Seed of the Sovereign

"Why aren't you using your spear seed's innate strand?" Leon asked.

Luke blinked. He knew what innate strands were, every awakened had them. They were the basic unique abilities that came with each seed. While It was possible for people to have similar seeds, their innate strands were what made them different and unique.

Luke obviously knew that since he was an awakened now he would have an innate strand but he hadn't used it for a reason.

Innate strands were unique and fundamental to each person, this made that everyone — even fresh awakened — could somewhat feel their strands but they needed to actually spend sometime meditating and introspecting to actually understand and eventually use it. It was the same for Luke, he'd instinctively felt his innate strand, and he knew it had something to do with his spear's essence — control. But he hadn't had the time to meditate and actually discover what it actually was.

Seeing Luke's confused expression Leon shook his head weakly.

"You've already awakened and used your strand before, when you defeated that weak elder. Think about what happened then, remember it and use your innate strand." Luke said before entering a tight stance. "That's the only way you'll be able to fight me."

Leon bent his legs slightly, his grip tightened on his spear for the first time.

And then he moved.

'fast.'

Luke moved his spear to the side, barely blocking a side sweep from Leon, his wooden spear hummed dangerously from the impact and Luke felt his hands go numb.

But Leon didn't relent. If before, Luke could react to Leon's strikes but with a bit of effort, now he couldn't. Every block, every parry took everything that Luke had to give.

Luke knew. He knew that Leon didn't increase his strength or speed at all from before. It was the same — dialed down to match his own strength. Leon was suppressing him purely with skill and not just that...

Luke raised his spear vertically, blocking a horizontal sweep to his ribs. It was a feint. Leon moved into his guard, delivering a knee to his gut. Luke used the momentum to skid back, aiming to gain some distance.

Leon let him.

Immediately he regained his balance he found himself recieving a flurry of spear strikes. He dodged, blocked and parried. It seemed he was always just an inch away from Leon's spear, but every exchange left him with a cut — albeit a slight one. He knew it, could feel it.

Leon was toying with him.

That realization was like a light, lighting up the keg of his suppressed frustration. But this time he didn't surpress it anymore.

The frustration and anger pushed him and fueled him, but instead of rushing into a reckless gambit, his face turned blank, void of emotions.

His eyes were calm, but deep inside they held a hot smoldering fury.

Golden light began emitting from his eyes. First they were as little as sparks but as the battle raged, they grew brighter and brighter till his eyes shone like twin torches of bright, pure gold.

His spear changed. He still used the same moves but to Leon, it couldn't have been further apart.

Luke was still on the defensive and his skill was still inferior to Leon's but somehow even though he was the one of the offense, Leon felt like he'd lost the initiative.

At first Leon was confused. He didn't understand what had changed since apparently, nothing had — but somehow the battle was completely different. He exchanged a few more rounds to peer more intently into the flow of the battle. Then he found it.

Leon subconsciously felt like an actor in a puppet show. It felt like every move he made was already determined before hand and Luke just gave the most perfect response in accordance with his inferior skill. If it happened once or twice, he would think it a fluke, but Luke did it again and again.

Even worse, he could feel it. Like a chess grandmaster, Luke was slowly driving him into an unsalvageable corner. He was somehow making Leon choose to make the moves that'll be beneficial to him and every counter on his end drove Leon to follow his path more and more like an endless loop cycling unendingly to Leon's defeat.

'I see.' he confirmed. His spear was parried to the side, forcing him to over extend his arm and allow Luke the first chance to counter attack.

A wheez by the side saw Luke drawing blood from Leon's right cheek.

Leon paused. He touched his bleeding cheek and looked at the blood.

Then a wide grin spread on his face. It morphed into chuckles before transforming into a boisterous laugh.

"Interesting, haha. My, you're really broken nephew." He said, wiping a nonexistent tear from his face and ending up smearing his blood even more on his face.

He looked towards Luke's cold face with a doting smile.

'he'll be a real menace,' he thought.

"Anyways sweet nephew, it's time to end this," he said, returning to his casual stance.

Luke felt it. The overwhelming pressure he gave.

"I really had a lot of fun, I hope you did too."

The pressure came, endless and domineering like an unstoppable storm.

"Now, since you showed me your spear's essence and your innate strand, I think it's only right I show you the little essence I was able to comprehended as well." Leon said with his signature casual smile.

But to Luke it couldn't have been more sinister.

Leon stood still, a few meters away. He was back to his casual stance but somehow, this felt even more dangerous to Luke.

Cold sweat trickled down Luke's back as he faced off against Leon. His hair stood on end as his instincts screamed at him to stop the fight.

But he pressed on anyway.

He charged at Leon like a lone boat against a mighty storm, pulling up all his strength to launch his attack.

But it was futile.

Immediately Luke entered a five meter mark from Leon, he finally moved.

'What?'

Leon's spear rained down on Luke endlessly, like overlapping waves of a tsunami. His spear felt relentless — inevitable. Luke tried to break out from the barrage but there was nowhere to go.

Leon's spear felt omnipresent in the battle field, like all road led to it.

Luke fought and fought against the spear strikes but he couldn't keep up.

Leon's spear flicked out. Right cheek. Thigh. Gut. Luke's body was painted with blood. Exhaustion seeped into his bones slowing his steps.

And then, Leon twisted and the blunt end of his spear slammed against Luke's back.

Dust flared.

Silence.

Luke coughed, panting. His fingers clenched around his weapon, knuckles pale.

Leon stood above him, spear low, its tip resting near Luke's chest. His signature smile gone.

"All through the battle, I restricted my strength and speed to just a bit below yours, ensuring that this was a battle of skill. Still, you couldn't win." Leon said coldly. "The people you are after — those you'll face in the future, they won't afford you the same grace. They won't be weaker, in fact, some would be much more powerful than me. Are you still willing to follow this path even though you're so weak?"

Luke didn't reply immediately. He stared at the ground, sweat dripping from his brow. He didn't despair. Leon might've thought he didn't, but he'd always known what was ahead, the fight with the masked man had hammered it into him. Still, he'd chosen his path. He'd save his sister. He'd have his revenge.

But this fight... It ignited the flames of hunger for Luke. Hunger to be strong, and not just for revenge.

"Yes," he said lightly.

'I would catch up, to all of you. And then I'll surpass you.' he thought.

Just not today.