Solaris had a thought as he struck the wooden dummy: what if the reason he was able to beat the demon wasn't that he got lucky or he out-skilled her, what if it was something else entirely, what if it was something unnatural?
thinking back to when he would race Selen, he had somehow gotten much faster and was able to beat her after only a few tries, yet when he ran alone, he was much slower.
It wasn't obvious at first it fact, he had no real evidence to back it up, but he had a feeling that there was something he was missing, something he had, something special, and maybe the way it activates it by going up against another.
Be it combat or sports, maybe even an academic test, he wasn't sure, so now he was going to do a couple of experiments, the first would possibly be the most dangerous.
holding the blade, he focused on his opponent, his mentor, Ember. He focused on nothing but winning as he had before. Then he motioned for Ember to attack. With a bit of hesitancy, the man dashed at Solaris with devastating speed, yet Solaris matched the attack with a block, although just barely.
If Ember had not held back, then that attack would have been the end of Solaris.
After the attack was blocked, Ember quickly launched another, and another, and another.
only for them to be blocked over and over, yet this was no surprise, even though Ember was Solaris's teacher, he himself did not use a sword in combat, he mostly relied on his Extramicy and a different mark.
The shocking part of this duel, however, was only apparent to Solaris; it was an ever-so-slight change, almost barely noticeable at first. His body felt it, yet his mind almost couldn't comprehend it.
slitting his focus, he focused mostly on defence and then on the feeling, and after blocking many attacks, he finally realized what he was feeling.
That something was that he could block the attacks much easier now; in fact, every attack he blocked seemed to get easier, even just ever so slightly, it was still easier.
"Stop!"
As soon as he shouted, the constant onslaught came to an end.
The blade ember he was holding soon disappeared back under his skin, and a cigarette now occupied his hand. After taking a puff, he asked.
"You figure it out?"
His eyebrow raised as he side-eyed Solaris.
"Not yet, I need to run a few more tests before I can be sure."
Raising his blade once more, Ember did the same, yet this time Solaris was the one to attack.
Dashing forward, the silver blade made its way towards Ember, its shining edge reflected the sun as it grew closer to the man.
As it was about to hit him, the blade was soon knocked off course by the very same man.
Moving his foot, Solaris re-adjusted and brought the blade up, only for it to get blocked once again.
The fight, or rather the onslaught of attacks, raged on for a long while, and yet Solaris couldn't find the feeling, so he stopped his attack and decided to try something else.
The two found themselves once again facing each other in a spar, yet this time Solaris was going to attack and defend. By combining the two, he hoped to get a true grasp on this feeling.
The two stood face to face with only a few feet separating them. As soon as Selen shouted, however, this space between them disappeared.
Dashing at Ember Solaris kept his eyes fixated on the man's weapon, waiting to defend it, yet Ember did the same. Within a fraction of a second, the time in which the other could attack came to an end. Making a desperate decision, Solaris slid his foot, slowing him, as he did, the silver blade flashed through the air.
Yet instead of hitting the soft flesh of a human, the blade collided with another, causing a ringing of steel to echo through the air. With little time to think, Solaris pulled back the blade and launched a counterattack, only to be met with an equal attack from Ember. The two were interlocked in a mirrored combat; every attack was met with another attack.
The twos duel raged on the blades ringing through the air, both getting faster and faster.
The feeling raged on through Solaris's body, he felt every ounce of his minimal skill increasing his attacks were increasing in both speed and attack, soon the two's fight moved from locked combat and switched to more movement-heavy fighting.
The two dashed around the opening and collided over and over, seemingly equally matched, until the first attack that landed.
Solaris moved his blade into a thrust and, as he did, aimed for Ember's head, hoping to end this fight. For some reason, Solaris couldn't focus on the moral and ethical implications of killing his mentor; his mind only focused on winning, and in this situation, winning meant killing this opponent.
His blade flew through the air rapidly encroaching on Ember's head. Within the short time he had, his head moved nearly dodging the attack, but the blade still grazed his face, slicing his cheek open.
A drop of crimson liquid seeped out of the wound, sliding down his face and dropping onto the ground.
Before the drop even hit the grass below them, the area was already changing; the heat of the environment rapidly increased as though they were standing next to a sun. The once beautiful green grass shifted to a dark brown before disappearing below the ember. His body was now completely engulfed in luminous orange flames. The burning body had an expression hidden in the flames, one that Solaris immediately recognized.
It was rage.
As soon as this realization hit Solaris, his soul contorted, and only a few words escaped his lips.
"Why did this have to happen to me!"