The two boys standing next to Gary came forward. But as soon as they did he held out his hand to stop them.

  "I can take him out on my own." He said.

  Gary removed the sword attached around his waist and threw it down onto the ground.

  "No weapons."

  "Fine…" Ray replied.

  Ray did the same as Gary. To be honest, he was delighted that Gary suggested that they would use no weapons. It was because he had made it his policy to never kill children. Children were innocent, blank slates for Ray. It was the adults that made them go down the wrong path.

  "I should be able to do this." Ray convinced himself. He had never won a match against his father, but this was the first time that he would be fighting against someone his age. This was a good chance to test himself.

  Ray decided to attack first. He threw his fist towards Gary's face. Gary leaned back and avoided the punch. He then grabbed Ray's hand and pulled his body over to him.

  His movements were so fluid that by the time Ray realised what just happened, Gary had already planted his knee in his face.

  The two boys behind Gary started to laugh. Ray made a sidelong glance to Amy's direction and discovered that there was a saddened look on her face. She was blaming herself for what was happening, but she did nothing wrong.

  All of this happened, because of human nature.

  Gary was waiting for Ray to make another move.

  He started to remind him of that damned training doll that he wanted to defeat.

  The battle continued and Ray threw a feint.

  Seeing this, Gary leaned back once more to avoid the punch, but since it was a feint…


  Ray used the momentum of his punch to turn around and send a kick directly towards Gary.

  Unfortunately, Gary lifting both his arms in a cross shape above his head blocked the kick with his forearms on time.

  Then, he disappeared from Ray's view.

  When he reappeared, Ray found himself staring at the sky.

  Gary had moved beneath him and sent a sweeping kick across his ankles, making him lose his balance. The battle was then over right there and then.

  Gary took his belongings and began to walk away with his friends and sister.

  But before he could even go far away, he turned around and left some final words to Ray.

  "You have your father's training and you're still this useless. You should stick to doing something you're already good at."

  Ray stayed there lying on the ground, the pain had gone away but he couldn't help but think about Gary's final words. Eventually, something clicked in Ray's head as he stood up, wanting to try his theories out straight away.

  …


  Gary and Amy arrived home safely, and Amy started to rant at her brother. She protested, saying that Ray had done nothing wrong and she was the one that approached him.

  "I was just looking out for you, Amy…… Nothing ever good comes out from someone who has that red curse." Gary explained.

  "I hate you…" Amy scoffed.

  Amy cried and slammed the door behind her as she went into her room. inside his own room Gary started to take off his clothes. He was wearing a light set of leather armour. He noticed that something was strange around his forearms.

  He took out the pads inside the armour that surrounded and protected his forearm. There, he realized that the metal pads had been completely ruined. Two huge dents, the size of a baseball could be seen.

  "This must be the result of blocking that kick… That fight… It was closer than I thought."

  Gary was correct in his thought. If he wasn't wearing the pads, then that kick would've broken his arms. Ray would've won that fight. What Ray wasn't aware of was that he actually fought good in that fight.

  If he had fought against anyone else in his age in the village apart from Gary, he would've won quite easily.

  It was an overstatement to say that he was an incredibly good fighter, but he was someone that couldn't be trifled with. Gary had been training to be a knight ever since he had the capacity to think about it.

  He had a dream in his heart that one day, he would be able to get him and his family out of the poor situation that they were in.

  …


  Ray decided to go straight back home after his fight.

  After losing against someone who was at the same age as him, Ray finally made a decision.

  In order for change to happen, something must be changed. He couldn't keep doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.

  Remembering Gary's words, Ray decided that he should probably follow what the boy had said and focus on what he was good at first and improve upon it. Ray thought long and hard after that fight as to just what aspect of fighting he was definitely good at.

  Until finally, Ray discovered what he was looking for.

  A couple of weeks had passed since the fight.

  Ray had been going up the hilltop for several days already just to practice his new idea.

  Every time he went up the hill, Amy would always be in her spot.

  The two of them often talked together and Amy reassured him that her brother wouldn't do anything bad against him anymore.

  However, Ray was suspicious if this was the truth since whenever they were about to go down the hill. She would always go ahead and check if there were people waiting for them in ambush.

  Finally, Ray was back at the barn.

  After weeks of effort, it was finally time for him to test his new idea and see if it would work against the training doll. He went up to the doll and said the words, "Level one.".

  The purple light surrounded the doll once more and the battle finally began.

  A few seconds later, the same purple light surrounded the doll once more. This time, the mechanical voice that accompanied its appearance said the words, "Level one. Passed."

  Ray huffed and puffed.

  He was sweating.

  Not because of the few seconds of fighting, but because of mental pressure and stress. He genuinely wouldn't know what to do if his new fighting style failed. However, savouring the fruits of his efforts, a smile appeared on Ray's face.

  He went back to the wooden doll and said, "Level 2."

  He felt that he was ready.

  He felt that it was time.

  Time to see how far he could push himself.