CHAPTER - 168

  Narrator: Accompanied by Leo, Dav stepped into the arena.

  The space was vast, silent, with a stillness in the air like the calm before a storm.

  Without hesitation, Dav walked straight to the center, his steps slow but resolute.

  “Listen, Leo...”

  His voice echoed, calm yet grave, his gaze fixed on the far end of the empty arena.

  “If you want to change your mind, there’s still time.”

  Leo stepped forward.

  His heart pounded, but his gaze was steady, determined.

  “I’m ready, sir.”

  He lifted his chin with pride, looking into his master’s eyes.

  Dav watched him in silence for a moment.

  Then he nodded.

  “Keep your guard up, Leo. Attack me without hesitation, as if your life depends on it...

  because I’ll do the same.”

  Leo took a deep breath, raised his sword above his head, and charged forward with a fierce look.

  “Heeere I coooome!” he shouted with all the strength in his lungs.

  Dav turned slowly. His eyes…

  were lifeless.

  Devoid of any light.

  “I’m sorry, Leo...”

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  he whispered through clenched teeth.

  Leo hesitated for a moment.

  Those words cut through him like icy blades.

  A chill ran down his spine, fear cloaked him like a shroud.

  A moment later, the blow landed.

  Dav struck him with devastating force in the abdomen.

  Leo’s body flew like a rag doll and crashed into the wall of the arena,

  creating a deafening boom.

  The ground shook.

  Pinned to the wall, Leo trembled.

  Blood streamed from his mouth, from a split eyebrow, from cuts all over his body.

  One barely open eye tried to focus on the imposing figure of his master.

  “What... what just happened?...”

  His body no longer responded. Every fiber felt numb, the pain unbearable.

  Dav approached and touched him with his hand.

  Within moments, all the wounds vanished.

  The pain was gone.

  Leo gasped.

  “I feel... fine? I don’t feel any pain!”

  But he had no time to understand: another strike came.

  Instinctively, he dove to the side, and Dav’s fist smashed through the wall behind him.

  Dust enveloped the arena.

  Heart racing, Leo resumed his attack.

  Every slash, every thrust, was desperate and ferocious.

  Dav faced him with divine pace.

  He appeared before Leo like a bolt of lightning and with a single kick shattered all his ribs.

  The young man, struck, expelled all the blood from his mouth, Dav’s eyes, in slow motion, saw it all more clearly.

  The kick pushed deeper and deeper into his body, and he was hurled again, carving a trench in the ground until he slammed once more into the wall.

  Once again, Dav healed him.

  Leo stood, staggering, and thrust his sword in fury.

  But his arm was sliced in two with terrifying precision.

  The pain was so immense it tore an inhuman scream from his lungs.

  This time, Dav didn’t heal him right away.

  He struck again.

  And again.

  Breaking every defense, every hope.

  Only at the end, when Leo could no longer even cry, he healed him.

  “Focus, Leo...”

  he said calmly, wielding a wooden greatsword.

  Leo, trembling, raised his gaze.

  At Dav’s first step, he immediately took a defensive stance.

  The thrust was brutal.

  He blocked it, but was overwhelmed more and more, until he gave in and was flung back by a powerful kick.

  “Come, I’ll heal you.”

  said Dav, approaching as Leo coughed blood.

  But Leo, with a cry, rose again, gripping his bloodied sword.

  “I’m fine! Let’s keep going!”

  He charged again at him, slashing the air with every technique he had learned.

  His hands ruined, fingers cut, but his will unbroken.

  Dav narrowed his eyes. Finally, he was truly seeing him.

  With his sword, he struck him over and over.

  Leo’s body danced in pain, but his spirit would not fade.

  Flashback – A few hours earlier

  Narrator: Dav, alone on the balcony of his room, gazed at the academy bathed in sunlight.

  He picked up the phone.

  “Lexia, come another day.

  I’ve got things to do today.”

  He ended the call and remained still, watching the scenery.

  Present

  Narrator: Leo kept standing back up.

  Every strike shattered him: broken ribs, damaged organs, torn flesh.

  But each time, Dav healed him.

  And each time, Leo returned to the fight.

  And with every fall... he grew stronger.

  END OF CHAPTER - 168