Mash slid across the floor, slamming into the wall hard enough to make cracks. The floor was covered in ice at this point, and every single attack his brother landed would launch him. Knowing that he would be too slow to keep up with Arthur, Mash chose to go with his newest form. Even with his brother holding back, the cat-like thing’s form improved his reflexes and speed and was the only reason he didn’t get hit by every attack. The dragon transformation would have worked too, but he still felt like that was too dangerous to use. He would practice with it more today and tomorrow, before using it in the tournament.

Another lance of ice shot out from beside his brother, and Mash matched it with a wooden one of his own. Arthur had gained an ice creation skill distinct from his sword, not to mention a way to manipulate his creations at far range. Mash still didn’t have one of those for anything other than replicas of Priscilla. He still needed to make sure the wood was connected to him if he wanted to control it at a range. As Mash matched the ice projectiles, he already started swinging his staff around him.

His brother appeared a moment later, a quarterstaff of ice ready to block. The two weapons collided, but Mash was more familiar with fighting with his weapon, and the staff bent at the point of impact thudding against his brother’s other arm. Apparently, he had raised it to block the blow, a thin armor of ice was noticeable along the forearm. Mash didn’t dally though, as his brother swung with that fist afterward. Mash jumped back, dodging the initial strike, and immediately lifted his staff to block a fist of ice that appeared in front of Mash. Within a second a dozen more fists appeared replicating the strike his brother had just missed.

With his improved form, he managed to dodge most of them, but two still collided with his wings sending him tumbling across the field. The wings were annoying in fights like these, and Mash had been tempted to cut them off. Thinking about how the monster had fought, he remembered how it pressed them into its fur when it moved. Doing his class’s namesake, he imitated the motion. Thankfully, it worked, and the wings pressed into his side like birds did when they were diving for prey. He felt several objects enter his domain and leaped while still sliding along the ground. He is using the momentum of his slide to carry him into the back wall, jumping so that the bottom of his feet would press against the wall. All the while he grew a wooden shield on his arm to block the blow.

Hitting the back wall, he landed with his feet pressing against it. Even before he started falling, he jumped forward towards the needles of ice. He used his shield to shatter the tiny projectiles, and then shifted his body to land on top of the shield. It skidded across the ground as he rode it like a sled. Mash grew out several tails of wood, each ending in hands as big as his own. In his own hands, he formed spears of wood and threw them at Arthur. His brother dodged, appearing beside Mash.

This time though, two of the tails he had hidden behind his body struck as his brother appeared. Fists slamming into his body, only to have it shatter into pieces of ice. Within his domain, Mash could feel the real Arthur appearing beside Mash rather than behind him. Mash quickly raised his leg in a spinning kick, the sled turning into clawed boots for his feet.

Mash’s reflexes were able to keep up with his brother, though his speed did not. Arthur caught his foot as it approached and threw him like a child would a toy. Mash was sent tumbling in the air for a second but found that he could right himself quickly. Apparently, his form made him more aware of how to land properly. Getting tired of sliding across the ground, he formed clawed gloves around his hands and finished the clawed boots on his feet. When he hit the ground now, all four of his clawed limbs dug into the ice, stopping him from sliding any further.

Mash wanted to land a hit and thought up a plan to land at least one strike. His brother had been getting repetitive, and appeared behind Mash once again, this time a clone of ice appearing at his side. Mash dodged his brother’s fist by jumping at the copy. Pushing off of it like he did the wall, he attempted to tackle his brother.

Arthur reacted, turning Mash’s tackle into a throw. It was the correct move, but Mash had expected it. Three of his tails had grown into the ground, chaining him to it. His brother didn’t have enough strength to ignore the amount of resistance and got stuck. Mash didn’t hesitate in the slightest, using the force of the half throw to headbutt his brother. Mash’s skull collided with Arthurs, and his brother recoiled from the blow. He let go of Mash dropping him to the ground, but Mash was similarly stunned by the impact.

Mash tried groaning, but his form changed the reaction into a catlike whimper. His brother didn’t strike, even though he recovered faster than Mash did. Instead, he sat down beside Mash. Mash let his transformation fade and had the wooden parts fall off. It seemed like they were done.

His brother had gotten significantly faster and stronger, not to mention the seemingly endless amount of ice he could produce. It surpassed Mash’s creation speed and amount. How did his brother have so much mana, wasn’t he supposed to be a variant on a knight? Deciding that asking was the best method to get answers, Mash opened his mouth.

“Are you willing to tell me what class you have now? And how do you have so much mana?”

Arthur had told Mash, that he would only tell of his class after sparring once. That condition had finally been fulfilled, and Mash felt the excitement building in his chest. Nodding, his brother spoke.

“I did promise you. Its full name is The Destined King of Ice. As for the mana concerns you're having, I essentially don’t use mana when I use Ice magic.”

Mash’s eyes bulged at the words. A king class meant he had a claim on the throne, or at least in creating his own city or town. Would the current king be ok with that? His brother was good a prospect to compete with the current king, both in terms of fame and power. The second part of his words also surprised Mash and he responded automatically.

“No mana! How is that even possible? You need to use something to do magic.”

“Yes. My old skill that summoned the ice blade changed, now it is called True Bond of Burecalix.”

His brother smirked as he spoke, and Mash leaped to his feet. One of the legendary blades, and the blade of kings no less. This was something he needed to see, and urgently at that. Despite seeing his reaction, Arthur remained seated. In this situation, Mash didn’t mind asking for the obvious.

“Well, show me.”

He didn’t bother hiding his annoyance and anticipation from his voice and could see his brother trying to hide a grin. Arthur raised his hand before uttering a single word.

“Summon.”

Instantly the world froze. At least that was what it felt like. Mash’s entire body grew cold, and the room was instantly enveloped in ice. Even the ceiling had a sheet of ice grown onto it. Mash’s body felt frozen, and even trying to shake his arms in excitement was difficult. It didn’t stop him, but he was a lot slower now. None of this was what truly amazed Mash.

It was the aura of dominance that enveloped him. Even with his skills, he could feel his pace quicken in fear. Whatever his brother had managed, was leagues above the hero in the tournament. Mash was almost paralyzed and shivered from more than just the cold. This was a dangerous ability. The pressure the blade was produced was incredible. It felt like it was pressing on Mash’s shoulders attempting to make him kneel before it. Truly a blade fitting of kings.

“Stop, he is family.”

The pressure winked away, and the cold that had been pressing on him vanished as his brother spoke. Mash had resisted the weapon’s attempt to make him kneel and slid to the ground tiredly afterward.

“What just happened?”

The words came out with a relieved sigh, as he was able to relax. His brother only shook his head.

“The blade is a bit sentient, and its initial reaction to being summoned is to make people kneel. Like you, it seems determined to cause me headaches.”

His brother spoke warmly, despite hinting at the problems of the blade. Mash could only nod at that. They sat in silence for a while, as Mash inspected the blade for a bit. Finally, he decided that it was ok to tell his brother what had been bothering him.

Mash explained everything, from how he felt about killing to how hopeless the struggle felt. He told him of the despair and anger at realizing that most of the changes caused by the classes had probably been normalized, and he was worried that once its influence was gone, he would be nothing. How that thought angered him, but he couldn’t fully understand why.

His brother listened to him complain for several minutes, silently nodding to one point or another. Only once Mash had finished, did Arthur formulate his response.

“Do you want to know something Mash? You have been becoming more emotional since getting your class advancements. After your first class, you had grown significantly more subdued. Recently though it feels like you have been much more open, and prone to rash decisions based on your emotions. I think your class and items are meant to keep you as who you are, not necessarily the ideal you want to believe for yourself. Your normal state isn’t one of calm Mash, that has never been true for you. No, you have always been the one to hoard all the emotions of the house, only ever sharing them with Luna.”

His brother smiled fondly as he spoke, but Mash saw his face darken a bit as he continued.

“I, on the other hand, have experienced the opposite. I know myself, or at least, like to act like I do. I have never been overly emotional, and my class advancements have slowly been subduing them further. I didn’t even notice until you pointed it out as if there was something covering the truth, and I needed you to push it out of the way. I’m honestly pretty worried about it. What if the system takes away all of my emotions? Am I even a person at that point? Take my word for it, this is not the direction you should go.”

His brother’s tone was flat, but Mash knew that he was scared. Arthur didn’t show it physically, but Mash could tell. His brother’s concerns made Mash’s feel small. How did it even feel to slowly have your emotions eroded away? To find out the reasons but not a way to prevent it. Mash had always assumed his brother chose to be reserved and calm and treated it like some ideal. That had clearly been wrong. It had never been a choice for him. Mash didn’t know what to say exactly but just spoke freely as his brother wanted him to.

“I won’t and will make doubly sure to have enough emotion for the both of us. If I could share it with Luna, I will find a way to share it with you too.”

“You don’t even realize how true that is.”

His brother muttered the words under his breath, but Mash had still managed to pick them up. Mash didn’t respond to them though, and they sat once again in companionable silence.

Minutes later, Mash asked his brother another question. One he had been curious about for a while but hadn’t had the opportunity to really ask until now. He was tempted to just let the silence continue but couldn’t restrain his curiosity.

“What was up with those dungeons? Everything about them had just been so strange.”