Chapter 14: Sparring and unexpected news

The sun was at its zenith, and a cool breeze from the outside air caressed my skin. I walked straight into the garden's center, feeling warm from the sun.

The crowd of onlookers watching the battle to come intently supported me with smiles and comforting glances, or at least the majority of them did. My mother was the only one of the onlookers - the twin horns and the Tabitha family - who looked at me with concern.

"Kiyo, go!" As all eyes turned to her, I heard a cute voice that quickly faded. Lilia cowered behind her mother, embarrassed as the twin horns cast knowing glances her way.

Lilia gave me a sidelong glance, and I returned with a small smile. I could smile a little more freely now, but full smiles were still out of reach; when I tried it and looked in the mirror, I was almost afraid. I still had a lot of practice ahead of me.

"Hoho~" Mrs. Wechenster laughed from across the battlefield. "I see... I see." She said it with a mischievous smile.

"When do we start, Mrs. Wechenster?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

My words made her frown. "That's not going to work, drop the lady thing and call me Ruri, I'm not that old, you know? I'm 30!" she exclaimed.

She didn't look like a woman in her thirties; if I had to guess based on the state of her body, I'd say she was in her twenties, but this world was different, and I hadn't looked into the effects of mana on the human body beyond the basics. And I was certain that the new particle I was missing had something to do with it, but it was just my theory.

But now was not the time for deliberation, so I nodded at her request. "All right, Ruri." I agreed by nodding.

She seemed pleased and smiled at me. "That's great." But we weren't just chatting in the middle of the backyard. Ruri twirled her cane quickly in an impressive display, putting its balance to the test. She came to a halt after a while and measured the distance between us; we were both facing each other, and I was holding my wood sword. Ruri finally said something. "There will be a trial combat, so don't hold back."

I put some space between us, stepping hard on the grass to get used to the texture under my feet, making it crunch slightly. "Sure." When I was ready, I uttered.

Ruri held her staff in one hand, the blue gem at its tip glistening faintly, as if eager to release its power. "When you're ready, attack me." Her battle robe swished in the wind as she spoke.

I took one last look around; the twin horns were silent, Jasmine as stoic as ever, with the only difference being a glimmer of support in her red eyes. Angela and Helen were both smiling and giving thumbs up, as were Adam and Durden. My mother was worriedly holding her hands on her belly, which showed clear signs of pregnancy. Tabitha was holding Lilia, who was looking nervously between Ruri and me, as if she didn't know what was going on.

Vincent had gone to his auction house due to an unforeseen event.

I considered my options and quickly decided to follow Ruri's instructions and not hold back. I wasn't using my wooden daggers, but Jasmine's classes would keep my mind off any questions that might arise. Besides, I was going to start training harder from now on, so starting now wasn't such a bad idea.

I shut my eyes and focused on my mana. A warm, flowing sensation coursed through my body, gathering strength in my core. When enough accumulated, it began to change.

At the bottom of my mana core, small swirls began to form. After a while, I directed them to the key joints where the power was dispersed, leaving some areas stronger than others.

This was a technique that only worked due to my low power level as I was still in the dark red stage.

This technique allowed me to save mana by consciously using my power to rotate the concentration of energy based on the area that required it; obviously, it could only be used by people who could multitask, as it required your mind to be divided between controlling the rotation of mana and fighting.

It was a temporary technique, as my reserves would soon increase but for the moment it served to be able to have a little more performance in battle without losing power.

I could feel the mana pulsing in my body, as if waiting for me to release it in order to bend the world to my will.

And so I did, I let it go. There was a rush of manna, like wind through a wheat field.

I opened my eyes and leapt forward, tearing through the cut grass and leaving a patch of brown earth behind. I used what I'd learned from being self-taught, and the wind swirled in my palm like a protective cloak. I decided to use all of my mana in high-powered attacks; I wasn't expecting to defeat Ruri, but I figured I'd give it my all.

Because of my breakneck speed, the edges of my vision blurred. I was about to make a quick lunge to capitalize on the momentum when a crystalline block of water appeared in front of me, almost too fast for me to follow. But it was just water, so I put a light layer of wind on my sword -because I couldn't cast magic very far due to my low core stage- and made a cross-cut that opened up a gap large enough for me to pass through and use the momentum to attack Ruri.

I got a little wet as I broke through the barrier, but it was worth it because my attack appeared to have caught Ruri off guard, an expression of surprise briefly crossing her fine features.

Ruri quickly recovered, jumped back, and with a twist of her staff, several whips of water appeared out of nowhere and reached out to strike me like snakes.

Some of them I barely deflected, and the last one pushed me back.

"Good try." She admitted it. "However, if you attack blindly, you must be cautious." I felt a tingle as the mana condensed to my right, a ball of water shooting out at me, attempting to drench me.

However, I had noticed that I was quite sensitive to mana, as if there was something that could tell me where the mana was denser, and while I hadn't yet mastered it, it was sufficient for this occasion. I stepped back, just out of her magical range.

"I know," I said simply, and attacked again, this time using my extensive knowledge of martial arts to feint and confuse her.

I had a chance after about a half-hour of switching between surprisingly creative water attacks and my attacks. Ruri saw me coming and tried to parry my attack with a solid water lasso, but just as she tied up my forearm, I pivoted and attacked with my fist instead of my sword. I smacked Ruri in the face, sending her flying several meters.

There was a chorus of muffled gasps from the crowd watching us. Angela appeared to be ready to go to help Ruri, but she was stopped by Adam, who simply shook his head.

I wasn't planning on pushing her that hard, but apparently Ruri wasn't taking me seriously, because if she was, that punch would have barely been enough to trip her up if she was as strong as the others believed.

"Heh." After a few seconds of lying where she had fallen, Ruri laughed. She stood up quickly and wiped her muddy robe. "Appearances can be deceiving, so I'll play for real." She declared.

She got ready again, and I did a quick check after our half-hour battle. My reserves were depleted, and my muscles ached from overexertion, but I could still fight for a while.

A white light shone over my head as I was deliberating. Something reflecting the light flew through the air at breakneck speed, and it slammed into the back of my head despite my reaction time. It was as if someone had thrown a knife at me, only it wasn't sharp.

I quickly reoriented myself after the blow and resumed my position, watching Ruri smile and make a ball of water levitate in her hand.

"Water can hurt a lot when you play with its density, be careful." She smiled.

As if her words were the catalyst, I felt a great accumulation of mana in the air, and a massive wall of water appeared above me. It was impassable.

I tried to flee, becoming a blur as I advanced to the sides of the ominous wall of water, but the ominous wall still trapped me. I got soaked, which didn't hurt, but the water running down my clothes was a sign of my weakness; I needed a way to counter the conjurers.

"Excellent work." Ruri's soft voice jolted me out of my reverie. "You hit me, and it was my fault for underestimating you." She admitted it. "I couldn't believe Reynolds' words when he told me that his son, who had awakened at three years old, also had a superhuman fighting talent, but look at you, I'm sure you can beat even a veteran of your same core color." She gave a satisfied nod. "I'd be honored to train possibly the greatest mage of all time."

I looked at Ruri's happy expression. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail with a pink ribbon wrapped around it. At the very least, I had obtained an instructor; only time would tell if she was useful.

(***)

Ruri had gone to rest in her inn in the city after the battle; she told me that tomorrow I would begin my training and that she would show no mercy; I think she tried to be intimidating, but she only managed to pique my interest a little.

After the twin horns had left to spend the night at their inn, I was having dinner with my parents. The meal consisted of meat and vegetables; I was still surprised by the taste of the meat; when I first tasted it, I didn't think I'd ever tasted anything as good in my entire life; it was almost as delicious as ice cream, but the meat was more nutritious, so it was a draw.

I looked at the table where we were sitting as I was thinking about all of this. My mother ate quietly, one hand on her bulging stomach, and my father looked at her with affection in his eyes. This was a common occurrence, and I would occasionally hear my mother telling Arthur or me stories to the baby.

This environment was so relaxing that it made me feel normal, like a normal person with a normal family; it was everything I had ever wanted to experience.

I returned my attention to the food, listening to the silverware clinking on the plate. I enjoyed the symphony they created because, normally, I couldn't because of a little girl named Lilia who chatted a lot when she ate with us, but she had to go with her family to an event at her auction house, so we were alone for the time being.

As time passed, we assumed it would be just another dinner, until something unexpected happened.

"Mom? dad? Kiyo? Can you hear what I'm saying? It's Arthur, your son. I just wanted to let you know that I'm fine. I'm currently in Elenoir's kingdom as his guest. I don't have much time, so I just wanted to let you know that I'll be back as soon as possible. I'm currently suffering from some sort of uh... illness, but don't worry, I'm not in any danger; I just need to be here for a while." An etheric but familiar voice echoed in my mind, or more precisely, in our minds; my parents were frozen in place, so I assumed they were listening as well.

"A-Art?" stammered my dad.

"Yes! It's me! I miss you, but this place is really nice too; I wish you could see it; it's really green, not green like trees, but really green!

"You're going off the deep end." I said this as Arthur began to ramble on about how nice the kingdom was without specifying when he would return.

"Yes, yes, I'm sorry, and thank you, kiyo. Heh, serious as always." My brother's voice sounded relieved. "Aeris is literally frozen by your face, apparently it's love at first sig-, ouch! why are you hitting me Tess?" But he quickly got back on track. "Anyway, don't worry about me; I'll see you in a few years. The connection will be severed, so..." At the end, he almost sobbed. "I love you all, be safe, I miss you, and I'll see you later."

My brother's voice vanished as quickly as it came. But it did leave us with at least one sign that he was still alive, which my parents quickly seized on.

"Art! Art! Honey, you're alive, I'm so happy!" My mother stated that once she realized what was happening was true, tears began to flow freely down her face. "Thank you, God..."

After the initial shock wore off, my parents began sobbing, relieved that their son was safe. They may not have shown it, but they both blamed themselves for his alleged death; now that that burden has been lifted, they can be happy.

'How intriguing.' So he was alive, which was unexpected, but my mentality had already changed to adapt to this world, so I still considered the possibility that he was alive.

I smiled, a small, barely noticeable smile that looked almost natural after all the practice. This was good because now that Arthur was alive, I could hide in his shadow.

Arthur had the qualities of a leader, and I would use that to my advantage.