The next day.
I opened the curtains of my room to a brand new day.
I couldn't believe it — a day had passed since I got a unique skill.
I hadn't done much after that and had resolved myself to sleep because today was when I was going to stop slacking.
I woke up at dawn, early enough to witness the sun rise from the horizon, bathing the distant cityscape in its brilliance.
The Bladeheart mansion was located on the hills of Steel City, allowing me to witness an almost bird's-eye view of my proud city.
Walking to my wardrobe, I changed into my training uniform and grabbed my blade before leaving my room.
The hallway outside my room was lit, indicating someone was already up.
If I were to guess, I'd say Rita — the most diligent of the three maids hired by my family.
The other two weren't slackers by any means, but let's just say their personalities left much to be desired.
With a strong grip on my blade, I walked by a family portrait depicting me and my siblings.
There was also another with our parents in it.
My body came to a sudden halt as I paused before that one.
There was my father, Klaus Bladeheart — a man of impressive height with lavish blonde hair that glided down his back and sapphire-colored eyes.
He was handsome and youthful since he had shaved his growing beard for that family picture.
Beside him was my mother, Lady Aurora. She lost completely to my father in a contest of height, and yet even beside him, she carried herself with a confidence that did not make her look inferior in any sort of way.
Her hair was a lighter shade of green, with ocean-blue eyes that sparkled with curiosity.
She was thin and appeared somewhat delicate, almost like a doll.
She had sharper and almost pointy ears — the kind that displayed her ancient elven lineage, one which, among her four children, was only inherited by the cheeky brat smiling before her.
She was my sister, Vanessa. She was like the perfect image of what one would envision a combination of my father and mother to look like.
She had platinum-colored hair and ocean-blue eyes. She was younger then, about my age now, and she carried herself with a smugness I could never understand.
Then there was me — blonde and blue-eyed — receiving a knock on the head from her.
To Vanessa's left was a much smaller Alice, clutching a small notebook and staring nervously ahead.
Then beside my father was Abel, the oldest of us, who had been a teenager by then.
He was tall, almost reaching my father's height, and just like Vanessa, his hair was a shade of platinum and gray.
He lacked Vanessa's elven-shaped ears, and he had the strangest of eyes.
They were colored pale, almost like moonlight; hence many mistook him for blind, but in my personal opinion, I believed he saw more than met the eye.
Anyway, there we were — a family of six.
Now we had been reduced to four.
"I miss you guys."
That was my genuine thought as I made my way to the stairs.
If my father or even my mother were still alive, our uncle — one of the branch leaders — wouldn't have dared try to overthrow us.
He would be too afraid to even dare, but now his brother, the main obstacle to his reign, had been lost, and now he wanted to deprive us of the only thing they had left us.
"You will fail, old man."
I promised myself such before stepping out of the mansion to the outdoor training ground.
Stepping into the grassy field, I twisted my legs a bit and flexed my muscles around to kill the remaining numbness.
After that, I took a deep breath and grabbed my blade with both hands, assuming a mid-guard sword posture for some casual swings.
Having engraved yesterday's stance into my mind, I began circulating Aura throughout my bones, tendons, muscles, and flesh.
The sensation was warm and comfortable, and it sharpened my senses to an astronomical degree.
My senses had grown so potent I could sense the vibrations of footsteps from the mansion, hear the echoes of honking cars from miles away, and observe changes in the wind current.
Planting my feet firmly into the soil, I closed my eyes for a moment, waiting for everything to settle. Then, with a spark from my aura core, I moved — my muscles uncoiling as I drove my blade forward in a fluid cut.
My body flushed red, a product of drawing too much Aura from my low-rank core.
And yet, I didn't stop.
I stood back up, my sword returning to its previous position, poised and ready for another swing.
My blade traced a crescent cut in the air before I redrew it and swung it again.
Then again... and again... and again.
At first, I felt resistance from the wind.
It blew heavy and strong, like an adversary born to disturb my peace.
It altered my swing, shifting my flow and stance, but I pushed on, imitating the stance from yesterday, trying my best to truly envision my blade as an extension of myself.
The more I pushed, the harder it got.
Soon, I began to feel a surge of heat igniting within my heart as a powerful throbbing echoed against my chest.
Panting heavily, I pushed my right leg forward, my senses dulling and leaving me in a world of darkness.
Sweat trickled down my forehead, and I raised my sword, abandoning a mid-guard stance for a high guard.
My sword, held above my head, glistened with a pale glow as I wrapped it in a layer of aura.
Tic—
Just as I was about to swing it, a foreign sound jolted me from the dark world, and out of instinct, I leveled my blade and swung— shifting into a diagonal slash and unleashing a torrent of concentrated aura slash at the intruder.
I heard a powerful explosion and looked into the direction I had attacked, only to find Rita, who looked back at me with an outstretched hand and torn sleeves.