Vladislav had just come out of the shower.
Laura had already left the room, neatly laying his clothes on the bed: a short-sleeved black shirt and a pair of black pants.
His stomach growled.
"I'm really hungry after skipping dinner and using all my mana," he muttered.
He dressed quickly and walked out of his room.
Through the black marble corridors, he made his way to the dining room doors. He greeted the guards and stepped inside.
All the family members were present, except for the grandfather, who—as always—was absent.
He greeted everyone and sat down.
Athelstan nudged his left side.
"How was your darkness affinity training?"
"I'd say it was alright. I just fainted after using all my mana," Vladislav replied.
"Damn, Lady Umbra went that hard on you?"
"Nah, my task was just to snuff out the light of a candle… but instead, I snuffed out all of them."
Hearing this, Vladimir spoke up.
"Something has changed inside you. I don't know what it is, but I can feel it."
"Me too," Mikhail added. "I see a difference between the you from yesterday and the you sitting here now."
"Really? It must have something to do with my darkness affinity," Vladislav said.
If Dad and Uncle can't even recognize what it is… it must be the void, he thought.
And today, for some reason, I woke up standing in the middle of my room. Laura even said I was probably sleepwalking, which has never happened before… this thing… the void…
Vladimir interrupted his thoughts.
"How is your sword training going, both of you?"
"It's going well, Dad," Vladislav answered.
"Fun and hard as always," Athelstan said with a grin.
"My swordsmanship has grown stronger, fiercer… but I'm far from mastering it. After all, I'm just a small fish in a vast ocean. My footing still needs work. Sometimes I mess it up, and my sword slashes aren't accurate most of the time. There's still a lot to improve." Vladislav took a sip of tea after speaking.
Vladimir smiled with pride and nodded.
"It is good that you know your shortcomings and difficulties."
Vladislav nodded and continued.
"As for my element and affinities—lightning has improved a lot since I first focused on it. I can reinforce my body with it, increasing my speed, and I can also channel it into my blade, making my strikes sharper and more destructive. But it doesn't last long, since it consumes too much mana."
"For space and darkness affinities, I decided to start with darkness first. I just began my lessons with Lady Umbra yesterday. I'm sure Grandma told you why I skipped dinner."
Mary nodded as she sipped her soup.
"Well, Lady Umbra explained things about esoteric darkness and how I can use it at my stage," Vladislav said.
He explained how he fainted from a complete mana depletion after trying to snuff out the candles. However, he left out the part about the void, not wanting to worry his parents.
Asa laughed along with Athelstan at his fainting story.
Vladislav only scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed.
Leon shook his head with his usual aloof expression and focused on his food.
"Well, it is understandable," Geneviève said. "Trying to command the darkness to bend to your will at your current strength is nearly impossible—but you still did it. I'm proud of you, son." She patted his head.
Vladislav smiled warmly at her.
He then spoke about his progress with the katana, while Athelstan shared his, earning praise from both Vladimir and Geneviève.
After finishing their meal, Vladislav and Athelstan left for training.
Inside the training room, Jian was already waiting.
He held a wooden sword resting on his shoulder in one hand, while the other carried a cup of tea. He took a slow sip.
"Good morning, my dear nephews. How are you doing on this beautiful morning?" he asked with a smile.
Athelstan narrowed his eyes at him. That smile only meant one thing.
"You already know… when he's smiling like that, the training is going to feel like hell on earth, right?" Athelstan muttered to Vladislav.
"Yeah, that smile is definitely unsettling," Vladislav agreed with a frown.
"Hey, hey. Why the long faces on such a beautiful morning?" Jian teased.
Slurp~
"Ahh~, tea really is the best."
He smirked.
"Both of you—attack me. Try to make the tea in this cup spill. Oh, and I'll only fight with one hand."
"If you succeed, you'll have no training this weekend. But if you fail… I'll add two more hours of training to your schedule."
"That easy? Deal!" Athelstan said confidently, as if he had already won.
But Vladislav frowned.
"Are you dumb, At? Do you think it'll be that easy? If he wants to, we probably won't even be able to take a single step!" He smacked the back of his brother's head.
"You wanna die? Of course I knew that!" Athelstan rubbed his head, glaring at him.
"Yeah, right. Sure you did," Vladislav replied sarcastically.
He turned to Jian.
"Sorry, Uncle. This bet is too suspicious, so we—"
"Oh, I just remembered something," Jian interrupted with a grin. "You can't refuse the deal." He took another sip.
"What?! That's not fair! Either way, we lose!" Vladislav protested.
Jian only smiled.
"You can give up, of course. But if you do, I'll still increase the difficulty."
"Fucking hell…" Vladislav groaned.
"Cheer up, Vlad, we can do it!" Athelstan patted his back.
Vladislav clicked his tongue. Damned lunatics. Might as well give it my all if we're going to lose anyway.
"You can attack whenever you want. I'm ready, my dear nephews," Jian said, cup still in hand.
Vladislav closed his eyes, then opened them again, his expression turning sharp and focused.
He bent his right knee forward and gripped the hilt of the sword strapped to his back.
"Athelstan, we attack in coordination. Cover each other. If you're at a disadvantage, retreat. If you can't, I'll come to your aid."
Athelstan stretched his body and nodded.
"Alright, brother. Let's do this." He unsheathed his sword.
For a couple of minutes, neither moved. The brothers simply studied their uncle, planning how to spill the tea.
Then—
Vladislav's body crackled with lightning, his eyes lighting up. Athelstan's did the same.
They moved.
The two brothers blurred forward, leaving streaks of purple and blue.
"Show me my teachings weren't in vain," Jian said as they rushed toward him.
Vladislav struck first. His sword was unsheathed at incredible speed—before anyone could blink, it was already swinging toward Jian.
His katana training was clearly taking effect on his sword too.
Jian met the attack head-on. His wooden sword swept in a horizontal arc.
The swords clashed.
Sparks burst from the impact of metal against wood.
The air trembled.
Surely the teacup should have spilled by now… but it didn't. Not a single drop. Jian's control was flawless.
The brothers' eyes widened in disbelief—but they didn't falter.
Vladislav's arm was pushed aside, and Jian's wooden sword shot toward his torso.
Let's try this and see if it works, Vladislav thought.
Using the momentum, he spun on his feet, pulled his right arm back, and swung across his left side, leaping into the air. His spin formed a not-so-perfect corkscrew—but it was enough.
He dodged the strike and kicked toward the teacup, lightning wrapping his leg.
Jian smiled at the attempt. The corkscrew wasn't perfect, but it worked. He saw the lightning kick flying toward his cup—
—and then did the unimaginable. He dropped the cup.
Vladislav's kick cut through empty air as the teacup fell.
In the same instant, Jian caught it again—without spilling a drop.
Vladislav landed on his feet, but Jian's sword was already aimed at him. Before it could strike—
CLANG!
Athelstan appeared and blocked.
Jian took a few steps back—but the brothers pressed forward.
Athelstan swept at his legs, but Jian jumped easily over it.
Vladislav was already there, his fist crackling with blue lightning. He threw a punch at Jian's stomach mid-air—but somehow, Jian twisted away, evading even while airborne.
"Tsk," Vladislav clicked his tongue as Jian landed a few meters away.
"How the hell is that teacup still full after all that?" Athelstan muttered.
Jian only sipped calmly.
"You'd better be quick—before I finish the tea."
The boys scowled at his words.
Then, without wasting another moment, they charged again.