"You sure we aren't related?" Cassian asked with a deep frown, staring at Lune, who was standing opposite of him, his stance strong, following the teachings of House Lionheart, despite this being his first free session… at least according to his memory.
Lune smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.
"Y-Yeah, I'm sure."
Cassian paused for a moment.
'I've been taught our sword style since the day I was born. There is no mistaking it… he's following our teachings.'
It had been eight days since Lune met Cassian for the first time. Just like he had expected, every time he left, the man forgot everything about him, and so he used that to his advantage, taking one free session after another.
But today particularly, he could see the man's suspicion was raised high, as Lune had finally begun to understand and grasp the basics of the Roar of the Lion, the sword style of House Lionheart.
"You have good basics. Where did you learn swordsmanship?" Cassian asked, trying to pry some information.
But Lune simply shrugged.
"I'm self-taught."
'Self-taught? Is he mocking me?' Cassian felt a bit of frustration build up inside of him. Roar of the Lion was limited to the main family tree of House Lionheart. Many tried to imitate it, even the far relatives of the family, and they all failed. Only a true Lionheart could teach it.
'Could it be… did someone from the family sell our sword style?'
"I thought you were gonna show me the worth of your teachings, but I guess you just wanna stand and talk all—" Lune began to bait the man, and it worked like a charm.
Cassian lunged forward, his expression turned cold.
His wooden sword cut through the air with a loud whoosh before crashing against Lune's own sword.
CLANG!
The two exchanged a flurry of strikes and blocks, Lune managing to keep up. Cassian's movements over the last few days had become almost predictable… almost.
The moment he wanted to get serious, Lune had no chance to evade.
The wooden sword cut faster than Lune could block, but unwilling to give Cassian the satisfaction, he activated his Hollow Technique.
The blade passed through effortlessly.
Cassian frowned as he pivoted, striking again, faster than before.
But again, Lune activated his technique. A faint tug pulled at his stomach, but he ignored it and continued with the flow of the battle.
He countered, but his speed was far too slow. Cassian avoided with elegant ease before thrusting his blade forward in a deadly counter.
Lune activated the Hollow Technique for the third time.
He avoided the strike, but in return, a heavy tug pulled at his core. His essence was near exhaustion.
He gritted his teeth, trying to fight through it.
'The limit is still three…' he thought as he saw Cassian's wooden blade cut through the air before connecting with his side, sending him crashing into the matted floor.
THUD!
Cassian stared at Lune as he stood above him, his chest was heaving more than he was willing to admit. He felt a single drop of sweat run down his face.
'This pre-awakened kid made me sweat?'
A sudden laugh cut through the training room. Cassian's serious expression turned to a grin as he began laughing.
Lune raised a brow as he looked up at the man.
'He's a lunatic through and through…' he thought, but then his thoughts drifted away.
He managed to push his limit of two uses of his technique to three over the last few days, a small but significant jump. His essence reserves were low, and with his core not fully awakened yet, there was not much he could do to improve it before the Second Expedition.
His swordsmanship, however, saw a huge jump. He turned from a complete novice who could barely swing a sword into someone with a strong base, strong enough to cause Cassian Lionheart to take notice of him.
Suddenly, a sharp alarm cut through the training hall, snapping both of their attention toward the clock.
The free training session was over.
"How about—" Cassian began, about to try and give Lune a discount, convince him to go for another session, but Lune already knew everything the man was about to say.
"Thank you," he cut him short, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "You're a great teacher."
Cassian smiled awkwardly.
'Great teacher? We merely trained for an hour.'
"Why don't we extend our free session today?" Cassian suddenly asked, his interest in Lune piqued.
But Lune shook his head.
"My Second Expedition is tomorrow. I have other matters to take care of before that"
Cassian's eyes widened slightly.
"I see," he muttered in understanding. "Very well then, best of luck."
Cassian extended his hand, and Lune did the same. They shook hands, and with that, Lune turned and left the training hall.
He sighed deeply as he strolled through the academy halls.
The Second Expedition came faster than he'd prefer, but there was no stopping it, no delaying the inevitable. Now, the only thing left on his list was to see his grandma one last time. She didn't have to remember him, she didn't have to welcome him with a warm smile, all he needed was to see her alive and well.
The moment he stepped out of the academy grounds, he felt the cool afternoon breeze. Realizing he had spent too much time scamming free training sessions out of Cassian, he quickened his pace. The vendor street would close in about an hour, and with it, his chance to see his grandma would be gone.
'It's oddly empty today, isn't it?' he thought to himself as he navigated the narrow city streets.
Afternoon was usually the busiest time of day. It was quite odd to see the streets empty, but Lune paid it no mind, enjoying the calm as he hurried toward the vendor street.
But as he took the final corner and stepped into the familiar vendor street, what met him made his blood run cold.
The countless market stalls were in ruin. Fruits were scattered across the cobblestone, clothes torn to pieces. Ornaments were broken and left behind.
And worst of all were the bodies.
Countless lifeless corpses filled the space, fresh blood pooling beneath them.
It was a massacre.
Lune's eyes widened in terror as they scanned further ahead.
There, far and almost indistinguishable, he saw a stall smaller than most, its handcrafted ornaments broken and painted crimson.
And next to it, a single lifeless corpse.