You’re weak…

 Now that he thought about it, this person had the same hair and eye colour with Liam, except that his were a lot sharper and attractive.

 'Could this really… be the same Liam?' He wondered, taking a second look at the person standing before him.

 "Just leave him alone Liam…" As if to confirm his thoughts, Emma called his name once again, gently tugging on the hem of his shirt.

 Though she appreciated Liam standing up for her, she knew he was still no match for Rex, especially since he didn't have a blessing. 

 "No." But Liam didn't listen to her, gently brushing her hand off his shirt. "He needs to be put in his place."

 'Liam…' Emma thought, her eyes flashing with admiration as she stared at him.

 Although Liam didn't have a blessing, so he was supposed to be helpless against Rex, something about his voice strongly moved her heart. 

 For some reason, she couldn't just imagine Liam losing against her brother.

 To some, it might seen as a dumb thought process… but each time she glanced at his back, her confidence in him kept growing even further.

 Meanwhile, Rex's eyes widened as he gazed at Liam, shocked by the arrogant words coming out of his mouth. 

 'Me…? P-put in my place?' Rex thought, his brows twitching in annoyance.

 To make things worse, it was coming from someone like Liam, who was far weaker than him.

 He could still remember how much he bullied him, made fun of him in front of the whole class… all for the sake of having fun. 

 The fact that it was that same Liam that was talking back to him like this… was very annoying. 

 "How… dare you?" He said, gritting his teeth in anger. "Do you realise who you're taking to… Liam?"

 "I do, more than you think." Liam replied, his lips curling into a slight smirk.

 "Seems like that last hit damaged not just your body, but your brain also." He said, scoffing under his breath.

 "But don't worry, I'll remind you." He continued, slowly creating distance between he and Liam.

 He swiftly raised up his right hand, showing off the back of his palm.

 A couple of thin, white lines immediately lit up around his wrist, coiling up in a strange formation until they reached the tip of his fingers.

Swish!

 Suddenly, the rune formation lit up with a bright white light, and tiny specks of light started appearing around his hands.

 "Activate Blessing." He said. 

Swish!

 Like magnet to iron, the light particles rapidly drew towards his hand, forming a thick, radiant glove which clung nicely to his palm.

 "Hehe…" Rex chuckled, clenching and unclenching his fist with pride.

 "Can you see it now… the difference between us?" He said, a smug smirk tugging at the edges of his lips.

 Liam's eyes narrowed slightly, however, he didn't say anything.

 The sight of the light gloves on Rex's hand brought back many memories… but no single one of them were good ones.

 'Beg him… quickly… or he'll make you feel pain… so much… I don't want that… I don't want that…' The voice of the old Liam kept echoing in the back of his mind, accompanied by a cascade of horrible memories.

 'Just shut up coward… how annoying.' Liam thought, his face squeezing into an annoyed frown.

 He hated that fear of Rex that still existed deep within his heart, formed after about six years of endless bullying and abuse.

 However, there was only one way to fix it, and that was by attacking it right at the source!

 "Is that it… how pathetic." He said, scoffing at Rex.

 The red haired boy's eyes widened, his body trembling uncontrollably in anger.

 "How dare you…" He mumbled, clenching his teeth against each other.

 "Talk to me like that?!" He exploded, thrusting his right hand towards Liam's head. 

 However, as the punch was about to hit, Liam swiftly moved to the side, causing Rex's fist to fly past him.

 Rex gasped, taken aback by how easily Liam dodged his attack.

 'He's fast!' He thought, pondering within himself whether this was really the same Liam he knew.

 But unfortunately for him, Liam didn't waste any time before responding with a punch of his own, launching it directly at his abdomen.

 "Ackg!" Rex grunted as Liam's fist drilled into his abdomen, the force behind the punch hurtling his body through the air.

 His body bounced repeatedly on the ground, crashing into the wall at the other end of the hallway.

 "Agh…" Rex groaned in agony, tasting a familiar metallic liquid in his mouth.

 Blood suddenly sprayed out of his mouth, dyeing his cloth with its thick, crimson colour.

 "Damn it…" He mumbled, fighting back the urge to puke out blood once more. 'How… did he get this strong?'

 He shook his head, trying to shake off the pain coursing through his torso, before slowly rising back on his feet.

 "You… only got lucky." He mumbled, his face twisting into a deep frown.

Swish!

 Another glove of light swiftly materialised around his other hand, shining even brighter than the former.

 "Don't think this is over!" He shouted, charging towards Liam once more.

 He swiftly sent out another punch towards Liam's chest, but the latter simply moved back, escaping the attack once again.

 Annoyed, Rex kept sending punches after punches, but Liam easily evaded all of them.

 'I can't hit him… why can't I hit him?!' He thought, his frustration rapidly building up with each strike.

 Though he was a Silvagold, his blessing was only a rare-ranked, so it wasn't very powerful compared to Emma's legendary blessing.

 It was why he was looked down on my his father, and even the academy, though barely anyone dared say it to his face.

 To his father, he wasn't even worthy of carrying the blood of Silvagold. 

 Throughout his life, his father acted like he didn't even exist, only focusing on his younger twin.

 The reason he always abused his power in the academy, and why he bullied so many people… was to attract his father's attention, and prove that he wasn't as useless as people say!

 However, seeing someone who had always been weaker than him dodge his punches like they were nothing really hit him right where it mattered.

 "D-don't think too high about yourself, I'll just go all out!" He shouted, the light gloves around his hands suddenly increasing in intensity.

 "Light Blast!" He shouted, swiftly thrusting his hand towards Liam.

Swish!

 A thin ray of light immediately bursted out of his palm, hurtling towards Liam at rapid speed.

 Since they were so close to each other, the attack slammed into Liam within a split second, going off in a small explosion of light.

 Emma gasped, her eyes widened in horror as she stared at the cloud of smoke surrounding Liam.

 'N-no… L-Liam… I should have intervened… w-why didn't I stop him?' She mumbled inwardly, her face frozen in a grimace of horror.

 "Hahaha!" Rex chuckle jolted her out of her thoughts, and her lips quivered, but no words came out.

 "That serves you right, fool." The boy said, his lips curling into a smug smirk.

 "Is that all?" Liam's voice suddenly sounded from the cloud of smoke, causing Rex to freeze in shock.

 "You're weak… even more than I expected." He coldly said, his words driving through the boy's heart like a spear.

 "L-Liam…?" Emma muttered, her breath hitched in shock.

 The smoke slowly cleared away, revealing the figure of Liam, standing tall without a scratch.