"So, do you think Nathaniel will try to pull the same or different tactics as last time?," Allen asked, as he considered what may happen.
"Knowing him, I would say both," Charles answered, a hand on his chin in thought. "We are talking about my brother here, after all"
"Talking about what he may or may not do isn't really going to help," Allen said, with a sigh.
"But, it may help you, if at least a little bit!," Charles pointed out. "We need you to be at your best, if you are to defeat my brother, my rival!"
Shortly after the confrontation with Nathaniel Rivertide in the hallway, Allen explained the situation to the other members of their "small resistance". They all agreed that Allen's sudden upcoming duel against Nathaniel Rivertide, whom he has faced and lost against before, will pose no simple threat.
Thomas and Cecily were the most worried about Allen, as they somewhat felt it was their fault that Allen got mixed up with Nathaniel in the first place. Allen did his best to assure them that he originally chose to duel Nathaniel of his own will. This upcoming duel is due to Ellen Marion's involvement alone, and not anyone else's fault.
Regardless, Allen knew deep down that he probably would have had to go against Nathaniel in the duel eventually, assuming he continued past his required four duel conditions. Nathaniel is no easy opponent, and could easily climb the ranks if he tried. Either way, that time is now, and Allen wants to be prepared as possible if he wants to defeat Nathaniel this time.
Allen made sure to introduce Charles to Ms. Florence and Mr. Garet, as they of course ran their small resistance. They both agreed that they could use Charles' help, as he would be the best source on how to defeat his own brother.
However, some of the other training members, including Thomas and Cecily, weren't sure how to feel about him being a part of their group. No one outright hated him, but were rather indifferent towards him due to how Charles has been in the past. In the end, Allen managed to convince them that he will be of great help, and would be a way for him to make up with everyone.
Now, with everything cleared, Charles was busy assisting Allen with his training as best as he could, while the other small resistance members were busy with their own training, with the third set of duels coming up.
"As you are aware, Nathaniel will of course try to humiliate you as best as he can. That will be what you need to be worried about the most," Charles advised him, while Allen was in the middle of swinging around his sword.
"I know, I know," Allen sighed, with a frustrated tone.
Charles gave him a look of understanding before continuing. "The problem is, we don't know what he will try to pull until your duel starts. He does it differently with each student he duels, drawing out their weaknesses. It really comes down to what riles you up, and preventing you from losing your cool"
Allen grit his teeth before speaking. "Just thinking about the whole thing frustrates me. With everything that happened in our first duel, and now with Ellen Marion pulling this now. Just how am I supposed to deal with all of it?"
Allen knew deep down it wasn't just Nathaniel that frustrated him. He still couldn't get over how the Triumvirate stepped in and removed his former mentor and head director, William Windblade, and replaced him with the problematic Ellen Marion. He had been doing his best to hold in his anger this entire time, but it probably set him off when Nathaniel finally stepped in.
"Maybe take a step back and rethink everything that happened with your first duel, Allen?," Charles surprisingly suggested.
"I-"
Charles' words must have kicked him back to reality. Allen knew he was right, and it was probably what William would have suggested.
"You're right, Charles, thank you," he gave him a small smile. "I just need to calm down, and take a moment to rethink everything that's happened so far"
Allen had originally first reluctantly agreed to a duel against Nathaniel Rivertide, due to his actions when he first met him. It may not have been the right thing to do, but he wanted to protect his friends more than anything.
Allen explained his side of the story to Charles, surrounding the duel against Nathaniel.
"He was supposed to take your sword, right?," Charles asked, as he seemed to be lost in thought.
"Right, but he ended up not taking it. Of course I'm really glad he didn't, as this sword means so much to me, but it leaves me wondering why he didn't," Allen explained, trying to rack his brain for a possible answer.
"If I remember correctly, during your first duel against him, he had picked up your sword for a brief moment, in an attempt to humiliate you when you were out of energy," Charles explained. "However, he only held it for a short time, before immediately dropping it"
"I think I remember," Allen responded, recalling the events of the duel. "I wasn't able to see him, as I was busy trying to recollect myself during that 'speech' of his to the audience"
"It was strange," Charles admitted, as he crossed his arms."It was almost as if he completely rejected the sword…"
"Rejected the sword…," Allen mimicked his words. "You mean he just did not like my sword, or-"
"No, it was almost as if… he couldn't use it entirely," Charles explained. "The look on his face. It was hard to see, but as his younger brother I could see it. His face looked as though it was in pain"
"In pain?," Allen asked. "How could my sword-"
"Could I see your sword for a moment, Allen?," Charles asked respectfully. "I want to see something"
"Sure, why not?," Allen answered, as he handed his sword over to Charles.
Allen handed his sword over to Charles, who carefully took the blade.
"Woah, it's heavy!," Charles admitted, as he tried to hold it up. "Just how do you wield this?"
"It's not heavy for me," Allen shrugged. "I would argue it's perfect for me. Too perfect, even…"
Charles took a moment to look the blade over. He didn't have much experience with swords, but had seen a few in the past. What drew in his attention the most was the white four sided star on the hilt, which gave him an uneasy feeling.
"Strange, there's almost nothing weird about it-"
But before he could finish his sentence, his eyes went extremely wide, as if he received a jolt of pain throughout his body. His body began to shake, as a wave of fear spread on his face.
"Take it back!," Charles yelled, imminent on Allen taking it back as soon as possible.
"What's wrong?," Allen asked, concerned.
"Just take it!," Charles yelled, practically shoving it back into his hands.
Allen left his mouth agape, as he sheathed his sword away. Charles put a hand to his chest, as he seemed to take a moment to breathe.
"You're joking, right?," Allen asked, in disbelief.
"No! There's something really strange about that sword!," Charles yelled, pointing at the sword like some forbidden object.
Allen tried to rack his brain for any possible reason that it could even remotely have that effect on Charles. Surely, it couldn't do something like that, right?
"Now I can see why Nathaniel didn't want your sword. It wasn't because he didn't want it, it was because he couldn't have it," Charles raised his voice, as his pupils raced, looking at the ground.
"Couldn't have it?," Allen asked, his brow furrowing. "There's no way that-"
Now that Allen took a second to think about it, it did seem plausible and strange at the same time. As far as he can recall, no one else has wielded his blade. The only other people who have held his sword were William when he first gave it to Allen, and August, when he inspected the blade when he first met him.
August did not hold Allen's sword for long, only inspecting it for a moment. He didn't say anything was strange about it from what he could remember, but it wasn't like he held it forever. And when William gave him his sword, he didn't hold it for long, as he was only handing it to Allen.
To be fair, there was still probably much that Allen didn't know or understand about his own sword. The ability for it to be able to "cut" through magic turned out to be the sword absorbing magic, and then Allen can release said magic at will. Maybe the sword had a will of its own, and would not let anyone else wield it but Allen?
"Where did you get your sword, Allen?," Charles asked, finally calming down.
Allen did his best to explain how he got his sword, and how he still doesn't know much about it.
"I think that makes a little more sense," Charles said while thinking. "But still… that effect…"
"What did it do to you?," Allen asked, as Charles had yet to explain.
"It… it was although it was rejecting me altogether," he explained, his eyes widening again. "I felt jolts of pain throughout my body, but there was nothing else touching me. I felt the sudden urge to drop the blade, to get rid of it, to never use it"
"Are you at least alright now?," Allen asked, concerned.
"Yeah I'm fine now, but it's still all too strange. But it explains now why Nathaniel didn't want your sword," Charles pointed out.
If it was true that his sword "rejected" anyone else trying to wield it, that would be good in the end for Allen, as that would mean no one could steal and use his sword against him.
"Anyways, maybe we should get back on topic," Charles said, as his body started to relax again.
As Allen went back to practice his swings in place, they talked further about Allen's first duel against Nathaniel Rivertide, in hopes that it may give them better ideas about how his next duel may go.
They are still surprised that Nathaniel hasn't bothered Allen since the duel, even though Nathaniel won the duel. One of the conditions of it being Allen's victory would be that Nathaniel promised to leave all of them alone.
However, even with Nathaniel's victory, he still had decided to leave everyone alone, especially Cecily, whom he had been urging to try to enter an arranged marriage with her in the first place.
Charles suspected it was due to the overall results of the duel. Although Nathaniel won, it was technically by the skin of his teeth. Allen most likely would have won, had he not stepped outside the duel boundaries.
Regardless, Allen still felt powerless about the whole situation. Not only was he going up against a former adversary whom he annoyingly lost to, but he also had to deal with Ellen Marion and the Triumvirate backing her.
"I don't know if this will help, but I could explain to you my past with my brother," Charles offered. "I don't really like to talk about it, but I would be willing to"
"I won't force you, but it would help and it would be appreciated," Allen let out a forced smile, as he tried to calm himself. He needed to stop thinking about the whole picture with Ellen Marion being a problem, but tackle one problem at a time.
"Alright, I will," Charles said, rubbing his hands together, like he was preparing.
"Years ago, when we were still children, I had looked up to Nathaniel as my confident, strong and respectable older brother," Charles began to explain. "But one day, I think something clicked or changed within him…"
Charles went on to explain how Nathaniel began to bully the other kids of the other families, because of how much weaker they were in magic than he was. He'd cast magic at them, making them fall over, and then proceed to make fun of them for being weak.
"It didn't sit right with me, so one day I decided to stick up to him. I don't know if it was the best or worst choice I could have made…," Charles explained, his eyes towards the ground.
Nathaniel from there began to take out his frustration and anger out on Charles more, instead of the other kids. Their mother didn't do anything about it, which left Charles to deal with it by himself. He'd frequently be left with scars, from the spells cast at him each day.
"It was no surprise to me that shortly after he began to attend the academy here, that he gained the title of 'The Infamous C Ranker'. Each of his duels were conducted to simply humiliate his opponents, all so that way he could feel better about himself"
"My mother had finally decided to step in, after he had reports of unsavory behaviors while attending the academy. She had officially announced that I would be the next head of the Riveride family, even though it's common for the first born to be selected"
Charles explained that Nathaniel did not take too kindly to that, and his behaviors towards him began to change. Instead of the normal bullying and humiliation tactics, he seemed to start resenting Charles, and began to act indifferent towards him.
"Luckily he hasn't really bothered me since then, but how he treats others still bothers me in the end," Charles explained, as he looked up at the ceiling in thought.
That makes a bit more sense, Allen thought to himself. Perhaps he-
"Regardless, and as much as I hate to admit it now, Nathaniel must have rubbed off on me," Charles explained, rubbing his shoulder with an embarrassed look on his face. "I started to act arrogant, lost in my own strength, and treated you and other students horribly"
Allen quickly began to recall the first time he met Charles. He vividly remembered him acting friendly at first, as a pretense to duel Allen in the entrance exams. He then did something Nathaniel would do, try to make him look bad. While it wasn't as bad as Nathaniel would later do, it still left a bad taste in Allen's mouth.
"This may be late, but Allen Fleming, I just want to say I'm sorry!," Charles spoke, as he lowered his head, looking at the ground.
"Charles-"
Allen was caught off guard with Charles' sudden apology. He had never hated Charles, but he never outright liked him either. He had seemed to change during the training club trip, when William practically forced him to go with the rest of the training club members. But as of recently, Charles had gone out of his way to defend Allen from his own older brother.
Allen believes that people can change, and Charles has certainly changed.
"I accept your apology, so can you please look at me?," Allen asked kindly.
Charles quickly moved his head up, maintaining eye contact with Allen.
"Let's just put everything behind us and move forward, not just as rivals, but as friends," Allen offered him a smile.
"Friends?," Charles asked, as if the word was foreign to him.
"Yes, as friends," Allen assured him, offering a hand for him to shake.
"Okay! As friends!," Charles smiled, as he shook his hands.
Well, good things can really come out of bad situations, Allen thought to himself, as this whole event probably would not have happened if he wasn't going to face Nathaniel.
"But remember this Fleming!," Charles suddenly raised his voice, and pointed at him. "We may be friends now, but first and foremost we are sworn rivals! Don't forget that, and don't forget that one day I will defeat you!"
"Right, right," Allen sighed, as he tried to hold back his laughter. Some things just don't change.
As the two of them began to continue to talk things over, and Allen continued to hone his skills, the rest of the small resistance members prepared for their own duels. Allen would also need to expend every second he had before his upcoming duel with Nathaniel, if he wanted it to end in his victory, and pass his conditions.