There was a young boy and a middle aged man on a barren training field. The young boy and man rushed at each other. When they were about to collide the man stopped and the boy couldn’t stop in time and collided into the man. The young boy stumbled to the ground and the man pointed his swords towards his throat and said “Checkmate.”

The young boy got up and asked “How could you stop on the spot like that?”

“I found out that if I implant my aura in the ground in basically tethers me to that spot.”

“Now that I know that let’s have a rematch.”

The young boy and the middle aged man rushed towards each other again. The man stopped just as he did last time and the young boy instead of crashing into him rolled under him and then suplexed him. The young boy then put his claws up to the man, smiled and said “Checkmate.”

“Rematch.”

The young boy and the man rushed towards each other again. Neither of them stopped and then they collided. The man stayed there looking unfazed while the young boy toppled backwards. The man swung his sword right before the boy and said “Checkmate.”

“Rematch.”

This process continued until both of them were so exhausted that they couldn’t stand up. The young boy was of course Lugh and the man was the person who he fought with in the arena.

“I can’t believe that just a month ago you couldn’t win a single match without your spirits.”

“I can’t believe that just a month ago you could barely use aura to enhance your body.”

After that the duo started to laugh.

Lugh said “You know that it sucks that you have to leave..”

“You know you could come along. You have a noble bloodline after all.”

Lugh sighed and said “I need some incentive if I’m going to put myself on the Heaven and Hell radar.”

“That’s a terrible name but if you win the noble tournament you can gain some coin and 1st place prize is a S ranked set of armour.”

“The chances of me winning against the true nobles are close to zero.”

“You don’t know if you don’t try.”

“Is there any other events in that area?”

“There is the noble scholar tournament.”

Lughs eyes lit up after he said that and asked “What are they judging on?”

“Are you seriously thinking about entering that tournament?”

“Of course.”

“If you really want to then I won’t stop you. The prize is a rank SSS amulet of focus.”

“How could an item of that quality be a prize for a scholar tournament!?”

“All it does is gives you unrivalled focus. It’s not all that impressive.”

“NOT THAT IMPRESSIVE! FOCUS IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN COMBAT!”

“How do you figure?”

“If you aren’t focused in combat how could you analyze the weaknesses of your opponent. If you aren’t focused how are you going to barely dodge attacks. If you aren’t focused how will you make the correct decisions. Focus is one of the key components of being a good fighter.”

“I never really thought about it that way.”

“Anyways I guess I’m coming along.”

“You better get packed I’m leaving tonight.”

“I’ll make sure to be ready.”

***

I was standing in front of a grandiose carriage wondering why there needs to be a carriage with golden embroidery. A butler came out of the carriage and said “Master Lugh, Master Joseph wants to see you.”

I went into the carriage and saw Joseph sitting there emitting an aura of grandeur unlike the aura he usually emitted. Following his example I emitted an aura of power that I learned from my parents. Joseph seems surprised that I could actually emit an aura. I told him that I am actually a noble. He laughed at that and said that we will be in the capital in 2 days.

(When I’m talking about aura as in the feeling you emmit it won’t be a proper noun but if i’m talking about the combat Aura it will be capitalized.)

***

When we finally arrived a pair of guards plated in a dark blue armour stopped us and asked for identification. Joseph handed them a piece of paper which I assume is the identification. After the guards read it they had a look of respect and let us through. I asked him what house he was from. He responded with “I am the crown prince of this empire.”

I was surprised and asked “What were you doing at the arena in Sylven?”

He responded with “I need to become stronger to rule the court and I am reaching for immortality. I actually have to worry about me dying of old age unlike you.”

I just realized that I thought of myself more as a Kitsune then a human now. When I just reincarnated I thought of myself as a human at heart but now I have realized that I thought of myself as a Kitsune. I said “I know the feeling of worrying about that more than you know. But immortality is a pretty large goal isn’t it.”

“It is so that’s why I need to start now.” After that he chuckled and said “The tournament of scholars is starting today. So if you want to register you better go now.”

After knowing that I rushed out of the carriage running towards the registration area.