The room was dark .
A boy looking outside the window with a dagger thinking about what he had done wrong to deserve what happened.
Remembering his father, sister and mother that got killed,he wept slowly begging the world to end.
Ethan was the son of a duke, the strongest Duke of the north, their house was even stronger than the royal family thanks to their bloodline and unique swordsmanship.
They were a force to reckon with until the Royal family got jealous due to a mine they owned in the north.
A mine capable of creating the strongest warriors and even producing billions of gold,
He remembered minutes ago where his family was poisoned and betrayed by the person he called a family , his butler.
He cursed thinking about the son of a bitch that betrayed his family.
He flashbacked to the time it all happened.
At the party where his family celebrated the ownership of the mine, guests were invited, merchants from all over the empire dining for what was supposed to be a good day.
I was drinking wine looking at my fiancée
Telling her how beautiful she looked, she punched me blushing weakly, then all of a sudden my father, the patriarch vomited blood,
Everyone gasped looking at him.
I screamed "Father!!"
as I ran to him holding him by the shoulders, suddenly I felt a presence at my back.
I tried jumping with my father on my shoulder but I was weak.
That was when I saw him, the betrayer, our family butler slashing a dagger at him.
He roared with all his strength.
Betrayer, that's all father could mutter looking at the face of the bastard's smile.
Then my father looked at me and then glanced at my sister.
I understood his assignment all at once.
With all of the strength I could muster I ran to my baby sister who was crying looking at mother and guards attacked by shadow figures, before I could reach her I created a sword with my ice slashing at an enemy,
Ice kissed steel and the sound rang through my bones.
I barely got my blade up in time.
His strike came fast.
Too fast. A downward arc meant to split me from crown to chest.
I twisted the impact.
He smiled.
A wide grin,Very cruel.
Looking at me like I was already dead
That pissed me off.
I shoved back, boots scraping against stone as I forced space between us. My lungs burned, dragging in cold air that tasted like iron and dust.
"Slow," he said.
I didn't answer.
Instead, I stepped in.
Feint left.
He bit.
Good.
I pivoted my sword snapping toward his ribs but he was already moving. Of course he was. His sword met mine mid-strike, deflecting with insulting ease before sliding down toward my wrist.
I jerked back just in time.
I almost lost a hand.
Not ideal.
He pressed forward, relentless now. Strike after strike after strike each one flowing into the next like a river that wanted to drown me. I gave ground, blocking, redirecting, surviving by inches and instinct.
Clang.
Clash.
Clang.
My arms screamed.
He wasn't just stronger, he was calm. Every movement he made was precise.Like he'd already fought this battle in his head a hundred times… and won every single one.
I needed to break that rhythm.
Now.
He lunged.
I didn't block.
I stepped into it.
His blade sliced across my side, pain flared hot and vicious but I ignored it, closing the distance before he could recover. My shoulder slammed into his chest, knocking the breath from him as our bodies collided.
Too close for swords.
I created a dagger with my ice
I drove it to his ribs
Crunch.
He staggered back with a sharp grunt, blood already spilling, and for the first time just a flicker his composure cracked.
That was all I needed.
I surged forward, blade whipping in a brutal horizontal arc. He barely got his sword up in time, the force of it sending him across the hall.
He wiped blood from his face, glanced at it… then looked back at me.
And laughed.
Low. Quiet. Unnervingly steady."Better," he said.
Then he vanished.
Not literally but it felt like it.
One second he was there
The next, my instincts screamed.
I turned just in time to catch the strike behind me, the impact nearly dropping me to a knee. He was faster now. No more testing. No more patience.
This was killing speed.
My world narrowed to motion and survival.
Left block.
Right parry.
Low jump.
High
Too slow.
The blade cut across my shoulder, deep enough to make my grip falter. My sword dipped as he came for my throat.
Time stretched.
I saw it.
The angle. The intent. The end.
So I let go.
My sword clattered to the ground.
His eyes flickered—just for a heartbeat.
Confusion.
Mistake.
My hand shot forward, grabbing his wrist mid-strike. Pain exploded as the edge bit into my palm, but I held on, stopping the blade a breath away from my neck.
We froze.
Locked.
Straining.
His strength against mine.
Blood ran down my arm, warm and slick.
"Desperate," he murmured.
Then I kicked his knee.
Hard.
It buckled.
His balance broke.
And that was the opening.
I wrenched his arm aside, stepped inside his guard, and drove another dagger I created earlier into him again harder this time sending it straight to his heart
His sword slipped from his grasp.
I still ran, all I could think about was my sister.
I reached her and lifted her smiling.
Ethan, that's all she could say,crying.
I lifted her running
Then an arrow Pierced her back,
I glanced at the Culprit
It was my family butler .
I ran carrying her body still crying then entered a hidden room where I dropped her body crying .
Then I created a dagger sending it straight to my heart to end my life.