Eric lowered his sword, that rare and cold smile still lingering on his face. "I was only seeing how you'd dodge that strike of steel," Eric said, keeping his voice casual, though a fine line of admiration traced his eyes. "Len, you are remarkably fast. Your agility went far beyond what I had anticipated."
That same familiar, gentle smile remained fixed on Len's lips. Without moving from his spot, he looked at Eric with his golden eyes. Despite the lethal strike, there wasn't a hint of agitation in his breath. He simply watched Eric with a calm expression, as if reading the intentions buried within him.
"Your joke was indeed quite interesting," Len said in a very sweet and balanced tone. He didn't make an issue of Eric's assault; instead, he accepted it like a game. His mysterious tranquility was slowly dissolving the tension floating in the dust of the grounds.
On the other side, the mysterious man standing silently with Ethos couldn't pull his gaze away from the two boys. His pupils were capturing their every move.
Grand Duke Ethos sensed the profound silence that had settled on the man's face beside him. "What are you looking at?" Ethos asked in his heavy, authoritative voice, without even turning his neck.
The man slowly averted his gaze and looked toward Ethos's stern face. A deep, meaningful smile emerged on his lips. "You were absolutely right, Ethos," he replied in very slow and measured words. "Those two are indeed quite interesting."
Eric's grip on the sword's hilt loosened. He took a deep breath and let his shoulders drop slightly, as if he had suddenly returned all his aggression to an invisible scabbard. "I'm not doing anything else now," he said in a flat tone. There was a stillness in his words that completely dissolved the tension lingering on the grounds.
As soon as he said this, without any formality, Eric bent his knees and sat down right there on the sandy earth of the training ground.
The way he sat was so nonchalant, as if he weren't in a royal arena, but rather in a secluded forest. His crimson eyes were no longer fixed on a weapon or an opponent; instead, they gazed toward the distant horizon, where dust particles floated, turning golden in the sunlight.
Len, who had been standing in a defensive posture until now, faltered slightly seeing Eric suddenly sit on the ground. He set his sword aside and watched Eric's calm face intently. The air on the grounds no longer passed between them like a heavy shadow, but rather like a cold whisper.
From a distance, the eyes of Ethos and the supervisor were still upon them, but Eric no longer cared about their presence. He had simply merged himself into that silence.
Seeing Eric seated on the sand, a small smile played on Len's lips. Without any hesitation, he too leaned his heavy sword aside and sat down cross-legged right next to Eric. Amidst the burning sun of the grounds, a dense silence stretched between them.
The clashing of swords from the nearby soldiers now faded into the background, and the two of them sat like a quiet island in the midst of that noise.
While Len's face held its usual effortless peace, the fine creases on Eric's forehead betrayed the storm brewing within his mind.
He rested his palms on the sand, but his focus wasn't on the dust. His crimson eyes stared at the ground as if searching for the solution to a puzzle hidden there.
In Eric's mind, the previous moment played back like a slow-motion film. He had poured the full strength of his muscles into that strike—a blow that would have forced even a seasoned warrior to his knees. But Len... the way Len had slipped out of the strike's range like a sliding shadow was beyond Eric's logic.
He stole a sideways glance at Len sitting beside him. Len's face looked so innocent and calm, as if he weren't even aware of his own unimaginable speed. Eric's fingers dug into the sand. He was conflicted—was it merely a coincidence, or was the boy sitting next to him far deeper than the truth he was showing to the world?
On the other side of the grounds, Grand Duke Ethos kept his piercing gaze fixed upon the two of them. When he saw the two most promising and mysterious sprouts of the arena sitting quietly in the dust, the stern silence on his face deepened. He handed his long, heavy sword to a soldier with a curt gesture toward the rack.
Ethos began to stride toward them, his heavy boots crushing the sandy earth of the grounds. There was a peculiar weight to his gait—each step produced a faint thud that could be felt in the chest of anyone sitting nearby. He advanced with the measured, slow steps of a towering mountain.
Through the golden haze of dust, Ethos's massive silhouette gradually drew closer to Eric and Len.
His long shadow engulfed both boys, suddenly turning the direct sunlight hitting them into a cold, dark shade. Ethos said nothing, yet as he approached, the atmospheric pressure seemed to rise.
Eric lifted his crimson eyes from the ground and watched Ethos's massive boots come to a halt near him.
Ethos now stood directly before them like an invincible tower, his silent presence enough to signal that this session was far from over.
Grand Duke Ethos's massive shadow completely engulfed Eric and Len. When his voice echoed through the winds of the grounds, it was as deep and grave as a falling boulder. He cast his stern gaze downward and looked straight into their eyes.
"Has a mere handful of strikes drained the blood in your veins?" There was an edge to Ethos's words, a direct strike at their exhaustion. He clasped his hands behind his back and began to circle them with a measured gait.
"To leave your weapons in the dirt and give up like this... have you both grown weary so soon that you've made this dust your bed?"
The friction of Ethos's boots sent a light spray of sand onto Eric's knees. There was neither anger nor compassion in his voice, only the harshness of a warrior who does not tolerate rest.
"A true soldier does not seek the earth's support until his body is lifeless," he said, pausing and tilting his neck slightly. "Your sitting like this signifies either your weakness or an arrogance that suggests you've learned enough for today. Tell me, which of these is the truth?"
A silence fell over the grounds. The very way Ethos stood was a challenge for them to abandon the dust and once again grip the hilts of their swords.
The echo of Grand Duke Ethos's words still floated in the air, but they elicited no reaction upon Eric's face. He remained seated on the ground like a stone statue, his crimson eyes holding no fear for Ethos, but rather a sharp and piercing glint.
He stared directly into Ethos's stern eyes—a gaze so keen it could make even the most seasoned warrior feel unsettled.
As Ethos's heavy voice adopted the tone of a 'command,' a subtle shift occurred in the muscles of Eric's face. A slight crease appeared on his forehead, and the corners of his lips tightened just a fraction.
The expression on his face bore clear witness to the fact that he absolutely disliked being dictated to in such a manner. An unspoken rebellion began to simmer within him, as if he were never born to bow before anyone or dance to another's tune.
Eric didn't so much as blink. His silence was no longer just a lack of words; it was a mute challenge to Ethos's authority. His hand, braced against the ground, dug a little deeper into the sand, as if anchoring himself even more firmly to the earth.
On the other side, Len had sensed that strange tension surfacing on Eric's face. He glanced sideways at Eric and then back at Ethos's massive silhouette.
The air on the grounds had suddenly grown heavy, with the empire's greatest commander on one side and a boy on the other, whose facial expressions made it clear that the shackles of slavery or commands would never suit him.