Arthur was still under Aziel who hadn’t yet moved the spear from his face. The deadly point hovered re inches from his eye, steady and unwavering in Aziel’s grip. A single bead of sweat rolled down Arthur’s temple, catching on a rose petal beneath his head.
"We’re gonna have a lot of work to do if you ever want to get as strong as you say." Aziel’s words held truth, but that didn’t an Arthur was happy to hear them. The sunlight cast half of Aziel’s face in shadow, making his expression even more imposing.
Arthur was frustrated, just because he went in expecting to lose doesn’t make it any easier. His breath ca in ragged gasps, his chest still aching from the blow he’d received. The taste of defeat was bitter in his mouth, far more unpleasant than the charred at they’d shared earlier.
Aziel pulled the spear back and planted it on the ground, now standing straight over Arthur. His blue hair seed to glow with the sunlight behind it, creating an almost halo-like effect that contrasted sharply with the predatory gleam still lingering in his eyes.
Aziel’s shadow covered Arthur completely and washed Arthur with a montary flash of renewed vigor. The familiar sensation of darkness surrounding sent a pulse of energy through his battered body.
’I wonder how much better I would have done at night,’ Arthur thought, his mind already searching for ways he might have perford better. Of course, he still would have lost, but maybe he would have been able to land a hit or two? ’This whole ’my ability only works in dark areas’ thing is rather annoying.’
Just as Arthur thought that, he allowed his body to consu the power given from the darkness around him and fill him with energy, even diminishing his pain.
It was then that Arthur felt it, only for a second before Aziel moved along with his shadow, but he felt it nonetheless. The sensation was unlike anything he’d experienced before—a strange, tangible presence that seed to respond to his will.
’What the hell? That felt weird... it felt different. I might be mistaken, but it almost felt like for just a second that the shadow beca tangible. I felt like it was touching like a physical thing... like I could touch it, like I could grab it.’
Arthur’s mind was rattling with the discovery of this new feeling, but his thoughts were parted by Aziel’s hand hovering over his face. The sa hand that had so effortlessly wielded the spear now offered assistance.
"Co on, get up," Aziel said, his voice returning to its usual casual tone, the intensity of battle fading from his deanor.
Arthur hesitated before taking his help and standing up. His legs trembled slightly under his weight, and he winced from the pain all over his body. Every muscle protested the movent, and new bruises were already forming beneath his tattered robes.
"You really don’t pull punches, do you?" Arthur looked at Aziel who suddenly looked confused, his eyebrows knitting together in genuine puzzlent.
"What are you talking about? I thought I was pulling them. I an, I didn’t even use my lightning." Aziel’s response was matter-of-fact, without a hint of boasting or mockery.
Arthur’s face broke in awe, his eyes widening with the realization. ’What? He wasn’t even using his lightning???’
And suddenly the lofty proclamation Arthur had previously made to conquer all seven realms, beco the strongest and beco free seed much more insane than before. The gap between them was far wider than he had imagined, a chasm that seed almost impossible to bridge.
Aziel smiled and slapped him on the back, just hard enough to make Arthur wince. The roses around them swayed gently in the breeze.
"Co on, your wounds are already healing and we need to make so ground before night ti. We’ll talk about your training on the way." Aziel’s tone was light again, as if the intense battle had been nothing more than a casual exchange.
Arthur sighed and nodded before turning back towards the pull of his realm core and beginning his journey out of the roses once again. The endless field stretched before them, beautiful and dangerous in equal asure. Sowhere beyond the horizon lay their destination, and between them and it, countless unknown dangers.
They had plenty of day left and made their way with a solid and fast walking pace. The crushed roses left a trail behind them, the sweet scent of bruised petals lingering in the air.
Finally, Aziel broke the silence. "Your swings were easily telegraphed and slow..." he began, his tone shifting to that of an instructor. "You show where you’re swinging from by a mile away, and you focus so much on power you forget about speed. Don’t forget, speed equals power to so degree, and it doesn’t matter how much power you put into your strike if you can’t hit your target."
Arthur listened intently, absorbing the criticism without complaint. Each word was a step toward the strength he so desperately sought.
"Starting tomorrow, we’ll work on your basics, the sa stuff we worked on in the academy, but this ti you actually need to want to learn." Aziel’s emphasis on the last few words carried a hint of accusation, or perhaps disappointnt.
Arthur shook his head silently and then began to regretfully think about how things would be different if he really tried his best during the combat class. The mories of the academy flooded back—the sparring, the extra classes, the fellow students who had taken their lessons seriously while he had rely gone through the motions.
Back then, he was almost a hundred percent sure he would die almost imdiately after coming to the second realm, and no amount of training in the short two months he was there would change that, so he thought, why care? And didn’t bother putting much effort into learning the sword... sothing he’s beginning to regret deeply.
The roses continued endlessly around them as they walked, their beauty belying the dangers that lurked within and beyond the field. But for the first ti since arriving in this hostile realm, Arthur felt sothing new stirring within him—not just determination, but hope. Hope that with Aziel’s guidance, he might actually survive long enough to beco strong.
And perhaps, just perhaps, there was more to his ability than he had realized. The strange sensation he had felt—the mont when darkness seed to beco substance—lingered in his mind, a mystery waiting to be unraveled.
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