The morning sunlight began glow peeked through openings in the curtains. Abraham's room remained untidy and messy like yesterday, with books lying around in te floor as if he danced while reading those and a torn coat tossed on a chair instead of closet.
Even in this all mess and untidy things, Abraham quietly training in the middle on his techniques and skill.
His body moved with mechanical precision—push-ups, squats, shadow strikes with invisible weapons. His every movement are accurate. precise sounded with quiet discipline showed the calm control that comes from years of training and concentration. He's Sweating like rainfall that ran down his back, highlighting the tight muscles beneath.
He paused taking a deep breath, whispering in his own mind, "Too slow. Not this will make me what I was before"
He pushed harder. The floorboards groaned as he moved like flash in middle. His shadow twisted in air flickering a faint glow, a leftover sign of the residual energy he had unleashed days before. The fight had been a major one, but even so, he found it hard to relax, he's body needs sweat than relaxation. In his mind from his past or present one thing always set constant is rest is a sign of weakness a mark that belong to weak human, and that mark would lead anybody even if he is a sovereign to dead.
Then—knock knock.
The door creaked open, just barging right in.
"Yo, How life going" a happy cheerfully voice shouted.
Abraham didn't even waste his energy to look up. "Joel you know anything about etiquette, manners, you're barging in someone room without even knocking. If you're here to ask for something, forget it. I'm all out."
Joel laughed, stepping inside, without taking in mind about those two hard words. "Come on, man. You think I only visit when I need something?"
"Yes."
Joel froze, pretending to look offended. "Ouch. You wound me deeper than any beast could."
Abraham stopped In full swing , gasping for air breathing heavily all the exhaustion from training caught up the very moment he stopped, and glanced back at thorough his shoulder. Joel standing at the corner of the room, so he don't hit by Abraham punch or kick. He wore the academy uniform like some school student forget to change cloths, his blonde hair was messier than usual. He held a pair of energy drinks and corner of his mouth twitched that Abraham found irritatingly cheerful.
"Tell me Joel, What do you want this time?" giving a sideway glance at him.
Joel tossed one of the bottles to him. Abraham caught it without effort.
"Help," Joel said simply. "I'm in trouble. Big trouble this time"
Abraham twisted the bottle open, took a sip from the energy drunk, and raised his eye brow. "You always are."
"This time it's serious."
"That's the same words you said last time when you 'accidentally' set the training golem on fire. Because you don't know how to use it"
"Okay, that was an accident. This is—well, kind of my fault, too, but less flame, more people."
Abraham sighed, putting the bottle down. "Talk."
Joel scratched his head, sheepish. "So… I might have promised to spar with the third-year combat team to prove first-years aren't pushovers. But… turns out they're, you know, third-years."
Abraham's lips twitched. "And you want me to fight in your place?"
"No, no! Just… help me train. You're kind of my secret weapon, you know?"
Abraham looked at him long enough for Joel to start sweating. Then, finally, he stood up. "Fine. Let's go."
Behind the dorms, the training yard was still, save for the *thwack-thwack* of wooden swords.
Joel took a wild swing, missing Abraham by a mile not even close to wooden sword let alone touching his body Abraham, cool with his precise movement, returned the favor with solid answer, tapping Joel, first on the shoulder, then chest, and finally his forehead – all in one fluid move.
"Dead, dead, and with that you already reach heaven or hell," Abraham said, no emotion in his voice and eyes, a deadpan face.
Joel rubbing his forehead out of desperation. "Dude, you could have at least pretended to make it look close."
"That was me holding back."
"Dude, Then remind me not to make you angry."
Abraham smile softly, though he didn't show it much. "You wouldn't survive that long in the first place to regret over it, If you duel in your current level"
Joel laughed, dropping his sword and sitting on the grass. "You know, you're scary sometimes. But I get why Jennifer and Maria hang around you. You've got this… calm, dangerous vibe. Like those explosion Mage that knows it's gonna explode but doesn't care."
Abraham looked down at him, a bit caught off guard. "That's how you describe me, I see"
"You know what else? So troublesome you are sometime, to be honest" Joel said, smiling up at him. "You're a pain in the ass, but I'm glad you're my friend."
Abraham blinked, silent. He wasn't used to hearing that word—friend.
After a moment, he said quietly, "You talk too much."
"Yeah, but you didn't deny it," Joel said, grinning wide.
Abraham rolled his eyes and turned away. "Let's just keep training before I regret coming here."
By noon, Joel was flat on the ground, completely exhausted. Abraham stood over him, arms crossed.
"You lasted longer this time," Abraham said.
Joel gave a thumbs-up, still breathing heavily. "That's… progress, right?"
"Barely."
They both laughed.
As the sun began to set, Abraham glanced at Joel, who was still lying there, staring at the orange sky.
"Hey," Abraham said.
Joel turned his head in slow pace lazily. "Yeah?"
Abraham hesitated, then said, "You did good today." he felt too cringe while saying it
Joel's mouth widened into a winner smile. "From you, that's basically a medal of honor."
Abraham just walked off the training yard, muttering, "Dumbass."
But a soft smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
Later that evening, as he returned to his messy room, the system popped before his eyes. In blue screen
[Relationship Updated: Joel – 'Trusted Ally']
[Bond Level: 2 → 3]
Abraham stared at the glowing blue text for a moment, then let out a soft laugh.
"Guess you're not as annoying as I thought, Joel."
He stretched, looking out the window as twilight settled over the academy.