*Rumble! *Thud! *Bang!
The ground shook with every strike Zendrell made, each blow slamming down like thunder just inches from Jinn's skin.
Dust kicked up around them as Jinn moved swiftly, barely dodging the attacks that could've easily broken bones.
"Move, worm—move!" Zendrell exclaimed, his voice filled with ferocity as he chased Jinn across the training ground—barely using any sort of swordsmanship form at all.
His sword sliced through the air again and again, forcing Jinn to twist, duck, and dive to avoid them.
*Fwoosh!!
Jinn dipped under a horizontal swing, the blade humming just over his head.
But before he could take a breath, a heavy boot came flying toward him. He raised his sword in time to block the kick, the impact crashed into his blade and pushed him back several feet.
His boots skidded against the ground, soles digging into the dirt to stop his momentum.
The weight of the sword strike rattled his arms, but he remained standing—his legs shaking—but firm.
Zendrell didn't let up. "Good! Now fight back, or I'll keep beating you like up!"
Jinn's breath came in short bursts, but his eyes never left Zendrell.
The fire within him was growing—the flame burned within a desire to get stronger.
And it refused to be snuffed out.
*BANG! BANG! BANG!!
Zendrell continued this brutal routine to what felt like minutes—but by the time he finally stepped back—an hour had already passed. Jinn was drenched in sweat, the back of his tunic drenched while his breaths were sharp and ragged.
His arms trembled from the weight of the training sword, but he refused to drop it.
His eyes, narrowed and locked on Zendrell, refusing to take take it off.
Zendrell tapped the flat of his blade against his shoulder a couple of times, a smug grin creeping across his face.
"Very good... now let's take it up a notch, shall we?"
Before Jinn could react, a faint crackle of crimson energy surged around Zendrell's body.
It was eidra.
It danced like lightning across his arms and legs—then, in a blink, he vanished from sight.
Jinn's breath caught in his throat as his eyes widened.
Where did he go?
His instincts screamed as he raised his sword.
*CLANG!
Their blades met in the middle with a deafening clash—steel smashing against steel. The force rippled through Jinn's body, making his knees buckle.
"Urgh!" Jinn grunted.
Zendrell's strength was overwhelming. The clash lasted only a moment before Jinn's blade was knocked clean from his hands, soaring through the air before landing with a dull thud several meters away.
Jinn stumbled back, wide eyed and gasping, his fingers still tingling from the impact of Zendrell's strike.
Jinn's hand trembled from the force still pulsing throughout his arm, the sting of the blow rippling through his bones. He gritted his teeth, shifting his gaze toward Zendrell—who has now pointed his blade directly at him.
"Jinn boy," Zendrell demanded with a smirk. "Are you forgetting something?"
Jinn's brows furrowed, uncertain—until it hit him. His eyes widened.
He hadn't used his eidra yet.
Realizing this, Jinn slowly stood up, his breath ragged but steadying.
He closed his eyes, reaching from within, drawing on the feeling he knew—the warmth, the fire, the desire to fight for more than just himself.
The energy stirred.
Crimson sparks prickled across his chest, the sensation sharp and awakening.
It spread through his arms, like crackling electricity, and surged into his hand as he reached for his fallen sword.
The moment his fingers gripped the hilt, the weapon began to hum.
*Brrr...!
Light fractures crawled along its surface, glowing faintly with crimson energy as his eidra flowed through it. It felt lighter—no longer a weighted object—but an extension of his own will.
Jinn raised the sword effortlessly, holding it steady in front of him.
Zendrell chuckled, his own sword now glowing with his own crimson energy.
"Now that's more like it," he said, crimson eidra slithering from the edge of his blade. "Things just got interesting."
Zendrell began to circle Jinn slowly, pacing like a predator sizing up its prey.
*tap... tap... tap...
His blade tapped lazily against his shoulder, his posture loose—unbothered, even looking away.
But that was mere diversion as the calm broke in an instant.
With a flash of crimson energy, Zendrell vanished from sight and reappeared beside Jinn, swinging his sword with a violent arc from the side.
This time, Jinn's eyes caught the movement.
He ducked low,
*Fwoop!!
the wind of the blade slicing past his hair. Without hesitation, he swung his sword back in a sharp counter.
*CLANG!
Their weapons clashed with a heavy clang, the force rattling Jinn's arms. Zendrell had tilted his blade at the last second, expertly parrying Jinn's blow.
"That boy's got crimson red eidra!" someone shouted from the sidelines.
"And his hair—it's red too. Does he belong to House Sorellia?"
"Wait, but he's got a choker… He's a slave."
Low murmurs rippled through the training grounds as more soldiers turned to watch the match unfold—Zendrell training a slave, and not just any slave. A boy wielding an eidra—the same type of eidra as House Sorellia.
But Zendrell paid no mind to their chatter.
He was merciless, unrelenting—his strikes came faster now, sharper, each swing meant to break Jinn down.
Jinn saw them—but this time, barely.
His arms moved on instinct, dodging, deflecting, blocking.
Sparks flew with every clash.
"Come on, come on!" Zendrell shouted his voice growing more excited as his attacks became heavier, fueled by greater eidra.
*Bang!
Jinn's knees,
*BANG!!
bent lower,
*BANG!!!
with every ruthless strike from Zendrell.
His blade trembled under the weight of Zendrell's blows, until he was forced to one knee.
"Not just your sword!" Zendrell shouted. "Bring eidra to your legs, your hands, your eyes!"
With a grunt, he lunged forward and delivered a heavy front kick into Jinn's chest.
*Thud!!
The impact sent Jinn flying backward, skidding through the dirt.
Zendrell pointed his sword toward him. "Fill everything with eidra—until you become eidra itself!"