The duo of commonbirth Egos was unmistakenly brothers. They were almost two meters tall, had bronze-colored tanned skin, and their long chestnut hair was bound back to manbuns, giving them a unique appearance among the kingdom's knights. But the brothers seemed to enjoy that as they strode through the camps of the nobles’ retinues with the same prideful gait.

Their physiques were also extraordinary, putting them on an even higher level than Percy, who had been working tirelessly for the last few months to improve his physique. The brothers were bulky, but their movements weren’t affected, allowing them to move fluidly through the rows of tents and carriages.

But Percy wasn’t interested in them because of their unique appearance. The brothers had been thrown out of the Wintermoon estate several times since the Imperial training started, and their bodies were always covered in cuts and bruises.

I was waiting for this.

Percy licked his lips and approached the brothers. The commonbirth Egos didn’t notice him at first, but one of them sniffed in the air, and his head flicked to Percy a moment later. His dark eyes studied Percy intently, attracting his brother’s attention. The siblings looked at Percy, who smiled vibrantly at them.

They raised their right eyebrows in unison and studied him from head to toe.

Oh, right. I’m still covered in monster blood. I forgot to change my clothes. Whatever, I can clean up later.

“My name is Percy. I saw you two a few times and was curious what you two have been doing to end up thrown out of the Imperial training so often,” Percy asked, still smiling.

One of the brothers smiled while the other one frowned.

“That’s none of your concern,” The latter grunted. He was already angry and didn’t want to be bothered by a stranger.

“It’s not my business, I know,” Percy shrugged, “How about a spar then? If you don’t want to tell me about the Imperial training and how you were thrown out, what about showing me how much you’ve learned in the last few weeks?”

The annoyed commonbirth Ego waved dismissively and turned away, but his brother’s grin widened.

“You want to spar with me? Are you sure about that?” He asked excitedly, approaching Percy with a gleam in his eyes.

The annoyed brother cursed quietly and turned around, “Don’t, Erik. You know they don’t want Imperials, including future Imperials, fighting each other.”

“But that isn’t a fight, Tarlek! It’s a spar!” Erik retorted quietly, while Percy added, “And I’m not a future Imperial. They didn’t let me participate in the training, so I’m not even a future prospect.”

Tarlek glared at Percy, who smiled back innocently.

“Do whatever you want. I don’t care anymore. In the worst case, they throw us out of the clearing as well. At least, this nonsense will be over then.”

Tarlek shook his head and cursed a few more times in a language Percy never heard before, but he didn’t leave. Tarlek stayed and walked behind Erik, who searched for a perfect spot to spar. Erik’s excitement was overflowing, which seemed part of why Tarlek’s mood plummeted.

What an odd pair of siblings.

Percy grinned before also following Erik and Tarlek. The latter turned around and looked Percy straight in the eyes.

“Aren’t you the Ego who came with Lady Reeze?”

They know me? That’s surprising. I don’t think Melissa talked about me, or did she?

“You don’t have to look at me like that. She didn’t talk about you. Lady Reeze is being occupied by those leeches and monkeys who consider themselves her friends,” Tarlek immediately denied Percy’s thought.

“I don’t think I exchanged more than two words with her. Either way, there are rumors about you. You aren’t part of the Glacia Knight Order, but everyone there treats you nicely. Whether that is because of your Ego and how powerful you will be in the future or because of your personality, I don’t know. But what I do know is that my brother can smell strong enemies. He wouldn’t be this excited if you were weak.”

Percy’s lips parted, but he silently regarded Tarlek and his brother.

That is interesting. Smelling strong enemies… Is that what his Ego does? Probably not. He wouldn’t have been invited to participate in the Imperial training.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Erik waved to his brother and Percy and urged them to hurry up. He found an even path of grass that left just about enough space to spar. It wasn’t massive but left enough space to attack and retreat. Percy studied the field and licked his lips.

That should be enough space.

“Are we fighting with our Cards and Egos?” Percy asked, but Erik responded with a shrug.

“I don’t mind either. As long as you and Tarlek stop me when I go wild, I will be fine with either.”

Percy glanced at Tarlek, who looked at his brother surprised. It took him a moment to regain his senses. He cleared his throat and intervened.

“Let’s fight without Cards and Egos. We don’t want anyone to get seriously injured, do we?” Tarlek asked his brother dead-seriously, “That being said, how about you spar in old school?”

“Unarmed?” Percy asked while removing his scabbard. He put it down next to Tarlek, who watched his brother’s widening grin in concern.

“Surrender before he loses himself in the Hymne of War. It’s one of his Ego’s powers, and he cannot deactivate it. If you think that’s unfair, we can stop this mess—...”

Percy raised his hand, “I will be fine. You can jump in and help me if your brother beats me to a pulp, right?”

He smiled vibrantly at Tarlek, who regarded Percy with newfound interest. Percy looked like an idiot, but he was certainly not a coward. That was to the brothers’ liking.

“Get ready.”

Percy walked over to the other side of the grass patch and changed into a standard combat stance. Erik followed suit and changed his stance. But Erik's upper body leaned forward instead of staying in a neutral stance. His hands cracked repetitively as they twitched in impatience.

He will attack right away. I don’t know his Tier, but Tarlek spoke overly respectfully about Melissa. She should be stronger than them, which means our Tier should be similar. Erik’s physique is better than mine, though. He must have trained longer and much harder than I did, and his Ego might have passively enhanced his physique. Or he has multiple Monster Cards with [Basic Strength Boost].]

Various thoughts flashed through Percy’s mind before Tarlek started with the countdown.

“3…”

“2…”

Erik tensed up and lowered his body even further. He channeled mana through his lower body, whereas Percy stirred his mana to sweep through his entire body.

“1…”

The ground underneath Erik cracked and burst open even though the commonbirth Ego had yet to move. Percy’s eyes narrowed to tiny slits, and he channeled enough mana into his eyes to actively use [Hawk Eyes]

That should be enough, rig–...

“Fight!”

Erik kicked the ground with tremendous force, tearing the grass patch apart. He accelerated at a terrifying speed and closed in on Percy quickly. Erik’s hands moved to the side and pulled back. He formed fists and loosened the fists after a moment again, almost as if he was trying to trick Percy.

Your fighting style is not that complex. You’re just trying to trick me into believing that.

Once he gained a rough understanding of Erik and his actions, Percy also shot forward. He moved slightly faster than Erik and punched him in the gut. At least, it looked like Percy had been faster because his attack impacted first. However, it wasn’t that Erik was slower. He just didn’t care about the incoming punch.

Erik pulled his hands together, interlocked his fingers, and smashed down, threatening to crack Percy’s skull. Percy’s eyes narrowed when he saw what was about to happen. He’d seen a glimpse of the upcoming situation with [Hawk Eyes] and jumped to the side once his first punch landed.

This did less damage than expected.

Percy rolled over the grass and jumped up, but Erik was already there. He punched Percy in the chest, forcing Percy to twist his body and raise his arms to block the attack. However, Erik was already there to follow up with a second punch.

He landed a series of quick blows, forcing Percy to respond fast and with great precision every single time. He twisted his body to escape the worst blows while blocking the remaining attacks. His arms ached even though he’d been channeling mana through them to strengthen them, but he smiled nonetheless.

Erik roared at the top of his lungs and attacked with more ferocity. His attacks were faster and stronger, but his pattern remained unchanged. It worked, so why would he change his pattern?

That is what I mean by a simple fighting style. You’re fucking strong, but your Ego’s passive effect has too much control over you.

Percy’s eyes glimmered when he saw something from the corner of his eyes. His mana reserves boiled as it coursed through his body, enhancing his speed for a quarter of a second.

He disappeared from the spot, evaded Erik’s attacks, and appeared beside the wild Ego.

“That will hurt a little,” Percy said, gathering his remaining mana in the fist before it impacted.

A perfect execution of a perfect liver shot.

A pained groan replaced Erik’s roar. His mana was unstable and escaped into the surroundings, filling the air with mythical energy.

Only the white in his eyes was visible for a moment before he collapsed to the ground.

Tarlek looked at his brother for a moment with a conflicted expression

“You didn’t kill him, right?”