Carl's body slammed into the tall tree, its trunk creaking with countless cracks… Then, he slid down lightly, clutching his throbbing chest in pain—the gift of his sister's "loving" punch.
"She really hates me that much?"
Carl quickly activated his [Dragonic Physical] skill, reinforcing his whole body before Cecilia could throw down another strike.
As he expected, his sister shot toward him with dragon wings spread wide, spinning herself as she slashed toward him with the razor-sharp edge of her wings, as if turning herself into a living meat grinder.
Carl raised an arm coated in crimson scales, hoping—just hoping—it could block those terrifying strikes. But… his expression warped as her blows scratched and tore his dragon-scaled arms's surface. His hand screamed with inhuman torment, countless cuts forming that dripped blood without end.
Realizing head-on fighting her was pure stupidity, Carl dove into the gap between Cecilia's wings and the ground, yanked a healing potion from his [Inventory], and poured it down his throat in one quick gulp.
At the same time, he took a glance at Cecilia's wings—slicing the tree behind into hundreds of fragments—made Carl swallow hard in horror.
"Is she seriously trying to kill me…?" he muttered, watching the destruction. In truth, he had been holding back only because she was his little sister, but, at this rate, his death was inevitable.
He began unleashing a barrage of strikes against his little sister, but then, to his shock, he realized he could never defeat her with his current power. Yeah, he could barely follow Ceilia's speed—even after using some tricks to counter successfully—but they were completely harmless to her.
At this moment, he understood one thing: before absolute power, every trick was useless.
He wasn't even sure how long he could last, considering how strong his little sister was.
"Holy fuck!… What a monster you are."
Ceilia charged at Carl with lightning speed, aiming a crushing blow at his chest—but Carl reacted just in time, blocking it with his sword, of course, the aftersock of Ceillia's blows sending Carl across the ground and slammed at tree nearby. Luckily for him, the sword he wielded was a top-tier treasure; no one below Rank C could break it, even if they were the strongest of their generation.
His little sister did not even give Carl a second to breath as she dove forward to Carl after then.
Carl gritted his teeth and struggled to set up and shifted his weight and leaned back, dodging a series of devastating slashes from her wings.
''It's bad.''
The match was completely one-sided, the tide of momentum tilted entirely to Ceilia's side.
It was obvious—he could barely even scratch her. And he knew that better than anyone. Just once, using some sneaky footwork and a little cheating, he managed to land a touch on her dragon scales with his sword… but he froze right after.
Her scales were as hard as titanium, deflecting his blows instantly.
"N-No hope," Carl forced out a wry smile.
He had imagined that after bathing in the blood of a holy creature, he might achieve something great—but no, it was bitterly clear.
Even his little sister was still holding back her true power; she hadn't even used the ability of her eight-star dragon soul yet.
The next moment, she kicked him with such force that he was sent flying across the battlefield, crashing into the far corner.
While staggering out from the rubble and desperately thinking of a way to escape, a sound echoed in his ears.
[System Notice]: This is great timing! Use [Dimensional Slash] skill if you want to live.
Carl froze for a moment, but said nothing. He simply steadied his stance and prepared himself. By some chance, the opportunity arrived.
"Sorry… I hope you can take this."
With a sharp movement, Carl raised his sword, pouring every shred of mana into it—like a storm crashing down and bursting into his blade.
[Dimensional Slash Skill activated]
[System notice]: Circulate all mana into your sword, or your hand will be reduced to mush by this skill… Don't worry. Your sister won't die—she's got a hidden safeguard.
"If you say so…" Carl muttered.
That insane focus lit up in his eyes again—no mercy, no hesitation, only cold killing intent.
The kind of focus born from genius swordsmanship… Even love, even hesitation, had no place to get in his way.
Cecilia felt a chill crawl across her dragon wings as she raised them like shields—but she still couldn't believe Carl was capable of that. Yet she wasn't stupid… dropping her guard was the fastest way to die, even if her opponent was nothing more than a pitiful insect.
She poured every ounce of mana into her wings, sharpening them to a deadly edge. They spread nearly three meters wide, strong enough to slice through anything. For someone like Carl, just a Rank F, this was overkill. It felt like she was wasting her time.
"You die!"
Her wings tore through the air, shredding everything in their path, rushing at Carl with sonic speed.
Carl only gazed at his sister—cold, hollow. With a simple draw-sword motion, his hand vanished from its starting point and reappeared at his belt.
So easy. Yet from that basic movement, a slash of darkness ripped through the air, lunged at Cecilia, and vanished as if it never existed.
"Uhh!"
It worked. Cecilia dropped like a bird with its wings torn off, crashing and rolling across the ground. Her wings were split into three pieces, dark mana clinging to the wounds, devouring and sealing them to block any healing.
Worse still, the armor her mother had gifted her—supposedly unbreakable against Carl's level—had been torn apart by his strike. But how? It should have easily withstood a Rank F's blows.
Countless questions flooded her head.
Was she too weak… or was Carl too strong?
No, impossible. Carl was Rank F, with only a one-star dragon soul. He was supposed to be an insect.
Then the truth stung—she was the weak one.
She had failed.
If rumors spread through the academy, her parents would find out for sure. She had worked so hard to maintain her perfect image at school and within the family. If this got out, she would be cast aside by her family—just like Carl.
Some drops of tears streaked down her face as she curled up, shivering.
"Oh shit! My little sister!" Carl clutched his head in horror, then rushed over and checked on her.
Without hesitation, he pulled a healing potion from [Inventory] and poured it into her mouth. Looking at her pale face, Carl felt a stab of guilt… But just a few seconds later, her color began to return.
Now he finally pulled the stone from his chest and let out a deep breath.
[System notice]: WATCH OUT!
In the blink of an eye, a dragon punch slammed into Carl's chest, leaving a fist-shaped dent right in it.
"Argh!" Carl's face twisted in agony as he staggered back, forcing in as much air as he could—his lungs were nearly wrecked from the strike. He spat out a mouthful of blood, small drops turning into gushes.
He lifted his gaze, staring at his sister, who still looked shaken. Maybe she felt ashamed for striking her brother from behind, or maybe she was just hypnotizing herself with some weak excuse to justify that cowardly move.
Then, after a moment, she finally took it calmly.
"You shouldn't have come to the academy… You're too weak. Now I'm gonna shatter your mana core again. You should stay where you belong."
A loud laugh echoed.
Carl slowly gathered his strength and stood up.
"You don't realize it? You've tried to shatter it twice since the match began."
"Your punch was always empowered with destructive mana, aiming for my mana core. But you know what? Even if your instinct was to kill me, I don't hate you… because you're my little sister, and this—this current you—is my fault."
Ceillia gritted her teeth and shouted in fury.
"So why wasn't your mana core destroyed?"
[System notice]: Don't say anymore, just focus on healing your power..
Carl struggled to catch his breath and smiled.
"Why? Because I no longer have a mana core… It was shattered by your own hand when your ritual happened."
Ceillia's face grew darker—she believed Carl was lying. No human could boost their power without a mana core… However, she would pour destructive mana at him again and again, even if it meant killing him.
"I'll do it again."