The metallic clang of Chris and Leon's blood weapons echoes through the night in the hills behind Tama.
Not far away, Mia and Isabelle are training too.
Ren, Zaira, Yuzu, and Iris stayed home instead. It's Iris's twenty-fourth birthday, so they took the night off to celebrate.
Once training is over, Chris and the others are supposed to join them.
Ren did tell them to give him plenty of warning first, though.
He never said why, but he didn't have to. Chris already knew exactly why.
"You've gotten a lot better, Leon," Chris says as they trade blow after blow with their swords.
"Yeah, but it's still not enough! I need to get stronger. A lot stronger. If I want to avenge my parents, I have to!"
"If you keep this up, I'm sure you'll do it someday! But before you start thinking about beating your brother, you should focus on beating me first!"
With one sharp strike, Chris knocks Leon's rapier out of his hand.
