?! Its because of that idiot, Aegis. That stupid, idiot, dense, Aegis!!!' Adjest shouted in her mind.

As soon as Adjest returned to the palace, she went to her room to rest. She lied down on her bed as the fight was once again, replayed in her mind.

'How hard did he train himself to reach that kind of strength?' Adjest was in her own world that she didn't notice the door to her room open and Gilltian entered.

Gilltian coughed and the cough brought Adjest back to reality.

"Is something troubling you, my daughter?" Gilltian asked as she sat down on Adjest's bed.

"Can I be as strong as Aegis? Will I be able to reach that kind of strength?" Adjest asked her father who was confused about her question until she told her about what happened and the details of the fight.

"I don't know if you'll be able to reach that kind of strength." Gilltian said with a small smile.

"Why?" Adjest asked curiously.

"Its because Aegis already chose his path and you still haven't. Adjest, Aegis' path is way harder than any of the younger generations. Hm, maybe he could even be on par with adults in terms of strength based on what you said to me. As for you, you haven't even started specialising on one thing. You are capable of using magic and you're a natural born swordsman and people who can do both are rare, but how do you want to develop? Do you want to focus on your magic or develop your swordsmanship, it depends on what you want to be." Gilltian caressed her head as Adjest felt better after hearing her father's advice but she is still curious.

"You said that Aegis already chose his path, is it because of his path that he can fight against an adult now? I'm curious about the path he chose." Adjest looked at her father.

"Alright, listen well. Aegis is also the same as you, he can use magic and he's a different breed of genius, he's a monster. Usually, people can choose two paths, the mage path and the aura user path. A magic swordsman is both a mage and an aura user, you know that right?" Gilltian said as Adjest nodded.

"But actually, there's another path that opens up for anybody who can withstand the grueling training and the immense body pain. Aegis chose that path, the path to Body Control." Gilltian said and Adjest became even more curious.

"Body control? What's that?" Adjest pondered about it but can't think of an answer so she asked her father once more.

"It is exactly what it meant, the absolute control of the body, that's what Aegis is pursuing. With body control, maneuvers that are usually hard to execute is just a piece of cake for them. You said that Aegis swayed his body to the side and returned a punch that broke the opponent's left arm right? Without body control, swaying to the side without moving from your spot is hard but because Aegis knows body control, he did it easily. As for his counter, he used his back muscles and his side muscles and returned a punch with immense strength that it broke the opponent's arm." Gilltian explained but Adjest seemed to be confused at the last part.

"You're confused about the back muscles part? Do you know that our back contains the body's greatest reserve power? A counter punch thrown with your back is like a sharp blade that will pierce your defenses, its also painful for the person receiving it. Now what if you combine the power from your back muscles and nock your punch like an arrow by twisting sideways, what do you think will happen?" Gilltian gave her an explanation.

"The strength released will be greater..." Adjest's eyes lit up as she understood the reason on how Aegis unleashed that devastating strike.

"Then can I also do it?" Adjest only asked out of curiosity.

Gilltian shook his head at his daughter's question.

"No. Its not suitable for you. Only by training under massive amount of pressure will you be able to start controlling your body little by little." Gilltian said as he stared sternly at her.

"I know. I'm not going to do that." Adjest said and Gilltian smiled at her answer.

"So? What did you guys do earlier?" Gilltian asked as he bonded with her daughter.

"Well, we went to..." Adjest started telling what happened to their adventures today.

*

{Aegis 1st PoV}

A week have passed by and its time to go back to the territory. I gave myself some time to relax and I seriously enjoyed it. We would fool around the capital and would eat a lot of food. Thankfully, no one interrupted us when we were looking for a place to have fun.

Argeria's family, the Nimbias family, didn't pursue me for beating their son and even apologized and sent a gift to me as compensation because of their own son's actions.

I was packing up when a soft knock could be heard from the outside of my room.

"Come in." I was surprised to see Adjest when she opened the door.

"I heard that you're leaving." Adjest said to me, a little reluctant to see me leave.

"Yes. We need to supervise everything by ourselves to make sure that they're not slacking off." I said and she knew that I was talking about my territory.

"When are you coming back?" She asked while looking at me straight in the eye.

"It depends. Maybe I would visit when I wanted to relax for a little bit or when I have a business with your father." I said which made her a little sad.

"I see." Adjest hung her head low as if she's thinking about things.

I stopped packing up and I walked towards her. Hearing my footsteps, Adjest raised her head to see me looking at her.

"Don't worry, as soon as the teleportation array in my territory is connected to the Royal capital, you can go to my territory as you please and I'll bring you around so many fun places and many funny people who makes food better than the Royal capital." I said making her a little expectant and excited about it.

"Really?" She asked me with her eyes staring at mine.

"Yes, I'm sure you'll love it there." I said with a light smile as I lightly pinched her nose before going back to packing stuff up.

"Don't forget to send me a letter after you return to your territory, Aegis." Adjest said with a slightly blushing cheeks.

"I know." Finished packing my things up, Adjest and I went down to see Felicia and Uncle Wilhelm waiting for me.

Before we left, Felicia gave Adjest a big hug before whispering something in her ear. Adjest's cheeks were burning hot after hearing her words. Felicia quickly returned to the carriage before Adjest could say a word.

I just finished putting my things in the carriage and was about to say goodbye to Adjest, when she gave me a quick peck on my cheek as soon as I turned around to say my farewell.

"I must say, Lady Adjest, what gave you the courage to do it?" I asked a little stunned by her stunt.

Adjest refused to answer and just looked at Felicia inside the carriage.

"Oh, I see." I understood after she looked at my sister inside the carriage.

"There's no need for farewell, Lady Adjest, we will meet as soon as the teleportation array is finished." I said with a smile and she returned it by casting a beautiful smile back to me.

I entered the carriage and we slowly left the manor to return to my territory.

==========================

A reference from Hajime no Ippo.

Miyata saying that the back is the World's greatest reserve power in Takamura vs. Hawk fight.

The devastating strike that was unleashed by Aegis is a reference from a special move called Galactica Phantom or as the others say, the real men's punch, by Ralf Jones in KoF.