The punch connected with a thunderous impact, sending Gracen hurtling out of the arena at lightning speed. He crashed into the wall with such force that it shattered into rubble.
"Huh"
"Oops, sorry," Belinda said as she looked at the shattered wall and debris where Gracen was lying right now.
Slowly Gracen emerged from the debris, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. His head throbbed with vein bulging, and his lip twitched with a mix of pain and barely contained fury.
"What did you just say," Gracen asked, looking directly at Namari's eyes.
"Sorry, it was because you were messing with me, and I got frustrated, so I used a bit more strength from what we agreed on," Namari turned her face to her left side, not looking directly at Gracen's eyes.
'What! You got frustrated and used a bit of your strength. Who do you think you are fooling? That was at least forty to fifty percent of your strength,' Gracen thought.
He took a deep breath and released it, Gracen looked at Namari again but this time with no longer anger in his eyes, "Namari this is the third time you have used more strength than me and thrown me out of the arena If we continue like this you will never be able to improve your battle technique,"
"I promise this time I wo..." Before Namari could continue, she was cut off by Gracen.
"That's why I suggest you should train with your mother-in-law instead of me. After all, I'm far too weak," Gracen said with a kind smile, his tone and expression making it seem as though he was offering the suggestion purely for Namari's benefit.
To Namari, that smile looked more like a demonic grin, and his words felt like a death sentence. "You monster! You're telling me to go and die just because I used a bit more strength than we agreed on? How heartless can you be? You know that woman isn't going to train me—she's going to torture me!" Namari snapped, her voice laced with a mix of outrage and dread.
Gracen gave Namari a skeptical look and said, "Really, I know Mother-in-law can be strict sometimes but going as far as saying that she's going to torture you instead of training is too much."
Namari shook her head and said, "You are saying that because you haven't spent much time with that crazy woman,"
"Let me tell you—" Namari began, ready to bad-mouth Belinda, but before she could finish, a sharp chop landed on her head.
"Ouch!" she yelped, rubbing the sore spot.
"What were you talking about? Can you tell me again," a voice came from behind Namari, a voice that she had been hearing since birth, and a shiver ran down her spine.
She slowly turned around, clutching her head, and murmured, "Mother? Mother, what are you doing here?" Her voice was soft and meek, as if she were trying to avoid provoking her further.
"Huh, I should be the one asking what you're doing here," Belinda snapped, veins bulging on her neck. Gracen, slowly moving to Namari's side, nodded silently at Belinda, his expression calm as he waited for the next round of drama to unfold.
"I'm training," Namari said.
"Do you think I'm blind? I'm asking you why are you here when you need to take care of Renan, and if you want to train, you should have at least left Gracen behind with Renan. You do know his child, right," Belinda asked.
"Because I need to become stronger before the third war begins. Back in the second war, you all protected me, but this time, I don't want to be a burden. I want to be someone you can rely on, someone who can help," Namari said, her voice filled with gratitude and determination.
Belinda, who had made a whole lecture for Namari, just sighed and said, "Silly girl, who said you were a burden back then? Instead, you were a motivation for us, for your father, for me, and for everyone, so don't go around thinking that you were a burden for us, okay?" Belinda said as she hugged Namari trying to reassure her.
"Hmm," Namari nodded back while being in Belinda's arms.
"You should go back now since you would need to be present for Renan awakening tomorrow," Belinda said as she let go of Namari.
"Ohh, right, tomorrow is Renan's awakenings, and I forgot to tell this to him,"
"Don't worry, I have already explained everything to him, so you should go now," Belinda replied.
"Thanks, Mother, and good night," Namari said and held Gracen's hand and dragged him out of the training ground with herself.
As Namari exited the training ground, Belinda vanished as well, leaving the training ground in a heavy, eerie silence.