Soon, a second figure joined the first. They were two n who looked nearly identical, except one was slightly shorter than the other. They had short pale blue hair and violet eyes. They wore the sa outfit as Nanari, except theirs had yellow stripes.
"Have you completely lost your minds? Why are you fighting indoors?" shouted the first.
"Do you want Father to get angry again?" said the second.
Zheren had already stood up and was about to attack Hikaru again. But around his hands and legs, a layer of ice appeared, pinning him to the wall and preventing him from moving.
"If you weren’t brother’s friend, you’d be long dead," said the first in a dangerous tone.
"Ah, forgive Shimaru and Akoru, I didn’t think it through. I gave in to anger, it’s my fault," said Flor.
Shimaru and Akoru were twins and also Flor’s third and fourth brothers. According to Flor, they were the best of his brothers, though still quite arrogant. Shimaru was the higher one and Akoru the shorter one.
"It’s that lunatic’s fault. If he didn’t attack everyone, life would be easier," said Shimaru, pointing at Hikaru.
"Hahahahaha," Hikaru just laughed at that.
"Tend to Itai and Zheren," Flor ordered the maids.
-----
Flor and Hikaru were now standing across from each other in the arena located in their vast garden. The only spectators were Shimaru and Akoru.
"Let’s see how much stronger you’ve gotten in these two years since we last fought, my littlest brother," said Hikaru.
Flor and Hikaru stood facing each other, surrounded by a chilling wind that swept silently through the arena. The arena was large, built from a special tough ore that couldn’t be easily destroyed.
There were a few frozen walls scattered around, indicating that battles were fought here frequently. On a stone bench sat Shimaru and Akoru, comfortably leaned back, watching every movent with amused expressions.
Flor took a battle stance. In his right hand, he held a saber whose blade shimred with a pale blue gleam and gently stead with cold. Snowflakes began forming around him, floating in the air like a warning.
"Let’s begin," said Flor coldly and slashed his saber.
The ground in front of him cracked, and an icy spike shot out, aiming directly at Hikaru. However, Hikaru didn’t move an inch, and when the spike reached him, he crushed it to dust with a single punch.
"Slow down, little brother. No need to rush," laughed Hikaru, a slightly crazed smile appearing on his face.
Flor reacted quickly and began slashing the air with his saber. With each swing, he sent out icy blades that sped straight toward Hikaru. But Hikaru dodged them with unbelievable ease.
"You’ve improved a little..." muttered Hikaru and pushed off the ground.
Flor didn’t even have ti to react when Hikaru suddenly appeared right next to him. He raised his fist and delivered a direct blow to Flor’s side. Flor flew several ters, soared through the air, and crashed to the ground, which instantly froze beneath his body.
Flor stood up, his focused eyes turning back to Hikaru.
"Flor!" called out Shimaru, but then smirked. "So, this is how much you’ve gotten stronger?"
Flor was breathing a bit heavily. Blood marked his lips, but his eyes were extrely focused—too much so. He raised his saber into the air, and it was engulfed in an icy aura.
Sharp crystals began to fall from the sky, all concentrating solely on Hikaru. Thousands of ice spikes rained down from every direction, but Hikaru calmly cracked his knuckles.
He raised both hands, and when the first crystal landed, he struck it with such force that it shattered, and the explosion’s shockwave scattered the others. With each movent, more crystals burst apart. Flor tried to take advantage of this mont and attacked up close, but Hikaru caught him by the shoulder, spun him around, and threw him against a frozen pillar, which cracked on impact.
"Still weak..." Hikaru whispered as he approached his brother.
Flor lay on the ground, gasping for air, but his eyes remained perfectly focused as if his body weren’t burning in pain. He stood up and stabbed his saber into the ground, causing the entire arena to beco covered in a thick layer of ice. Beneath Hikaru’s feet, a trap opened, and massive ice spikes shot up to impale him.
But before they could, Hikaru struck the ground with his fist in a quick motion. The entire layer of ice exploded, and the shockwave forced Flor back to his knees.
"Not bad... but you’re still just a child version." Hikaru stretched as if to loosen up his back. "Let’s stop here, or I’ll have to freeze you again."
Flor stood up, spit out a bit of blood, and then brushed himself off. "It’s understandable that you won. I’m only 17 and Stage 3, while you’re 165 and Stage 7," said Flor.
"So, Shimaru, Akoru? Was it a fair duel?" Hikaru asked.
Both of them laughed and began clapping.
"It was like a play. But only one actor knew how to act," smirked Akoru.
------
Itai was strapped to a bed, his body wrapped in bandages, unconscious. Fortunately, nothing serious had happened—just a mild concussion. Itai had the body of an ordinary mortal, so he couldn’t endure much, especially not from a Stage 7.
Zheren stood beside him, refusing to be treated. After all, he was undead, so it wouldn’t help him much anyway. Even with the low intelligence of a Bone Guardian, he understood he must not allow anyone to find out he was undeath.
Soon, Flor approached him. "Is he alright?" he asked Zheren, to which Zheren nodded.
"But I have to say, you’re pretty tough. You’re only Stage 2, and after being hit by my strongest, you’re still standing like it was nothing," he said, patting him on the back, barely reaching it.
Zheren didn’t respond—he couldn’t. He just stood there, his hollow eye sockets staring at Itai’s bandaged body.
A day passed, and Itai’s consciousness slowly began to return. He started to open his eyes gradually. "What happened?" he murmured...
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