Regarding viewer questions about pairing and scenes and stuff, I'm super tempted to tell you, but instead I'd rather have them presented in story form. I think it'll be more enjoyable that way, and it gives me motivation to write scenes.

Also, that's a lot of favorites and follows for something that I put together as a hobby. O.o

Chapter 4: Single Combat

Ajax was a well-built young man, a bit on the slender side, with short brown hair. He had leather armor, just like him. The only difference in their equipment was their choice of weaponry. Lugh had a short sword that fit his size, while his opponent had a spear and a buckler.

They circled each other in the ring, wary of the other. Originally, the show match was intended for the strongest of the older generation to teach the strongest of the younger generation. But Lugh's abnormal strength made his opponent far more wary, and correctly so.

"I won't be holding back, you know," his opponent said.

Lugh raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that a bit overkill against a child?"

He got a snort in response, "Overkill is what you pulled this morning. After that, treating you like a normal child would be stupid."

"Fair," he agreed, shrugging. "I meant to hold back more, just got a little excited."

His opponent smiled in understanding, "A good fight can make it hard to hold back."

"Well, I wouldn't call it that," Lugh said, smiling wryly.

This conversation took place as they circled each other. It was risky for him to make the opening move, given that his opponent had both a spear and a shield, and greater reach, while he only had a sword.

Well, if I wanted to, I could force the fight... he smiled wryly, thinking about other avenues of attack.

But before he could actualize them, his opponent made the first move, and charged at him while he was idly thinking about his options.

A frontal assault with a spear?! He was surprised by the bold charge. Spear-wielders typically used their longer range as an advantage, but Ajax seemed to be eager to initiate close combat.

Lugh stepped backwards, trying to maintain distance, but his opponent didn't let him get away, following him around the arena as he dodged the swipes that came from his spear.

I can't close in, he'll bash me with the shield! He thought, ducking and weaving out of the way of his foe's spear.

"What's wrong? Not gonna blow me away like you did earlier to the kids?" His opponent taunted him, attempting to rile him up.

"Sorry, but I'm not going to get easily baited like that," He yelled back. He kept sidestepping his blows, astounded by how fast and maneuverable Ajax's attacks were.

No time to admire my opponent's skill with the spear, gotta find a way out, he thought. He waited for an opportunity, trying to fend off some of the pressure of Ajax's constant attacks.

An opportunity came when his opponent started to tire slightly from the repeated assault, an infinitesimal gap in concentration. In that instant, Lugh swept his sword up at an angle, parrying the spear and knocking it up. His opponent brought up his shield, guarding his torso. But he used the shield as a target and kicked it, generating a powerful wind blast capable of sending an adult flying away with his kick.

He didn't send him far away enough to knock him into the wall. Ajax skidded backwards, but didn't lose balance, and they started circling one another again in the arena.

"-Woah! What a rapid exchange between our combatants! Ajax launches the first attack, but Lugh managed to find an opening and create more distance between them!" His father's commentating went over his head. He was too focused on his opponent to give any heed to what was being said. They kept circling one another, attempting to find a disruption in each other's focus, or an opening.

This time, he decided to make the first move, and leapt forward. His opponent stepped backward, guiding him inward so that he could attempt to slam him with the shield.

I was ready for that! In that instant, before his opponent could bash him with the shield, he launched himself upward with the [Divine Protection of Sky Walking] while he was still in the air.

"What?!" His opponent wasn't able to hide his surprise at his ability to re-position himself while in the air. He landed behind Ajax, and quickly spun, slashing with his sword as he did so. His attack kicked up another powerful gale for his opponent-

-Who reacted barely in time and blocked the attack with his shield, but the force generated by the wind sent him flying away again, this time, slamming him against the wall.

He didn't want to miss his opportunity, and charged at his downed but not unconscious opponent, attempting to close out the fight.

"Not so fast!" His opponent swept out with the spear from his spot, forcing him to bring up his sword to block the attack. This also killed his momentum, and he jumped backward to avoid the spear as it came back around, aiming for his torso.

Lugh landed a couple paces outside of his range and let out a breath that he had been holding, and he heard his father commentating on their exchange, but ignored it to focus on his opponent.

"You're pretty good, better than most of the opponents I've had today," Ajax complimented him as he got back up on his feet.

"Thanks. Same to you, you're better than all of the opponents I've had today," he said dryly. His response won him a laugh from his opponent.

The respite from combat lasted only a short while, before Ajax came charging towards him again.

Lugh met Ajax's charge with one of his own, using his smaller body to duck the overhead swing that aimed to knock him unconscious. He slashed at his torso as he charged past, but only managed a light cut.

His opponent immediately turned around as he passed by him and kicked him, hard. He coughed as all the air was knocked out of him with that kick, and skidded to a stop near the edge of the arena after being sent flying.

"You're too focused on my spear," his opponent remarked. "That kind of mistake can be fatal in battle."

He grunted, "Thanks for the tip." Ow... If that kick wasn't blunted by the wind, then I would be in a far more serious condition... He thought wryly.

His opponent noticed the same thing and verbalized his confusion, "Hmm? That kick should've definitely knocked you unconscious. Some kind of barrier, maybe? Or maybe you're just exceptionally tough?"

He spit on the floor to get rid of some of the acid that crawled up his throat, "Who knows? If you try it again, maybe you'll find out. If you get the chance, that is."

"Quite confident, aren't you, little guy?" His opponent said.

However, Lugh wasn't paying too much attention to what he was saying. Instead, his mind was elsewhere. His body was hot, and it wasn't due to the pain of the attack. He felt it. Although he had never been able to activate it before, [Divine Protection of Counter] was sending a response throughout his body, and he obeyed it. He flew forward at his opponent-

"-Woah!" Ajax tried to fend him off with a swing of the spear, but he sidestepped it, and got into optimal range for his sword.

Ajax brought up his shield to block the inevitable attack. But when he struck his shield with the sword, the built-up pressure in his body was released, and Ajax was launched away like a cannonball. As he hit him, he could see Ajax's face twist into a pained expression before he was sent flying and slammed into the wall. After a moment in suspension, he slid down, and did not move again.

"-What an upset! Contestant Ajax, please respond if you are able to continue fighting!" His father called out. When no response came, his father signaled for his victory. "And our winner! Is! LUGH!"

This time, the crowd cheered loudly at the exciting battle. There was no one who could deny the excitement present in that match, and they weren't as surprised at his level of skill due to his showing in the first tournament.

First time ever, but I guess I figured out what it does... He huffed. Although his swordsmanship was elevated to a level that he could more than compete with his opponent in skill, he fell behind in reach and experience and was forced to use some tricks in order to win.

His father came down from the commentator's box, holding his megaphone-like magic tool, and lifted his hand up into the air before announcing his victory.

When Ajax regained consciousness, he took his loss in stride, saying that it was an important experience for him to grow as both a fighter and as a person.

"That was an excellent duel," Ajax said, rubbing his shield-arm. Even when the wound had been healed,

"Yes, for me as well. I've never faced someone as strong as you before," he said.

Ajax laughed, "Then you too, similarly lack experience against powerful opponents." His opponent held his hand out to him for a handshake, "I hope to someday fight against you again."

He raised an eyebrow at the phrasing, "Going somewhere?"

Ajax nodded, "I've been promised a tantalizing job offer, and intend to take it. This will most likely be the last night for me in the village."

He grasped his hand and shook it, "Then I pray for your safe journey."

"Strong and mature too," his opponent noted. "Your parents must be proud of you."

He let out an embarrassed laugh at the praise, "Thank you."

His father appeared out of nowhere and hugged him from behind, messing up his hair, "Woohoo! You won! My son's the strongest!"

"Let go Dad!"

Ajax gave him a smile full of pity as he observed him getting tossed up in the air repeatedly by his father. The embarrassment was enough for him to want to crawl into a hole and curl up inside it.

After Lugh was let down, they shook hands again, marking the end of the tournament. By the time the audience had shuffled out, the sun had already started to fall, turning the sky orange. His sister was waiting for him outside, and his father was by his side.

"I guess we'll be going home together," his father said. "You sure you didn't want to take your friend home, Ciel?"

"Yeah, besides, Lugh here is going to tell us everything he's been hiding when we get home. Aren't you, Lugh?" His sister's smile had turned sinister, and told of horrible things to come if he didn't comply.

"Yes ma'am," he said, unwilling to anger her.

His father chuckled at their antics, "Let's get going then, your mother's probably done with dinner by now."

He frowned, remembering the lack of his mother's appearance, "What was she doing today anyway? I didn't spot her in the audience."

His father ruffled his hair, "She really wanted to come watch you fight, but she was asked to help man one of the food stalls."

"Really?" He asked, confused because he didn't recall seeing her once when he was wandering in the food stall area.

"Yep," his father said. "But here! We're home now!" His father pointed at their home, light peeking through the windows. His father hopped and skipped inside, probably wanting to spend time with his mother.

"This man spent the entire day screaming into a magical device, how does he even have energy remaining...?" He muttered, mystified.

His sister put a hand on his shoulder, "A mystery for the ages," she said sagely. "But come on, let's go, I want to eat dinner, and have you spill your guts," she said, hand tightening on his shoulder.

"You sure you're not meaning that literally my dear elder sister?" He asked.

"What are you talking about?" His sister giggled in a way that made him feel dread.

Dinner went by fast; everyone was tired but in a joyful mood, eating and bantering. But this was when his sister decided to drop the bomb.

"Mom, did you know Lugh had a Divine Protection?" She asked.

His mother hummed in consideration, "I've always had an inkling that he was gifted somehow. Why? Did something happen in the tournament?"

"Well-" His sister started, but his father cut in immediately, excited.

"You should've seen it, the way he just sent like forty kids flying across the arena. After that, he just hunted the survivors and put them down," his father cackled, sounding like a villain.

"Dad!" His sister cried out. "I was gonna tell her what happened!"

"Sorry Ciel, I was just so happy to see my son one-up everyone else's kids," his father laughed.

His mother sighed, putting a hand to her cheek at his father's antics, "You didn't hurt anyone too badly, did you?"

He shook his head, "There were emergency healers on standby, and I adjusted my strength properly."

His sister snorted at that, "Properly? Yeah, right. You sent them flying until they knocked themselves out on the wall."

He nodded, "Exactly, properly. Who knows what would have happened if I went any harder?" This caused his sister to scowl at him.

"So, what kind of Divine Protection is it?" His mother asked, curious at what could have allowed him to demonstrate that kind of superhuman ability.

"Well which one?" He asked, preparing himself internally. At that, silence fell upon the table. It took them a few seconds; his family was unable to comprehend what he meant. But when they did, their eyes started widening.

"W-What do you mean which one?" His sister asked. "L-Like, more than one? You mean more than one? I'm not the only one who didn't get that, right?"

His father started laughing, "I knew you were special, but this blows my expectations outta the water!"

"Well, which ones do you have?" His mother asked, curious.

"No, more importantly, how many do you have?" His sister butt in.

Silence filled the room after his sister's question after a few seconds due to his lack of answer. He hesitated briefly, before holding up both of his hands, raising seven fingers. At that, even his father's smile slipped off of his face. His mother's eyes were the size of dinner plates, while his sister had gone stark white.

"This... isn't a lie, is it?" His mother asked, gingerly.

He shook his head, "I wish there was a way for me to explain it without it sounding ridiculous."

His father's face was uncharacteristically serious, taking on a grim look. "Nothing gets out of this room. Anything discussed today will be a family secret. Understood?" His stare swept around the table, allowing no disagreement.

"But Dad, why-?" His sister tried to ask.

His father cut her off, "Because to reveal this kind of information would be to invite disaster, and it helps nobody to know. It could become a national issue if this information is revealed. For the Kingdom of Lugunica, who values useful Divine Protections highly..." His father trailed off, before letting out a sigh, "Anyway, now that we understand that nothing's getting out of this room, we should go over everything you've been hiding. Give us as much detail as you can."

He nodded at his father's words, "Right. Where do I start..."

"Start with the wind," his father prompted.

"I told sis about that one already," he nodded to his sister, who nodded back grudgingly. "[Divine Protection of the Wind Spirits]. It's kinda hard to explain, but I can manipulate the wind and it protects me."

His family nodded, silently telling him to continue.

"I don't know if you saw mid-fight, but I was able to move mid-air during the show match."

"Was that also the [Divine Protection of the Wind Spirits]?" His sister asked.

He shook his head in denial, "No, that was [Divine Protection of Sky Walking]. It's pretty self-explanatory, but I can move in the air with it."

"I see," his father rubbed his chin in understanding.

"[Divine Protection of the War God], allows me to use weapons without any problems. Any type, I've tested it."

"Is that what you do all day in the flower fields?" His mother asked.

He scratched his cheek sheepishly, "Yeah, I experiment and train. So that I wouldn't hurt the people around me."

His mother sighed, "I know I've said this before. But you should rely on us. We're your family."

"I will, that's why I've decided to talk about this now," he said.

His sister puffed up her cheeks, "But we should've known about this way before."

"Kinda hard to bring it up without reason," he said, shrugging.

"You told us that you had seven, and only mentioned three. What about the rest?" His father asked, motioning for him to continue.

"Uh, right," He counted off the rest with his fingers, "Then I have, the [Divine Protection of Severance], which lets me cut things apart easily, [Divine Protection of Counter], which I'm not too sure about but I've got an idea about how it works. [Divine Protection of the Wisdom God], which I haven't been able to figure out at all yet, and the [Divine Protection of the Moon]."

His father counted them off with his fingers, "That's all seven. So, you don't know what three of them do?"

"I know what all of them do except the [Divine Protection of the Wisdom God]. [Divine Protection of Counter] I've got a pretty good idea of," he said.

"But what about Moon? You didn't say anything about that," his sister said, earning nods from his parents.

"I just get stronger while the moon is out. I didn't think it was worth mentioning," he said, shrugging.

""Just", he says," his sister muttered.

"You have a blessing too, right?" He asked rhetorically.

"Yeah, but it doesn't feel nearly as impressive as any of yours," she said, a little envious.

"Six out of seven of mine are combat related, and I don't even know what the last one is. Yours is probably more useful overall than just making it easier to kill things," he said, smiling wryly.

"You don't know what the rest of your abilities do, right?" His father asked for confirmation.

"Well, I know most of them," he argued.

"No time like the present then," his father said, getting up out of his seat. "Let's go test them out. Right now, in the yard."

He blinked at the suggestion, "Are you sure? I don't want to sound arrogant here, but-"

""-I'm stronger than you." Or something along those lines, right?" His father said with a wink. "Don't worry about your old man here, if it's taking hits, I'm used to them by now."

They moved to their backyard with practice swords in hand, while his sister and mother watched from the side.

"Right. So you said you had an idea on how one of them worked. How do you want me to help you?" His father asked.

"Uh, this might sound weird. But I need you to hit me," he said, spreading his arms out.

His father froze at the suggestion. "A-Are you sure?"

He nodded, "Yeah. I need you to hit me. No holding back."

His mother looked uneasy, "I'm not sure that I like this idea. I think it's better if we stop."

He shook his head, "No. I want this."

"If you're sure, " his father shrugged. His father gripped his wooden sword in both hands, giving a few practice swings before facing him. After a deep breath, his father blurred forward, slamming him with the wooden sword and sending him tumbling backward. The wind around him shielded him, although only slightly from the impact. He felt it break through the shroud and strike his body. But that wasn't what he was focused on. No, the same heat that spread throughout him earlier spread throughout him again.

From the point of contact the heat continued to spread throughout him until his entire body was buzzing with the heat. He obeyed his instincts, charging forward, and-

"-Oof!" His father flew across the backyard, his own arm still raised with sword clasped in hand being the only indication that he had attacked his father. His mother and sister both winced at the sound of his father's landing.

"Ouch... That one's definitely gonna bruise come morning," his father gingerly held a hand toward his ribs, wincing.

"Are you okay?" He rushed to his father, helping him get back on his feet.

"Yeah," his father waved him off, getting back up on his own. "But jeez. Guess you weren't joking. You hit like a carriage."

"Do you need healing magic?" His mother asked from the side.

His father shook his head, "Nah, I managed to barely get my guard up in time. But that was close. If I was even half a second late, I would be down for the count. See?" His father held up the wooden sword. Or more correctly, the remains of the wooden practice sword. It was smashed when his father used it to guard against his attack, and only splinters of it remained.

"Well, I've figured out what the [Divine Protection of Counter] does... All that's left is..."

"The [Divine Protection of the Wisdom God], right?" His father asked.

He nodded, "Yeah. But-"

"We'll have to continue this another time," his father said, leaning on the remains of his sword to stay standing. "That took a lot more out of me than I expected."

"Yeah, I'm still exhausted from my bouts in the arena today," he said.

His father chuckled, "Liar."

As Lugh laid in bed, he thought about the results of his actions.

Maybe that was a mistake... His thoughts kept turning in his head, bringing up the potential results of not confessing and the results of today. But he shook his head, No. Either way, I'm glad I was able to tell them. It'd be a burden to constantly keep something like this hidden.

But he noticed his sister's discontent, and he could guess why.

She's probably a little bitter at having worried about me all this time, when in reality there wasn't much to worry about. I'll apologize properly in the morning.

The next morning, Lugh cornered his sister before she could leave her room.

"What's this?" She asked, suspicious.

He bowed his head, "I'm really sorry about keeping a lid on what I can do."

"Oh. That," she sighed. "Look, I was just a little irritated at you, and you didn't even deserve that anyway. In hindsight, hiding it made more sense than spreading it around everywhere," she scratched her cheek sheepishly. "Just, forget about it. Okay?"

He nodded, a little happy, and switched topics, "Come on. Mom's done cooking."

"Let me get ready first, you didn't even let me get ready before barging into my room," she said.

Their day proceeded as normal, even with the shocking revelation they received the previous night. His father went to work, as normal; his mother managed the house, as normal; his sister hung out with her friends and studied, as normal; and he spent the day training, as normal.

No, that wasn't quite correct. As he was training in the hedge maze as part of his daily routine, his senses picked up on someone approaching him. He turned and stared towards the direction of the interloper, who revealed themselves to be-

"-Hey! So this is where you spend your time," a girl, who looked to be close to his age. She was wearing a shirt and a short-sleeved vest, along with pants. An unusual look for typical girls her age. She was stylized with red eyes and short brown hair that looked familiar to him.

Lugh raised a brow, "Sorry, and you are?"

She puffed her cheeks, "It's quite rude to forget someone who you kicked away in a fight."

"Oh!" He remembered her identity. "If I remember correctly, you're my sister's friend's sister," he said, counting off the words.

She tilted her head and giggled at that, "Just call me Reina."

"Okay, Reina. What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I wanted to see what the victor of the tournament does in his spare time," she said.

"I'm training," he responded.

She rolled her eyes, "I can see that. I wanted to see how you train! What's the secret to your strength?"

"Dying and reincarnating with cheat abilities," he muttered sarcastically.

She ignored him, "Oh! I have an idea! Why don't we fight!"

"Pardon me?" He asked, not believing his ears.

"A duel! Between you and me!" She declared, hands on her hips.

"Fine," he sighed. "I'll wait here. Go get your spear."

"Wait, what about your weapon?" She asked.

"I won't need it," he said. His words invoked a sharp reaction from her.

"Grr," she growled. "I'll make you regret that arrogance!" She stormed off, pride wounded.

It's not arrogance if it's true, he thought. But man, I keep meeting these forward and direct people. Am I weak to these types of people? My sister, her friend, Mom, Miss Chequita, he counted off all of the women he had met in this new life, thinking about their direct personalities and how he ended up usually conceding to them.

No wait. Dad's like that too. Is it genetic? He came to a horrifying conclusion as to the basis of his weakness against strong-willed women. No, no, no. There's no way... Right?

Reina returned while he was in the middle of that mental dilemma, spear in hand. She wasn't wearing armor, but seemed ready to fight.

"You sure you're not gonna use a weapon?" She asked.

He shook his head, "I need some unarmed practice. I'm good at using weapons, but unarmed is something I'm not used to."

"Alright then," she seemed dissatisfied, but accepted his answer. "When this leaf drops," she said, picking up and throwing a leaf in between them. It swayed in the air between them, gliding downwards. When the leaf hit the ground, Reina charged forward, spear at the ready.

"-Naive!" He called out, stepping backwards and away from the reach of her spear. She swung with practiced movements, showing the depths of her training. But that still wasn't enough to reach him.

She growled again, before opting for another strategy. This time, she made to get closer in order to jab him with the tip of the spear rather than swing with the edge. Given less room and due to the quickness of her movements, he found it more difficult to dodge, but not by much.

"Why! Won't! You! Get! Hit!" She said in between thrusts, her hair swaying with her movements.

"You're too hasty. You let me bait you in too easily," he said, calm and collected. His words made her only more frustrated, as her attacks became wilder.

"-Ah!" She cried out in realization after stepping in a little too deep.

"-A fatal mistake," he sidestepped the ambitious lunge, and closed in on her. She was unable to dodge due to the momentum of her thrust, and had to take his palm strike in the center of her being. This sent her skidding backward and knocked her to the ground but didn't put her out of the fight.

"Not gonna use that wind again?" She asked, getting back up.

"It's one against one. It would be unfair to use it," Lugh shrugged.

"-Well in that case!" She lunged at him again, only to meet the same response. Instead of being struck by his palm however, he kicked her away this time with a roundhouse kick to her torso.

"Oof!" This time, she stayed down, and only got up to a sitting position a couple of paces away from him.

"See? I told you," he said.

She groaned at him, "You're unreasonably strong, and you weren't even going all out!"

"You seem intent on making me go all out. Why's that?" He asked, curious.

"It's humiliating to know your opponent is holding back against you," she said, miffed.

"Doesn't your father hold himself back against you whenever you train together?" He asked, making a point.

"Well, yeah! But that's different!" She said.

"How?" He tilted his head at her response, genuinely confused.

"Because we're the same age! How can you be so much stronger than me?" She looked conflicted.

Ah, right. The pride of youth. I'm really thirty on the inside, so I forgot about how children can be at times. Well, no harm in telling her the truth. He didn't feel like hiding anything either, so he just told her the reason behind his strength.

"I have a Divine Protection. It's why I was able to do what I did in the arena the other day," he said.

"My Dad told me that too. He said that you probably had a Divine Protection and that it couldn't be helped that I lost," she said, looking down.

He sighed at her downtrodden expression, "Divine Protections aren't everything you know. I've heard of cases where someone with a Divine Protection lost against someone without."

"You're making that up," she said, deflated.

Lugh shook his head, "Nope. It's true. Even you've heard of this story."

"What story?" She asked.

"You know the love story of the Sword Saint and the Sword Demon, right?" He asked. It was a famous story, immortalized in the history of the Kingdom of Lugunica, of a swordsman who took the Sword Saint as his wife.

"Yeah, that's a famous one," she said.

"Well, the Sword Demon beat the Sword Saint in that story, didn't he?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with-"

"Well in that story, he didn't have a single Divine Protection against the Sword Saint and still beat her," he said. "Imagine that. The strongest swordswoman in the world lost to another swordsman in a duel."

She looked a little bit brighter at his story, awe coloring her eyes as he recalled the story of their duel. Seeing the change in expression, he gave a half smile due to the impressionability of children and remembered how adorable they could be because of it. But it seemed like his attempt to cheer up Reina strayed a little off of his intentions, as her previous determination to defeat him returned.

"So you're saying I have a chance," she said, sounding more determined.

Uh, no, not really. "Maybe if you work really hard. One day, you might be able to beat me," he lied.

"Right," she said, getting back up on her feet. She lifted her spear and pointed it at him, "Again!"

He sighed, but put up his fists in a fighting stance, humoring her, "Come at me like you mean it."

When Lugh returned home that night, they had sparred many times. The result was one-sided. He won every fight and she lost every fight, but it had been a useful experience for him to train with his bare hands. Despite his overall inexperience in hand-to-hand combat, his overall physical strength, speed, and stamina allowed him to defeat her at every turn.

He laid in bed that night, contemplating the time he spent training with Reina.

She didn't seem ready to give up after having been beaten that many times already. Maybe that was a mistake... But he shook off that thought.

No, it's better this way. She may have developed an inferiority complex if I confirmed that she could never beat me... Although having her experience it physically might also contribute to that... What a difficult situation to be in.

He pushed his face into the pillow, and let out a sigh, thinking about how annoying it would be if she constantly interrupted him from training by asking to spar.

Gotta get her to give up eventually. She'll probably get tired after a week of straight defeats, right?

He drifted off in to sleep, thinking about how he would get her to give up on beating him. He believed that she would eventually give up after a couple days, a week at the longest.

She didn't give up. Not. A. Single. Time. They spent weeks at it, and she seemed determined to never give up. His words the first day seemed to have lit a fire inside of her. Every day, whenever she had spare time, she would come to his spot, spear in hand, ready to spar.

"When am I going to get you to use an actual weapon?!" She said in between strikes.

He kept dodging her attacks with minimal movements, "When I feel like it."

She repeated this question daily, prompting him to use a weapon, while he refused every time. And every time, she would make sloppier movements due to the irritation she felt at not being treated as a proper opponent.

Days, weeks, even months passed in such a manner. To the point that they had sparred enough times for it to number in the triple digits. One afternoon, when Reina was laying on the floor, tired after their repeated bouts, told him a piece of information that he didn't know.

"Hey, you know it's my birthday tomorrow?" She said, laying on the floor, sweaty.

"Yeah?" He was sitting on top of a hedge wall that he had cut down a while ago, maintaining his balance on it with his skills. "You're turning ten?"

"No! I'm turning eleven," she said.

He raised a brow in surprise, "Oh? You're older than me then."

"You're still ten?" She asked.

He nodded, "Mhm. And I will continue to be so for..." He counted the months, "...about three more months."

"I, uh. I've got something to tell you," she cleared her throat. She sat up on the grass and faced him, fidgeting.

He nodded at her to continue, "Well. Go on then."

"Would you like to come to my birthday party?!" She squeaked out at him.

He was surprised. He possessed no real friends in his new life, too absorbed about thinking about the story line and his future plans. Therefore, he had received no such invitation since his last life. He considered the offer, they had spent enough time together to be considered friends. And he was training at a breakneck pace in order to prepare for the Witch Cult so he hadn't even considered to stop and, well, enjoy life.

His decision set, he smiled after a moment, "I think I'd like that."

"Really?!" She looked happy.

He nodded, "Now, get up, time for another bout, you'll have to do better if you want to beat me."

In an instant, her smile became ferocious, and she came in swinging. But at the last second, he moved backwards, tripping her and grabbing her weapon as she fell. Before she could get up, he tapped her on the chest with the butt of the spear, indicating the end of the fight.

"Aw..." She groaned on the floor, defeated.

"At this rate, I'll die of old age before you beat me," he teased.

She threw a rock at him, but he easily dodged it. "Meanie," she muttered. "I am older than you, you know."

He rolled his eyes, holding out a hand to help her get back up, "Come on, we're still training." She took it and got up on her feet. He returned her spear to her and then the sparring started all over again, with no sign of stopping anytime soon.

His entire family was shocked at the news that he was going to a friend's house.

"No way!" "You have friends?" "I'm so proud of you..." Were the responses he got from his father, sister, and mother, respectively.

"Shut up! I can make friends when I need to." He was kneeling on the floor, putting on his shoes. His eyebrow twitched in irritation at the utter disbelief his family displayed.

"Who?" His sister asked behind him.

"You know her. Your friend's little sister," he said.

"Oh, Reina? So that's what she's been doing in her free time," she said, having come to some sort of understanding.

He raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean by that?"

"Liz was complaining to me about how her little sister wasn't spending as much time with her anymore. Or anyone she knew, really. So it makes sense that she would've been hanging out with you," she said, shrugging.

"So it's a girl, ey?" His father said, smirk clear on his face.

He was already ignoring his father, predicting that it would be too much of a pain to deny his assumptions.

"What's the occasion?" His mother asked.

His sister interjected, "It's Reina's birthday. He probably got invited to that."

"Do you have a present for the her?" His mother asked.

He pondered on it before nodding. But his response didn't garner any trust from his parents.

"The socially incapable you, got her a present that she might like?" His father asked, suspicious.

He nodded again, "Yeah. Or I will anyway. Dad, can you get me the short sword I used in the tournament?"

"Why?" His father asked, curious.

"I'm going to fight her with it," he said simply.

"Lugh!" His mother's voice was scathing. And it was so powerful that it caused him and his father to completely stop in their tracks. He turned to face her, wary.

"What?" His question only earned him a wrathful look.

"You will not bring a sword to that poor girl's birthday party," his mother had her hands on her hips, looking moments away from scolding him.

"Then what am I supposed to get her? I'm supposed to be at her house soon," he said. "Besides, we've been sparring a lot recently. She's pretty good."

His mother was not looking happy, and seemed to be getting angrier. before she took in a deep breath. "We. Are going to find a proper present for that poor girl. Where did I go wrong in raising you..."

"What should I get her then? It's not like she's the type to like flowers," he said, shrugging.

"You don't know that young man. A girl can like training and flowers too," his mother said. "In fact, that's exactly what you are going to do. Bring her flowers."

"This is a birthday party. I'm not going to propose or anything," he said. But he realized his mistake when his father started making a cutting motion with his hand to try and get him to stop.

A shadow passed over his mother's face, and he knew that if he didn't immediately cave in to her demands, he was going to be doomed in the foreseeable future. Such was the look that passed over her face, it caused him to gulp out of fear.

"Okay. I'll go and get her some flowers then," he said, not wanting to make it worse.

The smile returned to his mother's face, as did the light in the room. He, his father, and his sister all took a sigh of relief at having dodged a potential disaster.

"In addition to flowers, bring her the dessert that I made earlier," she said.

His sister's head whipped around to face their mother, "You made dessert?!"

She nodded, "Don't worry, I'll still have some extra for the rest of us. But Lugh is going to take a basket of pastries along with flowers to the birthday party."

He groaned, dreading what the reaction would be at the party, but nodded at his mother's commands.

He arrived at Reina's house. In his hands were a basket of pastries and a white rose that he took a detour for. The white rose was one of the rarer flowers in the fields and were normally hard to spot due to the overabundance of colorful flowers. When he arrived at her house, he realized why his mother told him to get her flowers. Her family managed a flower shop, easily recognizable by the abundance of beautifully organized flowers, marked with a price tag.

When he stared at her house itself, it was a fairly normal house. It possessed two stories, slanted red-tiled roofs, and its walls were painted beige. The lights in the house were on and the festivities could be heard from the outside. It sounded of children playing together and messing around. He swallowed and walked up to her house.

A little more nervous than I expected... He thought to himself. Considering that he was mentally a thirty-year-old man he shouldn't have been that nervous to attend a birthday for a child, but as an introvert in both his old and new life, it couldn't be helped that he was a little nervous.

He was thinking up all the possible things that might happen if he were to enter, but he shook it off, I have to stop delaying this. It'd be more shameful if they caught me just waiting outside.

He went up to their dark brown wooden door, and after a brief moment of hesitation, knocked twice before standing back to allow the door open.

"-Yes! Coming!" A youthful voice could be heard from inside. The door opened, revealing an acquaintance he'd met once before.

"Oh! Aren't you Lugh?" The older sister greeted him at the door. "Come in! Reina told me you'd be coming," she gestured inward, standing aside for him.

He gingerly stepped inside, "Thanks... Miss Liz."

"No need for honorifics," she said. "Just call me Liz." She gave him a sly smirk, "You have no idea how surprised I was when Reina told me that you were coming! Our village's little shut-in."

He scowled, "I'm not a shut-in. I leave the house every day."

"You get the idea," she said. She guided him towards the noise. The hallway eventually gave way to a bigger living room that was set with decorations. Although they didn't have the plastic decorations he was familiar with, instead, they featured flower decorations everywhere. And it was entering this room that he realized something.

I suspected it... But aren't I like the only guy here?! He wanted to run away. Birthday parties of children typically only featured friends they were close to or wanted to receive presents from. The amount guys here could be counted on one hand. In fact, besides her father, he only spotted two others boys here. His attention was grabbed by someone calling out his name.

"-Lugh! You came!" He saw Reina coming up towards him, dressed in fancier clothes than normal, but still not to the extent that he would call it formal clothing.

"Yeah. Here, for you," he handed her the basket and then held the rose out to her. But this garnered an odd response from her.

Her face turned bright red, and she made a squeak, before taking the flower and running away. He blinked at the reaction, ...What just happened? Did I do something worth that response? Was it the flower? It was the definitely the flower, wasn't it...

Reina's sister hummed next to him, having come to lean against the wall behind him. "That was pretty smooth of you."

"What was?" He asked her. "I just got her a flower because I thought she might like it."

"Our mother runs a flower business, so we're often taught their meanings," she said.

"Okay? Does the white rose have a certain meaning?"

"Yep," she said, popping the 'p'. "I can't remember the exact meaning, but it's something to do with "eternal love". And the meaning of flowers is pretty important for us so imagine what she felt at being given a white rose."

"Wha- I didn't know it had that kind of meaning!" His ears burned. He had essentially confessed to her indirectly by giving her that flower. No, perhaps it was even worse. Was what he did considered the equivalent of a marriage proposal?

She snickered at his reaction. "Hahahaha. Don't worry about it. I'll explain the situation to her. You go join the party." She left him to go resolve the misunderstanding, while he stayed in the corner of the room.

Although he knew that he was bad with parties and social events, he didn't think he was this incapable of socializing. The fact that the other kids were avoiding him didn't really help either. In fact, they stayed as far away as they could from him.

Am I perhaps being ostracized? He wondered genuinely. It was sort of understandable. Bad rumors of him may have started spreading around due to his general isolation from others. Although, it could also be fear due to what happened in the tournament a couple of months ago. This, in fact, was not true. The other children were too nervous to talk to him, and so they stayed away, only glancing at him from the corner of their eyes, but he didn't know of that.

He felt like leaving the party, but stayed as he was reluctant to betray Reina's trust after having told her that he would come. The party only truly started after Reina came back and all the invited guests were counted present.

The party was fairly normal as far as parties went. Children were playing games and eating food. To him, it felt like a blur. He participated in some party games, but made no real effort to get to know the kids around him. They played board games, party games, an other world variant of Twister, and darts.

A couple of hours later after playing to their hearts content, the kids started going home or were picked up by their parents and taken home as night started to fall. Soon enough, it was only him left when the sky became dark, but he hadn't finished what he originally planned to do.

"-Lugh!" Reina looked surprised to see him still here.

"Hey," he waved.

"What are you still doing here?"

"I've got something I want to do," he said, motioning at her. "Where do you train normally? I think we should go there."

"In the backyard, why?" She asked him.

"Great, let's go there!" He said.

"Okay, we're out here, what do you need to do?" She asked him.

"We're going to spar," he said.

She raised an eyebrow at him, "Right here? Right now? Really?"

"Yeah. Originally, I was going to do this as your birthday gift, but my Mom told me to just get you flowers. But that's not really like me, so we'll spar too," he said.

"Okay..." She said, a little confused. "I'll go get my spear."

He stopped her before she could leave, "Oh, and get me something to use too."

She turned around to look at him, stunned. It was am understandable reaction. For months they've sparred against each other, unarmed versus spear, and him asking her to grab a weapon was saying that he meant to fight her seriously. It was an unconventional birthday gift. Others would be downright offended to consider such a thing a gift. But they were close enough that he felt comfortable in assuming that she'd like it. And he was right in his assumption.

"Close your mouth, you'll catch flies you know?" He said, smiling.

"Right! Any preferences?"

"None, I'm good at all weapons," he said.

She dashed off back into the house, going to grab two weapons. When she came back out, her entire family came back out with her. Her father, he could tell was a warrior from his gait and build, while her mother was decidedly a civilian. Her sister came out moments later, looking intrigued.

"-Here!" She tossed him a sheathed sword, one which was a little too big for him. "It's my Dad's. He said you can use it if they get to watch."

He shrugged at it, giving his consent towards the admission of spectators. He picked up the sword from the ground and unsheathed it, inspecting the blade. It was a curved long sword that was shaped like a leaf, and had only a single edge. He nodded, satisfied with its quality, before pointing it at Reina, showing his readiness to duel.

She held her spear in both hands, her excitement palpable in the air. This would be the first time since the arena that he had fought her with a proper weapon, and she was fired up to fight him.

Her father took position to arbitrate the fight. He raised his hand up, "Ready?" When he got nods from both sides, he swung his hand down. "Go!"

And like every spar that came before it, she was the first to act, closing in on him.

She first met Lugh in the National Day Festival being held in their village to celebrate the founding of the kingdom. She noticed him out of the corner of her eye, as he was the other youngest competitor besides herself. White hair, blue-green eyes, he cut an imposing figure to her and stood out due to his calmness in the arena compared to the others. Neither nervous nor excited, she thought he fit the image of knight that she had built in her mind after reading fairy tales of old.

When the announcement came that the tournament was going to be a free-for-all style fight to determine the match-ups, she was a little worried for him. She and every other child in the village knew of his reputation as a loner. When the fight started, just as she expected, those who belonged to friend groups of considerable size started to team up against others.

As someone who possessed only a handful of friends, Reina herself was worried about having to fight through entire groups when-

FOOM!

-a blast of wind knocked everyone in the arena off of their feet. Even she had been knocked over by the attack. At first, she felt indignation. Was that magic? Who's using magic?

Her head swiveled to find the origin of the wind, and she spotted the only one left standing after the attack. The same boy that she spotted earlier had his sword out in a pose that told her that he was the origin of the attack. As among one of the few to still remain conscious, she got up and charged him, recognizing him as the threat to be eliminated.

Others in the arena seemed to have shared that sentiment and were quickly getting up in order to try and team up on the white-haired boy.

She reached him first, attempting to leverage her range to her advantage as Trynn, a proficient shield and short-sword user in the village, reached him as well, attempting to use his shield to knock away Lugh's sword.

The result was an overwhelming difference in skill and strategy. Rather than let himself fall to their combined attack, he used Trynn's shield to jump up and attack her. Although they were similar in age, the difference in physical strength caused her eyes to widen, before her defenses crumbled entirely and her spear gave way to his sword.

He's a monster... How am I supposed to compete with that?

She suffered a humiliating defeat, and as she was kicked away, the only things in her mind was burning indignation and-

-I don't want to lose!

But she blacked out and was unable to continue fighting.

After that, she found out where he spent his days after searching around the village for a bit, and challenged him to another duel.

The result: overwhelming defeat. The culmination of spending her days dueling him eventually resulted in an unconventional friendship. He would always fight her barehanded while she used the spear. Until now. The moon's rays illuminated her backyard as their duel started.

As she charged him, spear at the ready, she couldn't have felt more alive. Even while lacking in experience, she could tell. His stance while holding her father's sword left no openings, and she could feel a thrill unlike any other time they had fought each other. In fact, she felt like laughing due to the excitement.

"Hah!" She swung at him with her spear, putting her full strength into the attack. She expected him to dodge, but he instead lifted the over-sized sword and blocked her attack, not budging at all. Before she could leap away, he struck her with his free hand, sending her reeling back.

"Ugh!"

Undeterred by the pain, she got back up on her feet, and started circling him. He stayed in the middle waiting for her approach. She could feel his eyes on her, but kept observing his profile to determine how to attack next.

"What's wrong?" He called out to her. "Where'd all that energy go?"

She shook her head, "I'm not gonna fall for that! You're way too strong, going in like I normally do would be dumb."

He smiled, "In that case..." He started moving from his position, approaching her in an instant. He left a small crater behind as he practically flew towards her and brought his sword down in an overhead slash.

Learning her lesson from their very first fight, she attempted to dodge out of the way. But he adjusted for her escape, and spun and slammed the guard of the sword into her stomach after he missed his initial swing. She fell over on the spot, groaning in pain.

He's stronger than usual! I didn't think he'd be this much stronger with a weapon!

He had told her many times that he was far more proficient with the sword than with martial arts. She didn't know how much until now. As she saw the moon in the sky above her, she thought it was taunting her with its glow.

"You down for the count? Or are you still going to keep at it?" He asked her.

She felt irritated. She knew in her mind that he wasn't baiting her, and genuinely asking whether she could continue to fight or not, but it still felt humiliating every time he did so. She got back up on her feet, ignoring the pain in her abdomen and prepared for another bout.

"I'm still good. So come at me seriously!" She declared, ready for another exchange.

"Stop!" Her father intervened. She turned to him, confused.

"Why?! I'm not done!" She said.

But her father shook his head, "You should've realized after that first exchange that you couldn't beat him. When he blocked your attack, he didn't budge an inch."

Her father's response caused shame to burn in her core. He then turned towards Lugh and bowed. "Thank you for taking care of my daughter all this time. She's grown leaps and bounds in her training recently, and I assume it has to do with you."

Lugh blinked, before he shook his head, "No, not at all. She's been an excellent sparring partner for me as well. I've learned a lot from her."

Her father smiled, "It's getting late now, so you should probably get going home now. Thank you for being friends with my daughter."

Lugh scratched his cheek, "If it wasn't for her, I'd still probably be training alone. No need to thank me for being friends with her. I should be thanking her for being my first friend." He laughed sheepishly at his own remark before handing her father the sword he was using.

"Thank you for lending me your sword," he bowed towards them before he turned to leave, "Have a good night everyone." With that, he saw himself out of their house.

After he left, she turned towards her father, "Why'd you stop the fight?! I wasn't done yet!"

But her father had a stern look on his face, "Yes, you were. If he wanted to, he could've knocked you out in that first exchange. He was just humoring you."

She grit her teeth in indignation, but her father put a hand on her shoulder. "Look. He's what I'd call a bad role model."

She looked up at her father, "What?! He's my friend. I won't let you say bad things about him like that."

Her father shook his head, "Sorry, not like that. I meant in terms of fighting. He's not the type whose fighting style you can learn from." Her father sighed, "When I saw him using my sword, I knew for sure."

She was still mad, but her curiosity prompted her to ask, "Knew what?"

Her father's next words caused her eyes to widen, "Frustratingly, I doubt that even I could beat him in a fight."

A couple months passed since then, and he was now eleven years old. Their daily routine of sparring resumed, him barehanded and she, armed. Normally it would be around time for him to go spar with her, but he was currently outside with his parents, sending his older sister off. The colder seasons were approaching, but she had received an invitation to the capital in order to learn magic and wanted to capitalize on this opportunity.

"Are you sure you've packed everything?" Their mother was fretting over his sister, double and triple checking that all of her bags were packed and that she wouldn't be hurting for money.

His sister rolled her eyes, "Yes, Mom. I'll be fine. I've got everything." She hoisted herself up on Wyndelug, one of their family's earth dragons.

He walked up to her as she did so, "You sure you don't want me to come with as a guard?"

She shook her head, "I'm going with the merchants who dropped by recently. They have their own guard so it'll be safe. Besides, this is something that I have to do myself. You coming along would weaken my resolve."

He sighed at her response, a little worried about her safety. "Stay safe on the road. Be careful of bandits and the like."

She nodded, "I know. I can defend myself plenty you know. I've got magic."

His father held up a short dagger, "Take this. Even if you can't fight with it, it'll serve you well."

She gingerly took the knife, before strapping it to her side. "Thanks Dad."

His father continued, "And take care of Wyndelug. Remember what I told you. If you take care of an earth dragon-"

""It'll take care of you,"" she finished. "Yeah, I will. Don't worry."

Despite all of her preparations she still looked a little bit melancholic, an understandable emotion given her departure from her home. He noticed this and smiled up at her in reassurance. "Hey. Don't worry. We'll come by the capital to make sure you aren't too lonely. Who knows? I might find a job there." His family nodded behind him, promising to come visit.

His sister nodded, a watery smile on her face, "I'll definitely come back to visit."

"Who are you going to apprentice under anyways?" He asked, curious. His sister had kept her lips tight on the subject after receiving an envelope with the invitation and he wanted to try prying for one last time before she left.

"Ah ah ah, no probing. It's a secret. It was part of the requirement that I tell nobody about the specifics," she said, wagging her finger. He groaned, but let it slide.

"It's about time for me to go," his sister said, as she looked up and noted the position of the sun. She prodded the earth dragon to move, and she took off. After moving a distance away, she turned around while seated on the earth dragon and shouted, "I love you! Take care everyone!"

His mother called out, "We love you too! Stay safe! Write back!"

They stayed out until they could no longer see her in the distance. His mother wiped a tear from her eye, before coming to hug him from behind.

"One bird's already left the nest," she sniffed. His father patted her on the shoulder, while he was stuck in her arms in a fierce hug that he couldn't escape.

"She'll write back," his father comforted her.

"Of course she will! Otherwise I'll have some fierce words for that girl the next time we see her!" She snapped, emotional.

He sighed, knowing that she'll be emotional for the next couple of days. A week, if they were unlucky.

Hopefully she sends a letter back fast. I don't want to be stuck getting smothered by Mom because she misses Ciel. He thought dryly. No, what's important now is that I prepare for future events. I need to get going too when I become an adult.

He needed to plan for future events and how his existence would change the canon he knew. The Royal Election for the new ruler hadn't started yet, and he believed it wouldn't for a while. Such an important event would have been announced throughout the whole country, so he knew that he still had some time until the events he knew would come to pass.

But first, "Mom! Let go! I can't breathe!"

AN: Now we get the ball rolling. A lot to unpack in this chapter, so I hope it'll be an interesting read. I ended up developing a side character that I didn't intend to, but this is what happened to this chapter.

Thank you to everyone who supported me and helped me reach triple digits in favorites and follows!

As thanks for that I'll explain why my updates are tremendously slow compared to some other works on fanfiction. One, time is rather short for me because a lot of personal life happenings are going on in the background, invisible to you. Two, I don't want to put anything other than my best work out on this site, so I often review dialogue, plot, and the details I put into each chapter and revise them multiple times. Hell, even this chapter looked a lot more different than its original draft. Three, this chapter has actually been completed for a while now, but I don't submit my chapters until the next one has been completed, meaning that by the time you see this, I'll be working on chapter 6. This is so that in case a personal emergency happens I'll have a backup chapter to post. Unfortunately, between all the editing I do for each chapter, it means that it takes time for me to build a proper story. Three really is a personal preference but I don't like submitting things without knowing that I have something in reserve to post if necessary. Thank you for your understanding, but I also understand if you're frustrated by my lack of updates.

Also, someone in the reviews said something about how I use 'he' and 'I' interchangeably. I do this because I prefer writing in third person, but hate having to repeat a person's name multiple times. Evidently in the writing process I find that I prefer using 'he' or 'him' rather than repeating his name, and it ends up being that I rarely ever say Lugh's name. Thanks for the advice, and as always, if you spot any mistakes, or even plot holes, feel free to let me know.

I know that I've been building up his childhood life for a long time, but I swear it'll be worth it once we hit the canon timeline. ;-;

Divine Protection Encyclopedia:

[Divine Protection of Counter]: Guarantees a 100% accurate counterattack on an enemy who has hit you with a melee attack. This counterattack will deal extra damage based on the amount of damage taken from the opponent's attack.