lissa tapped her blade against the ground, the sharp clink echoing through the empty training yard.
The early morning mist curled around their feet, and the sun, barely rising, cast long shadows across the dirt.
Her expression was neutral, but her eyes held an edge of confidence that made Bruce uneasy.
"How is she so sure of herself?"
lissa's voice cut through the tension like a blade.
"If you keep underestimating like this, you'll lose to every ti. You need to take seriously."
Bruce gritted his teeth.
"It's not that simple!"
He took a deep breath before grumbling.
"You expect to change my entire mindset in a single day? I was raised to treat won respectfully, not to fight them like enemies."
lissa rolled her eyes, shifting her weight onto one leg, clearly unimpressed.
But before she could respond, Kyle finally spoke.
His voice was calm, yet sharp.
"So you're saying you'll let an enemy cut you down just because she's a woman?"
Bruce froze.
Kyle's words hung heavily in the air, their weight undeniable.
"That's not what I ant...there are no females on the battlefield…"
Kyle's piercing gaze locked onto Bruce, analyzing him like one would a broken sword, searching for weaknesses.
"If you continue with this mindset, you'll be the first to fall in battle. Just because there are no females you know of does not an they don't possess the sa strength and ambitions we do."
Bruce clenched his fists.
Kyle continued, his tone smooth but unwavering.
"A warrior needs to separate his mind—one for when he holds a sword and one for when he doesn't."
Before Bruce could fully process Kyle's words—
lissa attacked.
Bruce barely managed to raise his sword in ti, the force of her strike sending tremors through his arms.
"Damn it—!"
She was faster than before.
Stronger.
More relentless.
Bruce struggled to keep up, forced into a defensive stance as lissa kept pressing forward.
Her strikes were precise, her footwork deliberate, and her eyes glead with excitent, as if she was enjoying this fight far more than she should.
His frustration boiled over, and he shouted.
"You're fighting dirty!"
Kyle snorted, leaning against a wooden post with his arms crossed.
"Fighting dirty?"
His expression hardened, and the shadows of the early morning light made his features seem even colder.
"There is no honor or dignity in battle. And there is certainly none in death."
Bruce staggered under lissa's next blow, his boots skidding against the packed dirt.
Kyle's words echoed in his mind.
"No honor in battle?"
"No dignity in death?"
The idea unnerved him—
But at the sa ti, it made sense.
Bruce had been holding back, shackled by his old beliefs.
His thoughts swirled like a storm.
He had always seen combat as a test of skill and discipline.
A display of strength, not survival.
But Kyle and lissa—
They weren't just fighting.
They were trying to survive.
Bruce felt sothing inside him crack.
A part of himself—the old Bruce, the knight-in-training who fought with rules and limits—
Was dying.
And sothing else was awakening in its place.
His laughter rang through the training ground, raw and unrestrained.
lissa paused mid-step, blinking at him.
Kyle just watched with quiet amusent, his lips curling into a small smirk.
Bruce grinned wildly, gripping his sword tighter.
"If I want to survive in this insane world... I might need to beco a little insane too."
And for the first ti—
He truly understood why following Kyle was the right choice.
______
Kyle felt the shift in Bruce's mana—it was no longer constricted and controlled, but wild and raging, like an untad storm breaking free from its cage.
A slow smirk ford on Kyle's lips.
"Good."
He had been unsure whether Bruce could adapt to a more feral and instinctive way of wielding mana.
After all, Bruce had spent his entire life following the rigid, structured teachings of the kingdom's military.
Those thods drilled discipline into warriors, but they also placed shackles on their potential.
Kyle had almost considered discarding Bruce entirely, thinking the man would never be able to change.
"But now..."
Kyle saw it—the potential for sothing greater.
Bruce wasn't just adapting.
He was breaking free.
And that made him useful.
Especially since Bruce had taken an oath of loyalty—a magical contract that bound him to Kyle's service for life.
Kyle turned away from the two, his voice carrying undeniable authority as he spoke.
"lissa. Bruce. You're both ready for the next step."
Bruce, still panting from his fight with lissa, furrowed his brows, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"Next step?"
lissa's eyes lit up, her posture straightening as she listened attentively.
Kyle crossed his arms, glancing between the two.
"I will teach you mana control."
The words made both of them freeze.
Bruce's confusion was instant.
"Mana? What's that?"
lissa, however, grinned, excitent flashing across her face.
"Yes! I've been waiting for this!"
Bruce turned to her with a raised brow.
"You know what it is?"
lissa nodded eagerly, then frowned.
"Well… kinda. I don't know how it works, but I've heard of knights who use it."
Kyle chuckled, his eyes gleaming.
"That's because 'Mana' is just another na for what this world calls 'Internal Energy.'"
Bruce blinked.
"Wait—so you an…?"
Kyle nodded.
"Yes. Mana. It's all the sa thing."
Bruce frowned, feeling the weight of the revelation. T
he way he had been trained, internal energy was seen as a strict, structured force, sothing only disciplined warriors could harness. But Kyle spoke as if it was...
Sothing primal.
Sothing far more powerful than what Bruce had been taught.
lissa, on the other hand, looked thrilled.
"So you're going to teach us how to control it?"
Kyle's smirk widened.
"No."
Both lissa and Bruce stiffened.
Kyle took a step forward, his presence overwhelming, his gaze sharp.
"I'm going to teach you how to unleash it."
The words sent a chill down their spines.
Bruce swallowed hard, but deep down, sothing about Kyle's words excited him.
"This man is insane."
But at the sa ti…
That insanity was exactly what he needed.
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