Dawn of the next day.

  Draxson awoke early in the morning and dressed before leaving his room. He stepped out the door and into the hallway to find his siblings waiting for him. "Did you sleep well, Draxson? Were you dreaming of Sopheia?" Teased Dralaiss as she lightly punched Draxson in the ribs. "Don't you go imagining anything immoral, Draxson.

  "Haha. You're so funny, Dralaiss. Let's hurry up and eat to meet Sopheia outside." They went to eat some ham rice and a duck plate with a slice of Caramel apple pie that Solina and Sopheia had baked the night before. As they ate through their pie, Draxson expressed his satisfaction.

  "Mmmm, that's good, Mom. Thank you. I'll also have to thank Sopheia for this scrumptious treat." I'll bake some cookies and mango cake tonight. Would you two like to help me?" Asked Draxson, addressing his siblings in between bites.

  Yeah, that sounds fun. I'll help to slice the mangos and stir some of the mixes," Frieladelian replied also. I'll help you bake those cookies, and I can make some cream to coat the cake," Dralaiss said as she finished her pie. Draganather walked by Solina in the dining room .

  He stopped on his wife's left, leaned down, and kissed her forehead. "Thank you for the fantastic breakfast, honey. Thank you for helping Frieladelian, " said Dragnarther as he sat beside his wife. “You're welcome, my love, " replied Solina as she leaned over to kiss Dragnarther. Draxson finished his pie as he watched his parents when an unexpected thought came to his imagination about how it would feel to hold Sopheia's hands and share a kiss , but he her. He quickly waved away the thought; Draxson was thinking that fantasizing wasn't right. Instead, he thought about the duel that awaited him.

  Minutes later, Draxson, Dralaiss, and Frieladelian headed out and met Sophiea, who was waiting for them outside. "We didn't make you wait too long, did we?" Asked Draxson. "I've only been waiting a minute.” Sopheia said before being cut off by Dralaiss.

  "Still, you shouldn't make a lady wait, Draxson. And we could have been out here sooner if you didn't eat so much." Said Dralaiss, elbowing her brother. "Hey, I must eat a lot to regain my energy and strength." "efended Draxson.

  "She is right, Draxson; you eat nearly double what Dralaiss and I eat. I think Dad's starting to fear you'll out-eat him soon." "greed, Frieladelian. "Will, you seem to be glutinous as ever, Draxson." "chuckled Sopheia. "Will, let's go now."

  "Yeah, let's do that. Oh, and thank you for the spectacular pie. I loved it." "chimed Draxson. Dralaiss made a kissing gesture at him from behind Sopheia.

  Frieladelian put his hands together and placed them on his face as if to say, "A"w."

  "Aww, Draxsons talking to a girl. He's growing up so fast." "eased Dralaiss in his mind.

  "Aw, just tell her you love her already." "hipped in Frieladelian. Also, intruding on his mind. Draxson couldn't help but feel annoyed at their remarks, but he did his best to hide it from showing on his face. " You're welcome, Draxson. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I pour my heart into my food."

  "Smiled back, Sopheia. "Hey, don't you be stealing our brother from us, Sopheia? It's already sad to see him leave us to adventure." "complained Dralaiss. Sopheia couldn't hide a smile. She blushed and tried to turn away and hide her face from Draxson. She looked over her shoulder to see Draxson blushing, too. She was interrupted by Frieladelian. "We don't have all day for you to stare at each other all day. LeLet'so." "Right, let's get going," "said Sopheia as she walked ahead of the group with Draxson following. Frieladelian and Dralaiss held hands as they followed behind them, whispering.

  Ten minutes later, they all arrived at the field where Draxson and Sopheia had spent many hours sparring and training their abilities. "Let's do this," "stated Sopheia as she set her bag down by her and Draxsons shed and stood waiting to fight.

  "Yeah, we'll take you both down." "replied Frieladelian and Dralaiss. The fight started with Dralaiss calling upon her draconic magic to summon her wings, claws, and Dragon head. Frieladelian cast a support spell on Dralaiss, boosting her majic. Dralaiss took flight, b-lining towards Sopheia, and Draxson claws out.

  Sopheia summoned Frost around her hands, running to strike Dralaiss. Dralaiss reached out to claw Sopheia; Sopheia launched a Frost blast, and Dralaiss dodged, circling Sopheia. Draxson cast a pillar of fire under Dralaiss before she could strike Sopheia. Frieladelian cast a barrier around Dralaiss to protect her from the strike.

  "No," you don't, Draxson." "shouted Frieladelian, catching Draxson's attention with a ball of Frost majic from the surrounding snow. FrFrieladelian'slast heavily struck Draxson in the chest. "Oh, I'll get you for that, " shouted Draxson as he launched himself with a blast of fire.

  As he flew towards Frieladelian, Draxson shrouded his fist in the fire. He went to strike Frieladelian but made contact with a barrier. Draxson continued to punch out; blow after blow, he struck Frieladelian's shield.

  "Good, I'm starting to wear him down. Just a little longer, "thought Draxson as he continued to wear Frieladelian down. As Draxson wore down her brother, Dralaiss frantically clawed at Sopheia, mostly striking solid ice. After many strikes, Dralaiss slashed Sopheia across her left ear with her right claw. Sopheia cried out in pain as she retaliated with a Frost blast.

  Upon being hit, the Frost covered Dralaiss, freezing her in place. With her opponent frozen, Sopheia went around and blasted Dralaiss's wings, knocking her down. "Huut oof," "ried Dralaiss as she fell on her face as SoSopheia'soot was on her back, pinning her down. Frieladelian's strength was coming to an end as Draxson broke his shield. Frieladelian stared down at his burning brother in fear.

  He desperately tried erecting a snow wall to block his, brothe her but failed. His brother blazed through the snow wall and knocked him down. Frieladelian went down with a loud "Upon." "upon raising her head, Dralaiss could see her brother taken down by Draxson.

  As she saw this, she let out a roar and let out flames from her mouth, pushing her head backward and knocking Sopheia over. Dralaiss quickly stood up and lobbed a fire at Sopheia as she recovered.

  Sopheia got hit in the chest with most of the flames, barely saving herself from being shot in the face with her ice majic. Dralaiss ran and then took flight with her frosty wings, defrosting them as she flew.

  When he saw his sister charging Draxson, Frieladelian yelled at her, "Stop. We're already lost here." Upon Frieladelian's outcry, Draxson shifted his attention to his approaching sister. He launched a fireball at her, and as it flew toward her, Dralaiss used her chaos clones to confuse and distract Draxson.

  Draxson summoned a vertical wall of flames to remove all the clones but was struck by his sister from behind, making him stumble.

  Frieladelian didn't taste the opportunity to push his brother off of him. He rolled from his spot, stood up, and charged Draxson. Draxson was stretched thin and tried to summon walls of flame around him but got overwhelmed by his sister's slashes and his brother's mirror spells.

  Draxson was on the edge of defeat when Sopheia got back up, launched herself forward, pulled Dralaiss off of draxson, and slashed at Frieladelian, causing him to lose his balance. Sopheia shot globs of snow on Dralaiss and Frieladelian, then formed it into ice to keep them stuck.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Sopheia pulled Draxson up from the ground and summoned a large cloud of freezing winds as she tucked her scarf to cover her mouth and nose. Draxson wasted no time to shroud himself in flames.*2*

  Minutes later, Dralaiss and Frieldelian surrendered under the pressure of the chilling breeze. "Y"u win. Now, please unfreeze us. I'm lying here. How do you two deal with this? My butt is freezing." "complained Dralaiss as she rose from the snow, massaging herself with her warming flames. "Oh, stop complaining, Dralaiss. You sound like a grumpy lizard, just like your older brother" "explained Sophiea as she looked over at Draxson, helping his brother get to his feet. An agitated expression appeared on Draxson's face briefly before subsiding. Sopheia grinned while Draxson was agitated by her claim but then pouty as Draxson brushed it off. "Well, did you two get the results you wanted?" "asked Draxson, looking at his siblings.

  "l I thought it would end like this, but I hoped we could win” "replied Frieldelian with humility Looking down at his feet. “ "l-I was planning to kick your butt Draxson, and I was planning to wear Sopheia down, but you got me good. I won't be as easy to defeat next time, Sopheia.” retorted Dralaiss. “Well it be time for Draxson and I to do some training? Feel free to watch it if you want.” "stated Sophiea as she walked over to a small shed in the field. She stepped out of the shed with a sword on her waist and daggers in her belt pouch.

  Draxson followed suit and retrieved a bow and a slim quiver of arrows on his back with a target in one arm and a small training dummy in the other. He set the target down, stepped back 250 feet on level ground, and planted the training dummy where Sophiea pointed 30 meters from his shooting point.

  Draxson returned to his shooting point as Sopheia pulled a small artifact from her hip pouch opposite her sword scabbard. With the activation, the training dummy came to life with its metal armor shining in the bright sunlight. The training dummy summoned a metal sword from a small portal and charged Sophiea. The training dummy and Sopheia engaged in combat while draxson stood firing arrows at his target. The first arrow hit the bottom of the second center ring and fired four more shots before hitting the target dead center. Dralaiss and Frieldelian watched the two training for a few hours before they went home. When draxson and Sophiea were satisfied with their training, they put away their weapons and equipment and went home shortly after. As they walked home, Draxson spoke up and asked, “Hey, Sopheia, my siblings and I are making some desserts tonight. Would you like to bake with us before you go home?” Yes, I would like to join you. That sounds fun.” replied Sopheia.

  That night, Draxson, Sophiea, and the rest of the Draxson household made various desserts with majic and energy-boosting effects. They sent Sopheia back with some desserts for her, her dad, and her sister. “Later Sopheia. I'll see you tomorrow.” "bye, Selia, see you later. Goodnight” "said Draxson as Sopheia received farewell hugs and then went out the door carrying her sister.” "Later, Draxson” "replied Sophiea as she went out the door. “Bye, Draxxy,” "replied Selia as they closed the door. “ "Draxson, you're fighting me tomorrow. I'm going to see how strong you've gotten.” "stated Draganarther when Draxson's siblings set the table for dinner. “Alright, I accept. I can't wait to test my power with no restrictions.”

  Eagerly responded Draxson as they went to eat dinner. After dinner, Draxson went to sleep early after bidding goodnight to his parents and siblings.

  The next day, Draxson got up earlier than usual and began working out in his room and studying a majic book before he got up to make Everyone breakfast. Draxson made Sausage, spicy crackers, hash browns, and jelly-filled bread. Draxson set the table and finished cleaning up by the time everyone woke up to seat themselves at the table. “ Thank you for the food.” expressed everyone as they began to eat. When everyone was done, they cleaned together and prepared themselves for the day.

  “Later, Dad, I love you. I'll see you later.” "Aid Sophiea as she left her house, leaving Selia with their dad. “B"e Sopheia. Love you, have a great day,” "replied Sopheia's dad (Efai Neyko). Sopheia went to train while she waited for Draxson. After a few hours of training, Sopheia watched Draxson and his dad walk to an open spot in the field. Sopheia stopped training and walked up to Draxson to see what they were doing. “What are you up to, Draxson?” "asked Sopheia as she watched him and his dad stand a dozen meters apart. “Oh, good morning, Sopheia. My dad and I are going to spar Today.”

  "replied Draxson.

  “Oh, I want to join too.” "stated Sopheia. As Sophiea took a stance, a cat-nye soldier approached her and told her that her father had summoned her. “Aww, OK. I'll be right there.” "responded Sopheia as she followed the soldier to meet with her dad. Minutes later, Sophiea approached her dad, standing before 100 soldiers in formation. “Yes dad, you summoned me?” "sked Sopeia. “A There you are, my lovely daughter. I asked for your presence because it's time for your battle readiness test. Could you hand me your training artifact controller?” replied her dad as he turned to look her in the eyes. "Here you go, Dad.” Sopheia said handing her dad the enchanted stone and metal disc Efai took the artifact and examined it. "Well congratulations you've completed difficulty 7 out of 12.

  You're going to be advanced now to difficulty eight the next time you use the training artifact.” Happily expressed Sopheias dad. “ "Today, I'm having you spar with all of these women and men that protect our village every day to test your capabilities one last time before you leave the village.” "stated Efai. “Are you ready Sophiea?” "Yes, I'm ready," replied Sopheia as she unsheathed her Sword. The Sword was dual-edged and had many ruins down the middle of it that lit up with a bright blue light. The hilt of dark oak encasing the blade's iron handle had no hand guard yet. “Begin” shouted Efai as a majic bubble was cast over Sopheia and the hundred soldiers. Her dad outside the bubble along with his officers.

  “All armor will only endure one strike per piece. Lose three pieces, and you are finished.” "shouted Efai's second in line as a breastplate, full face helmet, and metal plates covered the top of SoSopheia'shighs and above her knees. When the plates set in, Sopheia charged forward to the closet Soldier, slashed at their chest plate, and was blocked by a shield. Sophiea pulled a dagger from her correct belt pouch and slashed at the soldier's leg armor. She slashed one leg plate off war, ripped her leg around it, and brought the soldier down, bringing another leg plate within her range. She slashed the plate, and it fell off, and she froze the arm that held the soldier's shield, causing them to lose their grip. As four soldiers approached her, she slashed at one on her left and slashed a chest plate before the back of a sword struck her left arm. Sophiea winced at the mild pan as she kicked the soldier down.

  Sophiea threw a dagger at their chest plate. The soldier that was downed first rose and immediately teleported out of the arena as their chest plate fell off with the dagger in it. When Sopheia switched targets to a soldier in the middle of the advancing formation, her Sword was smacked out of her hand by the hammer of a soldier on her right. After being disarmed, Sophiea shrouded her claws in Frost and began slashing through the soldier's defenses. Using her agility, she avoided dozens of strikes before losing a single-leg plate. By the time Sopheia lost all her plates, she took down 47 soldiers and removed 172.

  “ The battle readiness test is over,” "shouted the officer as they dispelled the enchantments and majic bubble. “Very well done, Sopheia; you've proven yourself to be very talented at taking on multiple enemies at once and avoiding their attacks.” Said Efai when Sopheia teleported in front of him with the soldiers back in formation.”. At the same time, this was just a test. You could probably only take down 1 to 2 of these fine soldiers if this was a real fight.” "plainly stated Efai. Sopheia's smile ceased when she heard that. “But power doesn't come from one's strength. It comes from the ability to work together that increases the squad's fighting power,” stated Efai before continuing. “Sopheia Neyko, you have been deemed a fledgling soldier. Please step to my head officer to claim your uniform, insignia, sheath, and handguard for your Sword.” "Sopheia's ears perked up as she stepped in the direction of the head officer.

  “I am proud to present Sopheia with your equipment and spot in our ranks.” Sophiea took the cat-nye uniform shirt, pants, shorts, a white cloak that transforms into a bandana for easy storage, and her pure white scabbard and silver handguard. Lastly, Sopheia received a small half-snowflake clip for her uniform shirt, which made her a recruit for the Cat-nye army. “ I introduce you to the newest honorary member of the katis army of Fornull.” "stated the officer as claps of congratulations sounded from the soldiers.

  Sopheia left the congregation and changed into her new uniform. When she was ready, she went to the field where she found Draxson on his knees with his hands on the ground while he desperately gasped for air; he had many burns along his body.

  “Well, son, that's the difference between our power, but you did very well, son,” "aid Dragnarther as he cast a healing spell and brought draxson back up to his feet. “Draxson, being weak isn't a death sentence; being weak is the greatest strength you can have because your potential is limitless, and you can find new ways to be strong.” "I think I understand. Being weak gives us better ways to be strong. "I'll do my best, Dad. I won't let you down.” "responded Draxson happily. “ " I know you'll do great things, Draxson. Now go explore the world.” "said Draxson's dad as he hugged him. “Hey Sopheia, what's with the uniform?” Draxson asked "I've seen initiated as an honorary katis army scout division.” “Oh, that's awesome, Sopheia. Congratulations.”

  "Thank you, Draxson.” "Well, are you ready to go, Sopheia?” "Yeah, my bag is packed, and I'm ready to leave tomorrow morning.” "Alright, let's go home to all have a meal together,” "said Draxson, following his dad. Come with us, Sopheia. We invited your father to eat with us before we send you off tomorrow. “A"right, I'I'moming.” "The two families had a nice dinner together the night before Sopheia and Draxson left for their trip.