The courtyard was silent. Chael observed calmly, and Celestia had a deadpan expression as Eclipse’s shadow towered over her figure.

  She let out a sigh, then gestured him away from her, "Shoo! You're blocking the sun."

  Eclipse narrowed his eyes, "I'm serious."

  Celestia yawned, "I'm not in the mood to play, kiddo. Go find something to do."

  And with that, she closed her eyes. Eclipse clenched his fists so hard his knuckles became white. He gritted his teeth and launched a punch straight at Celestia. Feeling his incoming blow, Celestia opened her eyes, but just as she did, Eclipse swayed its trajectory and punched the tree which was behind her.

  BANG

  His fists dug a few inches into the tree, scattering splinters and the broken dried bark all over Celestia's face, who just wanted a peaceful nap.

  Celestia didn't react. She let the detritus of the tree drift down to her face, composing a dangerous silence. Seeing this unexpected turn of events, Chael broke into hysterical laughter. “AHAHAH! No way!”

  “Ahh, what a pain in the ass." Celestia slowly sat up and rubbed the dirt off her face, and took her eyes to Eclipse, who retained his determined expression with blood dripping from splinters in his knuckles, "So this is what I get for saving you, huh?"

  Eclipse assumed his fighting stance as Celestia sized him up. She stared down at Eclipse and her lips curled murderously, "I’ll teach you how to respect your elders, you rascal."

  Caw caw caw

  Several crows flocked and flew across the landscape. Their incessant cries rang into Chael's ears, but he didn’t seem to notice because his vision was fixated on the scene in front of him. His pupils reflected Eclipse's bloodied figure sprawled on the ground. Despite his condition, the fighting spirit in his eyes remained. He clawed the ground in a desperate attempt to get up.

  Celestia raised her eyebrows at this, then let out a long, heavy sigh, "You just don't know when to give up, do you?"

  As he got to his knees, Celestia swung her leg and then landed a massive blow to his abdomen. Eclipse's eyeballs almost bulged out of their sockets, and bodily fluids sprayed from his mouth as he weakly sank to the floor. Despite this, he glared murderously at Celestia and tried to get up once again, but she brought her feet down on his face, making him unable to move his upper body.

  "Don’t you think that’s about enough?" Chael told Celestia with furrowed brows, "Eclipse is stubborn, so he wouldn't give up even if you drive him to near death."

  "Oh?" Celestia looked behind, "he doesn’t look done to me."

  Chael gritted his teeth, “he just wanted to test his strength against you for whatever reason, that’s all. You’ve already shown him, so let him go.”

  “Not till this brat admits defeat and apologises,” Celestia smirked, then ground her foot on Eclipse's face.

  A dark shadow cast over Chael’s face when he saw this.

  “Pffft. Punching a tree. You really think that made you cool, huh?” Celestia laughed. Eclipse could do nothing but squirm underneath the immense force she was applying from her foot. “Where’s all that vigour now, you stinkin’ brat?! KAHAHAHA-!”

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  Her laughter suddenly froze, and she immediately dodged out of the way. A mere instant later, the boulder outside the cottage where Celestia would butcher animals flew past her at an alarmingly accelerated speed. It rolled a little further down and crashed heavily against a bunch of trees and instantly broke a few of them.

  Chael heaved heavily as he stood where the boulder had been, his stance suggesting that he had thrown it at her.

  The lazy yet playful expression on Celestia's face changed into one of absolute dumbstruckness. "D-d-d-did this kid just throw that huge boulder at me…?!!"

  Chael swiftly ran to Eclipse’s side, but before he could help him, Eclipse had gotten up on his own. Eclipse stood up and wiped his mouth, and glared murderously at the dumbstruck Celestia.

  "H-how on god’s green earth were you able to lift a rock that heavy?!" Celestia voiced her shock.

  Chael didn't reply and assumed a fighting stance by Eclipse’s side.

  “This is my fight.” Eclipse gave him an annoyed side eye.

  Chael just smiled in response and merely continued observing Celestia.

  “Tsk.” Eclipse also assumed his fighting stance. Although he was beaten up pretty badly, he still had a bit of fight left in him.

  Celestia raised her brows, “Interesting. Both of you big, strong boys want to beat up a poor older sis living by herself. How heartless.”

  “Poor older sis, my ass!” Chael mocked.

  Eclipse spat some blood on the floor beside him, “You talk too much, you old hag.”

  “You… little runts!” Celestia smiled menacingly and cracked her knuckles, “I’ll show you how this ‘hag’ beats the living shit out of you.”

  “That’s more like it.” Chael smirked. “Your true colours are showing, you hag!”

  “You take her head on, and I’ll attack from the sides,” Eclipse whispered.

  “Gotcha!” Chael smiled.

  The air crackled with anticipation as the trio prepared for the impending clash. Without warning, Celestia lunged forward with surprising agility, closing the distance between her and Chael in a blink. Her fists blurred in the air as she aimed a rapid barrage at Chael, who barely managed to dodge her attacks.

  Chael quipped, landing a swift kick to Celestia's midsection, but she easily caught the blow without as much as shifting her gaze. Meanwhile, Eclipse circled to the sides, eyeing an opportune moment to strike before landing a punch to her shoulder with all his might. To his surprise, it actually connected, but it felt more like Celestia had taken that punch on purpose.

  Celestia absorbed the blow without flinching, her grin widening. In an instant, she retaliated with a powerful backhand that sent Chael sprawling across the earth.

  She was completely ignoring Eclipse’s presence!

  Eclipse seized the moment, launching a flurry of quick strikes at Celestia's exposed flank. Some of the attacks landed, but most of them missed. Eclipse’s morale shook as Celestia didn’t even seem to flinch from his strongest attacks.

  “Don’t fly too close to the sun, kiddo,” Celestia smirked before she spun around and delivered a spinning kick that caught Eclipse off guard, sending him crashing into a nearby tree.

  Undeterred, Chael leapt back into the fight, fueled by sheer determination.

  He feinted left, then struck Celestia with a fast jab to the jaw. The force of the blow surprised even Eclipse, who was recovering from his collision with the tree. Celestia staggered for a moment, her grin momentarily replaced by a look of mild irritation.

  “Tsk. What have you been eating, you brat?” Celestia said.

  Chael gritted his teeth. He had expected that punch to knock her out cold, but all she had done was flinch more from surprise rather than impact. There wasn’t even a scratch.

  The area once again echoed with the sounds of fists meeting flesh.

  Eclipse was panting on the ground with sweat and grime trickling down his face, and Chael had already passed out. Celestia was just humming to herself as she dusted, then walked to Eclipse and offered him a hand. "You brats didn’t do bad at all."

  "How… are you… so strong?!" Eclipse gritted his teeth and swatted her hand away. He then got up by himself.

  "I wonder about that." She mused, narrowing her eyes.

  Chael finally got up, and when he saw Celestia, his expression changed from shock to determination.

  "Geez, the fight is over, you idiot," Celestia said.

  "Huh?! But I was only getting started!"

  Celestia's eyebrows twitched. "Say that before you pass out next time."

  Eclipse didn’t say anything, gritting his teeth and his fists clenched. Celestia briefly looked at him, then headed back inside, the crimson light of dusk casting shadows on her face, "Rest up and prepare to leave tomorrow.”

  The moment Chael heard those words, a sentimental shadow cast over his face. “Right…”

  'Hey…" Eclipse walked up to her, his voice resolute, “can you train me?”

  Chael’s eyes widened, and he doubled down, “yeah… Please, me too!”

  Celestia stopped on her tracks, the crimson rays illuminating a gentle yet melancholic and nostalgic smile on her face.