The academy grounds were silent, save for the soft rustling of leaves in the wind. It was a typical training day at Blossom's Academy, the prestigious institution known for cultivating the most skilled warriors and mages. Students lined up, preparing for their scheduled sparring sessions. But for one student, this was no ordinary day.
Solace Solara, standing in the middle of the sparring ring, barely acknowledged the murmurs around him. His cold, calculating gaze was fixed on his opponent—one of the top students of the third-year class. The tension in the air was palpable as everyone knew what this fight meant.
He wasn't here to just spar. He was here to prove something. To himself, perhaps, but more likely, to everyone else. He'd been undefeated since his first day at the academy, a prodigy with powers that few could match. Yet, something had shifted in him recently. The tension in his chest, the creeping darkness, it all felt like it was bubbling just beneath the surface.
"Ready, Solace?" The teacher's voice broke through his thoughts, but his eyes never wavered from the student across from him, who was now adopting a defensive stance.
Solace didn't answer. He simply nodded, an icy smile playing on his lips. He was ready.
The signal was given, and the two students charged.
At first, it was a battle of speed, each one testing the other's defenses, circling and feinting. But Solace was faster—too fast for his opponent to keep up. A single, graceful movement from him sent his opponent stumbling back. The crowd gasped. Solace didn't relent.
His next strike was a blur—his opponent had barely enough time to raise his guard before Solace was upon him, his fists striking like thunder. His opponent blocked the first few blows, but Solace's strikes grew more vicious with every passing second, his movements becoming erratic, desperate, uncontrolled.
The teacher shouted for him to stop, but Solace didn't hear. The rush of the battle surged through him, and something darker simmered beneath. His strikes were no longer just controlled, no longer just training moves—they were laced with his light element, fueled by a growing rage that had no place to go.
A punch landed, hard, against his opponent's stomach. The boy doubled over, gasping for breath, but it wasn't enough for Solace. He stepped forward, a cruel glint in his eyes.
"You shouldn't have challenged me," Solace muttered, his voice almost too calm for the fury he was unleashing.
His opponent tried to swing back, but Solace was too quick. He dodged, and in one swift movement, his knee connected with the boy's chest, sending him flying back into the dirt. The crowd was silent now, some too stunned to even move. The teacher was frozen, his eyes wide with disbelief.
Solace slowly approached the boy lying in the dirt, his expression cold, almost detached. As his footsteps echoed across the arena, the ground around him seemed to come alive, cracking open to reveal raging white flames that erupted, spiraling into the air like hungry serpents. The air itself twisted and burned, suffocating all warmth but the cruel heat of his power.
"Spirit-flames..." One of the teachers muttered in awe, recognizing the deadly aura of Solace's element. He moved forward to intervene, stepping between Solace and the fallen boy, his hands raised in a gesture of authority.
Solace's gaze sharpened, his crimson eyes glowing with an unnatural, piercing intensity. In an instant, the teacher froze, his breath caught in his throat. The flames obeyed their master, surging forward like a wave of molten rage. They encircled the teacher, twisting and writhing, before consuming him entirely. The flames didn't burn his flesh—no, they devoured his very soul. The teacher's body withered away in an instant, reduced to dust, his screams echoing for a split second before being silenced by the inferno.
"Do not interfere," Solace's voice was low, dripping with cold malice, a tone devoid of remorse.
The flames dissipated, and the light surrounding him pulsed like a heartbeat. In the blink of an eye, Solace appeared before the boy on the ground, his movements so swift they seemed almost unreal. Gripping the boy's hair in his hand, he yanked his head back, forcing him to face the dirt. Solace's eyes glinted with cruel amusement as he slammed the boy's skull into the ground, again and again, each impact sending shockwaves through his body. Blood pooled from his skull, staining the earth beneath them.
Solace smiled—a cruel, twisted expression of enjoyment—as his hand clenched into a fist. A flash of white flame ignited around his fist, its power crackling, before he struck. His first punch landed with brutal precision, followed by three more, each one sending cracks into the boy's jaw, blood spraying with each impact. The boy's body jerked with every blow, his consciousness slipping away.
With a final, contemptuous sneer, Solace flung the boy into the air, his body weightless for a split second. The spirit-flames blazed around Solace's leg, infusing it with destructive power as light encased him, making him seem like a being of divine wrath. He kicked with all his might, and the boy's body crumpled, the force of the blow tearing through his stomach. The sound of breaking ribs and torn flesh filled the air as the boy's life was snuffed out in an instant, his abdomen a bloody ruin, his body falling limp to the ground, never to rise again.
Solace stood over him, his breathing calm as if the brutal act had been nothing more than a passing moment. His eyes, still glowing with that eerie crimson light, turned to the silent witnesses around him. Solace smiled and laughed.
Back to the present. "So, what do you say sis?" He said his eyes slowly squinting as crimson glowed around his eyes. "I won't go easy just because we're related. Though, I assume you know that already."
Celestia sighed. "It'll be amazing to be trained by you." She said coldly as her eyes matched looking up at him.
The two of them stepped outside, the tension thick in the air as they prepared for the confrontation. Solace and Celestia both cracked their necks in unison, the sound echoing like a prelude to battle. They fell into their stances, each one a silent declaration of the fight to come.
Solace's body was immediately engulfed in a radiant, blinding yellow light. It pulsed around him like an aura of raw power, crackling with energy. White flames danced and swirled in a chaotic frenzy, mixing with the light. His eyes blazed with a manic gleam, and Celestia couldn't help but feel a shiver run down her spine.
Celestia's throat tightened as she took in the scene before her. Her heart thudded in her chest, but before she could fully prepare herself, the System appeared, its familiar interface cutting through her thoughts like a blade.
━━━『 Villainous System 』━━━
New Quest Available
Title:A Sibling's Fight
Task: Survive against your older brother by any means necessary / Win the fight.
Rewards:
EXP: 440
x1 Melody Branch
[Accept/Decline]
Without hesitation, she clicked Accept. Ignoring everything else.
As the system disappeared, a surge of power washed over her. The [Martial Arts] skill activated, her body instinctively shifting into the Blossom's Fist stance once again, her focus narrowing, every muscle tensed and ready for the storm that was about to break.
"Are you ready?" Solace's voice broke the silence, dripping with sadistic amusement. His grin was wide, almost too wide.
"Just go whe—" Celestia barely had time to get the words out when Solace moved.
He was faster than she had anticipated, his body a blur of motion as he appeared in front of her in a heartbeat. Before she could react, his left fist shot forward, a perfect hook aimed directly for her face. The speed of the attack took her breath away, and all she could do was brace herself for impact. She tilted her head just enough for the punch to graze past her cheek. The force of the miss still whipped her head to the side, and she felt the searing pressure of the wind, but she was already moving.
Celestia retaliated, her body flowing like water as she pivoted on her heel. Her own left fist shot toward his ribs, the movement fast, precise—a strike designed to disorient and break his stance. He noticed it the moment she sent her fist forward, he twisted his body, and shifted his weight and raising his forearm to block her attack, the sheer force of their collision sending a small shockwave through the air.
Their eyes locked for a moment—her emerald gaze burning with determination, his crimson eyes wild with an unsettling thirst for power. Then, without warning, Solace countered. His right hand shot out in a vicious backhanded slap, catching Celestia across the jaw. The force was enough to send her reeling, but she quickly regained her footing, her legs bending as she launched herself back into the fray.
Solace surged forward, his body cloaked in the swirling mixture of bright yellow light and white flames. He moved like a storm, every punch and kick fueled by chaos within him. His left leg swung in a wide arc, a brutal roundhouse kick aimed for her chest.
Celestia barely managed to raise her arms in defense, feeling the heat of his power even as she blocked the blow. The impact pushed her backward, her boots skidding against the dirt.
"She's not... being affected by the flames." Solace muttered to himself, his eyes narrowing as he observed Celestia with growing curiosity. His mind raced, trying to piece together the anomaly before him. "Could she... possibly have spirit-flames as well? But she doesn't even seem to know how to use them."
A smirk spread across his face as he took a step back, his amusement palpable. "Interesting..." he mused, his voice dripping with dark excitement. Without warning, his grin widened into something predatory as he surged forward, his body blurring with motion.
In the blink of an eye, Solace reappeared in front of Celestia, his right fist engulfed in violent, swirling white flames. The air crackled with the intense heat, his flames roaring as if eager for destruction. His expression was twisted with malice, his eyes gleaming with the thrill of the fight.
He slammed his fist downward with terrifying speed, the sheer force of the blow creating a shockwave that sent a ripple through the ground. Celestia raised her arms instinctively, trying to block the incoming attack, but the power behind it was too much. His fist crashed through her guard with a sickening force, splitting her arms apart like they were nothing, and his flaming knuckles collided with her stomach.
The impact was like being hit by a boulder. Celestia was sent flying backward, her body crashing into a nearby tree with bone-shattering force. The bark splintered, and the world spun around her. She slid down the tree and collapsed to the ground, the taste of blood flooding her mouth as she coughed violently.