I launched off the ground, a burst of mana carrying me forward. In a blink, the distance between Rune and me vanished. He didn't move an inch. Understandable… to anyone who wasn't trained, my speed must have looked like teleportation.
I swung the blunt edge of my sword straight at my father's keepsake in Rune's hands, aiming to knock it free. Clean and Simple.
But just as my strike was about to land, his wrist flicked. The angle of his blade shifted, quick and sharp. The edge I expected wasn't there, only the flat of his sword, waiting.
What..?
Before the thought fully formed, his blade slid along mine, like water finding its path. Perfect timing. My sword slipped right off his with a harsh screech of steel, sparks snapping between us like fireflies. The force of my own swing had nowhere to go. My arms jerked upward, wide open. Exposed.
My chest.. wide open.
Ugh..! Is that… a parry?
My heart skipped, but Rune didn't take the opening. He just stood there, grin tugging at his mouth, watching me scramble. I slid back fast, feet skidding, reforming my stance to cover the glaring hole at my torso.
"What's wrong?" he asked, grinning wider.
Did he just.. parry my full swing? With a blunt sword?
I didn't even know what to think.
"What's happening…" The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them.
Rune moved sideways, slow and deliberate, as if circling prey. My eyes locked onto his every step, his calmness digging under my skin.
"What's wrong, Sera? I thought guardian knights were supposed to be something."
A smile crept across my lips, thin and sharp. "Where did you learn that parry?" I asked, replaying the memory of his wrist. So fluid, so precise. That had tossed aside my full swing like it was nothing.
"Business secret." He grinned, teeth flashing. "But I'll tell you this. if you don't use mana, this won't even be a fight."
"Is that so…" I breathed out, the air frosting as it left my lips. A thin layer of frost mana shimmered along my outline, tracing my body in pale light.
My head throbbed, heavy and dull, like something gnawing at my skull. Stamina leaked away from me, drip by drip, like water through a cracked bucket. I didn't know why… but I would find out, after I put him down.
Rune's eyes widened. That grin of his spread again.
"Here we go." I said
The words left me as my white hair lifted in the air, strands shifting into a pale frost-blue. His left eye gleamed suddenly, dark mana spilling from it like smoke.. ominous, alive.
I steadied my sword. His attribute was darkness, I remembered. But our training center never had much on it. Almost nothing.
Four ice spears shimmered into existence above me, sharp and deadly. "Give up, Rune," I warned. "It's hard to dodge all four at once." My mind flashed back to the goblin I'd skewered with these same spears.
"It's fine. Come at me." He didn't even bother taking a proper stance.
He doesn't know. These aren't normal. Unless you know the counter technique, mana projectiles can't just be waved away. He doesn't know. I'll scare him, just throw them close enough without hitting.
But then —
Crack.
Black sparks erupted at his feet.
"What..!" My chest tightened.
"If you don't come…" His voice deepened. "I'll come to you myself."
And then he was gone.
In a flash, Rune appeared above me, his blade already falling. A vertical slash, meant to split me in two.
I reacted on instinct, jerking my sword up, horizontal, bracing against the weight.
The impact slammed through me, rattling my bones down to my feet. The earth itself seemed to give, my boots sinking into the ground. My knees bent, trembling.
"No way…" I muttered, staring into his right eye, now brimming with pure darkness.
My lips went dry.
He dragged his sword down along mine, and with that same motion he batted aside the frost spear I hurled to distract him. Effortless.
I snapped my blade forward, driving it toward his neck, intending to stop just shy of the skin.
But he ducked. No hesitation, no glance at the steel aimed for him. Just pure, perfect instinct.
The air hissed as my strike stabbed through nothing.
Instinct. That has to be it.
I raised my leg, ready to kick him while he was crouched. If he dodged, I'd have him at sword's edge. Perfect setup.
But just as I moved —
The world tilted.
"Huh..?"
My body lurched, balance gone. My head hit the ground with a dull crack. The sky spun, fading for an instant before it all snapped back into focus.
He kicked my leg. My only foot still planted on the ground.
I groaned, clutching my head, staring up at the sky as it steadied. Then his face slid into view from the side, grinning like he'd been waiting for this.
Annoying.
"Wanna know what happened?" he asked.
I extended a hand without answering. He clasped it, pulling me up onto unsteady legs.
"I'm dying to know what happened," I said flatly.
"Is that footwork… Aunty's?" Rune asked.
"Yes," I answered, a small spark of pride in my chest. "She taught me."
Rune nodded slowly. "No wonder It's beautiful."
"Thank you…" I murmured, warmth flooding me at the praise. My mother's technique… being recognized like that. It felt good. Really good.
But wait. That wasn't what I wanted to know.
"How did you parry—"
"It doesn't deserve you disrespecting it with your pathetic imitation." His words cut me off, sharp and cold.
My breath caught. "What…?" The word squeezed out of me, thin and broken.
He just looked at me. No emotion in his eyes. Just emptiness.
Pathetic imitation?
"I… I know I have a lot to practice." I forced a smile, hoping it would make the sting go away. "But I'll work harder. I'll impro—"
"What you're doing right now isn't improving," Rune said flatly. "It's called living in memories. Pathetically clinging to your mommy."
Something inside me snapped. My hand rose before I even realized it, and I struck him across the cheek.
The sound cracked in the air.
He didn't dodge. The hit made him falter, his head snapping to the side, his hand coming up to his cheek.
I stood there, panting, my chest heaving, emotions spiraling out of control.
He looked back at me again, calm as ever.
My eyes burned. Tears blurred my vision, threatening to spill.
"Everyone has different adaptability, different reflexes, different strengths," he said, his voice even. "Techniques passed down through blood… aren't meant to be followed blindly. They're not meant to suffocate your own potential. What you're doing is just a pathetic imitation of what was given to you. And worse…" His gaze stayed locked on me, unflinching. "You know the changes you need to make for it to fit your body better. But you don't want to. You'd rather stay buried in memories."
My hands moved on their own. I grabbed his shirt, clutching it like a lifeline.
Tears fell, hot and heavy, dripping onto my trembling hands. My face twisted in rage. For the first time in my life, I was angry at Rune. And it hurt. Gods, it hurt.
"You know nothing," I choked out. My voice cracked. "You're just some pathetic bum who can't even protect himself from bullies!"
The words tore out of me, sharp and cruel. Words I never thought I'd even imagine, let alone say to him.
I stared into his eyes, trembling. "You always needed others to tend to you. All you ever do is give up. All you ever do is cry. You're just… a burden."
My heart twisted, the ache almost unbearable. My lips shook, my hands gripping tighter into his shirt as if letting go would kill me.
He's all I have left and the pain cut deeper.
"You can't call others pathetic when you're the most pathetic one of all," I spat, my voice breaking, the dam bursting inside me.
Tears poured freely now, unstoppable. My chest heaved as sobs threatened, hiccups forcing their way out, no matter how hard I tried to resist. I wanted to run. I wanted to collapse. I wanted to let go.
But I didn't. I couldn't.
I clung to him, my whole body trembling.
Rune's eyes met mine. Blank. No rage. No sorrow. Just calm, unreadable calm, staring right through me as if nothing I said mattered at all.
"You know nothing…" My voice cracked as the strength drained from my arms, yet my fists still clutched Rune's shirt, desperate, trembling.
"You don't know how it feels to run out of the house, ready to leap into your father's arms after he's been away for weeks… only to see your mother collapsing over his lifeless body, screaming until her throat bled."
My breath hitched, the words tearing me apart as they left my mouth.
"You don't know how it feels to watch her push her plate away, lying that she's full, just so I could eat. You don't know how it feels to see her starve herself while she smiled at me, like it was nothing."
The tears came faster now, hot trails burning down my cheeks. My chest heaved, my throat raw.
"You don't know what it's like to see her fragile body, weak from hunger, working day and night just to give me a chance at something better. To see her hands crack and bleed, her back bend, her body slowly breaking… but still moving because I needed her."
I couldn't stop. My voice rose, sharper, harsher, each word stabbing into me as much as him.
"You don't know what it felt like when she threw herself at monsters, her thin, brittle frame holding them back, just so I could run. Just so I could have one more second to reach the guards."
My throat burned. My lungs ached. My fingers twisted tighter in his shirt, my tears dripping down onto his chest.
"You know nothing!" I screamed, the words shattering out of me, raw and broken.
This technique… it's all I have left. The only proof that I'm her daughter. The only proof that she ever lived. The thought rang in my head as my body gave out, my forehead sinking against Rune's chest. My arms trembled, fingers slipping, strength gone.
Then he moved. Closer. Before I could react, before I could even think, his body pressed around mine.
He hugged me. Tight. Too tight.
My hiccups wouldn't stop, my throat burning with every ragged breath.
"I don't know," he whispered. His voice was steady, but heavy. "I was an orphan from the time I can remember. Both here… and then."
...Then?
"I didn't know how it felt to have someone waiting for me at the school gate, ready to take me home. I didn't know how it felt to share meals with family. Or how it felt to laugh on raids in amusement parks with them."
School? Amusement parks? What's he saying…?
His arms squeezed tighter, almost crushing, but I didn't fight it.
"And I knew even less about what it feels like… losing them, right before your eyes." His words sank into me, heavy and quiet.
My chest hurt. My breath stuttered.
"But I do know this…" His voice grew firm, holding me tighter. "She taught you her technique so you could grow stronger. So you could defend yourself if danger came. Someone who gave her life for you… wouldn't want you trapped in her shadow. She'd want you to grow past her. To take what she gave and use it for everything it's worth."
He paused. His chin pressed against my hair.
"Sera… your mother is great. Greater than either of us can even imagine."
That was it. I broke, sobs tearing out of me, my face pressed into his chest. My tears spilled freely, soaking into his shirt, as if I could drown inside my grief.
"So use her gift to its maximum," he murmured, his arms holding my collapsing body as if I weighed nothing. "You don't need to stay behind and look for her company in her teachings. You have me. And you will always have your mother watching over you. You don't have to prove it to anyone."
My arms finally moved. Wrapping weakly around him, clinging.
He lowered us slowly, kneeling on the ground, supporting my weight. I buried my face into his shoulder, my tears soaking him through, hiccups wracking me.
And he just stayed there. Silent. Steady. Holding me in place while I fell apart in his arms.