「WORTHON ESTATE — THE HILL」
The siblings reached the crest of the hill, where a sharper wind carried the scent of earth and distant trees. The vast Worthon Estate stretched below them.
G6 lifted her bare face into the breeze. There was an unexpected comfort in the open view, in standing at the edge of something larger than herself, where the world seemed to fall away and leave only sky and silence.
The feeling was familiar, long buried. She sighed and crossed her arms, watching the two figures below. Grass rippled against her boots as gusts rolled off the distant mountains. Her brothers stood just behind her, one on either side.
Below, Lt. Nash Thonson and Lady Sienna Worthon faced each other across a stretch of flattened ground. No swords. No artifacts. Just open ground and the promise of pure magic.
"Hmm." Lord Ray's voice was low, thoughtful. "Are they going to engage in purely mage combat? They're probably not going to use PhyEn either."
"Just raw spellcasting and magic control?" G6 asked, her eyes never leaving the two below.
"Probably." Lord Ray nodded. "Since we all came of age, we haven't had time to spar with each other. And Sanctum is not a place where you can find leisure to train with your co-workers. We're all busy with our respective research."
"Who do you think will win?" G6 asked.
Lord Ron snorted. "Nash, obviously. He's been in actual combat. It's been three years since he became a knight and gained the title of lieutenant in a short period of time—for a reason," he explained. "Sienna's only fought in controlled environments. Training."
"Still, don't underestimate her." Lord Ray's voice was careful. "She is a Sanctum mage for a reason too. And she knows spells Nash rarely uses in actual combat—since he's more dependent on his sword."
G6 remained silent.
Her eyes tracked Lady Sienna's curling fingers and the faint shimmer of mana gathering at her palms. Opposite her, Lord Nash settled his weight onto his back foot and waited.
Ha. A mocking smirk tugged at her mouth.
They are both underestimating each other.
Is this what pride in a superior bloodline does to people? Amateurs.
Below, Lord Nash and Lady Sienna circled each other.
"You've been in Sanctum too long, cousin," Lord Nash said, rolling his shoulders. "You don't know what real combat feels like."
Lady Sienna's smile was thin. "And you've been in the field too long, Nash. You've become barbaric. You treat magic like it's all about survival. It's about precision. Control. Elegance."
"Elegance doesn't save your life when a monster's about to rip your throat out."
"And brute force doesn't help you when you're outnumbered and outmatched."
G6 rolled her eyes at the exchange.
"Just kill each other already," she said flatly.
The three children waiting beneath a nearby tree turned toward her.
"Did you hear what Lady Reise said?" Josh whispered to his brother.
Jake followed his gaze. G6 stood a short distance away, her grey eyes fixed below.
"Yeah." Jake's voice was low. "And she looks scary. As always."
"She wants Brother Nash and Sister Sienna to kill each other!" Josh added, fear creeping into his voice.
Charlene sat a little apart from them, saying nothing. She just watched G6 with wide, curious eyes—not afraid, not excited. Just... watching.
"Dear!" Lord Ron's voice was sharp. "You can't just blurt that out. The children heard you."
"So?" G6 replied coldly. "What does that have to do with me?"
She turned her gaze to the three children under the shade and glared at them—cold, flat, unblinking. They immediately averted their eyes, suddenly finding the grass very interesting.
A short snort escaped G6. Her brothers glanced at each other; the children looked up again, cautiously. For an instant, amusement had softened her expression.
"She looks more beautiful when she smiles," Charlene murmured, almost to herself.
Lord Ray and Lord Ron also smiled.
G6 caught her brothers smiling and opened her mouth to object.
"WIND BLADE!"
Lady Sienna's invocation rang up the slope. Her wrist snapped forward.
Two simultaneous blades of compressed air shot toward Lord Nash in a wide arc. He ducked under the first, pivoted on his heel, and the second whistled past his shoulder. Behind him, a branch sheared from a tree with a sharp crack and tumbled to the ground.
Lady Sienna tracked his recovery, her hands poised while four seconds passed from her first cast. Then she spoke again. "WIND DART!"
Two smaller projectiles streaked toward Lord Nash as he straightened, faster and more tightly aimed than the blades.
Lord Nash planted his foot and twisted. One dart tore his sleeve as it passed; he raised his palm toward the second.
"CYCLONE VORTEX!" The spell erupted from his palm, a brief, violent spiral of wind that swallowed the dart and dissipated it in a single breath.
Lord Nash grinned, circling while his own two-second interval passed. "GUST WIND!"
He surged forward.
A burst of wind propelled him across the gap. He swept around Lady Sienna as she turned to follow him, moving past her shoulder and into her blind side. By the time he raised his hand, another two seconds had passed—and she, too, could cast again.
"WIND BLADE!" Three blades materialized together. Two shot toward her back; the third hovered beside his hand.
Lady Sienna's reaction was instant. "WIND CUSHION!" A wall of compressed air bloomed behind her, soft but unyielding. The first two blades bounced off the cushion like stones skipping across water.
But Lord Nash had held back the third.
He released it now—a sharp, precise strike that curved around the cushion and sliced across Lady Sienna's arm.
She hissed, stumbling back, one hand clamping over the wound. Blood seeped between her fingers, dark against her pale skin.
"You lose." Lord Nash lowered his hand, his grin widening with complete victory.
"Tsk." Lady Sienna's jaw tightened. "Is that the difference between A-Rank and S-Rank? How dare you hold back the third blade?"
"Well." Lord Nash's grin did not waver. "I am not one of the Five Angels for nothing."
Lady Sienna's glare could have cut glass.
G6 followed the fading edge of the third blade.
Four seconds between Sienna's casts.
Two between Nash's.
And he held one blade while directing the others.
Sloppy control, but effective.
"They are both remarkable, aren't they?" Lord Ray said, as if he could hear G6's thoughts. "Sienna has a considerable amount of mana reserves. But what do you think her weakness is?"
"Hmm." G6's voice was flat, clinical. "Low stamina. She uses too much mana for the force she gets out of each spell. Too much output, too little efficiency. She's also slow at drawing mana out of her core."
Lord Ray blinked. "Right. Sienna's a good mage, but sustaining that output in an actual battle would tire her out quickly."
"She can improve it by exercising her physical body," G6 said.
"Mages don't care about that," Lord Ron answered.
G6's eyes tracked Lord Nash as he climbed the hill. "Lt. Thonson's improvement is from experience. There's room for improvement, but that's his problem."
"Rei!" Lord Ron leaned in, eager. "How long do you think our interval in spellcasting is?"
"Two seconds." G6 didn't even look at him.
"CORRECT!" Lord Ron's face lit up. "Are you proud of us, Rei?"
"Of course she is." Lord Ray smirked. "Her brothers are, after all, among the few who have the shortest spell-casting intervals."
"Pft. Too much for two seconds." G6's smirk was sharp. Mocking. "Guess what mine is."
The two brothers exchanged a glance. "Hmm… four seconds?"
"None." G6's voice was flat.
"What?" Lord Ray blinked, as if he hadn't heard her right.
"I said none."
"Come on." Lord Ron scoffed. "No one has ever cast without intervals. Mana has to flow from our core through our body. It's impossible."
G6 glanced past them toward the path. No servants were coming up the slope. Lady Sienna and Lord Nash were approaching from below; the children remained beneath their tree.
The Queen had kept the record quiet for a reason. Showing even this much would give the people beside her something they could repeat. The children could do it out of excitement, without meaning any harm.
And they already know enough to start guessing.
She could let them keep treating her like someone who needed to be sheltered from every difficult conversation. Or she could decide what they saw.
Her gaze returned to her brothers. Last night, they had been quick enough to stand between her and Lady Sienna's barbs. This morning, neither had left her side.
That did not make them incapable of betraying a confidence. It did make her willing to give them one.
One thing. They don't get the rest.
"Here."
She raised her arms. A cyclone vortex gathered above one palm, tugging the grass toward its tight spiral. Before either brother could speak, five wind darts formed over her other hand. She held them motionless beside the churning vortex.
Two different spells, cast in immediate succession. Neither had required a chant.
Lord Ray's mouth fell open. Beside him, Lord Ron stared between her hands. Lady Sienna and Lord Nash reached the crest and stopped, their unfinished conversation forgotten.
The three children came running—drawn by the bizarre, beautiful sight.
"LADY REISE!" Jake's voice cracked with excitement. "DID YOU JUST CONJURE A SPELL WITHOUT CHANTING?!"
Charlene stood behind them, fidgeting, her eyes wide and full of something like wonder. "W-wow… L-Lady Reise… i-is a-amazing…"
G6 held the spells a moment longer, letting them stare.
Then she released them.
The vortex faded. The darts dissolved. And G6 lowered her arms like she had just finished a simple stretch.
Her smirk returned as she looked from one astonished face to the next.
"Pathetic, isn't it?" she said, her voice cold and dry. "Being mediocre."
"Did she just call you guys mediocre?" Lady Sienna said, her voice laced with disbelief. "These three are S-Rank and you call them mediocre?"
"Rei! I can't believe this." Lord Ron's eyes were wide. "Why did you hide this from us? No—why haven't you trained your magic combat since then?" He paused, recalling the Classic F5. "I already knew Rei was extraordinary for releasing that disaster the other day!"
Lord Ray remained silent, pondering.
Hmm. Could it be that the Queen is aware of Reise's capability? Lord Ray wondered.
It is suspicious enough that Reise is not even a Professional Guild member, yet Her Majesty gave her a professional ID card, Lord Ray thought.
The Queen's favor must have something to do with this, he thought. His suspicion sharpened.
His eyes narrowed on G6.
Reise… What are you and the Queen hiding? Lord Ray wondered.
G6 caught Lord Ray studying her.
As expected, he is sharp.
"This is not reported to the Royal record," G6 said. "So keep it to yourself." She paused. "The Queen is doing her best to keep this a secret, after all."
"Y-you!" Lady Sienna's voice cracked with frustration. "Why did you show us then when Her Majesty ordered secrecy about this?!"
"Lady Reise…" Lord Nash said, disbelief still clinging to his voice.
"What's wrong with that?" G6 feigned ignorance. "We are family. Aren't we?" She tilted her head. "Besides, I reckon you guys know the reason why the Queen wants this off the record, no?"
"Was it to avoid the watchful eyes of the Court Houses?" Lord Nash asked.
"Makes sense." Lady Sienna nodded slowly. "Those hungry vultures are always eager to bare their teeth against us."
"Reise is right." Lord Ray's voice was measured. "There is nothing wrong with us knowing the extent of her magic. We are family. And I know this will never go out but…" He glanced at the three children. "There are children here."
G6 turned her gaze to the three children. "Are you going to run your mouths?"
"Of course not!" the twins said in unison.
"R-right! We won't tell," Charlene added.
"You three should make sure not to run your mouths, understood?" Lady Sienna's eyes turned menacing, making the children shiver. "Especially to those kids from distant branches and vassals! If I hear this news reaching the others' ears… I will skin you alive."
"We understand, okay?!" the twins yelled again in fear. Charlene nodded vigorously.
Pft. She is portrayed in the book as someone who is always bitching about Reise, but I can feel her sincerity in protecting this news.
Her eyes turned colder.
But that sincerity isn't directed at me.
It's for the family.
Not that I care.
"We won't pry anymore, Lady Reise," Lord Nash said. "But may I be bold enough to ask you a favor?"
The brothers hissed at Lord Nash immediately.
"You can't," Lord Ray said flatly.
"How dare you," Lord Ron added.
G6 rolled her eyes at her exhausting brothers and met Lord Nash's gaze.
"Asking me a favor will cost you, Lieutenant." G6's voice was its usual cold monotone.
Lord Nash closed his hand into a fist.
I can feel that Lady Reise is stronger than she appears.
I also saw her that day when she sparred hand-to-hand with Lord Zen at the training arena, Lord Nash thought.
"Spar with me, Lady Reise." Lord Nash's voice was firm.
"Oh? Was it because of what happened in the training hall earlier?" Lord Ron asked, prying and intrigued.
"What will I gain from giving this favor to you, Lieutenant?" G6 asked.
"I will make sure you don't worry about breaking my bones." Lord Nash met her gaze. "After all, aren't you thirsting for more?"
G6 smirked. "You are right." Her expression shifted—something cold, something hungry—that sent a chill down Lord Nash's spine. "I indeed need more."
"Alright," G6 agreed.
"Rei!" Lord Ron turned to his brother. "Ray, say something!"
"We promised not to treat Reise like a child anymore, Ron." Lord Ray's voice was calm.
And I want to see more of what she's hiding, Lord Ray thought.
Lord Ron sighed with defeat. "Alright. Just be careful, okay?"
"So, what are you two going to spar with?" Lady Sienna asked after chugging a healing potion from her own dimensional vault.
Lady Sienna returned the empty vial to the dimensional vault housed in a fashionable ring among her jewelry.
Interesting. G6 studied Lady Sienna's outfit and jewelry.
Lady Sienna tilted her head, wondering why G6 was checking her out.
"Ah. I can do either." G6's tone was arrogant again. "I will let the Lieutenant choose."
"I really can't stand her," Lady Sienna murmured, crossing her arms.
"Then, why don't we use both?" Lord Nash offered. "And please address me as simply Nash. We are family."
"Ohoh." G6's smirk widened. "You want both? Aren't you being greedy?" She paused. "And if you want me to be familiar with you, earn it first, Lieutenant." She put emphasis on his title.
Lady Sienna clapped her hands. "Alright! You two go down. We will watch closely." She turned to G6, pouting. "I know you have a bad temper, but don't use deadly spells on Nash, alright? You too, Nash. Hmp."
Why is she being so chatty?
Annoying.
"Hey." Lord Ron glared at Lord Nash. "I will be watching you."
Lord Ray caught his sleeve and dragged him aside.
"Stop threatening Nash and just shut up."
"I am excited to watch another spar!" Jake said.
"Me too!" Josh added.
Charlene just smiled, also excited.
Lord Nash and G6 went down to the flat ground again and began to warm up, stretching.
It's been a while since I sparred with someone else.
G6 rolled her shoulders.
Lt. Thonson left a bad impression back in Greenhill Village with how poorly they handled Daunt's mistake.
But of course… I shouldn't underestimate a Lt. who often makes trips to Scutum.
"Dimension Vault." Lord Nash tapped his black marble-designed ring. He pulled out a sword—the hilt elegantly designed with the crest of Worthon carved on it. A shallow groove ran down the blade. A red stone embedded in the ricasso served as a mana receiver for coating the sword with magic.
"That is a good sword," G6 commended.
"It is." Lord Nash smiled. "It was crafted by our family's smith, after all."
I can't use my twin reaper daggers.
He might recognize them and blow my cover.
After all, he is eagerly looking for us.
"I don't have a sword," G6 said.
Lord Ray invoked Whisper of the Gale. "Use mine." His voice carried down the hill.
He drew his sword from his dimensional vault. After the interval, a second invocation gathered wind beneath the sheathed weapon and carried it down to G6.
Look at him, flaunting that he is a mage.
He has good control of his magic.
G6 caught the sword and unsheathed it. The borrowed blade was even more ornate, but it sat solidly in her grip. The Worthon crest was carved into this sword as well.
"Flashy weapons really are a pain in the eyes," she murmured.
Lord Nash gave her only enough time to settle her grip.
"Speed."
He moved—a blur of motion, boots digging into the dirt as he closed the distance in three heartbeats.
He used PhyEn speed this time.
His sword came down in a diagonal arc, cutting through the wind.
G6 sidestepped. Barely.
The edge of his sword kissed the air where her shoulder had been. She felt the whisper of displaced wind against her cheek.
Hmm. He is fast.
She pivoted, her own blade coming up in a sharp counter. Lord Nash deflected—the clash of steel rang out across the hill, sharp and clean.
G6 smirked through the crossed blades. Lord Nash smiled back.
He pressed forward. Another strike. Then another. As his interval ended, he spoke again. "Strength." His next blow drove her back a step.
G6 turned aside the next cut and gave ground again, testing the reach and weight of his attacks.
This time he's using PhyEn to enhance his strength. Approximately five percent.
His rhythm was steady, practiced—the kind of muscle memory that came from years of actual combat. Not flashy. Efficient.
Good.
Then she stopped retreating.
She met his next strike head-on, steel screaming against steel. The impact jolted her arm to the shoulder, but she held firm.
Lord Nash's eyes widened.
Did she just absorb the shock without using any magic? And she's clearly… holding back, Lord Nash thought.
"You're not even trying," he said, voice tight.
G6 scoffed. "Neither are you." Her eyes flickered with something dangerous. "But this is enough. I am getting bored."
The instant she activated it, she swung her sword against Lord Nash's blade, forcing it aside. Then she kicked him in the stomach—hard—sending him flying backward across the clearing.
"Wind Cushion!" Lord Nash chanted. A bouncy swell of air formed behind him, catching his fall.
Goddamn it. She really is aggressive, Lord Nash thought.
As soon as he regained his footing, he looked up for her next attack. She had followed only a few steps. Now she waited.
"Lieutenant. Is this it?" G6 asked, her voice flat and bored. "You are disappointing me."
Lord Nash straightened, brushing dirt from his tunic. A slow smile spread across his face.
"Alright." He rolled his shoulders, the tension bleeding out of his stance. "I won't hold back. So, please, Lady Reise. Don't hold back either."
He let the interval from Wind Cushion pass before speaking again.
"Strength."
The power running through his body rose. G6 watched his stance settle under the increased output—twenty percent. He waited two seconds, then renewed his next enhancement.
"Speed."
She let him prepare. After another interval, he murmured the invocation for his weapon. Rapid, swirling wind enveloped the blade—Magic Coating.
"Interesting." G6's grey eyes locked onto him. "Then I will gladly match your output."
<
This is all I need.
G6 moved beyond the pace he had been tracking. Her boots tore across the ground; by the time he followed the sound, she had swept around his guard.
Lord Nash's instincts screamed.
He spun, sword already rising.
She was behind him.
Her blade descended over his shoulder. He caught it above his head, elbows bending under the impact, and staggered back far enough to bring her into view.
She's faster. Stronger. And I didn't hear a PhyEn chant, Lord Nash thought.
G6 followed before he could reset his feet. A high strike lifted his guard; a low slash sent him stepping back again. She closed behind it, turning her wrist to drive the pommel toward his ribs. Lord Nash twisted aside, his own hilt catching hers before it landed. The impact numbed his fingers.
"You adapt quickly," G6 said, her voice calm and conversational, even as her blade carved through the air toward his throat. "Good."
Lord Nash ducked under the swing and drove his shoulder into her guard, trying to break her rhythm. She didn't stumble. She flowed around him like water, her knee coming up toward his midsection. He caught it with his forearm—barely.
"Hmph." G6's smirk was cold.
She disengaged, creating distance.
Then she raised her free hand.
Wind Dart.
A single, invisible projectile shot toward him—so fast it left only the faintest whistle in its wake. Lord Nash twisted, dodging it by a hair's breadth. The dart grazed his sleeve, tearing the fabric, and continued into a nearby tree.
"Was that a Wind Dart?" Lord Nash's voice was tight.
This is dangerous. Her not needing to chant makes it harder to prepare for her attacks, Lord Nash thought.
A deep, circular hole marked the trunk where the dart had struck, its edges clean enough to have been drilled.
Lord Nash's eyes widened.
She wasn't aiming at me, Lord Nash realized.
Lord Nash looked from the hole to her face. She had wanted him to see it.
"Don't blink, Lieutenant." G6's voice was soft. Dangerous. "I won't miss the next time."
Lord Nash's grin returned—wider now. Hungrier.
"Finally. A Worthon who fights like a Worthon."
He raised his blade and charged.
"Wind Blade!" The compressed air shot toward her—but she was already moving, closing the distance as the spell flew past her shoulder. The blade of wind continued past her and dispersed against the hillside while his interval counted down.
He filled the two-second interval with steel, driving her blade outward and pressing after her. Her boots shifted in the dirt, but she kept her balance. As soon as he could cast again, he lifted his free hand.
"Wind Dart!"
The projectile shot toward her from close range. She twisted, letting it graze past her hip. Close. Too close.
She's fast. Lord Nash's thoughts raced. But I'm learning her rhythm.
He kept his sword between them, parrying her return stroke through the next interval.
"Cyclone Vortex!"
The swirling wind erupted at his feet, pushing her back. She leaped over it, landing in a low crouch.
He followed with his sword raised. She circled clear of the swirling wind, drawing him after her until he could cast again.
"Wind Blade!"
G6 angled her sword into the compressed air, turning the attack aside. Nash closed behind it. She brought her weapon back across her body to meet his steel, and the collision forced them apart.
G6 was still smiling.
He's adapting. Good.
She raised her hand.
"Is she going to cast a spell? Which—"
Wind Dart.
The projectile shot toward him without a spoken warning.
Lord Nash rolled clear and came up swinging.
Shit. Another Wind Dart. I know the spell, but I still can't read when she'll release it, Lord Nash thought.
"Wind Blade!" He released it immediately—the interval had already passed—and followed with a sword strike.
G6 swept the compressed air aside and continued the turn into a parry against his sword.
She's toying with me, Lord Nash realized. She's matching my pace. Adjusting to my rhythm.
He gritted his teeth, blocking her next strike while the last of his interval passed.
"Tornado Wind!"
Wind climbed around Nash in a broad defensive spiral. Loose grass spun up between them, obscuring his legs and forcing G6 to stop outside its reach.
G6 didn't retreat.
She raised her blade, watching him through gaps in the spinning grass. His shoulders had tightened under the effort of maintaining the spell.
One second.
She stepped closer. As the spiral weakened, she drove through its thinning edge. His interval ended with her already inside his reach. Nash brought his sword across to block, but the impact sent him skidding backward, boots ploughing the dirt.
"What the—" He didn't have time to finish.
G6 accelerated again.
She drove past his leading foot to his flank, blade already swinging. He twisted, deflecting just in time. A crack of steel. A shower of sparks.
Then she moved again.
She circled his trailing foot and attacked from behind his shoulder. Nash turned with her, catching the blow, only to find her cutting back across his guard. Every recovery exposed another opening. Even with PhyEn, his muscles burned from the effort of keeping up.
But he didn't break.
He caught her blade in a lock, their faces inches apart. Sweat traced down his temple. Her expression was still cold.
"Why?" he breathed.
"Why what?"
"Why are you holding back?"
G6 studied him over the crossed blades.
"Because I want to see if you're worth the effort."
She broke the lock and stepped back.
Lord Nash raised his hand. The air around him began to spiral.
"TORNADO WIND!"
This time the spiral surged outward at full power. Grass flattened in a widening ring, and leaves tore loose from the nearest trees. Nash stood at its center, sword ready, holding his ground.
G6 smiled. There was no mockery in it now.
"Now that's more like it."
She raised her blade, and the air around her began to twist in answer. Her wind rose to meet his. The two tornado spirals slammed against each other, sending shockwaves across the hill. The ground trembled. The children screamed in excitement—and fear. Lord Ray and Lord Ron shielded their faces. Lady Sienna's hand flew to her mouth.
Lord Nash's vortex was perfect. Textbook. A defensive spiral designed to repel.
G6's was something else. It was aggressive, chewing at the edges of his.
She advanced through the space at the center of her own spiral, sword raised, gaze fixed on Nash beyond the colliding currents.
"Let's finish this, Lieutenant."
Lord Nash met her eyes.
And he grinned.
"With pleasure."
They charged together. At the point where their spirals met, both drove their swords through the churning air.
The clash rang up the slope.
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF ELDRIN ARE YOU TWO DOING?!"
Marquess Henry Worthon stood at the crest above the clearing, one hand already raised. Count Viremont had stopped beside him. Farther up the path, servants and knights drawn by the noise were gathering behind them.
"PARTING GALE!"
G6 saw the grass flatten in a narrow line between her feet and Nash's. A sheet of compressed Wind rose through the space beneath their crossed weapons, then opened outward.
Her sword lifted. Nash's blade slid off hers.
The next pulse struck across her front, broad enough to push rather than cut. G6 turned her shoulder into it and let her rear foot skid instead of fighting to hold the lock. Across the widening gap, Nash did the same, his boots dragging two furrows through the dirt.
Both released their tornadoes. The spirals unraveled around them, shedding grass and leaves into the clearing as Marquess Henry's divided current carried the fighters several paces apart.
G6 lowered her center of gravity. One final backward step caught her balance just as the pressure eased. Nash landed heavily on his rear heel, brought his sword down, and stared at the strip of ground now separating them.
Neither had fallen.
Marquess Henry lowered his hand.
G6 looked from the settling grass to his fingers.
He put it between the weapons.
Opened the gap first, then moved us.
The force had been more than enough to interrupt them. The placement interested her more.
That wasn't a fucking warning gust.
And I liked it.
Both she and Lord Nash were breathing hard. To Marquess Henry's obvious displeasure, neither had quite stopped smiling.
"Explain yourselves!" Marquess Henry roared.
Lord Nash lowered his sword first and slid it into its sheath. "We were sparring, Uncle."
"Sparring?!" Marquess Worthon's voice rose an octave. "You nearly destroyed the hill!"
G6 sheathed her sword with a soft click. "It was just a warm-up."
Lord Nash laughed—genuine, surprised, relieved. "A warm-up? You're insane, Lady Reise."
G6 glanced at him. "And you're worth the insanity."
Lord Nash's eyes widened.
Does that mean I am worth her insanity—her effort? Lord Nash wondered.
On the hill, the children erupted into cheers. "THAT WAS INCREDIBLE!" Jake yelled.
"DID YOU SEE THAT?!" Josh added.
Charlene was clapping, her face bright with wonder.
Lord Ray and Lord Ron exchanged a look of stunned pride.
Lady Sienna's jaw was still hanging open.
"Well," Lady Sienna managed, "I suppose that's one way to get to know your cousins. Heh, what a pair of show offs."
"You brats. I was wondering where you had all gone, and here you are." Marquess Henry shook his head.
"Father!" the twins yelled and ran toward him.
"I changed my mind!" Jake said, beaming. "I want to be just like Lady Reise and Brother Nash! I want to be good at sword and magic combat too!"
"You idiot." Josh crossed his arms. "Lady Reise didn't use any magic coating on her sword. It was raw skill." He paused, then blushed in embarrassment. "I take back what I said about it being barbaric."
"You brat! Watch your words in front of your Uncle Benjamin!" Marquess Henry scolded.
"It's alright, Marquess." Count Viremont brushed it off, smiling as Charlene tugged at his sleeve. "Kids are just kids, after all." His eyes settled on Lord Nash and G6, who were climbing back up the hill. "However, I understand Nash. But upon seeing Lady Reise's sword skill again, it is indeed… very interesting."
"Of course." Lord Ray puffed out his chest. "That is my sister."
"What brings you uncles here anyway?" Lady Sienna asked.
"Ah." Count Viremont nodded. "We were just taking a walk and talking about what we discussed last night."
"And taking a breath between greetings," Marquess Henry added. "Every time we reached the end of one conversation, another family arrived."
"You were escaping," Lord Ron said.
"We were walking. Until someone tried to uproot the hill."
"Hmm." Lady Sienna's smile turned teasing. "I guess enough branch families have arrived to make you escape the crowd, huh?"
"Shut it." Marquess Henry's glare was half-hearted. "And look at you—what happened to your sleeve? It's cut. Don't tell me—"
"Oh, Brother Nash cut it earlier, Father!" Jake said, laughing. "Sienna lost!"
"You little brat!" Lady Sienna's face flushed.
G6 watched their exchange.
I don't understand.
Last night, my brothers shut Sienna down so harshly.
But look at them now.
They obviously don't hate each other.
Is this how family is?
She looked down at the sword in her hand.
What's the use of thinking?
I never knew what a family was really like.
Her eyes widened when she felt a sudden touch on her cheek. It was Lord Ron, checking her with obvious worry.
"Look at you!" He frowned. "You have cuts, and you look like a scruffy cat!"
"Off. Before I slice it." G6's voice was flat.
Usually, she would have recoiled before his fingers reached her. This time, she stayed still.
"Hmp! That's not how you talk to someone who's worried about you!" Lord Ron huffed.
"She said off," Lord Ray said, tugging Lord Ron's hands away from G6's face. "Rei, are you okay? Should I make Nash's life hell at the Royal Collegium?"
"Wow." Lord Nash raised an eyebrow. "Thanks for not minding that I'm here." He looked little better, with cuts scattered across his arms and face.
"Tsk. Look at him talking back," Lord Ron muttered.
"Enough with that!" Lady Sienna pulled out two healing potions from her dimensional vault and tossed them to Lord Nash and G6. They caught them with ease. "Here. Drink."
G6 didn't say a word. She chugged it down, and the cuts vanished instantly. Her gaze went briefly to Lord Nash as he took his own potion. He was still answering her brothers with that infuriating grin. She turned away before he could catch her looking.
The spar had been good. There was no reason he should have to keep bleeding afterward.
"It's good to see your cousins spending time together," Count Viremont said warmly. "After all, it is rare for you to meet like this."
"What's good about it if every time they get free time, they point swords at each other?" Marquess Henry grumbled. "Look at them—not caring for their appearances!"
"You're so naggy, Father!" Jake protested.
"Don't be harsh to your father," Count Viremont said gently. "He's just worried."
G6 turned the empty potion vial between her fingers, then looked back at the clearing.
"That spell."
Marquess Henry followed her gaze. "Which one?"
"The one you just shoved us with."
"Parting Gale."
"Show me again."
Lord Ron made a delighted noise. Marquess Henry looked at him, then at the two swords, then at the battered patch of ground.
"Your father forbade the adults from joining your fights," he said. "And Benjamin and I still have work to return to."
"She asked you to show her a spell, Uncle," Lord Ray said. "Not to fight her."
"With this lot, the distinction seems to last about three breaths."
"Then we can manage two," Count Viremont said mildly.
Marquess Henry gave him a betrayed look. Charlene hid a smile against her father's sleeve.
G6 waited. For once, the silence did not mean she had lost interest.
Marquess Henry sighed.
"A demonstration. Briefly. No sparring, no testing it on your cousins, and nobody tries to improve it by using the whole hill."
G6's mouth curved.
"You ruin everything."
"Someone has to."
He turned toward the servants and knights still watching from the path. "No one needs assistance. Return to your duties, please. We will be back shortly."
The small gathering dispersed. Marquess Henry waited until their footsteps had receded before leading the family down to the flattened ground. He placed the children beside Count Viremont, well behind the direction of the demonstration, and checked the open stretch beyond the sparring ground.
"These are Worthon techniques," he told G6. "You won't find their workings in the spellbooks entered into the Royal record. Watch where the force goes. The name alone will teach you very little."
Finally.
Something besides throwing a larger fucking tornado.
Marquess Henry picked up two fallen lengths of the branch Lady Sienna had cut down. He set them parallel on the bare earth with a narrow gap between them, then stepped away.
"PARTING GALE."
Dust lifted in the gap. G6 watched a thin current rise edge-first, catching the light only where loose dirt turned within it. Then the sheet broadened into opposing streams. Both pieces of wood slid outward, rolled once, and stopped several paces apart.
Marquess Henry let the remaining Wind disperse.
"Too much force at the beginning, and you throw both people before their weapons separate. Too little, and they close again before you can move them."
G6's eyes returned to the places where their boots had scored the ground.
Separate. Then displace.
He wasn't trying to beat our output head-on.
"You waited for the clash," she said.
"You were both occupied. It was an opening."
Lord Nash's smile turned rueful. "That part was difficult to miss, Uncle."
"Apparently not difficult enough to prevent it."
Lord Ron laughed. Nash glanced at him.
"Would you like to be the next example?"
"No," Marquess Henry said, before Lord Ron could answer.
G6 walked to the marks left by the two branches. She did not copy the spell immediately. She crouched, ran one finger along the narrow disturbance at its center, and looked at the wider scuffs on either side.
The family waited while she followed the sequence backward.
"Rei?" Lord Ray asked.
She rose. "What else?"
Her brothers exchanged a look.
"Defense first," Marquess Henry said. "Ray."
Lord Ray stepped into the clear space, leaving the family behind his right shoulder. He indicated an empty strip of ground to his left and asked Nash to stand opposite him.
"One Wind Dart. Keep it modest."
"I thought there was to be no more fighting," Lady Sienna said.
"There isn't. We aren't moving, and he's aiming where I tell him."
Lord Ray lifted his hand.
"SEVENFOLD RAMPART!"
The air before him folded into successive slanting surfaces. Wind curled along their edges, lifting seven narrow traces of dust from the earth. The layers overlapped across the approach Nash faced, but G6 could still see bare ground beyond their sides.
Lord Nash waited for Lord Ray's nod.
"WIND DART!"
The projectile struck the first layer with a snapping hiss. Its course shifted. The next surface caught it at a different angle, turning it farther. By the time it struck the outermost overlap, the dart was traveling across Lord Ray's front instead of toward his chest.
It shot into the empty strip he had marked and broke against the ground.
Lord Ray remained where he stood. Behind the shield, the hem of his coat barely moved.
G6 came around his right side. Lord Ray watched her approach and lowered his hand; the seven layers unwound.
"That side wasn't covered," she said.
"No."
"And if he keeps driving through the same point?"
"Then I need to turn him before he breaks through it. Or move." Lord Ray brushed dirt from his cuff. "Seven layers won't excuse choosing the wrong angle."
She looked at the scar where the dart had landed. A defense that changed the attack's course did not need to absorb all of its force. But the redirected spell had to go somewhere.
Her gaze passed over Charlene and the twins, safely behind them.
Which means the flank is part of the defense.
Not someone else's problem.
"My turn," Lord Ron announced.
"To listen?" Lord Ray asked.
"To teach our sister something worth learning."
He took one of Marquess Henry's pieces of branch and propped it against a low stump at the edge of the cleared ground. From where he stood, the stump hid most of the wood. He then walked back to the others and pointed past the obstruction.
"Watch behind it, Rei."
"FALCON'S RETURN!"
A narrow cutting current sped toward the stump. It passed to one side without touching the bark, swept out across the open ground beyond, and curved back.
The hidden branch jerked. Its upper half fell behind the stump.
Lord Ron dismissed the fading current and spread his hands.
"You saw it miss," G6 said.
"You were meant to."
"I didn't say I believed it."
His pleased grin only widened.
She walked around the stump and examined the cut. The current had approached from the rear, along a route Lord Ron had left entirely clear.
"What if the target moves?"
"Then I'd better have judged where they're going," he said. "It follows the course I give it. It doesn't decide whom to chase."
Lord Ray nodded toward the open ground behind the stump. "And if you don't have that much room to turn it, you need another course. Or another spell."
G6 looked from one brother to the other.
Same old trick.
Make someone commit to the first thing they see.
That did not make the technique simple. The cutting current had held its shape through the turn. Its return had not widened into a clumsy sweep that warned the target where it was going.
"I want to see the turn again. Slowly."
Lord Ron's expression brightened before he could conceal it.
This time, after the explanation had given him more than enough interval, he invoked the spell at a reduced pace. G6 stood off to the side, following the arc with her eyes. She watched its course beyond the stump, then the angle of its return. Lord Ron repeated the curve with his empty hand after the Wind faded, and she corrected the position of her own fingers as she listened.
Lady Sienna let them finish before stepping forward.
"If we're finished admiring a trick you would use to hit someone in the back, perhaps she can see how to protect more than one person."
"It was a very good trick," Lord Ron said.
"Yes. You may tell us again at lunch."
G6 glanced toward Lady Sienna's healed arm. "Go on."
Lady Sienna placed three fallen twigs in a loose line, several paces apart. They marked positions across the clearing. She stood behind the middle one, raised both hands, and took a steadying breath.
"GALE LOOM!"
Wind stretched across the three positions. Fine streams crossed at different angles, some rising, others moving laterally, until the low shimmer resembled a screen caught in uneven sunlight. G6 could follow only parts of it at once. Dust struck one crossing and was carried sideways; a loose leaf rose through another and spun out above the formation.
There were openings in the screen.
Lady Sienna pointed to one without releasing her hold on the spell. "A clear lane. If someone behind me needs to strike, I leave them one."
"And the enemy can use it," G6 said.
"Of course. It is an opening, not a polite invitation that only our side can read."
G6's mouth twitched.
Lord Ray moved around to the front. At Lady Sienna's nod, he invoked Wind Dart and sent a small projectile toward the screen, well away from its open lane. The crossing currents caught it and drew it off course. It scraped a shallow line through the dirt beside the first twig.
Lady Sienna tightened two fingers. The gap shifted toward the far position as the currents rearranged themselves.
Her breathing changed.
G6 noticed the tension beginning in her wrists and the care with which she kept the rest of the screen steady while moving the opening. Four seconds between spells would not stop an attack from reaching her. Keeping an existing formation useful through that interval mattered just as much as the next cast.
She lost the spar because he made her turn.
Here, she'd make him solve an entire line.
Lady Sienna lowered her hands. The screen came apart, and a final stream of dust rolled past the three twigs.
"That arrangement takes work," she said, trying to make the admission sound casual.
"Your left side was loosening," G6 replied.
Lady Sienna's lips pressed together. "I noticed."
"Then don't hold it for our applause."
For a moment, neither spoke. Then Lady Sienna exhaled and shook out her hands.
"How considerate of you."
"Don't get used to it."
Marquess Henry glanced toward the manor before turning back to them. "One more. Then Benjamin may have his turn, if he can keep it shorter than all of yours."
"I hadn't realized I was competing," Count Viremont said.
"You're related to these people. Apparently it's unavoidable."
Marquess Henry gathered the severed branch pieces into a low pile beyond the stump. He checked the space around it, then stood with his back to the family, leaving them well behind his casting line.
"Sky Sunder," Lord Nash said quietly.
G6 looked at him. His grin had faded into attention.
Marquess Henry raised his hand.
"SKY SUNDER!"
Two broad currents took shape, offset from one another. The first swept diagonally through the space above the pile. A fraction later, the second crossed from the opposite angle.
G6 saw the opening left by the first strike disappear beneath the second.
The wood split with a dry, abrupt crack. Several pieces jumped, fell, and lay still. Beyond them, two shallow cuts crossed in the earth.
Marquess Henry let the remaining pressure drain away before turning.
G6 kept looking at the intersecting marks.
One formation. Two releases.
Get someone moving away from the first cut and put the second across the route they chose.
She could see what it might do beyond this reduced demonstration: not simply strike harder, but make a group break apart to escape the crossing. And they would have to know where the second current was committed before choosing a direction.
"Step outside both paths," she said. "Or stop him before he releases them."
Marquess Henry nodded. "Both are preferable to discovering the second cut while you're avoiding the first."
"And if they don't move where you expect?"
"Then you've chosen your strike badly. A fine spell can still be used by a fool."
"He means you," Lord Ray told Lord Ron.
"He was looking at Nash," Lord Ron answered throwing a glare to his older brother.
"I was speaking to all of you," Marquess Henry said.
The twins fell quiet too, although nobody had looked at them.
G6 surveyed the clearing. The seven-layer defense had turned Lord Nash's attack away from the people behind it. Lord Ron's returning current had reached a place a straightforward shot could not. Lady Sienna's screen had protected several positions while leaving a lane for a reply. Marquess Henry had separated two armed fighters without driving their swords through each other, then shown her a pair of cuts that punished the wrong retreat.
The spells belonged to the same house. Different hands had made different parts of that knowledge visible.
She remembered the way people spoke of the Worthons. Their wealth. Their connections. The First Pillar, second only to the royals.
Until now, much of it had sounded like nobles congratulating themselves.
This, she could measure.
They've been teaching each other how to fight together.
Even Lady Sienna's habit of holding her ground made more sense behind a screen with someone covering its openings. Lord Ray's caution and Lord Ron's appetite for the exposed angle could make each other considerably harder to kill. Put them behind Marquess Henry's control of the field, and an enemy would need more than a larger reservoir to untangle them.
G6 looked down at her own hand.
Having no interval let her answer quickly. It did not supply every answer worth knowing.
She faced Marquess Henry. "The first one. Again."
"You may try the separation on the wood," he said. "Slowly."
The remaining pieces were small enough that she could watch both without turning her head.
G6 held her palm above the gap and formed the narrow current she had seen.
Marquess Henry glanced at her face. "No chanting?"
Beside the children, Count Viremont straightened, his attention sharpening on her hand.
"Keep it in the family," she said.
His eyes moved to Lord Ray, who gave a small, serious nod. Marquess Henry looked back at G6, plainly holding questions of his own, then directed her attention to the two pieces of wood.
The sheet rose neatly.
When she opened it, the right-hand piece spun farther than the left. A thin spray of dirt followed it.
Her eyes narrowed.
"You opened that side first," Lord Ray said.
"I noticed."
Lord Ron crouched beside the marks. "And you don't need to keep pushing after they're apart. Unless you've decided the wood has offended you."
G6 gave him a flat look.
Marquess Henry moved the pieces back with his boot. "Again, if you intend to correct it. Not if you intend to prove you were right."
The second attempt spread more evenly. Both pieces moved, though one still turned before it stopped. G6 dismissed the Wind and studied the tracks instead of feeding more power into the mistake.
She knew how to move the air. The timing of that divided push was something else.
"Better," Marquess Henry said.
"I know."
Lord Ron covered his mouth. Lord Ray failed to hide his smile.
G6 looked up, ready to tell them exactly what she thought of their expressions. Charlene was watching from beside her father, her attention moving between the two pieces of wood and G6's hand. The girl looked pleased that she had tried again.
For some reason, that was more irritating than Lord Ron's grin.
G6 lowered her arm.
"Don't look so fucking delighted."
"We wouldn't dare," Lord Ray said.
Count Viremont stepped away from the children. His gaze rested briefly on the borrowed sword at G6's side, then on Nash's.
"I think the Wind has had enough of you both for one morning. Keep your swords."
G6 turned toward him.
He looked down at their feet.
"Shall we begin with how you are standing?"
— To Be Continued… —