Beginning

"Your name will be Kei." a silver haired woman with scarlet eyes said with a wide smile. "Kei Scarlet, my child who will be blessed in this world."

"You seem especially excited for this one, Dianne." a man with grayish-black hair and brown eyes said with a chuckle. "This will be our third child."

Dianne had a soft gaze on the baby in her hands.

"I have a feeling our third child will be special. We've only had daughters after all." Dianne said. "Don't you think so too, Noah?"

"I think so too, this time it's a boy. That means I can raise him as my own. Haha!" Noah chuckled. "Hopefully he's able to get along with his two older sisters."

"That's true. Our daughters are a bit…" Dianne looked up at Noah. "...special. Their overwhelming talent and energy. I hope our little boy can keep up with them."

"Mother!"

"Mom!"

Speaking of the devil, two little girls excitedly ran towards the bed and tried climbing on top to get a better view of the baby on their bed. However, their father stopped them.

"Girls, calm down. Your mother is still tired and your little brother is sleeping. What if he wakes up? He's going to hate you." Noah said playfully."

"Noooo! That can't happen! I'm going to be his favorite sister!"

"Too bad! I'm already his little sister! Look!"

The shorter girl pointed at the baby who just woke up. Kei was staring at her with his scarlet red eyes. There was a few seconds of silence before the room was filled with a baby's wailing.

"Girls…"

Days, months, and years have passed. Kei slowly learned to walk and learn their language. He was keeping up with his sisters just fine, but his parents could see that there was a talent gap between Kei and his sisters. There was also a personality difference between them. Nonetheless, Noah and Dianne adored Kei.

Kei was now six years old while his two sisters were three years older than him. If it weren't for Yeon to have inherited a few dark strips of hair from their father, it was hard to discern who was who.

"Kei! Kei! Let's play!" Yeon enthusiastically yelled. "Let's go to the training grounds!"

"Yeon, he doesn't want to play with you. He would rather come with me."

"Kasha! He would rather come with me!"

"Girls, why don't you ask Kei what he wants to do instead?" Dianne suggested. There was a look of helplessness on her face.

Kei stood there, no matter what choice was made, he was bound to shatter their dreams, and hopes.

"I don't want to do any-" before Kei could finish his sentence, he felt a menacing glare, and chills down his spine. "I mean uh, let's play together!"

"Yay!"

"Let's go!"

Dianne watched as Kei was dragged by his older sisters before sighing.

"Who would've known that Kei's personality would be so different from his sisters."

"True, it was surprising. Yeon and Kasha both are extremely energetic, but considering their bodies are filled with an incredible amount of mana."

"But Kei also has an incredible amount of Mana, though he's a bit more reserved."

"Haha, but isn't that a good thing?" Noah said. "Remember how tiring it was raising them?"

Memories of the two girls running through the mansion and "accidentally" breaking things as well as causing chaos in the city.

"That's right, Kei was definitely a bit easier to raise." Dianne said with a smile as she watched her three children play.

—

*pant* *pant*

I sat down on the bench tiredly as I watched my sisters "play." Our family's well known swordsmanship technique being performed against each other, it was like a never ending fight. They had the biggest smiles as if they were battle maniacs, constantly countering each other as if they could see the future.

"Kei! Enough resting! Come fight with us!" Yeon yelled.

I smiled helplessly knowing I wouldn't be able to get out of this one.

"Alright! One more battle with you both and I'm done!"

"Okay!"

Picking up my wooden sword, I walked towards Yeon who had a grin on her face.

"What are you smiling about?" I asked. "I'm going to wipe that grin off your face when I beat you."

"Keep dreaming little brother."

"Then let's play!"

Kei's sword clashed with Yeon's. It was clear that Yeon was superior in strength since she trained more than Kei. But if there was one thing Kei was better than her in, it was seeing and speed. The ability to swiftly move and calculate which action is better.

Kei quickly parried away Yeon's sword and sent a sweeping kick at her feet. But as if Yeon could see the future, she easily jumped back as if she knew that was going to happen.

"If that's all you got, then keep dreaming of surpassing me. Everything you've done, I've already done!"

Yeon swiftly dashed towards Kei in a zig-zag pattern. Her slim and slender body allowed her to move quickly.

A fast yet strong slice from above, Kei quickly blocked it using the flat side of his blade. He gritted his teeth with a single thought crossing his mind.

'Will I never be able to surpass her?'

Yeon saw the opening Kei gave, even if it was for a second, she was able to grasp the opportunity and successfully send Kei into a tree with a strong kick.

"Yeon!" Kasha yelled. "I told you to take it easy!"

Yeon waved her off.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine. It might hurt a bit, but he deserved it for losing focus in a battle."

I groaned at the sharp pain of my back. That shit hurt like hell, what did I even do? Did I anger her or something? There was a small footprint of dirt on my shirt too. Why the hell did she kick me so hard?

"Are you okay?"

I looked up and saw that it was Kasha.

"It hurts a bit but don't worry, I'll be fine."

"I see, that's good. Here's some advice, never lose focus in a battle." Kasha said before walking away.

Was that what it was? A split second of an unnecessary thought was able for her to have the advantage. As I thought, she was something beyond a genius.

"Kei!"

I looked over to my mother who was waving to me.

"Your father is looking for you! He's in his office right now, you can just walk right in."

I gave her a thumbs up.

"Got it!"

As I stood up, I saw Yeon and Kasha fighting each other again. I let out a small laugh, when they grow older, they're definitely going to be battle maniacs.

I walked through the mansion that was decorated with paintings of people that were said to be my ancestors. They were praised for their swordsmanship. It was said that no such human would ever be able to surpass them. Their overwhelming mana, swordsmanship, and their ability to use magic.

And then I was now in front of the large door that led to the entrance of my father's office. I pushed it open and walked into the office. Countless books surrounded me as well as paintings.

"Father, I heard you called for me."

"I have something to tell you."

I could tell there it was something serious, his tone of voice was serious, and his eyebrows were mushed together.

"What is it?"

"It's time for you to take swordsmanship and magic seriously."

I looked at him confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"I know about your isolated training, your dedication to surpass your sisters. But what you don't realize is that you could achieve more, so stop being content with how things are. So for that reason, I'm going to be sending you three to the best academy in the world. Where the geniuses of the other four families will attend."

"WHAT?!"