Upon seeing this Anthony couldn’t help but laugh and smile. He was all fired up now. It’s been a while since he felt this excited. He knew that bringing Kain along would be the right call even despite how others felt about it.

“Bring it then. You get to make the first move.”

“Don’t go too hard on him. He’s still new to all of this.” Abel mentioned while looking at his brother.

“I won’t mom!” Anthony joked.

“This ends at the first sign of bleeding.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Kain and Anthony stood across from each other. Anthony told Kain to make the first move. Right before he was about to he stopped him by holding out his hand.

“Before you even think of attacking me. What happens when you attack me with the intent to kill and I don’t defend with Either?”

“You die. I already know this.” Kain started to project his aura from his body. The dark blue miasma secreted from his body and a feeling of coldness was felt by the other two.

Once Abel felt this he couldn’t help but frown. Upon seeing it… he could feel the sadness that was emitting from Kain. Either was like a gateway into the soul and right now Kain was expanding it.

Abel looked down as he wondered what he had gone through on his mission of freedom. Whatever he found wasn’t freedom. It must have been traumatizing. Not even other genomes' auras felt this hopeless.

I wish I could have been there from the start. To help you through all of this. But…

I’m going to be here now for you. I promise brother. I won’t let anyone hurt you again.

Anthony didn’t know what to say with him still being fresh to this. So, for now, he just smiled and agreed.”Strike me as hard as you can.”

Kain followed his instructions. Channeling more of his energy into his right fist he ran up and delivered a firm strike towards his opponent’s body. Anthony reacted promptly by guarding against it with his arms crossed.

As he did this he focused more of his aura into his limbs to mostly negate the attack. Despite Kain’s best effort, he couldn’t hurt, or even move his opponent.

“Not a bad strike. You’re strong, but your basic attacks lack intensity. But, Abel is the same so don’t worry too much.”

“What the hell? I thought that was a good punch.”

“It was. You focused most of your aura on that attack which left you open else if I were to counter.” He mentioned. “Also because it was obvious where you were going to land the attack, I concentrated solely on that spot.”

“Makes sense. I was taught that Either control is everything in a fight. How well you can manipulate your aura will ultimately decide if you can win a fight.”

“That’s right. I have way more experience, but you’re a quick learner. Some people’s aura are just better suited for other tasks as well. This stuff is still a learning process for us as well.”

“I see.” Kain mentioned as he looked at his hand and then back at Anthony.

“Think quick!” Anthony yelled before delivering a swift kick. With his aura infused into his right leg. The attack caught Kain completely off guard as it struck the genome’s cheek.

His eyes closed for a moment and he found himself landing on the ground. He was dazed…

“I caught you lackin’ man. Remember, always keep your guard up. If this was a real fight that could have been enough to get you killed.”

Kain took in his words as he struggled back to his feet. Being attacked directly by Either without any defenses… it made you as strong as a human being. The attack felt as if he was hit by a pro boxer square in the jaw.

Things were still a bit hazy, but he could still focus. He shook his head before nodding. “Right… but even keeping your aura up takes energy.”

“Exactly… but it’s like a muscle. The more you use it the more you’ll get better. Of course, like how you train specific groups of muscles you’ll have to train specific applications of Either.”

“I get it.”

“Now defend against this!” Anthony instructed as he prepared to deliver a right hook. His hand clenched and effortlessly cut through the air.

Kain extended his arua quickly, sensing the move, and was easily able to avoid it by ducking under it and then moving to try and tackle Anthony. The two struggled for a bit until Kain managed to lift the other up into the air.

“Ok! You’re stronger than I expected. I didn’t think you could lift me!”

SLAM!!

Kain had managed to slam Anthony onto the unforgiven floor before trying to keep him pinned. “It wasn’t hard. I just my aura to help lift you.” Kain had Anthony mounted as he clenched his fists and struck against his guarded face.

Anthony laughed a bit as he kept up his defenses. “You hit a bit harder than Abel. That’s interesting.”

Kain delivered another strike, but his fist landed against the ground as Anthony moved himself to the side and shoved him off. He then made it back to his feet and made another comment.

“Have you named your abilities yet?”

“What? No.”

“Why not?”

“I haven’t thought of one yet. Plus what is this? Some kind of anime? Why are we naming attacks?”

“You think we name our attacks for our health!? Kain!”

“What?”

“By naming your technique you give it more power! It increases your control and precision. It makes the move more personal.”

“Do I have to?”

“You gotta stick with the canon bro!”

“Fiiiine.”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“Two abilities that seem to be special to you is your ability to move things without touching it. And to enter one’s mind.”

“But I never came up with those. I just kinda did it.”

“That’s another way abilities are created, Kain. Sometimes they come out naturally. I think you should nurture those.”

“I see…”

“How did you develop those? I haven’t ever seen an ability like yours before.”

“…”

Deep down Kain knew how those abilities of his formed. But, it was also a mystery to himself as well.

However, for his brother, he could feel a strong feeling of emotion. A strong sensation that was lingering in Terios’ soul.

The training continued with Anthony getting his older brother up to speed. It was crazy how fast he could learn.

Gen 1 genomes and their ability to adapt to situations was an innate gift that would be hard to beat.

That’s why he’s so special. Gen 1 genomes aren’t produced anymore. But every one of them can learn so quickly.

This in itself makes up for the drawbacks. Yet, they call me perfect? Why?

Was it some kind of sick joke?

Anthony and Kain were seen sweating. They worked out for quite a while. About thirty minutes of nonstop training.

They could have gone longer but Anthony wanted to emphasize how important it was for him to develop his ability and come up with a name for it.

He threatened that the demons out there were frightening. Stronger and more sinister than Abigail could ever hope to be.

“I care about you, man. Take this seriously. You’ll see soon why it’s so important to keep in shape.”

“I know. Trust me, I know.”

Anthony soon turned his attention towards Abel. “Did you want to have a go?”

“You’re giving me a chance to show off to Kain? You’re too kind.”

“Don’t think I’ll go easy on you just ‘cause we’re bros.”

“I was about to tell you the same thing!”

The atmosphere in the room changed. The playful and light training that Anthony had with Kain was fading.

Now this was a battlefield of wills. Abel always took his training seriously. Dead serious. Because…

I can never lose.

Anthony tensed up but knew what he was in for and immediately amped how much Either he was producing.

Abel took him seriously, but his aura was thin as it was secreted from his body. It was a faint lavender color.

“One of my major flaws is that I can’t produce as much Either as everyone else. But, it doesn’t matter.” Abel mentioned.

The two of them began to clash. Moving at speeds that were far beyond human. All that was left of them was a hue of color.

They clashed with each other roughly, each strike echoing throughout the room.

Elbow to elbow.

Fist to fist.

Knee to knee.

The two of them were able to match one another evenly. The two of them were fighting on even ground for the most part.

Anthony was sweating from his training with Kain, but Abel was still getting warmed up.

Once they closed the distance between one another, Anthony sped up his movement briefly and attempted to go for his trademark leg sweep.

However, Abel saw it coming and performed an elegant front flip over him, landing casually behind his opponent.

Once Anthony realized he had missed he attempted a back elbow with his right arm, but before he could…

Abel had interlocked their arms together with his back being used like a clutch to force the boy off his feet and slam him roughly onto the ground.

THUD!!!

Anthony landed roughly on the back of his head which caused him to roll a bit before staggering to his feet.

As he regained his senses, he realized that Abel had closed the distance again. All it took was a simple hand thrust.

Directly to Anthony’s chest as his aura overpowered his friend’s causing him to cough up blood as he fell into his back.

Kain looked surprised. Anthony was somehow beginning to see him as a rival, but his brother just defeated him without breaking a sweat.

“Impressive…”

Hearing Kain say that Abel couldn’t help but feel his cheeks get red as he helped his friend up.

“I’m sorry for going a little rough.”

“Maaan… you’re really something.”

“Think of it like this. I have less room to grow than you guys. I’ve hit my ceiling.”

“A pretty damn high ceiling.”

“Come on let’s get some more sparring in. We don’t want to waste our time.”

The three of them continued to train and talk. Taking the time to get to know each other despite the conditions they were forced into.

12:03 PM

Kain and Anthony were both drenched with sweat after all of the training that Abel had them do. However, the latter was perfectly cool. In fact, he seemed like he was ready for more, but the training hour was just about over.

“Looks like we made it. Just in time.” Anthony could be seen breathing heavily.

Abel nodded. “Yeah, now we can go on our lunch break. From twelve to one-thirty we are free to do whatever we want.”

“How generous of them.” Kain added.

“Not really. We’re stuck with this schedule seven days a week. Genomes don’t get to have days off.” Anthony sighed.

“I’m not surprised.”

“Missions are sort of like a vacation. We get to be outside and enjoy ourselves.” Abel hummed.

“Yeah, it’s bittersweet. I’m going to go check on Talia. I’ll catch you guys in the command room.”

“All right… guess I’ll get myself familiar with this building again.” Kain muttered.

“What are you about to do Abel?”

Abel stood with his hands behind his back as he chuckled lightly. “I just need to confirm something.” That was all he said before he exited the room.

12:25 PM. Sagull’s Room.

“Well isn’t this a lovely surprise~.” She muttered from those pink lips of hers.

Abel looked at her curled up in the bed with a manga in hand. Abel seemed rather serious. His eyes were diluted as he examined her carefully.

Sagull’s room was similar to the other girls. She had a bunch of those squish mellows littered on her bed. She also enjoyed the color pink a lot. So much so that she had her walls painted to match that color.

We’ve been dating for about seven months. Our relationship was strong at one point. But…

“Being around you is too delightful. I barely want to be away from you.” He mentioned as he started to examine her.

She was dressed casually, wearing a pair of blue jeans with brown colored boots and a black tank top. Her long raven-colored hair was tied up in a bun. She placed the manga down as she patted a spot on her bed for Abel to come sit.

He followed suit, sitting beside her and wrapping an arm around her. There was a shocking sensation flooding his mind as he remained so close to her. It produced a very dangerous reaction from him.

He soon sighed as he leaned his head onto her shoulder. Upon doing so she tilted her head to look at him and question why he seemed down.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“...” She remained silent as she turned her attention back to her manga. “Did you want to play something before we go back to work?”

“Nah.”

“Really? Well, what do you want to do?”

“You.”

“Oh stop it! I’m serious.”

Abel shifted himself to face her directly before he brushed a finger along her cheek. The expression on his face changed entirely. Love or lust… it didn’t matter which one it was to him. The feeling itself was intoxicating.

“So am I.” He stated bluntly as he leaned in to give her a firm kiss. His hands soon reached out to rest along her side. She tried to speak, but she was easily silent. Her sun-kissed cheeks flushed with a bit of red.

Abel had a smirk on his face as he continued to push forward. His heart was racing with determination; with passion.

His hands wandered around her body… even though it had been explored multiple times in the past, he never grew tired of doing it again.

One thing led to another and soon their clothes were removed. Both of the genomes were bearing it all on full display.

Abel rested on top of her, his hand covering her mouth to keep her moans muffled. The two were intertwined with one another like lovers.

Something doesn’t feel right…

They couldn’t be separated at this point. Their flesh was one. Abel matched his movements to match hers.

The bed rocked from their movement. What felt like minutes was mere seconds. The sounds they made together were…

Unholy.

Everything was wrong.

Everything stopped… Abel soon separated from her and sighed before he mumbled.

“Why did you stop?”

“‘Cause I… don’t feel it.”

“…”

There was a moment of silence… the tension between them was growing.

“I used to…”

I used to feel it. The feeling that I so desperately crave.

Love.

I used to feel love from her. But, lately…

Things have been different between us. My chest doesn’t melt like it used to.

I don’t feel as light as I used to.

“What?” She sounded confused.

“I don’t feel it anymore.” Abel said as he sat up on the bed, bringing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them.

Sagull moved closer to him and wrapped an arm around him while looking directly at him. “Maybe that’s normal. I… haven’t felt it in a while either. What’s that thing humans say about the honeymoon phase being over?”

“It shouldn’t be like that though… what we had… have is love right?”

“I think… love gets stale over time. Isn’t that why people divorce and remarry? Maybe we should try that.”

Abel looked over at her his eyes widening a bit. “What are you getting at?”

“Maybe we should see other people and see how that feels. Of course, we can keep this a secret from prying eyes.”

Abel looked like a lost child as he was trying to comprehend the words that he was hearing. All of this time love was the one thing that kept him strong. It was a strong desire that motivated his every action.

It was his reason for being and he truly believed something like that was eternal. For it to be broken so easily…

“So you want the status and the perks of being around me…” He muttered while shifting his head to look at her with a pouty expression. “But, you don’t want to share that feeling anymore?”

“Look at it this way this means we weren’t going to work out in the long run. It’s better we know now. Besides… don’t act like you didn’t benefit from being with me either.”

Pain. That was the common theme of Abel’s life. From the moment of his creation, he had always been seen as a favored among the genomes. Almost in the same light as Kain.

Along with this pain… breed a wanting… longing… melancholy.

“I don’t even think you loved me. I think you were just trying to feed the void-”

Before she could finish her sentence. His hand reached out to latch onto her face. His eyes seemed empty and lustful. A deranged smile was etched onto his face. What came next was an unspeakable horror.

Her entire body was set ablaze with purple flames.