As Maxi approached them, a heavy pressure suddenly engulfed him.
It felt like lava wrapped around his chest, not physically burning but pressing down with an unbearable intensity like trying to breathe inside molten rock. His knees buckled. The second layer of the castle already weighed on his body like gravity thickened with intent, but this was different. This wasn't just the castle.
This was mōkō.
And yet, another sensation layered over the first. A heatwave not ordinary desert heat, but something worse. Tenfold. Like the sun vomiting fire onto him over and over. Maxi gasped, his skin crawling with sweat, heat warping the very air around him as he felt them both combin as if they where two horrific puzzles peaces of heat ment to be together to form the heat of seemingly the sun itself. He collapsed fully now, knees slamming the floor. A single thought pushed through the fog of panic:
If this is what it feels like just standing near them, what the hell does their actual fire feel like?
Mōkō blinked, then let out a disappointed "Oh," while Dallas casually laughed.
Dallas shook his head and raised a finger, tracing a small circle in the air.
Instantly, the pressure evaporated. The suffocating heat disappeared as if it had never been there. Maxi lay on the ground, gasping for air as his body shivered from the sudden change. Slowly, he pushed himself up, dusting off his sleeves with trembling fingers.
"Hy, sorry dummy boy," Mōkō said with a toothy grin. "I forgot about you."
Dallas leaned lazily on the twin-sheathed katanas he had stuck into the ground. He looked at Maxi like he would a stray cat on a sunny day. "Heard your name's Maxi. What's up? I'm Dallas."
Maxi, still catching his breath, managed a slight smile. "Nice to meet you, big brother Dallas... and nice to see you again, big brother Mōkō."
Mōkō crossed his arms. "So, dummy boy, you wanted something?"
Wow. Straight to the point, Maxi thought as he cleared his throat.
"I was wondering if you two could train me," Maxi said. "Techxin told me I'm better suited for flexibility-based combat. He said I should come to you."
The two brothers glanced at each other and then shook their heads.
"No can do, dummy boy," Mōkō said flatly.
"What? Why?" Maxi asked, his voice cracking with disappointment.
Dallas tapped one of his swords, balancing his body atop the hilts. "Listen, Maxi, we've only got a few days left before we return to our royal high Society school for combat or formal known as Siladelphia royal high school of combat. We're only here for a one-week break. Your test starts around or on the end of that week and we will have to go back, but after few days we will come back here for the inter mouth of Fairy."
Mōkō nodded. "By the time we return again, you'll probably be gone."
Maxi's hope deflated like a popped balloon as he remembered he had to go his trip with Tengen. "Oh... okay. Understandable. Have a good day, my dear brothers."
He turned to leave, but before he could take another step, Mōkō called out, "Hey! Dummy boy! Wait up!"
Maxi turned back, blinking. "Hm?"
Dallas smirked, his voice suddenly more serious despite the playfulness in his eyes. "How about this... If you manage to last a certain amount of time during your fighting test, we might just drop everything and train you."
Mōkō grinned wide, teeth flashing. "Don't think we'll make it easy. If you want something in this family, you either earn it, or take it by force. That's a Bloodheart rule."
Maxi nodded, resolve slowly returning to his chest.
Then he remembered something. "Oh yeah could you teach me about the different fire rankings?"
Dallas looked at Mōkō, and Mōkō looked right back.
In perfect unison, both of them grinned and said, "Sure. Why not?"