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Chapter 9 - Chapter 9 : Stand Before Me

The air was still. Silent. 

A gentle wind swayed the wild grass as Rei's eyes fluttered open, the last light of dusk shimmering against the distant cliffs. His limbs ached, his body felt like stone, but the storm in his heart hadn't settled. Not yet.

He rose slightly, still lying in Kirozan's arms.

The old warrior didn't look at him just stared into the horizon, as if reading the future etched in the sky.

Rei blinked. "…Kirozan, I—"

Before he could finish, Kirozan stood and stepped back, dropping Rei softly onto his feet.

"Stand up."

Rei flinched at the tone sharp, firm, commanding.

Kirozan's voice was low. "If you want to stand before kings… you must first stand before me. Show me what all that shouting was for. Show me what it means to swear you'll bring down thrones."

Rei's jaw tightened. His legs trembled. But he stood.

No more words were exchanged. Just a cold stare.

And then — a flick of movement.

The spar had begun.

Kirozan dashed forward. Rei barely raised his guard before a sweeping leg knocked him back, crashing into the tree trunk behind.

"Too slow," Kirozan said calmly, spinning his staff once.

Rei charged, swinging with raw intent. Kirozan parried the strikes with ease, dancing backward like water flowing downhill — dodging, redirecting, never resisting.

Rei launched a high kick, infused with aura. Kirozan dipped under it, swept his feet, and pinned him to the ground with the staff at his throat.

"Still letting your emotions fight for you?"

"Is that how you plan to stand against kings?"

Rei shoved the staff away and rolled back up, blood now boiling.

"You think you're strong?" Kirozan mocked. "Then show me something real. Not noise."

The words ignited something deep inside.

"I WILL BECOME THE STRONGEST MAN ALIVE!" Rei roared, colourless aura flared around his limbs.

Kirozan raised an eyebrow. "Then prove it with your fists, not your mouth."

The real spar began.

Rei vanished with Pulse Dash, reappearing behind Kirozan launching a barrage of strikes with aura-coated fists. Each hit carried weight now. Each move had precision, ferocity.

Kirozan blocked the first. Deflected the second. Sidestepped the third. But the fourth punch grazed his cheek.

The old warrior smiled. "That's more like it."

They clashed again, dust spiraling around them. Trees bent. The wind grew louder.

Rei's feet pressured the air with aura as he kicked, spun, slid across terrain with explosive mobility. He used pulse dash continuously to change position without attacking to confuse Kirozan faking left, striking from the right.

But Kirozan was still faster. He parried everything. Staff spinning, hands moving with flawless grace.

Then Rei swept low, forcing Kirozan to jump. Rei leapt with him mid-air, threw a spinning kick—

Kirozan blocked it with the staff.

But this time his grip faltered.

The staff flew from his hands.

Kirozan landed, barehanded.

And still smiling.

"Congratulations," he said. "You made me switch to phase two."

They clashed again, now hand-to-hand.

Kirozan's movements were brutal now knees, elbows, palms, redirecting Rei's momentum with terrifying efficiency. Rei landed a few solid hits, but Kirozan's responses were even faster.

Rei's lip bled. His ribs stung. His breathing grew ragged.

"Use your aura," Rei shouted between clashes.

Kirozan didn't respond.

Rei dove in again his hands glowing, feet swirling aura arcs as he pulled off a triple combo: punch, dash, upward kick each one enhanced by aura.

Kirozan blocked them all.

"You're holding back!" Rei screamed.

Kirozan exhaled. "You are not worthy to see my aura yet. You want to earn it? Then make me."

Rei's fists clenched. Pulse Dash surged under his soles. Aura veins glowed across his arms.

He unleashed a flurry of jabs so fast, they cracked the air. Kirozan dodged with minimal movement. But Rei was faster now. 

The next exchange was brutal. Rei dodged a sweep, flipped over a punch, and landed a clean strike to Kirozan's ribs but Kirozan used the momentum to twist and knee Rei in the gut, winding him.

Still, Rei didn't fall.

Instead, he backed up eyes glowing with resolve.

"You said... to prove it."

He took a deep breath.

"Let me show you what I've mastered."

Kirozan narrowed his eyes.

Rei's body stilled. His aura condensed.

Then— Mirage Step.

Rei vanished.

Kirozan's eyes tracked him. A blur appeared at his right he struck hard, fist connecting directly with Rei's face.

But the face shimmered.

An afterimage.

The real Rei stood behind him, already mid-air, foot glowing.

"Pulse Dash — Directed Strike!"

Kirozan barely turned. His eyes widened.

Rei's kick charged with condensed, aura-infused velocity was aimed straight for his temple.

For the first time in their entire relationship, Kirozan activated his aura a radiant green shield flaring around him in a split-second defensive burst.

The impact echoed like thunder.

A crater formed under Kirozan's feet from the pressure. He held his ground arms crossed but even he slid back an inch.

Dust settled. Silence again.

Kirozan lowered his arms, eyes burning with pride.

Rei landed gracefully, exhaling.

He smiled.

"Here comes Round Two."

Rei's voice carried both defiance and pride. He had done it made Kirozan use his aura. A win, even if small.

He surged forward with excitement, aura flaring, heart pounding with momentum.

But Kirozan didn't move.

His eyes narrowed.

And then he activated his aura.

A surge of Green light exploded from his body like a tidal wave. It didn't scream or roar. It hummed low, ancient, and immense.

Before he could react, the force alone from Kirozan's full aura sent him flying back.

He didn't even touch him.

Rei's body whipped through the air like a leaf in a storm, crashing through bushes and skidding across the ground before smashing into a tree trunk.

BOOM.

The bark cracked. Dust rose. Silence followed.

Rei groaned, slumped forward, one knee on the dirt, breath knocked out of him. His limbs trembled not from fear, but disbelief.

That was… just aura?

He forced himself up.

Kirozan still hadn't moved.

His green aura swirled gently around him like a calm tempest, his expression unreadable.

Rei wiped blood from his lip.

His voice came out hoarse but determined.

"I'm not done yet."

He charged again this time faster, sharper, more desperate. Pulse Dash. Fakes. Kicks. Swings. Combos.

Kirozan dodged everything with his eyes closed.

Rei stepped back, confused. "Are you even—"

Then he vanished — Mirage Step.

An afterimage exploded as Rei appeared behind Kirozan again same combo as before.

"Pulse Dash — Directed Strike!"

His leg slammed toward Kirozan's temple.

It connected.

But this time Kirozan didn't even move.

No dodge. Just his head, taking the full hit.

Rei landed behind him, shocked.

"I… hit you."

Kirozan slowly turned, no injury, no trace of damage.

"You did."

His eyes glowed with the storm of green swirling around him.

"And that's the difference between a man learning to fight…"

His foot stepped forward the ground cracked under the weight of his pressure.

"…and a man forged by war."

Rei took a step back, but his legs resisted.

Kirozan raised his hand palm open.

"You've taken your first step, Rei."

Then his fingers curled into a fist, and his voice turned cold.

"Now… survive the next ten."

He lowered into a stance, eyes locked, aura flaring brighter now, wild yet controlled a beast fully awakened.

He extended his hand and curled two fingers at Rei, taunting.

"Come."

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