“Feels like forever since we’ve last sparred.” Cracking his neck, Octavian pulled a sphere of metal from his storage ring. It hovered in midair above him for a second before it began melting into a liquid metal substance and taking shape of a sword. Around them was a poorly built stone wall, surrounding the small field they were about to fight in, behind the Kamlash Inn and Tavern.

Not giving him time to form his weapon, Kai dashed toward his father. He held nothing back as he jabbed at his defenseless father. The cold iron sword missed, hitting the air as his opponent vanished from sight. Kai frowned, noticing the forming sword overhead had likewise vanished. A polite cough rang out behind him. His feet shifted in a half-circle, leading from one strike to the next but they all missed under the superior speed of Octavian. Knowing it was futile, he activated a gravity pillar over his father who looked completely unperturbed inside of it as a smile came to his annoying face.

His father’s formed sword was still missing, but Kai didn’t have time to think about it as his father went on the offensive. Instead of attacking with his signature metal, he attacked with his bare hands. Each strike against his sword shook his arms and hands. After a couple of exchanges, his arms felt heavy and sore. Each strike seemed to push him to his limit quickly as they were fast and unforgiving.

Feeling his body would break soon, he started switching in [Heavy blow] between alternating attacks when he was able to manage one. Each blow resounded with a loud clang as they connected. Sword against hand. Retreating backward, Octavian followed Kai, leaving his gravity pillar. Knowing it would put him at a disadvantage, Kai activated his [Domain] as the fight continued. His sword fighting became less finessed under the increased gravity and more brutish in nature. He grunted as the heavy blade swung and struck his father’s impossibly hard fists. The cold iron sword seemed to vibrate and shake, something that had never happened in any fights he had been in. It was as if his father’s hands and skin were made of flesh-colored metal.

Feeling the cold, cool feel of metal against his neck, Kai stopped his overhead swing. Sheathing his sword, he held his hands up. “I give.”

He wanted to punch his father’s amused face if he was being honest. Knowing he had been played and toyed with the entire fight, aggravated him, but that was to be expected when there was such a difference in levels, stats, skill total, and experience. The cold metal moved away from his neck.

“I don’t know if I should be hurt or proud? his father said. “You really tried to kill me there.”

Kai gave him a look of annoyance. “I fully believed in your capabilities to best your Foundation realm son.”

That earned him a smirk in response.

“Did you figure out what I was doing during the fight?”

“If I had to guess you kept your formed sword floating in midair in my blind spots or above me, just out of sight while I kept my eyes focused on you as I defended and attacked,” he pointed out solemnly. “I wonder what mom would say if I told her, that you were taunting and teasing me during sparring?” he half-joked.

“You little brat,” his father grinned. “Well... you are not wrong. Kind of takes the fun out of the little guessing game.” His father’s smirk turned sulky. The sword moved around until it hover behind his father and started shifting into a chair. His father did the same for him, summoning another ball of metal and turning it into a chair opposite his.

Sitting down, Kai waited for his father to start.

“You must have gone through a lot to have nearly advanced to the Forging realm so soon.” He gave Kai a look of compassion and understanding. “I would like to hear about it if you would tell me.”

Kai began telling him everything. From Akane’s sudden appearance to his first expedition and finally to the last expedition and his narrow survival without holding back any details. He spent over an hour retelling everything.

“I’m sorry you went through something so harrowing so early Kai. And I’m sorry about you losing your friend. You will find that a common occurrence in these cursed worlds.” There was a slight venom to his father’s words.

From the tone of his voice, Kai could tell his father wasn’t unfamiliar with losing people either. “I’m sorry for who you lost as well, dad.”

He received a sad nod in response.

“I think we need to break down our fight,” his father said, his eyes looking up at the enchanted lights. “You have improved quite a lot in this past half-year. I can see you’ve begun to find your own style of fighting in combination with your magic. But you have some glaring weaknesses still. They’re not entirely your fault but they are something to look out for.”

“I already know, I lack the capabilities to handle multiple opponents and detect objects or people outside of my vision,” Kai said. It was a little disparaging to point out your own flaws. His mood was sober as he thought of possible solutions. The only answer he could come up with was more skills that would cover those weaknesses. Hopefully, those would come as he advanced.

His gravity magic was in a sense a control type of magic until it had enough force to outright crush his opponents. But if it didn’t stop his opponents, he would become overwhelmed in fights against multiple foes. It was different than his blood magic where he could easily fight many foes at once.

“The force of your gravity is coming around. I noticed you used your domain at the end, and from what you’ve told me, it sounds like you’ve had to fight under it quite often. If what you say is true about how your intelligence determines the amount of gravitational force, then I think you’ve invested into too much intelligence at this current time.”

“What do you mean? I could still fight under my domain.”

“Yes, you could. But you were slow, and your moves were telegraphed because of how much slower your body was moving. Just imagine if you kept the same gravitational force, you have now, but with a faster, stronger body? I wouldn’t keep your intelligence paired with your vitality and strength until you get more abilities to mitigate the gravitational forces acting on your body. That’s when the game really changes.”

“It makes sense. I’ve been kind of brute-forcing my fights most of the time.”

His father gave him a ‘you think?’ look.

“Hey. It’s not like my abilities give me a lot of variety as it is right now.”

“I’m sure it will get better when you advance to the Forging realm. I noticed your new armor is quite synergistic with your abilities. You made a good choice there. If only we didn’t live in such a dreary kingdom,” his father moped on his behalf. “But it’s quite fortuitous that the enchantments in the city empower the metal. It’s going to be very helpful in the tournament.”

Kai decided to broach the subject he had wanted to discuss since his father arrived. “I hope you won’t be offended, but I plan to use other weapons than the sword in the coming future.”

His father appeared confused. “Why would I take offense?”

“I don’t know. I thought your entire family uses the sword and I know you are proud and happy that your sons followed in your footsteps.”

“Your right. It is a proud moment for any father to have his children follow in his footsteps. But, at the end of the day, you are your own person. I will still respect and be proud of you, even if you want to use something thuggish as a mace.”

There was definitely a dig in there. “Well, I figure gravity magic would work with all kinds of weapons,” he gave his opinion.

“You’d probably be right,” his father said. “So why haven’t you done so yet?”

“How am I supposed to carry them?” He shook his head. “I don’t have a ring of storage, and too many weapons equipped would encumber and weigh me down even further with my gravity.”

“You make a fine point,” his father said, as he played with one of two rings on his fingers, that Kai knew to be a ring of storage.

His father was not so subtly rubbing it in his face.

“Akane is literally eating away at my coin.” His eyes briefly shifted to the fox in question, who was napping on her back so conveniently.

“How much do you have left?” his dad asked. His body shook with silent laughter.

“About one platinum and 55 gold coins,” Kai said pitifully. Though 30 of the gold coins are from that rich bastard’s coin pouch the ash warden gave me.

Octavian started laughing. “That’s still pretty good.”

“The academy started charging me extra specifically. Every month I have to pay an extra 2 gold for food purely because Akane eats 10 times the amount of a normal human. Not counting the times, we eat outside of the academy’s cafeteria.” Kai’s eyes beamed into the fox. While he hadn’t spent that much on Akane’s food so far, as time passed it would slowly add up to an exorbitant amount. He was as much to blame for his poor money management skills as was Akane’s gluttony.

Octavian stopped laughing. “Akane…” he said in a serious tone. Instead of punishing the small fox, Octavian turned back to Kai. “I’m sorry, I had no idea she was going to join you, or I would have given you more.”

“Wait, she wasn’t supposed to come?”

“Not to my knowledge. Your grandfather had apparently found a note from Akane, telling the family she would be watching over you.”

“I feel like there are so many things wrong with what you just said.”

“Well, you better make the money last. It was supposed to last you all three years at the academy.”

“So no getting more?”

His father sighed. “Sorry son. If you need coin, you could always get a job,” Octavian suggested unhelpfully. “I know it’s not your fault. Akane is a force all on her own. She will always get what she wants. But I’m sure to some extent she has been holding herself back for you.”

She eats 10 times a normal human in any given meal. How in the hell is that holding herself back?

Shifting his attention back to Akane, he fiercely glared at her. She was now ‘awake’ and ignored them as she seemed to be stalking something.

[Lizard – Foundation Level 2]

A normal lizard? Was she really so bored to go after a lizard? Or maybe she was going to eat it. He had seen her ignore mice, birds, and other animals before, but it was strange she was actively hunting a lizard. If it could even be called a hunt… Watching the show, Akane pounced faster than the lizard could move. Holding its body under her paw, it squirmed about as it tried to escape. Lifting her paw, the lizard darted out and ran as fast as it could. Not letting it escape, she opened her mouth, and fire spewed out, completely fire engulfing the lizard. When the flames stopped, only its charred black remains were left.

Kai nearly choked when Akane swatted away the burnt husk of the lizard. It crashed into a barrel with a tiny thump and shattered and vanished into the wind. He sauntered back to her resting spot. Before going back to her nap, she made eye contact with Kai. He felt a chill wash over him, as her intelligent eyes bored into his.

Wow. That was cruel even for Akane. This was a side of Akane he had never seen before.

He thought about asking his dad about it, but the man merely shook his head. Deciding to change the subject he asked, “Dad… How long will you be here for?”

“We plan on leaving for home, tomorrow morning,” he said. “Why do you ask?”

Kai suspected his father already knew his question, but he didn’t make the assumption vocal. “I was hoping you could watch over me while I get the last few levels and advance to the Forging realm.” His eyes were full of determination. He was only technically 11 levels away from hitting the Forging realm. Theoretically level 101 of the Foundation realm would become Forging level 1. With that he would unlock more skills and other goodies.

His father sat quietly for a few minutes, with his eyes closed deep in thought. “It’s a difficult choice for me. Of course, I want to help you achieve the next realm, but on the other hand, I truly believe it is something you need to achieve on your own. There must be a risk, or you won’t grow or learn at the rate you are supposed to.”

Kai hung his head. “Fine.” Not like I can tell him I’ve already advanced to the Forging realm once before.

“Dad, Kai!” Jacob yelled coming through the backdoor. “Big news! The fortress city of Treash fell.”

Kai was surprised. The war between the Hart Empire and the Ashbourne Kingdom had been raging for the last 10 months without much change. The war had primarily been focused on the pass between the Ashbourne Mountains and his home the Illusionary Misty Region. The Ashbourne Kingdom had been fighting a defensive war. Rumor was the Hart Empire was spread thin, attacking two other countries at the same time as they attacked the Ashbourne Kingdom. Even so, they had finally made some progress in the war with today marking the first big change with the fall of the kingdom’s primary bastion against the western nation.

His father didn’t look surprised or concerned. Strangely, he appeared amused as if he predicted this outcome. The fortress city had only been occupied only by soldiers since the war began in full and was one of the closest cities to their territory of the Illusionary Misty Region.

“Dad, should we be worried?” Kai asked.

“No. There are plenty of more obstacles for the Hart Empire to get through till they are out of the pass.”

“That’s good to know, but I meant about our home. Has no one tried to come through our territory?”

“Some tried,” his father said mysteriously.

Behind him, he heard the door open again. The rest of his family had come through into the yard. Seeing his sister, he felt like getting some payback for being forced to babysit all day during the festival while she flirted with Nicolas and for the budget enchantments she had put on his sword.

“Dad, did you know Lyddia was flirting with a prince of the kingdom yesterday?” Kai tried to sound aghast. “I daresay we might be related to royalty in the near future.”

His father chuckled, obviously aware of what he was doing. “You don’t say… I was afraid she was going to live like a monk her entire life. Her mother has been trying to set her up with some nice men in the village.”

“Dad!” she yelled. Her face was flaming red.

“I’m afraid a simple village man won’t suit her. She desires a prince.” Kai snickered. “Who would have thought she would aim so high?”

He felt himself falling back as his sister yanked the back of his chair towards the ground. She could hear her trudging away, before slamming the backdoor she had just come through.

“Is it too late to ask her to enchant my armor and sword?” Kai said, looking up into the light enchantments.

“I’ll talk to her,” his mother shook her head, standing over him.

“Gee, Kai. Why do you have to upset her? I have to sit next to her during the trip back,” Jacob pointed out.

“It’s part of my charm,” he joked.