The training courtyard of the Oboro Clan was a rectangle of beaten earth, surrounded by high walls with iron spikes. Dark spots splashed the ground: generations of blood spilled in the name of "family excellence."
Takeshi stood in the center, rhythmically tapping his bamboo cane against the palm of his hand.
*Pim. Pam. Pim. Pam.*
"You're late," he said, although the clock marked the exact time.
Ryuu ignored the provocation. He walked to his usual position, five meters from his brother, and adopted the basic stance. Feet apart, knees slightly bent, hands low.
Takeshi scanned him, annoyed. Ryuu's stance, usually shaky and hesitant, showed unusual solidity today. His feet seemed nailed to the earth.
"Do you think surviving yesterday makes you special?" Takeshi spat on the ground. "Dad says weeds are the hardest to kill. Today we'll check if you're a weed or just trash."
Without warning, Takeshi lunged forward.
He attacked with pure brute force and Rank E, Level 2 speed. For a normal child, his figure blurred.
For Ryuu, with his Gamer perception and adult mind, the movement unfolded with clarity.
*Frontal attack. Descending cane. Target: Left clavicle.*
In the past, Ryuu would have closed his eyes expecting the impact, paralyzed by his slowness.
His Agility of 7 remained insufficient for a full dodge.
But dodging was unnecessary.
Ryuu took a half-step forward, rotating his torso minimally to offer the newly reconstructed deltoid muscle to the impact. He tensed his arm, concentrating the little recovered mana in that specific area.
*Localized Muscle Reinforcement.*
"Hah!" Takeshi released his breath as he struck.
*PAM!*
The sound was dry, blunt. The bamboo cane curved violently against Ryuu's shoulder.
Takeshi expected the crack, the scream, the collapse.
Ryuu remained standing.
He slid a few inches from the kinetic force, his feet leaving furrows in the dirt, but he resisted. His face was pale, with drops of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead; his eyes, however, remained open, fixed on Takeshi's.
"Blocked," Ryuu said. His voice sounded calm, hiding the nerves screaming inside. The blow hurt, vibrating in his bones despite the nullification, but the bone structure held.
Takeshi took a step back, lowering the cane.
"What...?"
He looked at the cane, then at Ryuu's shoulder. Logic dictated a dislocation. That "sick boy" lacked muscle mass to absorb such punishment.
"Are you wearing protection under your clothes?" Takeshi growled, eyes bloodshot with rage. Only a trap explained the impossible.
Takeshi attacked again. A direct thrust to the stomach.
Ryuu saw the tip of the bamboo coming.
*Unblockable. Too much penetration.*
He used his mind. He predicted the trajectory. He exhaled all his air and twisted his hip at the last second.
The cane grazed his side, burning the skin through the fabric, missing the vital organ by millimeters.
Takeshi, committed to the blow and expecting soft flesh, lost his balance and stumbled, his arms milling the air.
For a second, the prodigy of the Oboro Clan, the perfect older brother, became a clumsy figure.
He regained his balance before falling, planting a hand on the ground and twisting like a cat, but the damage to his pride was absolute.
Silence reigned in the courtyard.
In the shadows of the gallery, two figures watched. Jiro, the blind librarian, listened with his head tilted. A taller figure remained hidden in the shadows of the eaves.
Takeshi turned dark red. The vein in his forehead throbbed.
"You..." he whispered.
[Alert: Attempted Murder Detected.][Target "Takeshi Oboro" has activated real bloodlust.]
The air around Takeshi changed. Training was over; this was execution. Mana flowed into his arms, preparing a Rank E technique to break Ryuu definitely.
Ryuu swallowed hard. His MP was almost at zero and his HP had dropped to 70/85. A mana strike would be fatal.
"Enough!"
The voice fell from the gallery like a guillotine.
Takeshi froze mid-charge. The pressure of that voice almost buckled Ryuu's knees.
Father stepped out of the shadows. He wore kimono embroidered with gold, its intricate patterns catching the light, his steps inaudible.
"Takeshi," Father said.
"You lost your balance against an opponent who can barely stand. Pathetic."
Takeshi lowered his head, trembling.
"Father, he used..."
"He used what he had," Father cut him off. He turned his head slowly toward Ryuu. His black eyes, bottomless pits, seemed to dissect every secret, every system statistic. "And you..."
Ryuu held the gaze. Lowering it meant death; animals attack fear.
"You have stopped trying to run," Father said. A clinical observation, devoid of praise. "Your body is still trash. But your eyes have changed."
Father threw something into the air. A small, shiny object.
Ryuu raised his hand instinctively and caught it.
It was a gold coin with the clan emblem: a spider weaving over a crescent moon.
"Jiro informed me of your visit to the library," Father said. "And this morning, you survived a blow that should have crippled you. Interesting."
He turned around.
"Takeshi, run fifty laps around the mountain. If you stop, you sleep with the dogs."
"Yes, Father!" Takeshi disappeared in a blur, casting one last look of pure hatred at Ryuu.
Father stopped at the entrance to the gallery.
"Ryuu. You have a month."
"For what, Father?" Ryuu asked, his voice surprisingly steady.
"The Winter Selection. The children of the branch families will come to challenge the main branch. If you lose and embarrass us in front of the cousins..." Father left the threat hanging in the air, heavy as a sentence. "Make sure that 'trick' of yours works by then."
Father left.
Ryuu looked at the coin in his hand.
[Item Received: Patriarch's Favor Coin.][Value: Access to Level 1 resources in the clan warehouse.]
Ryuu closed his fist over the coin until his knuckles turned white.
"One month," he whispered. "In one month, I'll survive the cousins and devour them alive."
[New Main Mission Generated: The Winter Selection.][Objective: Rank in the top 3.][Reward: ???][Failure: Death or Expulsion from the Clan.]
Ryuu smiled. An ugly smile, full of teeth and ambition.
"Game accepted."