Physical Training

Val sighed a few times that he missed telling his older brothers that he saw their ancestor's death. He shook his head and decided to tell them when it was time. There are still some questions he has and he wished he could be able to talk to him again.

After a few weeks of strict rest, Valens was getting frustrated and barged into Ember's room. He opened the door with a bang, and said, "Brother, when will I start to train?!", he shouted loudly, fuming from frustration. He was itchy to get some training, he felt like his body was becoming more flimsy.

Ember looked up at him, while sitting on the sofa, sipping on the tea, and put it down. He said coolly with an evil smirk, "Oh baby brother if you don't secretly train your second ability, we will officially train."

Val flinched and avoided Ember's direct gaze. Ember squinted his eyes as if he knew that Val had really tried to secretly train without proper guidance. He sighed and shook his head, giving up how strong-willed but sneaky their youngest is.

He sighed and crossed his arms, and said "We will start to train tonight, but!", he raised his forefinger pointing upwards, he continued, "We will not do it here.", is all that Ember said, and crossed his legs, sipping again the tea.

Val whipped his head and got excited when he heard it. "Okay!" then he turned around, closed the door with a bang and loud footsteps could be heard while running.

Ember flinched when the door banged shut, but decided to let it be.

He gazed at the tea in the cup, while saying to no one, "We will see how our youngest will fare with the physical training", a glint in his eyes can be seen, as if evilly plotting something for the training tonight.

Once Ember and Val are done with dinner, they go straight to get their cloaks. Ember's cloak is just a simple plain black cloak, with a small gold pin that indicates he is an Aurum user. It was only up to the waist, and with his chained earring on. He fixed his hair in a bun, with some strands of hair still dangling around his face. Val was also wearing similar to Ember, but without a pin, which is the license for being an Aurum user. Val's hair is a bit longer than Ember, so he had to tie his hair a bit higher in a ponytail.

Once Ember was done, he shouted, "C'mon Val!", with an answer of "Coming" could be heard from afar. He decided to wait for Val inside the car, and when Val arrived and went in, they decided to go to the training site Ember instructed the driver.

When they arrived, they were in front of a very tall building, with around 25 floors, it is the military headquarters of Clareo. Val noticed that Ember was too quiet when they arrived, he wanted to ask him but was hesitant, so he decided to observe first. Ember walked out of the car first, his hands inside his pockets, and had a cold gaze that somehow says 'don't talk to me' kind of face. He walked straight into the entrance, with Val behind him, and was greeted by two guards saluting Ember.

Val glanced at Ember but given that he had no expression, he also decided to put up a resting bitch face. He closed his eyes like it was his first time to do it, but then, the result came out different: a cold glint on his face can be seen like he was going to kill someone right then and there. When Ember passed the two guards, they shuddered when they met Val's eyes.

The two guards were stuttering, trying to say that he can't come in, but were interrupted by Ember without looking back and said, "That's my youngest brother." He looked sideways and saw the face Val had put up in front. He smirked and faced the front again, walking away while saying, "Let him in."

The two scared guards were sweating profusely and kept on saying "We apologize! Of course, of course", while Val followed Ember behind.

They walked silently, both with cold glaring eyes, with Val behind him. After a left turn, at the end of the hallway, Ember stopped in front of a metal door that says 'TO BASEMENT', he removed one of his hands from his pants pocket and put one of his hands on the biometrics which is just beside the entrance.

The door swooshed open and an elevator can be seen. They entered and Ember pressed the B5 and the elevator door was closed. While inside, Ember said, "You really had to scare those poor guards away.", he chuckled looking sideways at Val. Val was slightly red in embarrassment and said, "I was trying to you know, had this poker face, but didn't know that it would turn out different."

"Pffft! Ahahahaha! Well, it's fine. It's for the better."

Val didn't answer but instead said, "So, I guess it's fine if I put up with this face eh?". This time, it was Ember who snorted and said, "Suit yourself brother.", and gently patted his head. It was around this time that the elevator door opened and walked out.

The elevator was located in the hallway, and so Ember make a left, some rights, and then a very big metal door, to a height of 3.5 meters, can be seen.

Val was shocked and whistled, he also noticed a biometrics scanner beside the entrance, and Ember did the same thing. As soon as the door swooshed open, his eyes widened in surprise.

Inside were a few people, there were tons of big screen monitors, while these people were busy doing their work. Then, a man greeted them, he was wearing a lab coat, with spectacles, and Val could feel that he has seen him somewhere.

Ember glanced at Val, and leaned sideways, telling him in a whisper, "That's Dr. Lewis, the best doctor in Clareo, and he's our family doctor." Val just mouthed an expression with an 'o', and kept his cold appearance.

Dr. Lewis stopped in front of the two, glancing between him and Ember, which made them both raise one of their eyebrows, tilting their heads to the same side, syncing perfectly.

Dr. Lewis just can't help but ask how they are in sync with their reactions, and said, "You sure you both are not twins and just elder and younger brothers?"

Everyone who heard it suddenly went quiet, some choked at the coffee they were drinking but also sweatdropped by how scary the question was thrown at those two.

Ember broke the silence and snorted, he replied, "You're thinking too much, doctor. C'mon. Show my younger brother here the training room, we'll train here tonight."

The doctor didn't dig deep into it, and swiftly turned around without wasting any more time, he simply said, "Follow me both."

When the three were out of earshot, everyone was sighing in relief. They couldn't help but walk on eggshells when the Bellator brothers are around. Just the eldest alone, he is giving them always a death glare, although, for Exeo, that is just how his normal facial expression. But to others, they couldn't wrap their heads around the 'normal' when it comes to a Bellator. In hush voices, one of the workers said, "You heard them right, they are going to train here. We can sneak in to watch.", and so, an audience was gathered in the training room.

The training room was totally big, like a jet hangar from a military, and built with high ceilings. The walls were built thick too, this is to prevent shaking of the building. This was specially made for Aurum users to train. This way, it would not shake too much when they're training. Although it can be felt, it's just minimal, much like a vibration only.

And so, the audience, some Aurum users, which had heard about the Bellators going to train, decided to watch, while some were workers who were in a glass window room. This room was located at the top, this way, whenever Aurum users unleash their abilities, it will not easily hurt the people who were watching or spectating.

The two are wearing black training suits, a black compressor shirt, and fitted pants, which really show how fit their builds are, and are currently having a conversation, which none of the audience could hear.

All of a sudden, both jumped away, in a fighting stance, seeing that Ember motioned with his hand to have Val start it.

Val rushed forward and jumped to kick Ember on his left side, but Ember saw it and blocked the kick with both his hands. Val jumped away and attacked again but this time, he tried to do a feint, he faked swinging his left, and in a split second, he kicked Ember's right side with his right foot, pushing Ember back a few steps away with his feet on the ground.

Some of the people at the top whistled at the combat prowess of the new Bellator. One of them said, "Seems like it's in their blood to have combat prowess."

Ember kept on a barrage of fist attacks and feint attacks on Val, which made Val being slowly pushed back. When Val tries to kick him, Ember would easily blocks it, either by twisting his whole body and then kicking him, forcing him to block with both his arms.

'Urk! Such heavy attacks!', as Val thought while blocking some of Ember's attacks while landing some hits on him.

This continued for several minutes and soon stopped. Some of the people were wondering why they stopped, seeing that both of them were wiping their sweat.

Then, Ember walked to where the weapons are and motioned for Val to come over.

So, Val, who couldn't decide what to take, decided to take the sword which made the eyes of the spectators filled with curiosity as to how the youngest Bellator would fair.

Val only picked up the sword on a whim, but he also considered some reasons. One, he is not adept yet with close combat, and two, he needed his body to adjust first. He also noticed that Ember is an expert in close combat. When he kicked Ember's right side earlier, he noticed that Ember's left hand managed to block his kick.

Although the block was not enough which made Ember being pushed back a bit, his feet were still on the ground.

This is why, he is wary of Ember, and wanted to distance himself. He is also training his eyes with the fast punches and kicks Ember is throwing at him.

And so, the training has resumed. Val wielded the sword with his hand as if it was an extension of his body, steadying his foothold. Again, Ember had motioned for him to attack and so he did. Although Ember's weapon of choice is also a sword, and so with every swing of the sword by Val, he would be able to manage to block it.

Although he was able to manage to block the attacks from all sides, the sword would vibrate. Val's sword attacks are heavy, it makes one be deceived that the attack was light but was not. Ember couldn't find an opening to disrupt Val's barrage of attacks but still, he tried to disrupt it by doing a feint right swing of his sword after he managed to block the attack from his left side.

However, he was shocked when Val saw through it, he could see the smirk on Val's face and quickly backed away.

Ember was dazed momentarily but soon calmed himself down, and shouted, "You little prick!", which made Val laugh out loud, shrugged, and said, "I learn from the best." he smirked.

Ember shook his head, chuckled lightly, and sighed. "Exeo would be having a field day when he knows this."

Val slowly walked over and said, "Well, they are also having a field day.", pointing at the people.

"It is what it is. Let's have a chat with the doctor here." He looked up and motioned for the doctor to come down. When the doctor was on his way to the two and was out of earshot, the people inside, especially the Aurum users were surprised.

One of them sighed and soon decided not to watch anymore, much more like it's depressing to watch how those two are monsters when combat. He sighed and said lowly, "These monsters..." and soon walked away.

Val had left a deep impression on these people which he didn't know.

One of the Aurum users added, "Well, they wouldn't be a Bellator if they are not good in combat. I wonder, how would we fare against them in 1on1?", he just asked as if he didn't expect an answer.

The impact the two redheads left on the other Aurum users made them more determined to train harder and deserved to be recognized, at least.

During the commotion above, a discussion is also ongoing between the two redheads and the doctor below.

The doctor asked, without beating around the bush, "Are you still secretly training your second ability by yourself?", his emotionless eyes under those glasses are staring directly at Val, which made him flinch. He avoided his eyes and answered timidly, "Y-yes, but not the same as before.", Ember chuckled lightly at how Val is being honest.

The doctor just nodded and proposed a plan, that he will have physical training for 6 months to make his body ready. After that, they will try to practice awakening and manifesting the second ability. The two redheads agreed to it and so the training resumed until the sun is up.

Once they were done with the training and were already out of the basement, they were greeted by workers already going to start their shifts.

As usual, both had remained their cold expression, and some would avoid their gazes. Once they were out of the building, a car was already waiting for them, and soon decided to go home.