Each word you spoke ignited bad feelings I tried to push away... I see few reasons to be as ignorant as the others.

“Show me what you’re capable of, or else I’ll be forced to destroy what’s left of your dignity,” he continued, lifting his foot off me and stepping back, giving me space to stand as if the gesture were some cruel joke.

Feeling the pain shoot through every fiber of my false body, I took a deep breath and healed all my wounds. Memories of our brutal training cycles echoed in my mind: every blow struck against me, every technique he forced me to master had been absorbed. He was relentless, precise, a force of nature in physical form.

Mentally staggering, I steadied my claws on the cold surface and prepared myself.

“That’s right, get up,” said the non-organic entity, like me, but infinitely more arrogant.

The material in my body vibrated, resonating with the substance that forged me. My energy core pulsed intensely, ready for the fight.

“Now, Noir, show me what you’ve learned,” he ordered, shifting into an attack stance. His smile was cold behind that expressionless face, as if he already knew the outcome of the fight. He always did.

Without hesitation, I lunged at him like a lightning bolt slicing through the sky. My fist cut through the air, aiming for his face, but he dodged with inhuman fluidity, as if every move I made was predictable. Using the momentum of my spin, I delivered a side kick aimed at his torso. He blocked with his forearms, but the force of the impact made him slide back several meters, his feet grinding against the cold metal of the room.

“Is that all?” he grunted, still confident. But there was no time for him to underestimate my resolve.

I charged at him again, faster this time, unleashing a flurry of quick, precise strikes, my claws tearing through the air as they sought any opening. Fists and claws in a frantic dance of destruction that shattered the entire room. He moved like a shadow, blocking and dodging, but the fluidity of his movements was beginning to falter. The pressure from my relentless attacks was starting to wear him down.

The white room began to vibrate with the intensity of the battle. Energy built up with every impact, and our bodies became blurs of speed and violence. Every hit I took healed immediately, an endless exchange of power and endurance. My breathing was heavy, but my body healed every wound.

Then, in a flash, he leaped backward. His hands extended, and suddenly, his blood began to glow with an intensity that was almost blinding. The energetic vortex in his palm condensed into a cosmic blade, light blue and pulsating, emitting unbearable heat. The air around it shimmered, distorted by the raw power radiating from the weapon.

“Let’s see if you’re truly worthy,” he mocked, spinning the blade with absolute confidence.

I channeled my own blood, instinctively replicating his technique. A black blade, as dark as the Eternal Void, formed in my hands. It was a singularity in itself, consuming the light around it with its absolute cold, as if space itself was being swallowed by its presence.

We charged at each other simultaneously, our blades clashing with a thunderous boom that echoed like a storm. Cosmic sparks exploded from the impact, and the force of the collision shook the room violently. Void'Rift attacked with surgical strikes, his blade flowing like water between slashes and thrusts.

I blocked, deflected, and countered, my reflexes extreme. Our blades left a trail of destruction with each strike. With every blow, the pressure on my muscles increased, but I refused to give in. The pace of the battle accelerated.

He disappeared and reappeared at impossible angles, manipulating space as if it were an extension of his body. The air around us warped with heat and cold. I struggled to predict his next move, but Void'Rift was a predator, toying with me like a hunter.

“You’re no match for me, little Noir,” he taunted, delivering a downward slash that seemed inevitable.

I rolled to the side, the cut tearing through the metallic floor, and seized the moment to counterattack with my blade, drawing an arc in the air that unleashed a wave of negative energy toward him. He blocked, but the impact reverberated through the room, making the walls and floor tremble violently. Still, he remained unmoved, unshaken.

In an instant, his free hand rose, and before I could react, an invisible force seized me. I was hurled against the wall with overwhelming force. The impact shattered part of the structure around me, and my body pulsed with pain. Cracks spread through the metal behind me, but I stood up, my body healing the fractures, my spirit intact.

With one final devastating strike, Void'Rift delivered a blow that cut through my defense, slicing through my body. I felt the impact reverberate through my soul, and in the blink of an eye, half of my body collapsed to the floor, fragmented.

He hovered over me, victorious, his blade still shimmering with cosmic energy.

“You tried, little shadow,” he laughed in dissonant, distorted tones in Cosmogenesis. “But you’ve lost. Our light is greater, superior. The Le'vis from the Eternal Void cannot defeat beings made of divine light. In the end, you are an imperfect copy.”

Half of my body lay scattered on the floor. Not that it mattered.

Aidan's Point of View:

The change in his eyes was unmistakable. The serene blue I’d always known had given way to something darker, a fierce, almost wild determination. His eyes now burned with an intensity that seemed impossible for someone so young. Bloodthirsty? No, that couldn’t be real... could it?

His posture was sloppy, but dangerous, each movement flowing with anarchic and lethal grace, a sharp contrast to his childish appearance. It seemed almost unreal.

“You have to stop! That’s enough!” I shouted, my voice heavy with concern. He was completely ignoring his own limitations, pushing forward as if nothing else mattered. I felt my heart tighten. What did he want? To prove his strength to me? My little monster had already grown too much in this ‘game’ of ours.

Deciding to see it through, I advanced with a series of quick strikes. To my surprise, Kiel blocked them with frightening ease. Every step he took was calculated, as if he were playing chess with my movements. His once chaotic and unstable style now had a precision that chilled me to the bone.

My strikes, though powerful, didn’t intimidate him. He didn’t block them directly—he dodged them with inhuman agility. Each time I attacked, it was as though he predicted my next move. And that was... terrifying. No child should be able to fight like this.

The fight dragged on, sweat beginning to glisten on his skin. His breathing was heavy, but he didn’t back down.

“Impressive, Kiel,” I muttered through gritted teeth, holding back my strength so as not to hurt him but also to avoid being overtaken by... him. I increased the intensity of my attacks, delivering a diagonal slash from above, followed by a horizontal strike at waist level. Kiel dodged to the side with impressive dexterity, spinning in a quick movement that almost made it seem like he was dancing around me.

Every blow he blocked sent a surprising vibration through him, as if each strike was being absorbed and returned. It was clear he was learning, adapting with every second.

I thrust toward his shoulder, but he ducked with the ease of a veteran, rolling to the left and responding with a fierce counterattack, his speed almost instinctive. I blocked his strike, spinning my staff to neutralize the force of his assault, forcing him to retreat—but with more difficulty than I should have.

I tried to sweep his legs with a low attack. Kiel leapt at the last second, his eyes gleaming with intense focus. Before he could land, I followed up with a series of rapid strikes, aiming at different points: shoulder, ribs, head. And he blocked each one, as if he already knew where they’d come from.

Changing tactics, I feinted a thrust, but at the last second, swung my staff in a wide arc, attacking from an unexpected angle. He raised his staff to block, but the force of the impact reverberated through his small body. For the first time, I felt him falter, his feet scraping the floor as he regained his balance.

I took a deep breath, preparing for a final attack. I aimed straight for his stomach and charged with all my might. He had surprised me countless times, but now... now would be the decisive blow.

But then, something strange happened. Kiel stopped. His eyes locked onto mine, defiant, but he made no move to dodge. I didn’t try to stop, believing he would escape at the last moment. I put even more force into the blow, and...

“No!” The scream tore from my throat, desperate. The impact was inevitable.

Kiel’s Point of View:

I snapped out of the trance as those revealing memories surged from my subconscious. Why now? Who was I...

“Oh no, this is going to hurt,” I muttered, seeing my ‘father’ unleash a heavy blow in my direction.

The impact was devastating. A searing pain exploded in my stomach, like a spring inside me twisting and tearing everything in its path. The air was knocked from my lungs, leaving me breathless. I was thrown back, my thoughts scattering from the shock.

When I finally hit the ground, the pain multiplied, radiating through every part of my body. Every muscle screamed in agony, leaving me paralyzed, unable to move. Curled up, I tried to breathe, but every attempt brought a new wave of pain.

All I could do was look at my ‘mother.’ She had an expression I’d never seen before. Her gaze was deep, her eyebrows furrowed with an intensity that bordered on threatening.

She approached Aidan slowly, without taking her eyes off me.

“Kiel, you did very well! The days here are having an effect,” he said, trying to ease the tension. But it was clear the atmosphere was about to explode.

Good luck, "dad."

Her fist clenched with a terrifying calm, and before Aidan could react, the punch cut through the air as if time had slowed down. The impact was brutal. His face twisted with the force of the blow, surprise and pain taking over his features.

I couldn’t help but feel a strange satisfaction. Fully avenged, it was comforting.

Before he could recover, my ‘mother’ unleashed her verbal fury on him like a thunderstorm. “How dare you treat him like this? Your own son!” Her voice echoed with uncontrollable rage. Her eyes burned with fierce intensity, focused on Aidan, who now staggered, stunned.

“He’s just a child, you heartless fool! You should protect him, not hurt him!” Every word she spoke was a blow as strong as the punch that had brought him down. “If you ever do this again, I swear I’ll beat you until your face is unrecognizable!”

Aidan, terrified, tried to explain himself, but the words died in his throat. When she raised her hand in a warning gesture, he fell silent immediately.

My mother came to me, her steps quick and worried. She knelt and lifted my shirt to inspect the red mark stretching across my skin, sighing in relief when she saw it wasn’t serious. She tried to lift me, but her pregnancy made the movement difficult. Her swollen belly reminded me why she had started resting in the village.

“I can carry him to the village,” Aidan offered in a sad, guilty tone.

“Never again,” she replied, her eyes still filled with fury, holding me firmly.

As we walked, I glanced over her shoulder. I saw Aidan raise his thumb behind her back, with a grin on his still-swollen face. I did the best I could: stuck out my tongue and pulled down my lower eyelid, watching his smile vanish completely. He followed us in silence to the village, head down.

“Who in their right mind teaches their child to fight with swords in a peaceful world?” my mother muttered aloud as she set me down at the entrance to the village. “Especially knowing there are kinetic firearms out there? I don’t want Kiel to learn how to fight! I don’t want him in the army or risking his life fighting for...”

The Nephos around us went about their routines, oblivious to the tension. Honestly, I kind of liked what happened today. But it will take a long time before I truly feel affection for you as 'parents.' It's not your fault; you've done your best. But the appreciation for the new life the entity gave me is still far away... and it becomes harder each day as the old memories return, bringing with them dark thoughts of ending it all.

These memories... they always bring me back to the endless cycle. And today, I realized that at some point, I knew how to fight. Swordsmanship, combat... But now, I’m just a post trying to learn from Aidan. The worst part is that these memories are in illusory formats that this body’s mind gets confused by... This is bad and dangerous.