The sound of steel cutting through the air ripped through the training field behind the Ainsworth mansion.
Clang.
Clang.
CLANG.
The swords clashed with enough violence to make the ground vibrate beneath their feet. Kael advanced without hesitation, his body flowing between attack and defense with a precision bordering on instinct. Each movent was clean, efficient—beautiful even.
Adalric took a half-step back, twisting his fist and dodging by a hair's breadth. The impact sent sparks flying as the blades t again.
"Hah!" he laughed, turning his body out of reach. "You've evolved. There's no denying that."
Kael didn't answer.
He was already moving again.
His left foot slid, his hip rotated, and the sword ca from below in an arc too fast for most swordsn to follow. Adalric blocked at the last second, feeling the force reverberate to his shoulder.
"But…" Adalric continued, forcing Kael's blade aside and spinning his own, "...your form has changed too much."
Kael recoiled, taking a deep breath, his gaze fixed on his opponent.
"Changed how?" he asked, without lowering his guard.
Adalric attacked.
The blow ca direct, simple, almost brutal. No flourishes. No advanced technique. Just intention.
Kael blocked—but the impact pushed him two steps back.
"The Ainsworth Technique," said Adalric, advancing again, "was made to crush the opponent. To impose presence. To break the will before the body."
Another blow. Kael narrowly dodged.
"What you're using now…" Adalric spun, attacking from below, "...is no longer that."
Kael blocked, but felt his wrist burn.
"Not because it got worse," Adalric continued, masterfully twirling the blade, "but because it adapted too much."
Kael tried to counterattack, a quick, precise, almost perfect sequence. Adalric defended everything.
"You mixed magic, instinct, raw reflex," said the older man, breathing with irritating ease. "You made the technique… yours."
They stepped back for a second.
The wind swept across the field, carrying the scent of hard-packed earth and sweat.
"Is this bad?" Kael asked, his breathing controlled.
Adalric smiled.
"No." He raised his sword again. "It's dangerous."
Kael advanced again, this ti with more aggression. The blade cut through the air as if it were part of his arm, each blow chained to the next without any conscious hesitation.
For a mont, Adalric was forced to retreat.
For a mont.
Then he stood firm.
His gaze changed. And it was all over.
With a short, almost lazy movent, Adalric entered Kael's guard, struck his blade with the hilt of his sword, spun his body, and delivered a sharp kick to Kael's abdon.
The air escaped Kael's lungs.
Before he could react, he felt the ground disappear beneath his feet.
He fell backward, the sword slipping from his hand and rolling across the earth.
In less than a second, Adalric was on top of him.
The tip of the sword pointed directly at his chest.
Silence.
Kael lay there, panting, staring at the sky through the leaves of the surrounding trees.
"You're weak," said Adalric, without raising his voice.
Kael frowned.
"Weak?" He let out a short, humorless laugh. "I just—"
"You used to chop down trees with your sword," interrupted Adalric. "You used to smash rocks with your bare hands. You scared everyone with your strength."
The tip of the blade pressed lightly against Kael's chest.
"Where's that Kael?"
Kael closed his eyes for a mont.
The silence weighed more than the impact of the fall.
"He stayed in the void," he finally answered. "Or died there."
Adalric didn't pull back his sword.
"Lies."
Kael opened his eyes, staring at him.
"He didn't die." Adalric lowered the blade slightly, but didn't withdraw it. "He just got too comfortable."
Kael clenched his teeth.
"I don't want to go back to being that."
"That kept you alive," Adalric retorted. "What you are now… hesitates."
He lowered his sword and took a step back, allowing Kael to sit up.
"You fight beautifully. Cleanly. Controlled." Adalric shook his head. "But you've lost your malice."
Kael rested his arms behind his back, taking a deep breath.
"Malice?"
"Dirty intent," Adalric replied bluntly. "The will to win even when it's unfair. Even when it hurts. Even when soone you care about might get hurt in the process."
Kael remained silent.
"You're fighting like soone who wants to survive," Adalric continued. "Not like soone intent on destruction."
Kael looked at his own hand.
It trembled slightly.
"Maybe I don't want to destroy anything anymore."
Adalric sighed.
"Then accept one thing, boy." He sheathed his sword. "The world will not respect this decision."
Kael looked up.
"Eva. The Emperor. Yggdrasil. Whatever you carry within you now…" Adalric pointed to his chest. "All of this will test you."
He extended his hand.
"And when they test you, they won't go easy on you."
Kael took his hand and stood up.
His body ached.
But he was whole.
"So what do you want to do?" Kael asked.
Adalric smiled slightly.
"Rember who you are…" he said. "And then consciously choose how far you are willing to go."
Kael picked up the sword that had fallen to the ground.
The tal felt heavier than before.
Or perhaps it was him.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a second… and when he opened them, there was sothing different there.
Not anger.
Not fury.
But a spark.
"Again," Kael said, raising his blade.
Adalric laughed.
"Now that's more like it."
The clash of blades echoed through the training field again.
Clang.
This ti, Kael didn't advance imdiately. He circled, light steps, his sword raised at a lower angle than before. His body still ached from the fall, but sothing had changed in his posture—less rigidity, more intention.
Adalric noticed.
"Hm," he murmured, twirling his sword naturally. "You're thinking differently now."
Kael attacked.
It wasn't quick. Nor pretty.
It was direct.
The blade ca in a straight line, without warning, forcing Adalric to take a step back to block.
"You didn't answer," Kael said, using the impact to slide his blade and attempt a side strike.
Adalric narrowly dodged.
"About what?" he asked, striking back with a downward slash.
Kael defended, feeling the impact vibrate through his arms.
"About the Empire."
They exchanged two more blows, the rhythm steady and heavy.
"It's strange," Kael continued, twisting to evade a low attack. "Four Sword Kings in the capital at the sa ti. That doesn't happen… ever."
Adalric forced Kael back with a short, aggressive sequence.
"Not by chance," he replied.
Kael blocked the final blow and leaped back, creating distance.
"Then sothing is wrong."
Adalric didn't deny it.
"A lot happened while you were gone," he said, advancing again. "Things that shouldn't have happened so soon. Others that happened too soon." Kael dodged, feeling the blade pass inches from his face.
"And you can't talk."
"I can't," Adalric confird without hesitation.
He attacked again, this ti with more pressure, forcing Kael to retreat step by step.
"Confidential?" Kael asked, panting, blocking another blow.
"Imperial," Adalric corrected. "The kind that makes heads roll if it cos out of the wrong mouth."
Kael gritted his teeth.
"That only confirms what I'm feeling."
He spun his body, let a blow pass by a hair's breadth, and tried to hit Adalric's flank. The older man blocked with his forearm protected, retreating half a step.
"And what are you feeling?" he asked.
Kael didn't answer imdiately.
He advanced.
This ti, the blade didn't seek the obvious point. It ca in low, almost lazily, and at the last instant rose at a treacherous angle. Adalric had to twist his whole body to avoid being hit.
His smile widened.
"There you have it," he said. "A little bit of malice."
"I'm sensing…" Kael took a deep breath, "...that the world is organizing itself too quickly."
They clashed again, blow for blow.
"Exactly," Adalric confird. "Alliances shifting. Borders becoming more rigid. Right people in the wrong places."
Kael blocked a heavy blow and responded with a kick to the knee. Adalric dodged, but had to make room.
"And when that happens," Adalric continued, "it ans soone is in a hurry."
Kael narrowed his eyes.
"A hurry for what?"
Adalric attacked with enough force to force him to plant his feet on the ground.
"For war," he replied simply. The impact sent Kael sliding a ter backward.
The training field seed quieter for a mont.
"But not open," Adalric added, advancing again. "Not yet. First co the tests. The provocations. The small movents that seem like coincidence."
Kael was breathing faster now, not just from the physical exertion.
"And four Sword Kings in the capital…" he murmured, blocking another blow.
"It's a sign," Adalric confird. "Maximum defense. Or preparation for sothing that cannot fail."
Kael dodged, spun his body, and attempted a double attack, using the montum of the spin itself. Adalric defended the first blow, but the second passed too close to his shoulder.
"Hah," he laughed. "It's getting better."
"That's not what worries ," Kael replied. "What worries is why now."
Adalric pushed Kael back with his blade, creating enough distance to speak without shouting.
"Because you woke up," he said.
Kael froze for half a second.
Enough.
Adalric seized the opportunity and advanced, forcing Kael to hastily block.
"Don't put everything on ," Kael growled.
"I'm not putting it on you," Adalric replied calmly. "I'm stating it. You are a variable the world lost… and just recovered."
They stood face to face, swords locked, inches apart.
"The Emperor knows this," Adalric continued in a low voice. "Eva knows this. Yggdrasil knows this."
Kael felt a shiver run down his spine.
"Then I'm at the center again," he murmured.
Adalric pushed his blade aside and spun, ending the confrontation montarily.
"You never left it."
They stepped back a few paces, breathing heavily.
"And that's why," Adalric said, raising his sword again, "you can't afford to fight without intent."
Kael steadied his grip.
"Intention of what?"
Adalric smiled, but there was no humor there.
"To win," he replied. "Or to survive when winning isn't an option."
Kael nodded slowly.
"Then let's continue."
"Let's," agreed Adalric.
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