The training courtyard of the Oboro Clan was a rectangle of beaten earth, surrounded by high walls with iron spikes.
Dark spots splashed the ground: generations of blood spilled in the name of "family excellence."
Takeshi stood in the center. He rhythmically tapped his bamboo cane against the palm of his hand.
*Pim. Pam. Pim. Pam.*
"You're late," he said, although the clock marked the exact time.
Ryuu ignored the provocation. He walked to his usual position, five meters from his brother, and adopted the basic stance.
Feet apart, knees slightly bent, hands low.
Takeshi scanned him, annoyed. Ryuu's stance, usually shaky and hesitant, showed unusual solidity today. His feet seemed nailed to the earth.
"Do you think surviving yesterday makes you special?" Takeshi spat on the ground. "Dad says weeds are the hardest to kill. Today we'll check if you're a weed or just trash."
Takeshi lunged forward without warning.
He attacked with pure brute force and Rank E, Level 2 speed. For a normal child, his figure would have blurred.For Ryuu, with his Gamer perception and adult mind, the movement unfolded with absolute clarity.
*Frontal attack. Descending cane. Target: Left clavicle.*
In the past, Ryuu would have closed his eyes expecting the impact, paralyzed by his slowness.
His Agility of 7 remained insufficient for a full dodge. It didn't matter. Dodging was unnecessary.
Ryuu took a half-step forward. He rotated his torso minimally to offer the newly reconstructed deltoid muscle to the impact.
He tensed his arm, concentrating the little recovered mana in the area.
*Localized Muscle Reinforcement.*
"Hah!" Takeshi released his breath as he struck.
*PAM!*
The sound was dry, blunt. The bamboo cane curved violently against Ryuu's shoulder.
Takeshi expected the crack, the scream, the collapse.
Ryuu remained firm.
He slid a few inches from the kinetic force. His feet left furrows in the dirt, but he resisted. His face was pale, with drops of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
His eyes, however, remained open, fixed on Takeshi's.
"Blocked," Ryuu said.
His voice sounded calm, hiding the nerves screaming inside. The blow hurt, vibrating in his bones despite the technique, but the bone structure held.Takeshi took a step back, lowering the cane.
"What...?"
He looked at the cane, then at Ryuu's shoulder. Logic dictated an immediate dislocation. That "sick boy" lacked muscle mass to absorb such punishment.
"Are you wearing protection under your clothes?" Takeshi growled. His eyes turned bloodshot with rage. Only a trap explained the impossible.
He attacked again. A direct thrust to the stomach.
The bamboo tip hissed through the air, seeking Ryuu's solar plexus.
It was too fast to block. Too much penetration.
Ryuu used his mind. He predicted the trajectory with surgical coldness. He exhaled all his air and twisted his hip at the last second.
The cane grazed his side, burning the skin through the fabric. It missed the vital organ by millimeters.
Takeshi, committed to the blow, lost his balance as he struck only air. He stumbled, his arms milling desperately.
For a second, the prodigy of the Oboro Clan became a clumsy figure.
He regained his balance before falling, planting a hand on the ground and twisting like a cat, but the damage to his pride was absolute.Silence reigned in the courtyard.
In the shadows of the gallery, two figures watched. Jiro, the blind librarian, listened with his head tilted.
A taller figure remained hidden in the shadows of the eaves.
Takeshi turned dark red. The vein in his forehead throbbed with violence.
"You..." he whispered.
[Alert: Attempted Murder Detected.][Target "Takeshi Oboro" has activated real bloodlust.]
The air around Takeshi changed, becoming dense and gelid. Training was over.
Mana flowed into his arms, preparing a Rank E technique to break Ryuu definitely.
Ryuu swallowed hard. His MP was almost at zero and his HP had dropped to 70/85. A mana strike would be fatal."Enough!"
The voice fell from the gallery like a guillotine.
Takeshi froze mid-charge. The mere pressure of that voice almost buckled Ryuu's knees.
Father stepped out of the shadows. He wore a kimono embroidered with gold. Its intricate patterns caught the light with every inaudible step.
"Takeshi," Father said.
"You lost your balance against an opponent who can barely stand. Pathetic."
Takeshi lowered his head, trembling with rage and shame.
"Father, he used..."
"He used what he had," Father cut him off.
He turned his head slowly toward Ryuu. His black eyes, bottomless pits, seemed to dissect every secret, every system statistic.
"And you..."
Ryuu held the gaze. Lowering it meant death; animals attack fear.
"You have stopped trying to run," Father observed.
It was a clinical sentence, devoid of praise.
"Your body is still trash. But your eyes have changed."
Father threw a small, shiny object into the air.
Ryuu raised his hand instinctively and caught it. The gold coin was cold and heavy.
It bore the clan emblem: a spider weaving over a crescent moon.
"Jiro informed me of your visit to the library," Father said. "And this morning, you survived a blow that should have crippled you. Interesting."
He turned around.
"Takeshi, run fifty laps around the mountain. If you stop, you sleep with the dogs."
"Yes, Father!"
Takeshi disappeared in a blur, casting one last look of pure hatred at Ryuu.
Father stopped at the entrance to the gallery.
"Ryuu. You have a month."
"For what, Father?" Ryuu asked. His voice sounded surprisingly steady.
"The Winter Selection. The children of the branch families will come to challenge the main branch. If you lose and embarrass us in front of the cousins..."
Father left the threat hanging in the air, heavy as a death sentence.
"Make sure that 'trick' of yours works by then."Father left.
Ryuu looked at the coin in his hand.
[Item Received: Patriarch's Favor Coin.][Value: Access to Level 1 resources in the clan warehouse.]
[Secondary Mission Completed: Patriarch's Recognition][Reward: 30 SP]
Ryuu closed his fist over the gold until his knuckles turned white.
"One month," he whispered. "In one month, I'll survive the cousins and devour them alive."
[New Main Mission Generated: The Winter Selection.][Objective: Rank in the top 3.][Reward: ???][Failure: Death or Expulsion from the Clan.]
Ryuu smiled. An ugly smile, full of teeth and ambition.
"Game accepted."