Silas observed the small exchange between his sister and mother. One glance at the spar and he knew where he was standing.
There was no place for him in this battle.
Each technique they deployed in the battle was supreme. Silas could only observe.
Despite the skill difference, he planned to win the battle. After all, he still wanted to succeed in his plan of getting rich.
But his goal of observing the battle was interpreted by his mother's kindness.
She swiftly dispatched Azaria with a soft blow and marched toward his direction at a lighting speed. Considering her Gift, this amount of speed was child play to her.
Silas braced for her attack, lifting his longsword and swung it. Elowen dodged the swing and skillfully sent her rapier inside the gap she found.
A sharp pain overwhelmed his body and mind as the sword landed into his stomach. She twisted sword. Silas grinned his teeth and grabbed her sword.
He despised pain but that doesn't mean he couldn't handle a few.
"Oh." Elowen was impressed by his attempt and let him grab her sword. She liked to see how far he pushed himself.
Silas smiled through the pain.
Hot. Hot. How can the small sword be this hot? Is it because it was moving fast? Or mana stuff? Damnit.
"Mom, I want to request something."
"Hump!" Elowen ignored her son and sliced through Silas's palm.
"Ah..!" Silas yelled in pain. But his mind was still planning for the next assault.
Azaria supported him by gathering mother's attention. She jumped between the two and punched at her.
Elowen was sent away by the blast.
Azaria smirked and turned back. She observed Silas's state and grinned devilishly.
"What are you doing? Looks like your skill has gone weak. This happens because I am not here. Geeze, do you miss your sister that much?"
Silas sighed. "No."
Elowen came again with the speed far surpassing the previous one.
"We need to end this quickly. We can't let her run wild." Silas said, ripping apart his clothes and warping tightly on his hand.
"I know. You got a plan?" Azaria asked.
Between the two siblings, Silas had always been the smart one. That was why she had to drag him to the training ground. Otherwise, he would just be in the study room wasting his talent.
Silas went silent and gave her a brief nod.
"I have a plan. But I need your gift for that." He said.
Elowen didn't attack and let her children form a plan to defeat her. She smiled and gathered mana toward her and used her Gift even more.
"Give me your ears for a second." Silas said.
Azaria nodded and bent toward her younger brother. Silas began his plan to her.
After a few seconds, she nodded.
"Can you do this?" He asked.
Azaria smacked his back and laughed. "I can. I can. Don't forget where I train."
Dark Forest. Silas nodded.
"Are you done?" Elowen asked casually. The wind around her got more intense than usual. Her Gift was similar to Azaria and yet different.
Silas nodded and smiled. "After this is over, I want you to listen to my request."
"I will see." Elowen smiled and took a stance.
Gifts were the manifestation of a person's innate superpower. No one knew why they manifested in the first place. Someone it was passed down genetically and while the others were random.
In the Viremont family, only two people had gifts. Elowen and Azaria.
It could be called a Bloodline gift since the two gifts were very similar to each other. Maybe they were the same.
Silas didn't know that much since the two used their gift very differently.
The gift of the wind. For Elowen, it was a graceful art, guiding the wind to her bidding.
While Azaria chained the wind and ordered them.
Elowen was the first to initiate the fight. She made the wind push her body and arrived in front of her daughter. She swung her rapier, trying to make a light cut on her daughter.
Azaria didn't evade her sword and blocked it with her arm. It sliced through her arm with ease. Azaria smiled and immediately threw a quick punch with her other hand.
The two winds canceled each other and Elowen was sent away by Azaria's physical strength.
Her internal organs were shocked. She ignored those things and marched forward again.
Azaria didn't block her attack and stood tall, her hands moving around. Elowen noticed the change in wind.
She had two choices, guard or assault. Obviously, she chose to attack. She was the daughter of a Proud knight. The wife of a great husband and the mother of wonderful children.
She didn't know the reason to back down.
Silas smiled. He had anticipated her to do that. After all, where did Azaria inherited her hot-blooded nature?
The two women brought her gift to the max.
Elowen used the wind to push herself near Azaria. While the tanned woman was using the wind to attack.
Wind powered body faced with the wind.
If someone asked Silas a question about which one is stronger between the two, he would choose the wind without a pause.
After all, no human could win against nature.
But Elowen was different. She was the more experienced user of the gift than her daughter. She didn't take the role of a fighter but she was strong.
So the chance of her reaching toward Azaria before the wind came to her was certain.
Silas could not let this happen. So he jumped in. Throwing the small knife he picked up.
It was a failed attempt but nevertheless, it did its job.
It delayed her for a brief second.
That was enough. After all, Azaria was also strong.
The wind descended upon Elowen, crushing her to the ground.The concrete underneath her cracked, sending shockwaves across the training ground.
"Now." Azaria yelled.
Silas jumped forward as his sister opened up a small path for him. A narrow path. The goal was to stop his mother from escaping the wind pressure.
That was the plan. A simple and yet perfect plan.
As soon as Silas got closer to Elowen, he felt pressure assaulting him. He didn't have a Gift like them.
He couldn't use mana that well. The only thing he got was his physical strength. To be honest, he didn't expect that he would have that much physical power.
But after giving a few thoughts, it made sense. No matter how much inferiority previous Silas felt toward his sister, he still wanted to catch up.
He pushed through the pressure and arrived. He quickly placed the longsword beside her neck and crouched down, pinning her with his knees.
"Mom, I have a small request."
Elowen looked at her son from the corner of her eyes and let out a sigh. "Ger off me."
"Huh?" Silas asked, not hearing the mutter.
Suddenly he was blasted away from his mother. He landed on his back and felt an immense amount of pain. He groaned and sat up, looking at the longsword on the ground.
He then observed the training ground and let out a small chuckle. The winner was Elowen.
She stood tall amidst the dust, pointing her rapier to Azaria. She then gave a glance at Silas and withdrew her sword.
"I will give a pass for effort." Elowen muttered with a soft smile. She then tapped the ring on her right finger, sending a signal to the maids.
Soon they all came and tended their wounds.
Silas sat on the ground letting a young maid healed his wounds. She used healing magic on his stomach which was pierced by a rapier.
As for the rest, she applied medicine and warped it with a healing bandage.
After it was done, he dismissed the young maid and got up. He looked at Azaria who was chatting with his mother. Looks like she was asking about her martial technique.
Silas sighed and walked toward them, dragging his heavy body. He had gone used to the numbing pain on his hand which he used to grab the rapier.
He caught a glimpse of their conversation and coughed. After getting his mother's attention, he beamed.
"Mom, I have a small request."
Elowen eyed her son and said. "State your request. I will see if I can satisfy your request."
Azaria walked toward him and hugged him tightly. Silas felt his back break into pieces.
He tapped her. "Let's go. Gezzz you are too strong, sis."
"No, you are just too weak." Azaria replied.
Silas ignored her and looked at his mother. "I want to travel. More specifically, I want to take a look at our state."
Elowen lifted up her chin and glanced at Silas. "Any reason for that sudden adventure."
Silas scratched his head and said in a embarrassed tone. "I just want to cool my head. Lately, I have some unknown pressure ok my back and find myself loss in thoughts. My training motivation also dropped to zero. So maybe a change in scenery will move my heart."
Elowen listened her son and nodded. "Okay then, I will permit. I can see the change in you. Your sword skill dropped significantly."
To that, Silas just smiled shamelessly, pointing his mood as a victim.
Elowen turned around with a dozen of maids following behind her. Before she left the training ground, she glanced at Silas and said.
"I will prepare everything for you. Just wait for a few days and wait for me."
Silas smiled and bowed toward her with a graceful feature.
"45." Elowen spoke.
Silas tilted his head in confusion.
"45 points. For your courtly bearing."
Silas smiled. "That is plentiful."
Azaria smirked and smacked his head in the back.
"What is that for?" Silas yelled, rubbing his head.
"Nothing. You got a lot of passion in you." Azaria said. "Anyway, do you know why I come here."
Silas shook his head. "I don't know. You didn't answer."
Azaria tried to smack him again but Silas dodged and slapped away her hand.
"Oh, my bad. I got a birthday present for you." She grinned devilishly.