Alicia was a good enough fighter when it came to using the sword. As the daughter of one of the dukes of the Lumierian Empire, she was trained by some of the finest masters in the capital from a young age.

But alas, even she was no match for Leon. So instead of trying to best him, she let him teach her. The duo traded strikes and parries for a while, and when Alicia was exhausted, they both sat on the ground, leaning against her shelter.

Alicia took a long drink from her canteen, and then offered it to Leon. He took it and drank just a little bit, then looked at her and smiled.

"I really enjoyed myself. It's been a while since I've been able to train with someone who could keep up with me."

"Really?" Alicia put a strand of her hair behind her ears. "Uhm… do you, maybe want to try it again next time?"

Leon leaned in slightly. "Of course."

Then, his expression became a bit sad. He looked away and leaned his head back against the wall.

Alicia frowned. "Is something bothering you?"

Leon exhaled. Then he shook his head. "It's nothing. Never mind, I don't want to be a bother."

Alicia shuffled a bit closer to him. "It's okay, you aren't bothering me. You can tell me anything, you know. If it's something that I can help with, I definitely will."

Leon turned to her and smiled. "You will?"

Alicia nodded with gleaming eyes.

Leon then leaned closer to her, causing her to blush. Then he raised two fingers. "I need your help with two things."

When Alicia nodded again, Leon's eyes secretly darted to a raven that was eating a worm nearby. The raven raised its head and nodded before carrying on.

***

Meanwhile, back in the shelter, Cedric was sitting on the ground juggling three small stones. After a few more rounds, he caught them and looked over to where Aika lay. He couldn't tell if she was sleeping, but she had a romance novel resting over her face.

Cedric raised a hand to toss a stone at her, but just then, she muttered from under the book. "Do you want to die?"

He paused, then let out a small, dry chuckle and lowered his hand.

"Just checking if you had died from reading that trash."

"It's not," Aika muttered, her voice muffled by the pages. "It's a classic. Not that a brat like you would understand the nuance of a slow-burn pining."

"Slow-burn pining," Cedric repeated in a flat voice. "Is that what they call it when the protagonist spends three hundred pages being too stupid to talk to the person they like?"

Aika finally reached up, hooking a finger over the top of the book and sliding it down just enough for one judgmental eye to peer at him. "It's called character development, Cedric. You should try it sometime."

She put the book back over her face.

Cedric pretended to go back to his juggling, waiting for her to relax, only to finally flick one of the stones at her.

Aika lunged up and began kicking at him wildly. "I'll kill you, you son of a bitch!"

"Ouch, ouch, ouch!"

***

…

..

.

Later that day…

——

In a room in one of the half destroyed-shelters in the barracks, Levi sat cross-legged in the center of a ring of burning candles, drawing in mana.

He was dressed in lazy red robes that hung loosely off his shoulders, and despite the heat, he didn't seem to be perspiring at all. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be so focused on the steady flow of energy within his veins.

But then, all of a sudden, he felt the atmosphere around him grow strangely chilly and in the few seconds that followed, the lights from the candles began to flicker and die out one by one.

Levi slowly opened his eyes. Although he could feel the familiar aura that suddenly invaded his room, he remained calm.

A slow smile grew on his lips, then he muttered in a quiet voice.

"He's got some nerve, showing up on my doorstep."

He exhaled and, after a few more seconds, he pushed himself off the floor and slowly began walking out towards the entrance of the shelter.

Actually, it was great that his brother had decided to show up on his own. Cedric had managed to manifest a bond. So what?

He was still the lowly, powerless fool that had always been beneath his feet.

'Just like other lowly commoners who were lucky to manifest bonds, I'm sure that his bond is just trash too.' He thought.

"Tsk." He clicked his tongue as he finally emerged from the shelter.

However, in that moment, for a reason he couldn't name, he felt a cold shiver run down his spine. He halted and looked to his right.

Leaning with her arms crossed against the wall of the shelter opposite his was a familiar, beautiful woman. She was dressed in a midnight-black kimono and hakama. A round conical hat rested on her head, and she held a long smoke pipe in her hand.

She blew out an impossibly thick puff of smoke that added to the haze already surrounding her, shrouding her figure for a second and then, a sly grin appeared on her face.

When Levi saw her, he felt his heart stop for a moment. But what made him even more scared was the figure above her.

His eyes darted to the roof of the shelter that Aika was leaning on. Sitting on the edge and dangling a leg down lazily was a figure he couldn't recognize. The man was resting his chin on one hand, watching Levi with an air of bored indifference. He was dressed in the same black clothes as Aika, but a terrifying mask veiled his face. For some reason, when Levi tried to peer closer, he kept seeing the image of a skeleton's face flickering with green fire behind the mask.

'Wait… don't tell me…' Levi's thoughts began to race in a mix of confusion and disbelief.

The figure on the roof slowly straightened and then leapt down, landing on the ground with eerie grace. His hands reached for the mask, and as he pulled it away, Levi's eyes widened further.

'Br… brother? How? How can he already have a regalia when he just awakened a few months ago?'

He had barely thought that when an evil grin crossed Cedric's face. Slowly, Cedric extended his hands to the side like someone seeing a friend after a long time. Then, in the most disrespectful voice, he drawled, "Ah… there you are, my pitiful, arrogant brother."

Levi's calm demeanor faltered for a second, but then he quickly tried to regain his composure. An infuriated expression crossed his face and he clenched his fists.

When Cedric saw that, he tilted his head mockingly. "Eh? What's that ugly expression on your face? Didn't you miss me?"

Levi exhaled in an attempt to shove aside his fear, then he spat, "I see that you have grown bold."

Cedric pointed at him. "And I see that you've grown a lot more insolent."

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