Matt POV:
In my life, I was given everything a person was supposed to want.
A loving mother who worried too much and smiled too easily. Cousins who treated me like blood even when they did not have to. A warm home where the lights were always on. A life without hunger, without fear of tomorrow. Money was never an issue. My body was healthy. My face was passable, even praised sometimes. Friends laughed with me. Teachers expected things from me.
By all accounts, I was blessed.
And yet, something inside me was missing.
I laughed. I smiled. I lived. Yet every time I stopped moving, when the noise faded and the night settled, there was an emptiness that pressed against my chest.
I wanted this life.
At least, I thought I did.
Still, it felt like I did not belong in it.
That contradiction ate at me.
I tried to ignore it at first. I buried myself in routine. School, friends, obligations. When that failed, I pulled away. I stopped caring. Grades slipped. Messages went unanswered.
I laughed louder, then not at all. I told myself none of it mattered. Not school. Not friends. Not family.
Eventually, not even myself.
That was the last nail.
Self-hatred crept in quietly. Shame followed close behind. I hated that I could not be satisfied. Hated that I could not be content with what others would kill for.
I am greedy. Weak. A coward who wanted to run without knowing where.
Worse, I did not know what I was running from.
I only knew I wanted out.
"CLANG!"
Metal rang against metal.
Blades and gloves clashed, dragging me back into the present.
The only thing I had ever truly cared about stood in front of me.
Finster.
He was asking me who I was.
Our weapons locked again, pressure grinding through my arms.
I was weak.
Weak in the way that mattered. I had no control over my life, nor my abilities.
I thought that coming to this world, changing the way I lived, would wash the shame away. That if I acted differently here, if I became someone else, the past would loosen its grip.
It did not.
Pain exploded through my leg as his blade cut deep. My footing faltered. Blood soaked into stone.
Voices echoed faintly around us. Shouts. Gasps. None of them reached me.
Finster asked again.
"Who are you?"
Hell, I did not know the answer to that question myself.
But one thing I knew was what was wrong with me. What was unpleasant about me and what people should avoid. But I knew that was not all I was.
There had to be more.
I just did not know how to explain it.
So I decided to show him instead.
We broke apart and stood several meters away from each other.
I saw him clearly then.
Perfect stance. Perfect posture. A body that knew exactly where it belonged. Even wounded, he looked whole. The form of my idol.
In his eyes, I saw my reflection.
A flawed stance. Blood on my face. Ragged breathing. A person I despised more than anyone else.
Myself.
Our eyes glowed.
My Authority surged.
The world narrowed until only the two of us existed.
Explosions thundered around us as I launched myself forward like a cannonball, ground shattering beneath my feet.
Chains wrapped around my fist, tightening until bone screamed. I threw a punch.
He met it head-on.
His blade caught my strike along its edge, sparks scattering as metal screamed. We locked again, closer than before. My arm trembled. His grip held firm.
I spoke through clenched teeth.
"I am Matthew."
The words felt small. But this is the best answer I could give him now.
His eyes searched mine.
Then, as if something finally aligned, he smiled.
Something in my chest broke open.
I went all out.
Authority detonated through my arm, and power ruptured outward in a violent surge. The force hurled him backward, stone cracking where he landed.
Organic roots burst from the ground, answering his call, wrapping around his body to halt the momentum.
I did not stop.
I exploded my feet and closed the distance instantly, chains screaming as they dragged me forward. He broke free and met me head-on.
I struck harder. Faster. Reckless.
He was pushed back.
Step by step, strike by strike, I drove him across the field.
Stone shattered under his heels as my blows came down without pause. Laedingr cracked against his blade, against his guard, against the roots he summoned in desperation to slow me down.
Every exchange took something from me.
My breath grew ragged. My muscles screamed. Blood ran freely now, dripping from my leg and soaking into the ground. The pain no longer registered as pain. It was now just a reminder that I was being powered by pure adrenaline.
Each blow I threw was a confession.
This was my fear.
This was my resentment.
This was the part of me that never learned how to stop.
Finster deflected as much as he could, his movements still clean, still elegant, yet the difference between us was widening.
But I felt it.
That subtle shift where control began to slip.
I detonated my arm again. The explosion caught him mid-guard and hurled him back. He crashed through a line of summoned roots, snapping them apart, boots carving trenches through the stone as he struggled to regain balance.
I did not give him time.
I was on him immediately, feet exploding against the ground, chains lashing out like living things. One wrapped around his shoulder. Another scraped across his ribs. Blood sprayed on the cratered ground.
His breath hitched.
Good.
I struck again, this time low. He barely twisted away, the edge of my glove tearing into his thigh. The impact sent him skidding sideways, knees buckling as he barely stayed upright.
He raised his blade again, stance imperfect now, weight shifted too far back.
I lunged.
That was when it happened.
Something in his eyes changed.
I felt it before I saw it, a strange pressure pushing back against my authority.
He did not retreat this time.
He stepped in.
My next strike met resistance that had not been there before. His blade angled just enough to redirect the force rather than absorb it. My chains slid off his guard.
I frowned.
I pressed harder, accelerating my attacks, changing rhythm, chaining detonations together in erratic bursts.
Left. Right. Feint. Explode. Crash.
I abandoned structure entirely, letting instinct take over.
And he followed.
His footwork shifted.
He stopped trying to hold ground and started yielding space in controlled increments, the same way I did when I needed momentum.
My next punch came in wide.
He ducked exactly when I did earlier.
The realization sent a chill through me.
His blade came up at an unfamiliar angle.
It mirrored the way I angled my forearm to protect my core.
Metal rang as we clashed again, the impact shuddering up my arm. This time, he did not stumble.
He adjusted mid-motion, twisting his wrist and sliding along my chains, stealing my balance.
My eyes widened.
I smiled widely.
His hair began to change.
At first, I thought it was the light. Then I saw it clearly. Olive strands paling at the tips, color draining away as if leeched by something deeper. White crept in slowly, spreading unevenly and glowing faintly.
He was copying me.
He was letting go.
He abandoned perfection.
His movements grew rougher.
He detonated the ground beneath his feet.
The explosion threw him sideways at an angle I had used moments before.
My own tactic.
He closed the distance too fast.
I barely raised my guard in time as his blade slammed down with raw force, teeth clenched.
The impact sent shock through my body, my guts screaming in protest.
For the first time, I felt it.
Awe.
He was now using his exclusive bloodline ability. Sampling.
He looked at me differently now.
He now viewed me as a mirror.
Each of my movements gave him something.
Blood pulsed in my ears as I realized the truth.
I was teaching him how to become me.
And he was learning far too quickly.
"BOOOOM!"
He exploded his feet and vanished from sight.
I barely raised my guard in time. His blade crashed into my defenses. I detonated my palm outward, throwing myself back to gain distance, chains forming a shield in front of me.
His blade struck the chains and exploded .
I anchored myself by stabbing chains into the ground. The earth tore apart. It was not enough.
We were both sent flying.
I hit the ground hard and rolled to a stop. Dust filled my lungs. Pain screamed from everywhere.
I pushed myself up.
Across the field, Finster rose as well.
I tried to move my left arm.
Nothing.
I looked down.
It dangled at an unnatural angle, broken and useless.
Another dislocation.
I ignored it.
We locked eyes again.
This time, there was no hesitation.
Finster's hair was nearly half white now. I enhanced my legs to their limit, power screaming through muscle and bone. Burning blue light flared along my hair, and my teal eyes illuminated my way.
I placed my right hand behind my back.
Our thoughts collided.
"I will come to you."
The world vanished.
A deafening explosion marked our departure as we launched toward each other through shattered air. We closed the distance in an instant.
I drew my fist back.
He raised his blade.
"This is the flawed me."
"Watch me."
"That's Enough!!!!!!"
The world froze.
Zmey stood between us.
Her hand caught my fist effortlessly.
Her fingers closed around Finster's blade without injury.
The force died instantly.
My Authority vanished like a snuffed flame.
Silence crashed down over the duel grounds.