CLANK!

I easily met Leo's blade, stopping it from moving instantly. My feet began to move instantly as I got closer. He countered with another swing going for my feet. I stopped using my sword to advance and blocked the strike.

Anticipating his next move of moving his blade up to attack, I immediately raised my sword. Our swords met for the second time making an even louder sound. Sparks began to fly as sweat built up on our faces.

I was close enough to begin launching a flurry of attacks. I picked different locations to force him to a defense. First his leg, then chest, shoulder, and back down to his foot. My plan was working; Leo had no time for an attack.

...

Or so I thought. He put all his strength into one shot, forcing me to move back. He chose that moment to go for a swift strike to the chest. I moved my foot to the side and rotated my body out of the way.

I put the side of my blade under his and swung my arm up. Although he kept his grip, his sword was now above his head. Taking this moment where he couldn't move his blade, I moved in.

With great grace and agility, I got even closer to Leo. The difference in length of our swords was no longer a disadvantage. In fact, the short sword I had was lighter and more responsive than his sword.

I swung my arm and the curved piece of my sword made a small cut on his shirt. It would've barely caused a cut, yet I had broken through his defense. I gained a proud smile. It was the first time this had happened! Although I was beyond elated, I couldn't let that distract me.

I moved my sword out of the way, waiting for him to swing. When he did, I leaned back and swung right beside his blade, puncturing his shirt once again.

Leo jumped back and put his sword down, signaling the end of the fight. I followed his lead and dropped my sword and began to wipe the sweat off my face while panting.

"So I think we both agree that I won," I said in between breaths. I let out a small laugh.

"Your progress has been growing exponentially lately," Leo said. He gave a small smile as well. "You may surpass me in a year or two."

"Really?" I asked seriously.

Leo nodded his head.

Five years. That's how long it took to get to this point.

Ever since my loss, I worked harder on training. I needed to be able to compete with people with mana. Not just compete, but beat them. I had to be able to do it from scratch, without the use of mana.

It was a daunting task to do. My body was still scrawny relying on only biology to grow. My body couldn't rely on mana to supplement me with speed or endurance. I've been coming up with some solutions from shoes to nanobots, but some of them were out of reach for now.

On top of that, I didn't want to overly rely on a gun. I saw it more as a last resort after every other option was exhausted. After all, I didn't want to provoke a bigger and bloodier fight.

Needless to say, today was a pretty big deal.

"Moving forward, I'll be using my full strength," Leo informed me.

"Full strength?" I asked in a deep voice. "You haven't been using full strength?"

"If I did, you might've died a while ago," Leo said. "And that would be bad for the both of us."

"It would, wouldn't it," I responded. I grabbed a nearby glass of water and started to chug it. When I finished, I gently placed it back on the bench.

"I think today was very productive, so if that's all I'll be taking my leave," I announced as I began walking away.

"You know that you can't be left alone," Leo said as he ran to catch up to me.

"I know, but you can't really do anyth-" I began before getting interrupted. I felt something cold get placed on my wrist and a clasping sound. Looking down, I saw a handcuff.

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"What the fuck?"

"You and I are staying together," Leo said as he put the other end on his wrist. He started walking back to the mansion and dragging me along.

I tugged on the cuffs and moved my wrist in an attempt to try and get it off.

"It's enchanted; there's no way for you to escape," Leo stated confidently.

"Oh, if I had a nickel for every time I heard that," I said, reminiscing on old times. I took my left hand and placed it over my thumb.

"What's a nickel?" Leo asked.

"Don't worry about it," I answered quickly as I bumped into him. "But you want to know something else? Handcuffs rely on just one thing: that your thumb is in its right place."

Leo looked back at me only to see that the handcuff was no longer on my hand. Instead, it was around his other wrist.

"H-how?" He asked, completely confused.

I brought my hand up. My thumb was beyond a 90-degree angle. "Apply enough pressure, and it dislocates."

"How did you get the cuff on me?"

"The human body only feels one sensation at a time. If a bigger force, say bumping into you, happens at the same time as something smaller, say a handcuff, you only feel the bigger one."

I gave him a playful smile as I relocated my thumb back. I took out the Fool card and handed it over to Leo. He was struggling to get out of the cuffs.

I stuck my tongue out. "Good luck!" I began to run off.

----------------------------------------

Me and Andres were walking down the street. Despite five years passing by, the street didn't change much. There was still an abundance of fancy restaurants and buildings. Curiosities and Relics still looked small and out of place when compared to the surrounding buildings.

As we walked by, we took a glance through the window and saw the shopkeeper talking to a customer and pointing out an item.

"That man still creeps me out," Andres said as he shook his body.

"He isn't that scary," I replied, picking up the pace.

"We don't even know his name," Andres pointed out. "That doesn't scare you?"

"A name is just a noise someone makes to get your attention," I replied. "But feel free to come up with one for him. Just don't blame me when he attacks you."

Andres took a loud gulp of his own saliva. I snickered at his response. The last time he tried guessing the shopkeeper's name ... well let's just say that it didn't end well for his legs. Or arms.

We continued to walk for several minutes while making small talk until we transitioned to another topic. "So how is your application for the Academy going?"

Andres stopped walking and shook his head. "I didn't get in," He admitted in a slow and sad voice.

"What?" I asked in shock. "How? Your application was perfect."

"They told me that I wasn't a good fit for the Academy due to my background," He told me as he closed his eyes, thinking about the letter.

"That's bullshit," I angrily said. "They don't care about background as long as you paid the tuition."

"Yeah, about that," He began. "I didn't pay anonymously like you told me to."

"Why not?" I demanded.

"I didn't know how to!" He defended. "And I didn't want to bother you!"

"That's why they looked into your background," I said as the pieces began to assemble in my mind. "If you pay anonymously, they would think that you're the lost son of a noble family. Since you didn't, they looked into who you are and assumed you stole it."

"Well, I know that now!" He protested. Andres turned to me with pleading eyes. "Can you figure out another way?"

I sighed as we kept walking. "I need time to think."

He nodded at me with hopeful eyes and expressed his thanks to me. The next few moments of the walk were silent. Andres was ashamed and embarrassed, but he gave me the silence to try to come up with a solution for him.

"Where are we even going?" He eventually asked. A huge black building came into view as we walked beside an open field.

"You're going to see the project I've been working on," I said with a grin. "A masterpiece is inside that building."

"I swear if you made me walk all this way to see a stupid piece of art, I'm goi-" He said before I interjected. "It's not a piece of art," I assured him. He closed his mouth and kept walking towards the building.

When we approached, I walked over to the side panel and inputted a passcode in the keypad. Moments later, mechanical whirling could be heard as the front door began to open up.

"What was that?" Andres asked, startled by the loud and unknown noises he had heard.

I chuckled as I walked inside and turned on the lights. There was a black piece of cloth that I hung up for dramatics to hide my masterpiece. I turned to face Andres. "Are you ready?"

"Maybe?" He asked questioningly. He didn't know what to expect, especially after seeing the door rise open. It's something that would be normal for us but it was unheard of in this world. Andres probably thought it was black magic.

I grabbed the bottom of the cloth with my two hands and made a quick tug. The cloth began to fall, revealing what I had built.

When it had been revealed, Andres took a step back to even be able to see it all. "W-what is that?"

"It's the pinnacle of aerospace engineering," I smiled proudly as I looked at the completed product. "I call it the F-35 Evolved."

It was a large and gray metallic jet modeled after the F-35 Lightning. The wings were slightly swept and mid-mounted with a tail that was canted outwards. There were sleek lines and smooth paneling. Just by viewing it, you could tell it was futuristic.

Yet the true beauty lies in the engineering of it. The exterior had an extremely thin layer of 99.9% efficient solar panels, allowing for a near-limitless amount of flight. The metal was magically enhanced to reduce impact in the event of a crash landing. The inside was filled with holographic technology. Lastly, the jet was easily capable of Mach 2.5, or 2.5 times the speed of sound.

"Hop in, we're going for a ride," I said as I turned to face him. My grin was as wide as it could be. I motioned for him to follow me as I walked over to the entrance of the jet.