A year had passed since I came to this world.
And in that time, I had learned what it meant to bleed for growth.
Every dawn, the courtyard became a forge.
Rei Yuma — my third fiancée, warrior, and teacher — was the hammer.
I was the steel.
Our blades clashed beneath the rising sun, metal screaming through mist and breath.
Each strike, each parry, each bruise carved something new into me.
"If you can't hold your stance under pressure, you're dead," Rei barked one morning.
"Then teach me how to live," I said, panting through blood and sweat.
She didn't smile. She didn't go easy.
That was her kindness.
Swordsmanship. Mana control. Combat logic. Every secret she knew, she tore into me until my arms trembled and my lungs burned. I memorized not only her movements — but her intent. The twitch of her wrist before a feint. The flicker in her eyes before a fake. The rhythm between breath and blade.
It wasn't about reacting anymore.
It was about control.
When exhaustion claimed me, I sat against the stone wall, chest heaving. Rei stared silently — assessing, not pitying.
"You don't complain," she finally said. "Even when you bleed."
"There's no time to waste on pain."
She stared a moment longer, then nodded.
"Good."
That was all the praise I needed.
---
Shared Days, Diverging Paths
When the blades rested, the mind began.
Rin tested me with politics, riddles, and impossible debates.
"What would you do if a duke refused to send grain during famine?"
"Expose him publicly. Then offer trade incentives to surrounding lords to starve his influence."
Rin smirked. "You're starting to think like a king."
Meria, by contrast, was chaos dressed in sunlight.
We studied ancient myths while she lay on the grass, hands behind her head.
"This continent once had floating cities, powered by crystal cores," she said.
"What happened?"
"They fell. One of them made the Blood Canyons. Boom!"
Her laughter was contagious — wild, warm, fleeting.
For a moment, I forgot the weight of my destiny.
And then there was Riem.
The quiet one. The calm after every storm.
Sometimes she brought tea, sometimes silence. She never interrupted. She never asked why I trained so hard.
Her presence alone steadied me.
"You don't distract me," I once told her. "You remind me to breathe."
She blushed, fingers clutching her skirt.
"Then… I'll stay a little longer."
---
The Cartivat Wilds
But peace dulls the blade.
And I still wasn't sharp enough.
So I left.
The Wild Mountains of Cartivat were not a place — they were a punishment.
Storms screamed. Mana boiled in the air. The land itself seemed alive, whispering in languages older than time.
No map. No guide. Just will.
The forest beneath the cliffs pulsed with crimson veins of magic, glowing like exposed nerves.
Every night, beasts howled. Every morning, lightning carved the horizon.
I made camp beside a mana spring that burned to the touch. I drank it anyway. It tore through my body like fire, reshaping me molecule by molecule.
Once, a mana storm struck mid-meditation. The barrier shattered — and my blood crystallized mid-air.
For a moment, I forgot what breathing meant.
When I woke, the world felt slower. Clearer. Quieter.
Fear had been replaced by focus.
Every day I trained until I broke.
Every night I meditated until I rebuilt.
I learned the rhythm of storms, the heartbeat of magic, the silence between lightning strikes.
And then — something inside me shifted.
[Skill Acquired: Eclipse Arsenal – Celestial Edge]
[Skill Acquired: Sky Sever – Wind Element Blade Wave]
[Skill Acquired: Gravity Veil – Localized Field]
Each ability didn't appear from nowhere — they answered me.
The world itself began to listen.
Cartivat didn't gift me strength.
It stripped away everything unnecessary until only strength remained.
---
Return
When I returned to the Kingdom of Alic, even the wind seemed to recognize me.
I wasn't the same man Rei had trained.
The sisters noticed it too — Rin's eyes lingered on me longer than usual.
"You've changed… When I look at you now, I can't read your heart."
I smiled faintly. "Good. That means it's working."
Rei didn't waste time on sentiment.
She challenged me the next day.
---
Crimson Duel
The duel took place in the royal courtyard, sealed with ancient glyphs.
The Yuma sisters watched from the balconies, their faces unreadable.
"Don't hold back," Rei said, unsheathing both blades. "Show me what two years in hell taught you."
"I haven't come to fight you seriously," I replied. "But I won't insult your pride either."
She smirked — then vanished.
Our blades met in blinding arcs. Sparks rained. Each clash shook the ground. Her dual swords carved through air like twin comets. I moved through instinct, calm, almost detached — countering her fury with measured stillness.
To the onlookers, it was chaos. To me, it was music.
When Rei activated her Crimson Pulse, the ground cracked beneath her feet. Her aura blazed red, heat rippling like molten steel.
I closed my eyes, exhaled, and whispered:
"Eclipse Arsenal — Celestial Edge."
Lightning crawled up my arm as the blade formed — sleek, alive, hungry. The world dimmed around us. Stones floated. Wind bent.
Each time our swords met, shockwaves tore the courtyard apart.
Step 1 – Disrupt her stance.
Step 2 – Draw her in.
Step 3 – Counter with Sky Sever.
With a flick, the world split.
A blade of air screamed across the arena, tearing through the glyphs and collapsing half the barrier.
Rei stumbled, dropped to one knee, panting — aura flickering out.
"That's enough," I said, lowering my sword.
"You… weren't even using your full power," she rasped.
"No. Only a fragment."
She laughed weakly.
"Still the same idiot… always holding back."
I reached out my hand. She took it. Her grip was firm.
Respect — and something unspoken — passed between us.
---
Aetherforce Class System
Mortal Class – Basic mana users
Knight Class – Elite soldiers
Champion Class – Can bend wind, fracture stone
Mythic Class – Elemental surges, battlefield dominance
Eclipse Class – Distort gravity, darken skies (Yuu's true tier)
Aetherion Class – Existence-warping beings, gods in mortal flesh
---
Oath Under the Sun
I walked toward the balconies. The sisters stood there — silent, waiting.
Their eyes reflected pride, relief, and something deeper.
One by one, I kissed each of them — Rin, Mi, Rei, Meria, Riem.
Not as a conqueror.
But as a man who had found purpose.
Then, I pulled them close — all five — and whispered:
"I will protect you all. With everything I am. That is my promise."
Rin's voice trembled softly.
"And we'll protect you too."
For a heartbeat, everything was perfect — warmth, peace, love.
Too perfect.
As I looked toward the horizon, a strange chill passed through me.
The sky was clear. Yet, for just a moment, I saw crimson lightning dance beyond the clouds.
And something deep inside whispered:
This peace will not last.
---
✨ Author's Note – From the Desk of Luckey
This chapter marks the moment Yuu Yuhin stops surviving this world and starts shaping it.
But power without fear is arrogance — and Yuu's calm has begun to blur the line between focus and detachment.
Each of the Yuma sisters represents a different piece of his humanity.
Rei tests his limits. Rin guides his mind. Meria heals his soul. Mi steadies his logic. Riem reminds him to breathe.
And together… they are the reason he fights.
But even light casts a shadow.