Suii—
Lucas summoned his bladed spear.
As the weapon appeared in his hand with a flash of bright light, he pointed its bladed head at his opponent, Leo Kurogami.
Slightly bending his knees, he assumed a basic spearman stance.
'A good stance,' Leo thought in his head.
Someone's fighting stance reveals a multitude of insights about them.
It conveys the countless hours that they dedicated to honing their martial art, the harrowing battles they fought on the edge of life and death, and even their true nature and innermost thoughts.
Lucas's current stance was undoubtedly strong, yet there was still a big room for improvement.
Despite never showing it, Leo Kurogami had always harbored a certain level of interest toward Lucas, albeit not for positive reasons.
Leo's curiosity stemmed partly from his own complicated history intertwined with the Morningstar family.
Despite being 'their' son, how could he be so weak? – that's what Leo used to think.
However, as time went on, Leo began to see a glimmer of familiar emotions in Lucas's eyes—sentiments he himself and his former friend Reynold had experienced during their youth.
The longing for victory. To be able to do anything to win. Cross any limits and blur any lines of morality and possibilities.
It was the unmistakable gaze of a warrior.
Lucas carried within him not the demeanor of a guardian or survivor but that of a true warrior– a rarity if he says so himself.
Leo was confused. The rumors he had heard portrayed Lucas as nothing more than a wasted noble, someone who had given up on life due to a minor setback.
But the Lucas he saw before him was someone else entirely when compared to the person he heard about in the rumors.
He was the most laid-back person in Class 1-A-1 and not a tantrum-throwing noble who had reduced himself just to his name.
Leo even learned that Lucas had played a significant role in their class's win during the Mock War.
Leo couldn't help but wonder at that moment, were the rumors about Lucas being a fallen genius even true?
However, despite his ponderings, Leo realised that such matters held little significance to him.
Without talent in martial arts or a high mana core potential, Lucas could never become strong.
After all, sheer intelligence can only take a man so far in this world.
Though the saying "Knowledge is power" lingered in his thoughts, deep down, he knew that in this world, true power resided solely in one's physical prowess.
He thought it was a shame. Despite being a Morningstar, Lucas didn't possess the same level of strength as his renowned parents.
He wasn't a strong martial artist like his father, nor was he a brilliant mage like his mother.
It was disheartening to witness someone who was not exceptional in any way.
For some reason, this fact reminded Leo of him. He saw the remnants of his past in him. He heard echoes of his struggle reflecting off the silver-haired boy.
But there was nothing he could do to help the child.
After all, even if Leo was feeling bad about him, Lucas was a Morningstar.
And Leo had learned from previous experiences to refrain from interfering with anyone from that family.
Also, he had much more important matters to attend to than helping out a kid in need.
However, fate had other plans.
Last night when Leo was reviewing the video footage from the security cameras he acquired from the police, he saw someone utilising a weapon art that he had hoped to never encounter again—the Dawnbreaker.
After that, he consulted with Nero and Anastasia regarding who that fighter was since he didn't recognise him as someone from Class 1-A-1.
To his surprise, Nero and Anastasia revealed that the only other person involved in the battle during the last few minutes alongside them was Lucas.
However, they admitted that they hadn't witnessed how Lucas managed to kill the vampire, yet they confirmed that it was indeed Lucas who struck the final blow.
Leo's confusion deepened.
The revelation of Lucas's involvement in such a remarkable feat raised further questions about the true nature of the young Morningstar.
After all, to Leo's knowledge, Reynold had never officially taught the Dawnbreaker to anyone else aside from Yelena.
And what he saw being performed in the security camera footage was the first step of the Dawnbreaker technique.
That must only mean that Lucas learned that first step by himself. That was an incredible feat!
Dawnbreaker was an exceptionally hard weapon art to learn, especially since there are no written manuals for it.
Yet, Lucas learned it?
That's why Leo summoned him last night. Something about the boy was intriguing enough to even catch his eye.
And he was proven correct.
After talking to him, Leo discovered that Lucas had almost learned a Level 3 weapon art in under a month without any guidance or instructions from anyone!
Leo knew that Lucas had a little talent for martial arts from all the rumors he heard about him.
But he had also heard that his talent was nothing too remarkable– just greatly above average but nothing heaven-defying.
Now for reference, it usually takes a normal person somewhere around nine to twelve months to learn a Level 3 weapon art, even with guidance!
If that's not remarkable talent, then Leo couldn't understand what else is?!
So, if his kid really had this kind of talent, then how come Reynold Morningstar – one of the best martial artists that Leo knows, didn't see it?
Why did he shun Lucas simply because he awakened a low mana core potential?
'Urgh,' Leo groaned in his mind. 'I could never understand that guy.'
A whirlwind of emotions swept over Leo's mind, temporarily clouding his head with a mixture of nostalgia, rage, frustration, and bitterness.
Reynolds's face flashed in his thoughts, evoking a surge of complex feelings within him.
A bitter smile formed on his lips as Leo muttered in a whispering tone, "And here I thought I had moved on from the past."
Shing—!!
In the next moment, however, he shook his head and cleared his mind.
Taking a deep breath next, Leo drew his katana from its sheath, the blade gleaming in the azure light as he coated it with mana.
He extended his arms, firmly gripping the handle with both hands and positioned the katana close to his chest, assuming a traditional stance.
With eyes fixed on Lucas, he nodded. "Come!"
