Celes

"I thought you weren't going to come home anytime soon. Didn't your business just get started?" 

Jonathon should not have come home this fast. The city he was running his pill shop in was a 3-day journey by carriage. 

"I wanted to surprise you. Too bad you beat me to it." he said with a smirk. 

"Heh. You never managed to get on over me." He would never beat me in the little game we played.

Each time we successfully surprised or fooled the other, we would owe them a small favor. 

"Don't get too cocky. I will beat you one day, I already have something planned." 

Why did he drop a hint like that?

"Why would you tell me that? I always tell you to say nothing if you have a plan. This is why you lose." I scolded him. 

"I don't really care if I lose. It's not like you ever used the favors. How many of them do you even have now?'" 

Over the years, we had lost count. We played the game for amusement only. 

"How about I start using them now?" I suggested. Jonathon is a confident, smart, and brave person. He had started his own business without much funding from the family. 

He had already been growing to a great degree. His potential was too high to be overlooked. 

"Oh? I wouldn't mind. As long they are small." he sai smiling. This was the first time his older brother had asked for a favor. 

This was surely interesting to him. I was definitely stoking his sinner pride. That didn't matter as he wouldn't let it get to his head. 

"About that orphanage you sponsor...."

...

...

...

Move mana to my left leg. Use it for a burst of speed and dodge left. 

Move mana to my right leg and right arm. Plant my foot and swing. 

I missed. He is fast. Only half my mana left. Send mana to my left foot and dodge again. 

His swinging speed is high. I am barely dodging. My rhythm is off. 

Take two steps back and guard. 

Clang!

The blades collided. His brute strength is also high.

This is an opponent that is better than me in every way. Change of plans. 

Move forward. Pause and move back 3 steps. Channel 25% of my mana in my legs.

Run around the outskirts of the arena. Observe his reaction. 

No reaction. The opponent is calm. he is charging his sword while observing me in return.

This battle is not winnable. Try my best. 

Pssh! Pssh!

I kick up dust in order to lower visibility. I can't see my opponent but he would not move. 

I approached from behind and swung my sword down, filling it with all my remaining mana. 

Thud! 

The noise is dull. He caught my blade. 

He swung his empty hand which had been enclosed into a fist. It made contact with my abdomen. 

"GAH!" I screamed. This was not a reflex I could control. I was flung to the other side of the empty field. 

I slid across the ground for a couple of feet. and grunted in pain. I lay there in silence. 

I could feel the blood dripping down my mouth. My stomach was throbbing i pian. It was a burning experience. I couldn't breathe as my diaphragm couldn't move. 

This sensation was very novel. This pain, the inability to fight back, this wasn't something I had faced before. 

After a couple of seconds, my muscles could finally withstand the pain. They started to move again, allowing my lungs to take in air. 

This sense of relief after a cacophony of pain, I don't mind feeling it again. 

"Drink this." I heard the man say. I opened my eyes. 

He was tall with a fairly muscular physique. Black hair and green eyes. The lively and handsome face of middle-aged man. Ryan's father, Zayden Vornix.

He put a glass bottle next to me and walked away. The bottle was thin at the top and became fat at the bottom. It was a potion. 

A healing potion since the liquid is green. 

I wasn't in the condition to get up on my own yet. I would lay here until I felt good enough to do so. 

I wish Ryan was here. Whenever I came back from battle tired or injured, he would feed me the potions. 

My heart would always beat faster. My throat would feel like something was stuck in it. It was a strange feeling. One that didn't hurt. 

A feeling that I didn't have to reject as it gave me joy. Joyous feelings were rare. I would always savor those moments. 

"Huu...huu." I took deep breaths. My legs and arms no longer felt as heavy. 

Maybe remembering such moments helped with recovery. I sat up with the support of my arms.

Grabbed the potion, took off the cap, and chugged it in one gulp. 

"Ugh!" I scowled in distaste. It was kale flavored. Where does his father get these? Ryan always shad cherry or grape flavored potions. 

When I asked him why he chose those flavors, he said they reminded him of some cold medicine he used to take. 

"I should ask him for some." I mumbled. Surely he must have had a source for such delicious potions. 

He used to give me them in dozens. 

I had been drinking these horrible ones for the past 4 days. 3 times a day, after breakfast lunch, and dinner. 

I would spar with Ryan's father and he would leave me injured ina different way every time. 

And every time, to recover, he gave me these potions. 

I swear, if I have to eat this disgusting shit one more time, I would stab that man while he slept. 

The pain in my abdomen from the punch and heaviness in my limbs from overuse of mana was gone.

As always, the potions did their job quickly. The potions were the main reason I could fight for an entire day during the war. I should really show Ryan more gratitude. 

These weren't cheap. 

"It's almost lunch time!" said an unfamiliar voice. A young man approached me. 

Black hair, green eyes, tall and robust stature, masculine face similar to the man who just left. 

"Jonathon?" I questioned. 

"Ohho, it seems brother has talked about me." he said with a grin. His expression reminded me of those cunning, scheming, no-good nobles from school. 

Ryan did say his brother's brain is as good as his. Jonathon prefers to use his brain to make money while Ryan uses it for whatever he feels like using it for. 

"He said your favorite thing to do is make money." I let him go straight. That's really all Ryan said about the guy. 

"Hahaha. He is right about that. Others don't need to know more than that." he laughed. I don't know what he means by that. 

There was probably some hidden meaning there. Sadly, my brain wasn't useful for anything except fight, eating, and sleeping. I can't understand stuff like that. 

"Did you come to only tell me about lunch?" Even though I wasn't that smart, my senses are top-notch. 

My senses told me this guy was up to something. 

"You have good senses. I wouldn't waste my time like this if it wants a favor." he says. 

He reaches out into the air with both hands and pulls out a chest. 

Damn you rich people and your spatial storage artifacts!

I always wanted one.

They would have been so convenient during fights. I could just pull out a potion on the field and chug it.

Or I could carry around hot meals and eat them whenever. 

I could carry a whole tent and ped inside. Sleeping in the wild would be so much easier. 

"A gift from my brother. He said you would go berserk without these." he said while putting the chest on the ground. 

"What is in there?" I asked. 

'Open it and see for yourself."

I was confused about what could be in there. What did he mean by go berserk?

The chest was white with golden leaf patterns and red chem in the center. It looked pretty good. I could some of my extra clothes in here. 

I opened the chest and what was inside made my heart stop. 

Dozens of potion bottles were stacked neatly inside. They came in purple and red variants. 

These were the same potions that he fed me. 

"Rejoice. These are my personal creations. They are slightly weaker than normal tier 3 healing potions but are vastly superior in taste." 

I looked at Jonathon who had a proud look on him. He looked at me like a dog asking for praise. 

I didn't have any for him. 

"Did you send these to your brother often?" I asked. 

He seemed displeased that I didn't praise his genius alchemy. Still, he would answer my question. 

"Yeah. I owed him since the flavored stuff was his idea. I also make quite a lot because of this. So many people hate the nasty stuff most alchemists make." 

He shook his head in disappointment as if other alchemists could do what he did. 

Regardless, I wasn't expecting the idea to be his. He never told me that. 

Wait a minute... didn't I...

"When did he give you the idea?" I asked, trying to sound as curious as possible. I could sense that he liked answering things. 

"It was a month after the war started. He told me 

A month after the sect war started? I remember now. That was around the time I started to complain. 

Every time he fed me the nasty potions, I would curse at him for hours. It was soon after that he brought out the fruity stuff. 

Does that mean he...made these for me?

My heart started to beat faster. My throat was closing up and I was feeling warmer. This strange joyous feeling was oddly suffocating. 

It is oddly satisfying yet I want to run away from it.

I hope I don't get addicted to it. 

I wonder if smacking him with my sword would help.