Father Versus Son (Part 1)

Sol's blade remained slightly unsheathed as he faced his father, who was walking into the training grounds.

'This boy...' Reylin, Sol's father, thought to himself, 'Had it not have been for me, he would have sliced Uri's head clean off. His killing intent was so powerful that I saw it play out in real life as if it had already happened. How fearsome.' He thought to himself, slightly relieved but also a bit cautious.

"F-father! Look at what he has done! This fucker! He's punched me out of nowhere and stole my prize!" Etos screamed out of nowhere in an extra bitchy way.

At that moment, Reylin looked at Etos' state, and then he looked at Sol, who still had a serious look in his eyes.

"You were the one who let him get you down, and you dare complain? I didn't raise you to be a weakling." Reylin suddenly said in a cold tone, a heartless gaze behind his eyes.

Etos felt his heart skip a beat at that moment, "W-what?" His father had never spoken to him much, but he definitely had never spoken to him in an insulting way like this ever before.

"Reylin!" Uri, Sol's stepmother, suddenly yelled at that moment, "Do not speak to my child in that way--" She was cut off.

"Don't order me around... woman." Reylin's expression was stern and his eyes were fierce, halting any more words from exiting Uri's mouth.

Reylin then faced Sol, "Boy... how did you get this powerful? It's unexplainable. Tell me, or there will be consequences." His tone was calm and stoic.

"If I told you the truth, you wouldn't believe me anyway."

Reylin squinted his eyes, "Try me..."

"I'm an undying cursed magus who took over the life of your son. And now, I'll take over this planet too." Sol said with a straight face.

He had no problem with being truthful in this situation. He wasn't scared of the consequences.

In fact, he wanted those consequences to come, so he could challenge himself and also get rid of them early on.

His stepmother and stepsiblings looked at him as if he was a mental lunatic. Then again... they always looked at him like that anyway...

His father, however, didn't change his expression, "You're right. I don't believe you."

Sol quickly retorted, "I'm not usually wrong about things..." 

"Then how about this? We duel; a swordfight. If you win, I will completely believe you. I know it will be unfair, so I will not use any Ether Energy. It will only be the body that I have developed over the years, along with my sword skill." Reylin calmly proposed.

Sol's chin raised up, "I could hardly care less about a weakling like you believing me... but sure, I'll beat you up." His voice oozed with confidence.

Reylin scoffed inwardly. His heart began to beat for some reason... an excitement that he hadn't felt in years.

'He doesn't even see it as a duel, but an opportunity to beat me up. Is he really telling the truth?' Reylin thought to himself, skeptical, yet slightly nervous at the same time.

He had never in his entire life had a solid conversation with Sol that lasted more than 5 minutes, so he didn't know what the boy was like.

However, Reylin never cared for Sol either. That was... until this day.

Uri and her two children were ordered to stay on the sidelines by Reylin.

After they made it there, Reylin took out a wooden blade.

"Huh?" Sol exclaimed, "Don't disrespect me with that stick, fool. Unsheath your blade." He said in a serious tone.

Reylin breathed out through his nose, clenching his jaw as he threw the wooden sword to the side and grabbed the hilt of his blade.

A smirk appeared on Sol's face, "Finally... a real fight with the sword." His hand firmly grasped the hilt of his Flame Sword.

'How long has it been? Are my unmatched skills still just as strong as they were? I'm actually excited to find out...' He thought to himself with widened eyes.

"Yeah! Use a real sword and chop the arrogant bastard's head off!" Etos yelled at that moment, as Uri caressed the side of his face. It was still swollen up and red.

"Start," Reylin announced in a low tone, unsheathing his blade.

A fairly strong killing intent oozed out from his body.

'So he's not holding back huh? Good.' Sol thought to himself.

As his stepfamily cheered against him, he pushed an inch of his blade out using his thumb.

Just then, a frightening killing intent blasted out from his piercing eyes.

In that split second, the hairs on Reylin's arms erected straight as if a demon stood in front of him.

The man inhaled to calm himself, but he found his breath was shaky. He tried to grip his sword and firm his stance, but his muscles felt too tight and unrelaxed.

'Why?' Reylin thought to himself, 'Why does it feel like I'm facing a master!?'

Sol entered his Zone at that moment, as every micro-movement in his vision slowed down.

Each speck of dust that flew through the air became clear. His vision flowed with the wind and the natural elements as if he had become one with them.

Reylin grunted, placing his blade in front of him as he ran toward Sol.

Sol's calm expression threw Reylin off slightly. The boy didn't make a single movement, standing as still as a rock.

As Uri and the others held their breath, Reylin thrust his blade at Sol's neck.

*CLANG*

Sol's Flame Sword stopped the blow in the middle of the attack.

Reylin didn't give up, he was far stronger, so he attempted to drive through Sol's blade and continue his strike.

'Brute strength huh? In a sword fight, brute strength is not what determines the winner. It is brute power that does, and the greatest power comes in knowledge; It comes with technique.'

Sol said this to himself as he used the momentum of Reylin's blade and swiftly moved to the side, parrying the attack as Reylin stumbled forward slightly.

'The counter to all brute force in sword fighting is the art of parrying. The most powerful sword technique if used properly.'

Before Reylin could turn around, Sol approached him with a quick series of steps and slashed his sword across his father's back.