Four weeks before The Triplet's Vow

Caeruleus went in front of Fate and made a distance. He coldly looked into Fate's eyes as he defenselessly stands. "Attack me with your full strength, kid," Caeruleus told Fate, coldly.

"W-what, sir?" Fate nervously asked.

"I am not going to repeat what I said. I believe I said it clearly and loudly," Caeruleus replied, again, coldly.

Without any second thought, Fate dashed towards Caeruleus. He leaped and slashed his pairs of sickles, aiming towards Caeruleus' head, but Caeruleus just blocked it with his wooden staff.

"I said with your full strength, kid. Again."

Caeruleus never fought back and let Fate attack him with all of his might. Fate rushed towards him and suddenly lowered his body, aiming for Caeruleus' foot. He used his left arm to slash Caeruleus' feet, but again, he just blocked Fate's attack.

"Again."

The moment Caeruleus blocked his attack, Fate suddenly went for Caeruleus' back and attempted to slash it, but his attack was blocked again.

"I said, again."

Fate attacked again, and again, and again, but his attacks and slashes are being continuously blocked by Caeruleus.

The fight continued for several minutes, but Fate never succeeded in executing his attacks. Fate never gave up and continued attacking him until he grew exhausted, making him give up on his tactics and rely on recklessness.

"Again."

"Again."

"You attack like a female, kid. I said give everything you got."

"Useless."

"Futile."

"I don't see the strength in you."

Those were the replies Caeruleus told Fate every attack he does as if Caeruleus is attempting to taunt him.

It was until Fate attacked Caeruleus using both arms in a way that his slash is parallel to each other. Fate successfully ripped Caeruleus' wooden staff in half.

Fate completely drained his strength and loosened his grip on his sickles. He pants rapidly, catching his breath. The sweat from his face is dripping down to his chin every second.

"I-I broke it... I broke sir's staff..." Fate exclaims as he catches his breath. He looked into Caeruleus' eyes, expecting a response from what he had just done.

"Hmmm," Caeruleus wonders. He looked at his broken staff and tightened his grip on the broken staff.

Caeruleus looked into Fate's eyes with an intent to fight. Caeruleus smirked, giving off an impressed expression, "Bring it on, Fate. Treat me like I am your mortal enemy."

Fate smiled back to him as he looks back into Caeruleus' eyes, with an intent to fight back. He tightened his grip on his sickles. "Of course, sir, I will bring it on," Fate replies as he dashes towards Caeruleus. "I will bring it on, sir!!"

"Ooooh, this will be a fun training, Fate," Caeruleus asserts. "This will be fun!!"

Caeruleus and Fate started to rush towards each other as they exchange stares. Fate stared into Caeruleus' clear, cerulean eyes with intent to kill and obliterate him. Fate was full of determination to exert everything he has and push himself to the limits. On the other hand, Caeruleus stared into Fate's eyes with serious and deadly intent.

As they run towards each other, Fate realized everything he had gone through. All the criticisms and the judgments everyone gave him flowed through his veins. Everything he had gone through - all the pain and suffering he felt during the three years of self-training is all he could think of while he rush towards Caeruleus. Fate knew he must use all of what he had to experience to prove himself to Caeruleus, and that's the thing that pumps up Fate's adrenaline.

Fate and Caeruleus are very close to each other; they are in close combat. Both sides exchanged blows from their weapons. As Fate slashes, Caeruleus blocks it, and vice versa. Caeruleus finally had the intention of fighting back.

Fate's determination is scorching hot and its heat is unbearable. At this rate, his attacks are gradually changing. His blows and slashes become stronger over time. Although Fate already pushed himself to his limits, he showed no signs of exhaustion and never even indicated giving up.

"Yes, kid!" Caeruleus shouts as he blocks continuously deflect Fate's attacks, "Let everything you had to go through flow inside you!"

Fate never gave a response and continued to attack Caeruleus.

"Let the anger flow! Never attempt and never try to stop that flow!! That's the thing you have to remember when fighting!

"Never show any signs of remorse, and never ever give an empathy towards your enemy."

Again, Fate never responded. His attacks became aggressive and began to shout every swing and every slash he does.

Fate suddenly stopped attacking. Caeruleus grabbed the chance and attempted to swing the wooden stick towards Fate's kneecap, but Fate suddenly leaped backward, evading his attack.

"I think I saw this last night..." Caeruleus whispered to himself.

He performed a blocking stance, attempting to block whatever Fate's going to do.

"Here he comes," Caeruleus thought to himself.

Fate rushed towards Caeruleus, but rather than attacking, he jumped from the ground and went behind Caeruleus.

"Wait, how did he jump that high?" Caeruleus asked himself as he saw Fate jump three meters above the ground.

"Sir!" Fate shouted, "You are holding back, please give your best shot too!!"

Fate aimed for Caeruleus' back and threw one of his sickles. Caeruleus blocked the sickle Fate. Before the sickle hit Caeruleus, he took the moment to do something that would turn the tables down.

"Come on, Fate, come on," Fate told himself as he tries to do something. His feet start to disintegrate, but they regenerated back again.

"Fuck, please work this time..." he thinks, "Can you please just work this time??"

His Feet disintegrated once again, but they regenerated back in just a second. Fate's time is already running out. He must try hard this time.

Fate sighed and closed his eyes, relaxed his mind, and released every tension inside his body while maintaining his fighting stance on mid-air. Fate tries hard to execute whatever he wants to do while maintaining a serene and relaxed body.

"What's the point, right?" he assumes, "I can never do what Kismet has been trying to teach me back then. I am..." he sighed, "...such a failure."

Fate never realized the time has stopped around him until he opened his eyes. The surrounding had a light blue-ish tint. He can't hear anything but his own heartbeat and seemingly ticks of a clock. He was standing straight on the ground. At that moment, he suddenly remembered something.

*******

"Remember, Fate. Once the time has stopped around you, you only have a short amount of time to move. You will hear ticks of a clock five times before the effect wears off. Think of where you want to go before teleporting, or else the 'path' won't open. At the end of that path, there is a mirror revealing the place where you want to go. Act fast. Never waste any milliseconds you have. That's the key to teleport."

*******

"T-that's it!" Fate exclaims, "I can see the 'path' already!"

Fate already heard the first tick of the clock. "I should go already," he reckons.

The second tick reverberated around his ears. He cannot waste any time now. "Fuck, I am running out of time."

Fate followed the path and he could see the back of Caeruleus. Fate ran as he heard the third tick.

"Is the path really this long??" he asks himself. "Shit, shit! I shouldn't let myself get carried away earlier!!" he exclaims as the fourth tick echoed around his ears. He ran as fast as he could and he can see the 'path' starting to close.

Before Fate could hear the fifth tick, he already reached the end of the 'path' before it closed. He could already feel his strength being drained out when he got out of the 'path.'

"I-I made it in time..." he thinks, "I hope I won't fail this..."

The surrounding became normal as Fate heard the fifth tick. He saw Caeruleus deflect the sickle he just threw earlier when he was on mid-air.

Fate took the opportunity and threw his remaining sickle. The sickle successfully hit Caeruleus, but it just bounced off as if Caeruleus wears armor.

Caeruleus got knocked down on the ground, but easily stood up. He looked behind him and got surprised as he saw Fate successfully teleport behind him.

"You..." Caeruleus said, "how did you do it?"

"I-I did it..." Fate exclaims as he pants rapidly. "I d-did it...I did...it."

Fate fell on the ground, unconscious, and passed out. Caeruleus cannot believe what he just witnessed, shocked at what Fate did just now. He had a hard time analyzing how did it happen and didn't move despite knowing Fate had already fallen unconscious.

"This is a lesson learned, I guess... I will never underestimate Fate again."

----- 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒𝑠 -----