Duel

"Speaking of fighting, do you fight Uriel? What sort of abilities do you have? Or do you not have any you were born with? Alin taught me and Leo but he wasn't here that often so he must have taught you a lot more compared to us. Can you show us your skill? I'll show you mine."

She proceeded to appear next to Leo with her arm wrapped around his neck and grabbing his shoulder. "One of my abilities is to teleport like this. I can only do it a short distance and I can't do it in rapid succession but gramps said as I get older and practice more I'll get stronger and I'll be able to teleport further away and more often. He even said I might one day reach no delay meaning that I will be able to have all the cookies I want. MUAHAHAHA" Her expression turned slightly sinister as she laughed menacingly.

"I have another ability that lets me copy other peoples abilities but I can only use one at a time and I need to touch the person first to copy it."

She then yanked Leo even closer who was doing his best to look away and try to free himself and poked her finger into his cheek. "This kitten becomes much stronger. His muscles grow, he becomes taller and his hair starts glowing an ethereal white/golden colour, he supposedly has another ability but he doesn't want to tell me"

She pouted slightly as she kept poking Leo in the cheek. Uriel chuckled slightly and smiled at the pair. A warmth enveloped his heart and he hoped one day he would be able to be close and interact with his new siblings like this.

"So? What about you? Tell us about yourself. What are your abilities I'm curious, please show me. How about we have a duel and you can show it then? That would be fun."

Uriel's smile disappeared and turned into a frown as he thought about how to answer.

"Well as you know I'm Uriel. I've lived with gramps on the mountain the legendary dragon slumbers within according to legend."

Hari and Leo stared at Uriel hanging off his every word.

"Have you ever seen the dragon?" chimed in Hari

Uriel shook his head "No we haven't. Gramps said we would have seen a giant lizard if one was there so I'm not sure if it exists"

"But if It did it would be awesome wouldn't it?" smiled Hari with excitement plastered all over her face.

"So how about your powers? Tell us about that I'm most curious about it"

"..."

Uriel wanted to say some words but his voice wouldn't leave his mouth. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and composed himself.

"A-actually I d-don't have any powers or abilities. I can't even use mana right now"

Both Hari and Leo frowned slightly at those words. In this world using mana was a basic life skill everyone learned as just like oxygen, food and water. Mana was needed for humans to be able to live, breathe and function normally.

In the same instant, they hugged Uriel which shocked him. He was believed he was getting fairly good at hiding his emotions as his grandfather believed it was an important skill for him to learn but at this moment he couldn't help but have his mouth opened briefly before forming a big and wide smile. A single tear fell down his cheek before being wiped off by Hari.

"Don't worry if you need to fight we are here so we will protect you! You've got us and we will kick anyone's butt if they pick on you!"

"R-right, w-what Hari s-s-said." Leo nervously said raising his voice to a level that just about could be heard by the other two.

Uriel chuckled slightly his mood had improved tremendously. "Actually it's not that bad. I may not be able to learn practical magic and I'm not allowed to gather mana until I turn 18 as I made a promise to gramps"

Hari and Leo exchanged a look but Uriel hadn't noticed

"But he still has taught me a theory about magic and has taught me a hand to hand combat as well as how to use various weapons. I train every day from dawn till sunset pretty much. But I would love to have an ability like the two of you. I've asked gramps multiple times but he would just snort and smirk slightly before going away"

His head looked at the ground dejectedly before a voice made him look up "I could not help but overhear, a duel might actually be a nice way for you kids to bond. Not a bad idea Hari my adorable... ehm I mean ferocious bunny" beamed Alin full of joy that the kids seemed to be getting along well.

'Cough'

Alin cleared his throat before gesturing to the children with his head to follow him before turning around and walking out the door. The three children looked at each other before all nodded happily and followed their grandfather.

While they still weren't perfectly comfortable around each other yet, they all were happy their family got bigger. Out of the three of them, Uriel was most happy however he managed to hide it well.

They walked through the ugly emerald green corridor again before reaching a door that led outside. They arrived in a small circular courtyard. It was surrounded from all corners by other big buildings. It had a circular roof that had a big hole in the centre, thanks to this the courtyard was filled with natural light.

The entire ground was covered in sand. Racks stood around the sides filled with wooden practice weapons and even some real ones. Drinks machines stood near some benches that were in the shade.

Alin stood in the centre before turning around to face the children that slowly filed in after him into the room.

"I am assuming that Leo is not going to be participating in the duel…" Alin briefly paused to wait for Leo's confirmation before continuing "Hari, Uriel, grab any weapon you would like to use and Hari… feel free to use your abilities."

Uriel went to look at various wooden practice swords while on the other hand Hari frowned slightly and briefly glanced at Uriel with a hint of concern. She wanted to say something but she wasn't sure if she should, after a few moments her lips opened "But Alin, Uriel doesn't have any abilities or use mana. Wouldn't that be unfair?"

Alin chuckled slightly "Do not underestimate him. While he does not listen to me most of the time, when it comes to his training he has always been very diligent. I believe deep down he really must enjoy it."

Uriel started to make his way back towards Alin and Hari. "Looks like Uriel has picked his weapon, you should quickly run and grab your… tools," said Alin with a hint of anticipation in his voice.

Hari quickly jumped and disappeared before reappearing again. She had 2 different coloured sashes in her hands. Just like her eyes, one was teal while the other one was magenta.

Uriel had reached his grandfather's side at this point and curiously stared at his sister as she tied her supposed weapons around her waist.

They both stood on either side of Alin, they looked at each other and as they did Hari grinned from ear to ear flashing her razor-sharp teeth.

"Walk 20 paces away from each other." The kids both nodded and proceeded to walk 20 paces in their respective direction, when they reached their destination they both turned around to face each other.

"Let me quickly go over the rules. You are allowed to use anything and everything. If I think things are getting too dangerous I will intervene. As your combat styles differ I would like to make some rules to make things interesting"

"You both will have different victory conditions. Uriel, you win if you can disable both of Hair's arms. You can do that by striking her on a wrist if you strike her wrist she is not allowed to use that arm anymore. If you manage to strike both then she loses. At the same point, you are also allowed to grab onto both of them at the same time and that will also count as a victory."

He stopped to catch his breath. "Hari, you on the other hand have a much bigger and simpler target. As Uriel has decided to wield a sword your win condition is quite simple. You must touch his back fully with your hand. That means your entire palm and each of the 5 fingers must be fully present on his back for it to count as a victory."

Alin looked at both of the kids before roaring "Are you both fine with these terms?!"

The children then shouted back "Yes, Gramps!" "Yes, Alin!"

Alin nodded and then shouted, "BEGIN!" before jumping backwards several meters.