Dawn barely managed to pierce through the forest canopy when César raised his sword.
Today, he was particularly happy. After arduous and constant effort, he had finally managed to open all of his mana veins. He had not yet formed his core, but that no longer mattered. He was just one step away from formally becoming a mage.
'One step closer,' he thought with satisfaction.
But he set those thoughts aside. Today was not a day for meditation.
Today was a day for training.
He approached the improvised rack beside a fallen tree, where several crude weapons rested, and picked up a sword that seemed suitable.
It was not an epic sword nor a legendary weapon like those wielded by storybook protagonists.
It was a short blade, poorly balanced, forged from impure iron and gripped by thin, green hands. Even so, to him, it weighed like a long-postponed truth.
Today would be his first real combat training. In this life, and in the previous one.
In his past life, he had never fought.
He had seen fights. He had read about them. He had imagined countless times what it felt like to wield a weapon. But as a human, he had never truly needed to know how to use one.
Now, reincarnated as a goblin, he did not have that luxury.
"Don't just stand there staring," his brother growled impatiently.
Since deciding to walk the dual path of Mana and Aura, Goby had not slackened even for a single day.
"Attack."
Goby, his brother older by only a few seconds, held his own training sword with clumsy hands but with confidence born from habit. His fangs showed when he spoke, and his yellow eyes gleamed with restrained amusement.
César exhaled slowly.
'We're both novices,' he thought. 'There's no reason to lose. I've trained my body since I could move.'
He did not attack immediately. First, he focused.
The body first. Then the mind.
That was the foundation of the path of aura, though neither of them had awakened that power yet. Without aura, without invisible reinforcements, all that remained was pure movement… and mistakes.
Goby, impatient, advanced first.
His strike was wide and careless. César saw it coming and deflected it easily, the clash of metal echoing through the forest clearing.
"Slow," César mocked.
Inside, however, he was grateful. His physical training was paying off. With newfound confidence, he lifted his gaze toward his brother.
"If this were a real fight, you'd already be dead."
Goby stepped back, teeth clenched.
"I know," he growled.
He did not attack again immediately. This time, he observed.
He focused on the weight of the sword.
The position of César's feet.
The slight delay in his right shoulder before every counterattack.
César attacked again, direct and without finesse.
Goby raised his sword just in time. The impact traveled through his arms like a blunt shock. It hurt. Not like a wound, but like a lesson.
"Again," Goby said calmly.
César frowned outwardly, worried by his brother's stubbornness.
Inside, he smiled.
'He's excited too,' he thought.
Goby attacked again.
This time, César did not try to block completely. He deflected just enough and stepped sideways, feeling the damp earth beneath his bare feet. The movement was clumsy… but it worked.
Goby's sword swept past him.
César counterattacked.
The training blade struck his brother's side with a dull, dry sound.
Silence.
Goby's eyes widened in surprise, and he spoke with difficulty.
"You hit me!"
César lowered his sword, breathing hard. His heart pounded violently, not from fear, but from something new. Something dangerous.
'So this is fighting.'
There was no glory.
There was no epic grandeur.
Only sweat, pain, and calculation.
And he liked it.
"Again," César said, this time with a restrained smile.
Goby hesitated for a moment… then nodded.
The path of aura was still far away. There was no glow, no energy flowing through their bodies. And yet, César understood with unsettling clarity.
When aura awakened,
he would be ready to use it.
And when that day came,
he would not be an ordinary goblin.
He would be someone who had learned to fight from nothing.