Egoist And Reality

Ignis is something akin to a blessing.

No one knows when they'll have one; it's impossible to predict.

If one were to try looking for the answer, their puny lifespan would have to be many times longer just to get a useless clue that has nothing to do with it.

For many years, people built their lives around it, learning everything they could on the topic.

How it worked, how it functioned, how it benefited them. There were many positive answers, and many negative ones.

So far, everyone came to a single conclusion regarding it.

'Ignis is a blessing of Victoria.'

Power's with unlimited potential that always offers a new way toward discovering its deepest and darkest secrets.

They can be anything, be it having the sharp eyesight of an all-seeing eagle or the fast feet of a scared rabbit. Imagining what it could be is simply insane; the possibilities are too numerous to say out loud, and it's only the very people who have access to truly reach that very border between possible and impossible that have the right to set a limit for those who have yet to come.

As of now, there are only two viable ways to get them without any consequences.

First, live your life! Right, unimpressive, I know; you could expect something more with all that glossing I've done a second ago.

But please... Why would it be said if it didn't work?

It's stated that, through belief and prayer, those who live their lives properly from start to finish can become blessed on their way forward, a gift sent from heaven, a revelation of a newfound power!

No matter how much one tried, it was all up to luck and the very faith in the Gods that made people earnestly pray every night toward the land above, looking up at the Sun with an earnest smile full of greed and desire...

...However.

As of late, something else has been happening throughout the world.

People who had nothing to do with the church started to gain Ignis of their own, overthrowing the very laws the world had set for it ages ago.

Of course, the power wasn't free.

Humans were slowly consumed by that very power, turning into something fundamentally... different.

Charred is what they're known as. Those who were lost in their own shadows, hiding away from her sacred light as if from some sort of disease.

That's why the ones who were lucky enough to overcome it became known as...

The Generation of Fire

***

The wind felt cold against his skin as the sound of gravel grinding beneath his feet was all over his mind.

Despite inwardly feeling warm, a strange sense of cold washed over his skin; it was uncomfortable, to say the least.

Why am I even doing this?

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Valentine gazed down at Lillith; her trembling body was in a rough condition after taking so many hits from the Phantom.

She was holding a new sword, similar to the wooden longsword but shorter, perhaps a shortsword?

He wasn't very knowledgeable about the topic of weapons, knowing only a couple of shapes and sizes from playing video games.

Valentine himself chose a wooden messer; it was of similar length, but the blade was single-edged and curved.

He was a little surprised that they even had such a variety of sparring weapons; he would have expected everyone to use the same pastel copy of a wooden sword he'd seen in history movies, but perhaps that was not the case when applied to reality.

It was also unexpectedly heavy, not as much as a steel one for sure, but still enough to make him focus on gripping the handle with force.

Why did she want to spar?

He asked himself, thinking of an answer.

He didn't know what was going through her head; the only thing she showed was a short, smug smirk on her lips and the way she handled her sword despite being so unsteady.

The blade in her hands didn't shake; it was stuck in place as if frozen solid. But her hands weren't; her trembling fingers kept on trying to hold the sword steady even though there was no reason to do so.

Looking to the side, he noticed Noah watching with a strange expression painted over his face; Ramona's hand was resting on his shoulder as she, too, was watching with her eyes closed.

Do they know why she wanted to do this?

Noah seemed to have figured it out, and as for Ramona, she most likely wanted to assess what he could do in a fight, there would definitely be more of it in his future, and to start it off as a spar would be the best course of action.

But why?

Why would Lillith want to fight him when she can barely stand straight?

"You good?" She asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. Her voice sounded strained but still full of confidence. "You seem a little pale... are you scared?"

A vein popped up on Val's face. "Me?" He asked with a forced smile. "Look at yourself, you can barely breathe properly."

"Hah!" She laughed, fixing her posture. "Good, at least your spirit's in the right place."

Valentine furrowed his brows, stepping with his right foot forward and shifting his weight onto his left leg. "Are there any rules to this, or do we just start? You see, duels are not my thing."

She laughed again, her voice sore but full of vigor for someone who's struggling so much.

"Duel?" Her words resonated with her tone. "For you to have a duel, you need to learn a lot more than running your mouth. This... This is just a prep before the exam. The rule's simple - hit me, and don't get hit by me. We start when you take a step forward."

"Alright..." Simple enough...

Huu~

Taking a long, deep breath, Valentine held the sword before him, his eyes focused on his grip around the handle.

It was too small for him to hold it two-handed, but it was also too awkward holding it with one, the weight tipped over the longer he tried figuring out how to handle it.

Damn this.

He cursed under his breath, giving up on perfection and simply holding it as straight as he could while hiding his free hand behind his back and focusing his attention on the one holding the sword.

I'm ready...

He looked past his weapon, at the blurry outline of Lillith that stood around ten steps away from him.

Other knights took away the phantom, most likely already resting at the infirmary or wherever they kept the injured.

I hope she's not as fast as Noah.

Taking another deep breath, he stepped forward, uncertain of what would come next...

Huh?

Before he even set his foot down, the girl moved forward.

Valentine jumped back, gritting his teeth as his sword flew up and deflected her strike.

His blade flew over his head; the power behind her strike was no joke, as he could barely keep himself standing.

When did she get here!?

Before he could find the answer to the question, Lillith's next strike came.

It was slow, not because she was moving slowly but because Valentine's body was improved beyond what he could have ever expected.

And yet despite that, her strikes came at him at the speed he could barely comprehend, striking the middle of his sword with enough force to push him back another couple of steps.

She's not even rested! How the fuck is she doing this!?

Before he could think, her strike landed on his side, making him let out a loud yelp.

His body fell back on the hard gravel, the stone digging into his back like a sea of hungry piranhas.

As he tried to open his eyes and stand up-

Whish!

The tip of her sword appeared at his throat as if weighing whether or not to continue this game.

Valentine looked up, his face draining of color after noticing Lillith panting with a giant grin on her face.

All it took was three strikes, and he was already on the ground, helplessly clutching at his side like scared prey.

"Wanna go again?" She asked with a booming grin, taking her sword back from his throat. "You're not half-bad for a bumpkin."

In her eyes, a look of a hungry predator was clearly visible to anyone around.