I woke up to a fluffy monster using a large portion of my face as a pillow. My arm accidentally shoved the furball off my face and somehow onto the floor. Lux let out a growl while glaring at me, clearly annoyed by the wake up call.

That’s how you want to play it? Lux snapped as she began to stretch and wake up.

Today your win streak ends. I replied as I began reinforcing my body with .

Lux launched herself at me; this time I could follow her movement. Nox’s lessons are paying off. I dodged to her left and smacked her with a fist coated with using my left hand. The impact knocked Lux off balance, but with a quick tumble she had her balance back. She quickly repositioned herself, and charged again, this time keeping her center of gravity low and with more speed than before. I made a shield of and received a powerful one-two punch from Lux. My arm definitely tingled from the assault as I couldn't dissipate the force of her attacks. I used to get behind her and attacked; unfortunately Lux possessed lightning fast reflexes. There was a white blur with two back feet planted firmly into my chest, launching me backwards. I Lux as hard as I could into the floor, then used her to regain my footing and land. Lux quickly glowed with a bright and my ended. Her immense ability to resist and stop from affecting her is obnoxious. We stared at each other for a second before Lux renewed her assault. Lux led with a strike straight to my head, claws ready to take my face off. I grabbed her clawed paw, and slugged her between her shoulder blades into the ground. Her two tails wrapped around my waist and flung me to the ground in front of her. I spun quickly and kicked her away before she could recover.

If exists, a or spell should as well; let’s try as that is less likely to end poorly. I quickly formed a and imagined aiming it at Lux towards the ground. I minimized my input well below what I thought it should be to be careful before I unleashed the spell on Lux. A powerful burst slammed Lux into the ground, not knocking her out but clearly did some damage. I think I heard a few of the stones crack a little from the blow. I need better control before I try something like that again. Acting quickly before she recovered, I formed a cage of around her, recalling how Nez’s looked. I reinforced it several times, remembering to make it so Lux could still breathe. Lux tried recovering as she was thrashing against the cage. I replied by making the cage stronger and reinforcing it with as much as I could. Lux began glowing, smacking against the cage. The wobbled and distorted, but refused to buckle from her interference. She began glowing even brighter to the point looking at her was causing spots to form in my vision. Just how bright could Lux make herself glow? I quickly added another few layers of protection to the cage to ensure Lux was not escaping. Lux smacked, slashed, and dragged her claws against the cage in order to try to break free, before it all died out and she collapsed from the exertion.

I won! I declared excitedly as the exhaustion of the amount of I expended caught up to me.

Lucky hit. Lux pouted, crossing her front arms a little.

Five hundred sixty eight losses, and one win. Today was a glorious day, a day for all of history to remember! This was the beginning of a glorious age, the age of Nil Sathanas Crowthorne, the fall of the tyranny of Lux! No longer shall I be a punching bag for that monstrous ball of fur! Today is a new dawn! A new era was dawning that the fluffball would have to live with as there was a new ruler in town.

Today is the start of my win streak. I retorted with a smirk.

I will get my revenge tomorrow. Lux replied calmly, the mischievous gears in her head already turning.

I heard a small clapping sound, which made Lux and I turn to see my grandma sitting in a chair clapping. Wait, was she there? Even with my I was struggling to see her. Lux stared at her perplexed. What type of is this? This is unsettling. For some reason, she was near transparent. How was that possible? I knew she was solid earlier, and I didn't think she suddenly became a ghost. How could I get her to show me this?

“You two look so confused. Do you two want to learn how to do this?” she asked with a wry smile.

“What?” I asked out loud, trying to contain my joy.

It was horrifically unsettling, I could see she was there, but it was like she was a phantasm: absolutely no presence, no , and my felt like it was taking a heavy drain on me just to see her. She stood up calmly, and walked towards us, maintaining the same absolute lack of existence. Lux and I looked at each other, then back at my grandma. When she got next to us, she stopped being a mirage. That was awesome. I really wanted to know how, but I needed to act like a kid first.

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“That was creepy.” I whined to my grandma. Lux nodded in agreement.

“I could see where would definitely be unsettling. Come now, do you two want to learn how to perform ?” my grandma pressed. I am starting to love these grandparents.

We nodded excitedly. This seemed to be quite useful, if not an amazing way to scare people. It probably had other uses, but sneaking passed my uncles was definitely the application I was going to use it for first. I moved closer, and a sharp pain shot up my left arm. Actually, my left arm was hurting a lot, and was exceptionally stiff. I looked down, and where my normally bone colored skin was, there was a deep black color with some deep crimson. That was not right. Why was it that color?

“Don’t look at your arm Nil. Look at grandma.” she instructed, but my eyes were fixated on my arm.

It hurt. It hurt a lot. I turned it back and forth a few times, and the pain was definitely still there. What? What happened? Just how badly my arm was hurting began catching up to me; the extremely dark color and bleeding was definitely my arm. Damn Lux. When I blocked that one two hit with a shield; I clearly didn’t make it right. My eyes were definitely getting a bit wet. Do not scream, do not scream.

“My arm.” I cried, trying to keep my voice low. My arm was absolutely throbbing in agony.

My ribs. Lux cried. We both were looking at each other, trying to hold back the tears.

My grandma knelt down and tried calming us. Unfortunately for her, that was the last straw as we both started to cry. I was still trying to keep my voice down, but whatever was suppressing the pain was gone. My grandma quickly shushed us, and a faint light emanated from her hand towards my arm and Lux’s ribs. Something in my arm shifted back into place, and the pain subsided; Lux looked like she was doing better as my grandma healed the wounds we inflicted.

“I was hoping to heal you before the rush wore off. You two did great!” my grandma praised us.

“!” I chanted. I would not be distracted from the previous offer as I needed to add that to my repertoire.

Before my grandma could respond, my mom rushed into the room. She looked distressed, quickly looking around the room until her gaze settled on me, sitting on the ground unfazed and unharmed. It had been about twelve seconds since Lux and I started crying. That is a pretty good reaction time for someone who can’t use . My grandma was smiling back at her, acting like nothing was wrong. She was definitely going to cover for Lux and I by her demeanor.

“I thought I heard Nil crying.” Mom gasped as she clearly ran full steam here.

“It was nothing dearie, just a little spat between Nil and Lux. Nil was so happy he won.” my grandma deceived Mom. Yea. Little spat. Not a full on duel.

“Nil won? And neither of them were injured?” my mom asked, clearly suspicious.

“Just a few bumps and bruises I healed. Nothing serious. Nil trapped Lux in a cage of .” my grandma replied calmly. My mom’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. Lux and I nodded in agreement.

“If you insist. And way to go Nil!” my mom cheered, coming over to us and patting my head.“I won!” I cheered as well. Lux glared at me.

I will remember this. Lux snarled at me. I didn't doubt Lux was going to hold a grudge over this.

You like to parade your wins as well. I pointed out, to which Lux huffed and turned her head.

I want a rematch. Lux demanded. Her bitterness at losing was palpable.

Only one match a day. Remember the rules? I teased. Lux let out an irritated huff in response.

Who made the dumb rule? Lux pouted. This was fun.

You did. I replied; Lux just glared in response.

“You must get some rest Senna, you have a busy schedule tomorrow.” my grandma lectured.

“I just want to spend a few minutes with my son Poam since I am already here.” Mom replied while making little baby faces at me.

“I know the feeling very well, Senna. They seem to grow up in the blink of an eye.” my grandma agreed, having a bit of an odd expression. I wondered what it meant.

“How did you balance between Azzeck and Nox? How was who was to succeed Nil as the Emperor decided?” Mom probed. If I had siblings, would we have to compete for the throne?

“Calm down Senna. Time will make who is most suited to be Emperor apparent. Nil does seem to possess peerless talent, but this does not mean his personality or temperament will be suited to ruling. As a parent the best thing you can do is what your instincts tell you, and know when to seek help for what you can not handle.” my grandma counseled Mom.

“I know, I know. I just have been getting uneasy because what if his sibling is just as talented? We do not have the resources to deal with that a second time.” Mom worried, sounding a bit distressed. I felt small pangs of guilt in my heart as she said that.

“You will find a way, you are the Empress of Speranza after all. By the way, I was willing to offer a few things as gifts, one was to spoil my grandson and teach him a few things. The other is for you and Azzeck. I am willing to perform a on Nil just once on a single topic.” my grandma informed her. What was that? Was it similar to ? What was the difference?

“We actually were going to ask you to use on who he becomes. We were worried of what he may become.” Mom quickly replied. For some reason, the pang in my chest got worse. How much did I make them worry?

“Nil dearie, can you come hold grandma’s hand?” my grandma requested sweetly. Let’s see where this goes I guess. I solemnly placed my hand on hers and after a quick chant, her eyes went wide.