The courtyard quieted under the noon sun.Every sword halted mid-swing as the young master stepped into the sand ring, the small wooden blade resting loosely in his hand.
A hush spread among the knights. Even the wind paused.
Across from him, the older boy bowed stiffly.He looked about fifteen — tall, confident, and wearing that half-smile most young trainees had before a spar.
"Darren Roux," he said politely. "Son of Captain Roux. I'll be your opponent, young lord."
The boy just nodded, studying the wooden sword in his hands.The grip was heavier than he'd expected. He turned it once, feeling the air drag across the blade.
He inhaled slowly — not nervous, just… focused.
Darren's Thoughts
So this is the kid everyone keeps whispering about?A four-year-old? Really?
He sighed inwardly.This can't be serious. They said it's just a demonstration. Whatever. I'll end it quick.
He dropped into stance, sword lowered, right foot slightly back — the basic guard of the Solarin knights.
The referee raised his hand.
"Begin!"
A flash of motion — Darren lunged first, a swift horizontal cut meant to test the boy's footing.
But before the strike landed, the young master moved — copying the exact form he'd seen weeks before.
Feet angled, knees bent — the Lightning Stance.
His sword came up just in time, colliding with Darren's in a high-pitched clang that echoed through the courtyard.
The impact nearly threw him off balance, but somehow he steadied it, twisting his wrist at the last second. The edge of his blade scraped Darren's and deflected it slightly aside.
Gasps rippled from the watching knights.
From the side, Captain Roux blinked.
"That form…" he muttered. "That's—"He froze. He's mimicking me.
The boy's small frame trembled from the recoil, but he held position. Ether shimmered faintly at his feet, tracing light blue rings through the dust.
Darren stepped back, lips curling.
"Heh. Luck. Let's end this."
He surged forward, bringing his blade down in a heavy vertical arc.
The young master tilted his head slightly, eyes flickering — no panic, just observation.The Ether around Darren's body wasn't still. It moved.He saw it — like light streaming through cracks in glass, a current that flowed to the boy's right side.
It moves… right before he does.
As Darren's sword came down, the young master whispered softly — almost to himself.
"I'm not watching anymore."
Then the Ether under his feet pulsed.
In an instant, he launched backward — the air swirling with faint blue ripples as the sand scattered beneath him. Darren's sword hit the ground where he'd been a moment ago.
The knights murmured again. Even Arin Lys's eyes widened slightly.
The boy exhaled once, then inhaled deeply — his small frame straightening.He slid back into the Lightning Stance, this time lower, sharper.
He lunged.
Darren's POV
He's fast now— too fast.He dropped his own body low, matching the height difference.Their blades met again, the younger boy's movements too clean, too calculated for someone that size.
Darren gritted his teeth.He's copying my flow—
But the Ether told a different story.The young master wasn't just mimicking — he was adjusting.
He sidestepped, eyes darting toward the faint right-side Ether pulse around Darren.His flow moves right… then that's where I won't be.
As Darren swung, the boy's Ether burst again.He vanished from in front of him— appearing on his left.
Darren froze mid-motion.
"What—"
A wooden blade pressed gently against his ribs.
"Stop!"Sirion's voice rang across the courtyard like a crack of thunder.
The nearest knight dashed forward, grabbing the child's sword before he could follow through.
The boy blinked, the haze in his eyes fading.The sword trembled faintly in his small hands — light blue Ether flickering along its surface like veins of lightning.
He looked at it, confused.
Sirion exhaled hard and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Stars above," she muttered. "He almost hit him for real."
Captain Roux just stood there, speechless, staring at the faint glow dying down around the blade.
Elara walked forward, her expression unreadable. She knelt and touched her son's shoulder.
"That's enough," she said softly.
The boy looked up, breathing steady but distant — his gaze still half-lost in the fight that had just ended.
I saw it… before it happened, he thought quietly. I moved before the world did.
And in that courtyard, before knights and mages and mothers alike,the boy who saw Ether moved for the first time as if it obeyed him.