"Aether, don't go too far!" Ario Emberveil's voice trembled on the brink between outrage and fear.
"Go too far? It's your Emberveil family that's gone too far." Ethan's sneer cut through the heavy silence.
"Putting away spiritual weapons and mental defense? What next—am I to step naked and stand in front of you so that you can kill me?"
His tone was cold, clinical, yet there was an undercurrent of bitterness. Only fools would lower their guard so completely—especially under the scrutiny of families as calculating as the Emberveils.
Ethan had agreed to the test, not out of trust, but to avoid unnecessary trouble. Any notion of courtesy or "fairness" was now stripped away by their brazen attempt at exploitation.
Ario's frustration erupted again, "Aether, you are too presumptuous!" His shout held no real deterrent; it was the squall of a man whose authority was rapidly collapsing.
