Grace was performing sword swings when he went outside. She had on black leggings with light padding and a top that resembled a sports bra. Her hair was tied in a ponytail and beads of sweat could be seen on her face.
"Hey, Grace," he said casually, sitting down on a nearby rock.
"Joren! Hey. What are you doing out here?" She put her sword down and picked up a waterskin as she walked over to her brother.
"I wanted to see how you practice. Uncle Glenn said he would start training me once he got back from picking you and Mom up. So I wanted to see how his training will be." He spoke
"You're going to learn from Uncle Glenn as well?! That's amazing! I can finally have a sparring partner again!" As if she wasn't tired, she leaped into the air with excitement.
"What?! How can I be your sparring partner when I don't even know how to fight?!" That wasn't a total lie. While he had been practicing his martial arts from Earth for the past five years, he hadn't learned weapon combat yet. While he did know the basics of swordsmanship from the kendo club back in high school, that differed from true swordsmanship.
"What do you mean? Do you think I will simply let you off the hook because you don't know how to fight? Oh, my sweet little brother, I'm going to pound you so hard you're going to be screaming for Mom to save you." She punched her palm and had a nasty grin on her face.
'Oh my sweet big sister, in time, I'll be the one doing the pounding, and I'm not talking about sparring'
"Shouldn't I at least understand what I'm doing before we fight each other?"
"Well, true, not knowing what you're doing would simply lead to me beating you up senselessly and I don't want you to cry thinking I'm just bullying you"
'Bitch'
"But that doesn't mean I'll go easy on you either. Once you get the basics down, we're going to spar every day for the next three years." She pointed at Joren.
"Why just for the next three years?"
"Cause I'll be joining the academy when I'm 16 and I'll be 16 in three years. Duh." She plucked his forehead.
"Oh, okay." He looked down with a sad expression. Honestly, he had a feeling that she would go to the academy. His eldest sister was there after all. Even he wanted to go. But when he felt the love she had for him, he selfishly wanted that feeling to never go away. He didn't want her to go away.
"Don't worry, I'll visit and when you join the academy, we'll see each other." She went over to hug him.
"No, get away from me, you're all stinky and sweaty!" Playfully pushing her away.
"Oh no you didn't. Come here you!" She to him which made Joren run away from her. For the next five minutes, they ran around the backyard playing around like normal siblings would do. Something he never felt before.
"Sis, you can use mana right?" Joren asked as he lay on the ground.
"Yup, wanna see? I'm pretty good at it if you ask me." Her face was full of confidence as if she wanted to show off in front of your younger sibling.
"Really? Can I see?"
"Sure." She got up and took a deep breath. Concentrating, she circled her mana until It manifested over her hand with a white hue. Then, picking up her sword, she extended her mana onto the sword. Walking over to a log that was conveniently on the ground upright, slicing it in two.
"Woah, that was amazing!" Joren clapped, genuinely impressed that his sister was already at the level where she could solidify her Aura. "Were you going to use mana against me when we spar?" He asked curiously.
"What? Of course not! We would be sparring without mana until you are able to manifest it. That couldn't be fair to you and I'm not some cruel older sister who would take please in beating up her little brother." She scoffed at the thought of that
"Oh, well you don't have to worry about that." Joren lifted up his hand and a mana arrow formed instantly. He then fired it at the log, piercing it.
"THE FUCK?!" Grace couldn't understand what was going on. Did she see things correctly or was she going crazy? There's no way her 10-year-old little brother could manifest mana, let alone a mana arrow. 'Yea, I'm going crazy.' she thought to herself
"I can already use mana so you don't need to worry about that. I just don't know how to use a sword yet." He stated as if it was normal for a 10-year-old to perform a mana arrow.
You see, children start learning about mana once they reach the age of 10, but that doesn't mean they can practice it. Normally, they have to train their body first and finally, when they reach 12, they can start feeling mana. By the time they reach 16, the age to enter the academy, they at most had just formed their first circle. And that's Noble children. Commoner children most often go their entire first year without forming a ring.
"Y-You can use m-mana already? How? you're only 10! There's no way you should be able to use mana at that age!" She grabbed Joren's shoulders shaking him violently.
"Ahhh! W-Wait, let me explain!" He told her everything that happened during his slave days and how Gramps taught him how to circulate mana. He then told her that for the past month, he used a book in Glenn's house to practice his mana.
After hearing that, she was shocked beyond belief. Even if he was taught how to absorb and circulate mana, simply using a book, a basic one at that, shouldn't put him on the level he's at right now. That's impossible unless he's...
"A genius. Joren, you're a genius!" She picked him up and spun him around like a princess. After a few spins, she put him down and clamped his shoulders rather tightly. Her eyes had a fire in them and her entire demeanor changed.
"Fight me!" She demanded. "Fight me right now!" She grabbed her sword and got into her fighting stance.
"Wait, wait, wait! We can't fight right now! I haven't been taught, not to mention I don't have a sword!" He retorted
"Doesn't matter. Uncle Glenn said certain circumstances would put you in positions where you have to rely on your body without a weapon. He said your body is a weapon. Now if you're not coming, then I will!" She then launched at Joren.
'The fuck is wrong with this battle-crazed gorilla!' he shouted in his head
He dodged to the side and summoned five mana arrows that hovered over his head. His Aura wrapped around his body that looked like a white outline and he concentrated his mana on his hands and feet to increase his speed and strength.
"Amazing! You're already at this level. Haha! Show me what you got!" She swung her sword and an arc of mana was launched towards Joren.
Calming his mind, he summoned a mana shield, blocking the attack. Following up on her attack, Grace appeared to his right thrusting her sword at him, but one of his mana arrows fired at her forcing her to block the attack as she was pushed back.
He immediately dashed toward her while firing two more arrows. She blocked the first arrow and as she was about to block the second, she saw Joren coming at her. So instead, she decreased her strength and allowed the second arrow to crash into her sword, shifting her momentum backward and causing her to black flip in the air.
When Joren got close, he smiled thinking he got her, but when he got in her range, she kicked him in the chin, stabbed her sword in the ground to stop her flip allowing her to land perfectly, then launched at Joren, grabbing his face with her palm.
"You're still too naive little broth-UGH!" Before she could finish, Joren had put his palm on her belly firing a mana ball. The concussive force caused her to be launched backward while she coughed from the air being knocked out of her.
He ran towards her launching his last two arrows and continued his assault. Grace got her bearings back and easily cut the arrows before blocking Joren's fists with the flat side of her sword causing a small shockwave.
She pushed him off, but he ran back to her. She also ran towards him but since he was fighting bare-handed, he had to avoid her sword swings while closing the distance.
Using more mana on his hands, Joren blocked her sword and dodged if he felt like he couldn't contend with her attack. He could tell she had proper training. She kept him out of his striking range while she kept the perfect range for her attacks. He also could tell that she was going easy on him.
'She's good. I thought I was good but it seems like I was a frog in the well. I shouldn't get complacent.' he thought. 'If I can't get in range for an attack, I'll force her to open her guard so I can.'
He jumped back and fired two more arrows at her.
"That won't work again Joren!" Shouted launching an aura slash at his arrows, destroying it instantly.
But he didn't stop. He kept firing arrows at her to condition her movements. Since he was using arrows that were meant for piercing, she had no problem cutting them. But then, he fired one mana ball, and when she went to cut it, the concussive force knocked her sword arm back.
Not letting this chance pass, he dashed towards her with a smile on his face, sure of his victory.
"Sorry sis, this may hurt." He said
"Yeah, I'm sorry as well." She countered with a smile of her own.
When he got in range to land a punch to her abdomen, her left hand shot up forming a mana ball and firing it directly at his face. He retracted his arms blocking the attack but left himself open which Grace took advantage of kicking him in the stomach.
Losing his footing, Joren stumbled back off balance. Grace then lept into the air and came down with a sword swing. "It's over now little bro!" She shouted. But Joren didn't give up just yet.
As his butt hit the ground and Grace was rapidly descending upon him, he made an aura blade with his right hand, blocking her attack, and before she could react, he formed an aura sword with his left hand which he then positioned between her arms and pointed it under her chin. He had won.
Grace was shocked. Not because Joren had won, but because he could form an aura blade and sword. Not only that, but his quick thinking allowed him to take advantage of her being in the air, needing to land. While she expected him to block her attack, she didn't expect him to do it with an aura blade and instantly follow up with an aura sword. If this was a real fight, she would have been dead.
She laughed, putting her sword away, and picked up her brother. "Haha, I lost. That was amazing Joren. I honestly didn't expect you to be so gifted at combat. I won't lose to you again though. If Gloria could see you, she would want to keep fighting, she's even crazier than me when it comes to fighting."
'I have crazy sisters.' he sighed internally 'But I like that.'
"I could tell you weren't going all out. You were too casual while I was fighting for my life."
"Well, I am your older sister after all. I can't hurt my cute little brother."
"Then why did you kick me?"
She paused, then looked at him. Tears welled up in her eyes and she hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you! Are you okay? Are you in pain? Please don't be mad at me!" she pleaded
"Haha, it's okay Grace, I'm only teasing."
"You! Come here" She began to pinch his cheeks to teach him a lesson.
Over at the backyard door, Glenn was standing there, his eyes wide with surprise. He had come to their house to check up on Joren and Grace and wanted to see if they wanted to start training. He had arrived to see them in the middle of a spar. At first, he thought Grace was going overboard, but then he saw how Joren was moving and how he was using spells that he shouldn't even be able to perform, not to mention the fact that he beat Grace even if she was holding back.
His mind was racing to find some excuse to come up with to explain the situation. But the only thing he managed to think of was...
"WHAT THE FUCK!?"