Dawn came too soon.
And by "too soon," I mean my body still felt like someone used it as target practice for a brick-throwing competition.
Every muscle screamed in protest as I pulled myself out of bed. My ribs ached, my shoulders burned, and I swear my legs had a personal vendetta against gravity.
But hey , pain means you're alive, right?
Father was already in the courtyard, moving through his forms with that same ruthless precision. The morning mist coiled around him like he was part of it grace wrapped in danger.
"Begin," he said when he saw me. No greeting, no pity. Just that single word.
I took my stance, even though my knees shook a little. The first strike came fast. I barely dodged. The second hit landed clean across my shoulder, and stars burst in my vision.
This training hurts like hell, I thought grimly. I was never beaten on Earth even when I was broke… but this? This is a different level of torture . My old gym teacher would cry if he saw this.
Father didn't slow down, and neither did I. Each movement he made carved new bruises into my body, but something in me refused to fall this time. Three hours. That's how long it went on. Three hours of strikes, counters, and the kind of silence that turns into thunder in your skull.
At the end, Father paused. His eyes narrowed slightly not out of anger, but… surprise.
"You're trying to mimic my stance," he said quietly, almost amused. "And you're not half bad at it."
I didn't answer. Just reset my feet, copying the pivot of his heel, the slight tilt of his elbow. My breathing was a mess, but I kept my poker face. Words were a waste of air right now.
He smirked faintly and gestured again. "Then show me, Lucien Valencrest. Show me if you can be me and not a pathetic worm.
I moved. He moved faster. And even though every bone in my body begged to stop, I kept mirroring him each parry, each shift of weight. Somewhere between agony and instinct, my mind lit up. Patterns. Angles. Openings. It was like my brain started predicting the next motion before it even happened. I was getting the hang if it and it was exhilarating.
...
After we finally stopped, I lay against the courtyard wall, chest heaving. For a moment, the world tilted. Then I heard noises outside like sparring I instantly knew it was my siblings. I had never seen them spar before.
So, naturally, I dragged myself there like a moth chasing a bonfire.
Aria and Darius valecrest. I haven't known them for long but one thing I can say is they are powerful extremely powerful. Aria with her silver hair blown by the wind and her emerald eyes shining dangerously and Darius with his black hair falling down and his emerald eyes looking a little carefree.
I think I inherited my mother's looks her eyes and hair , then Darius took my father's hair and my mum's eyes . Then Aria just decided to have silver I guess. I wonder what happened to our mother guess I'll find out later.
Aria and Darius stood in the center of the arena. Both moved with that same dark aura that ran in our bloodline the Veilborne Shade our aura of darkness. Their shadows stretched unnaturally, sharp and alive.
I leaned against a pillar, squinting. "Time Genius," I muttered under my breath.
The world slowed. Lines of motion mapped themselves before my eyes each strike dissected, each counter split apart like data on a screen.
Aria's footwork precise. She favored the Vyre Sweep, an ancient technique once used by the Dusk Legion of Caleron I think I read it somewhere I can't remember. Her darkness aura coiled low, meant to disorient, not destroy.
Darius, on the other hand, used brute rhythm. His every swing followed the Gravemind Pattern , a style designed to suppress the opponent's reaction time. Old. Efficient. Brutal.
Then I caught it—the faint twitch before Aria's dodge, the breath before Darius's thrust. Tiny cues. Weak points.
So that's how they move, I thought, the corners of my lips twitching upward. Beautiful. Predictable. Dangerous.
I was halfway through decoding their last exchange when my head throbbed. Hard. Like a metal spike driving through my skull. The lines of motion blurred, the slow world snapped back to speed, and I couldn't think straight.
[ WARNING: Mental stress detected ]
[ Brain compression slowed : host cannot comprehend more at the moment]
"Damn it… too much input…"
The words barely left my mouth before the pain spiked. My brain was on fire, and I stumbled forward, clutching my temple. I let out a grunt as I feel on my knees.
"Lucien?" Aria's voice sounded distant.
Darius dropped his stance immediately. "Hey....he's....!!!!!
The last thing I saw was their shadows breaking formation, running toward me before the world folded into darkness.