The next morning, the first ray of sunlight fell on the Juyal Mansion's training ground.
Today, the air there felt unusually heavy. The pressure thickened even more when Asher and his cousin stepped forward, facing one another — breaths steady, eyes locked.
Both were dual-element awakeners, yet the difference in the aura they radiated felt like heaven and earth.
Asher's energy was wild, almost feral, flickering around him like the aura of an untamed beast — fierce yet brilliant.
It was clear he still lacked the control and mastery needed to fully stabilize his elemental power.
Nova's aura, on the other hand, wrapped around her like a gentle breeze filled with freshness — calm on the surface, but turbulent within.
Like a silent sea: peaceful above, yet destructive and terrifying in its depths.
"Ready?" Nova asked, tightening her fists.
Asher smirked.
"I was born ready."
Before even a second passed, Nova lunged forward — the soil scattering beneath her shoes and blurring Asher's vision for a moment.
She used that instant, forming a tight fist and striking at Asher.
Blue light burst around her knuckles, radiating a chilling cold and in the blink of an eye, the light crystallized into razor-sharp shards.
She punched —
FOOM!
A wave of frost erupted, forming a spiraling lance of ice.
The attack was swift — almost invisible — but before it could hit him, Asher summoned a blazing shield of fire.
Ice met fire —
KRAAASHHH!
The fiery barrier evaporated Nova's icy strike into steam.
Steam blasted outward like a miniature storm, swallowing the field.
But the shield couldn't hold for long; cracks webbed across it as the ice faded.
THUD!
A powerful explosion shattered the shield.
A loud burst echoed, filling the air with dust and steam.
Their vision blurred for a few seconds.
Seizing the moment, Asher counter-attacked.
A twisted wave of water shot out from his palm, slicing through air.
Nova sensed it instantly — she leaped sideways, spun mid-air, and formed a thin sheet of ice beneath her feet.
Sliding across it, she avoided Asher's attack effortlessly.
"You show off too much," Asher muttered.
Nova landed behind him, but he was already prepared.
He swept his foot across the ground, releasing a thin line of fire that instantly melted her ice, forcing her to jump again.
She leaped into the air, creating distance and inhaling sharply.
Breathless, she smirked.
"Impressive!, At least you didn't disappoint me.
But trust me… beating me won't be that easy."
The wind suddenly shifted.
Asher sensed danger — but a moment too late.
From Nova's palms erupted a massive spiraling burst of water.
The moment it expanded, icy spikes formed around it — raw, unpolished, beginner-level power, yet so fierce.
Turning it into a spinning vortex of elemental fury.
"AQUA TEMPEST — FIRST FORM!" she shouted.
The attack slammed into Asher.
Asher hadn't expected this kind of attack.
He barely had time to react.
He hastily summoned a flaming shield and crossed his arms defensively.
But the shield, created in panic, shattered the instant the attack struck.
The resulting shockwave blasted him backward.
BOOM!!!
The impact shoved him several steps back, his shoes skidding across the ground and leaving black streaks behind.
"Not bad," he said, shaking off the numb cold spreading through his arms.
"But you forgot one thing."
Nova blinked.
"What?"
He raised his fingers.
A tiny spark appeared…
And then exploded across the entire field.
The tremor reached her legs, knocking her balance off slightly.
Asher instantly closed the distance and halted his hand inches from her throat — a shimmering, unstable wave of water swirling around his palm.
The wave glimmered in the sunlight, droplets wetting the side of her neck.
With no way out,
she let out a tired but genuine smile.
"Alright… maybe you really are getting better."
Asher grinned.
"I know you weren't using your full strength. Otherwise I wouldn't have lasted even this long against you."
Nova didn't deny it;
Thier powers faded slowly, the field still humming with leftover energy.
Their breaths were heavy — yet filled with pride and satisfaction.
Nova stepped close, ruffled his hair and said.
Her voice softend.
"Listen, Asher – this wasn't a fight to win.
It was a fight to grow together.
I hope you understand that working hard to win and working hard to improve are two very different things."
Always remember, Asher — in this life full of battles, the true winner isn't the one who wins battles,
but the one who seeks something new to learn."
---
The duel had ended, but the training ground still vibrated with the fading echoes of their power.
---
The scorching air of the training grounds hadn't even fully settled when suddenly, a faint shiver ran through both Asher and his sister.
Something had changed.
Not in the mansion.
Not in the air.
But in the ether — in that layer where awakened senses brush against the unseen.
Asher instantly turned.
"You felt that too?"
Before she could reply, the sky above shimmered—just for a heartbeat—
as if a thin shadow had sliced through the sunlight.
And then—
THA-RAAAM!!
A massive force crashed down on the edge of the training grounds.
Tiles shattered, and a wild ring of dust blasted outward.
Both of them stumbled back in shock and fear—their elements activating instinctively.
As the dust settled, a shadowy figure stepped forward.
A long coat.
Cold, ice-like eyes.
A white mask covering half his face, its cracks adding a dreadful sharpness.
And around him… a grave, heavy aura they had never sensed before.
An aura like the echo of a forgotten deity.
Nova whispered,
"This presence… like—"
"—a spirit," Asher finished, his jaw tightening.
The masked intruder tilted his head slightly, as if examining newborn cubs.
"So," he said in a low voice—one that seemed to echo in layers—
"the descendants of the Juyal bloodline really do possess dual elements.
Interesting… but incomplete."
Fear surged through Asher—flames flickered dangerously around him.
"What do you want?"
The stranger raised his hand.
Green flames erupted on his palm—rippling like serpents, moving as if alive.
The air around them grew unbearably heavy, unable to withstand his pressure.
The intruder murmured,
"Dual elements.
But not like theirs.
Not awakened…"
A faint spirit-sigil pulsed on his wrist.
Asher's heart dropped.
"That's… a Spirit-Binding Mark."
The intruder smiled.
"Ah… so the little heir can recognize it."
Before they could react, he vanished.
Fsshhh—
He reappeared right behind Asher—
the green flame just inches from Asher's back when Asher barely managed to dodge.
BOOOOM!!
Spiraling fire tore through the training ground, leaving behind a burning crater.
Asher's sister lunged forward—
ice sliding beneath her feet, propelling her at high speed.
She launched twin blades of blue energy, but they evaporated into steam just before hitting the intruder.
Nova clenched her fists.
Then she unleashed a blazing, spiraling kick.
CRAAACK!
The masked man blocked it with one hand—
but the ground beneath him shattered.
"You both have potential," he said calmly.
"But potential is useless… without spiritual resonance."
(Spiritual Resonance occurs when a system vibrates under the influence of an external force with maximum amplitude that matches its natural frequency.)
With a slight flick of his wrist, a wave blasted out—
a surge of spiritual pressure.
Asher and Nova were tossed into the air like leaves.
Asher crashed to the ground hard—
the water in his grip splattering across the tiles.
The intruder stepped toward him.
"Asher Juyal… tell me—
has your soul awakened?
Or should I tear it out myself?"
As he spoke, a blazing sigil appeared behind him—
a terrifying, burning halo.
Its emergence made Asher feel something tighten inside him…
pressure…
a strange vibration…
Not fear.
Something awakening.
Something resonating.
Something answering.
A faint golden sigil flickered near his palm.
The masked intruder's eyes widened.
"So… it has begun."
---
The air around them began to grow unnaturally cold.
It wasn't the chill of the wind—
it was the kind of cold that descends only when an unseen presence draws near.
The masked intruder suddenly stopped moving.
Slowly… painfully slowly… he turned his head toward the dark hallway of the mansion.
His voice shifted into a low, abyssal whisper—
"So the darkness watches… still."
Asher frowned.
"What darkness—?"
Before he could finish—
Every lantern around the training grounds went out one by one.
Fft… fft… fft…
Flames died without a single gust of wind.
Even the sunlight began to dim—
as if something enormous had passed between the mansion and the sky.
And then—
a deep tremor rippled through the ground, vibrating all the way into their bones.
Asher's sister staggered back.
"W–what's happening?"
The masked intruder exhaled slowly—
a blend of irritation and respect.
"Looks like… others are interested in your awakening journey as well, children."
His aura tightened—
the flames curling inward,
as if preparing himself for something far more dangerous.
Asher felt it too.
A presence…
lurking… approaching…
watching.
---