<Verin>

 

 

 

It was only natural that they faced each other.

Among all the new-gens, Verin had no equals. Fight after fight had proved those words true.

Looking ahead, he met his opponent’s gaze.

The same could be said for Bright.

She had no equals.

Standing before him, her form commanded quiet power. Contrary to prevailing opinions and her image, Bright was not a soft person. Behind all her innocence and grace, a warrior was present and well accounted for. Videos of her various exploits were popular enough to garner millions of views.

Bright was a powerhouse without trying.

A fact that irritated Verin to no end.

She would swing whatever weapon she wielded around carelessly. Using force to best her challengers instead of skill. It was likely why she also chose a Khopesh even now. The crude, curved blade was fitting for such an indignant fighting style. More suited for hacking and chopping away at trees than fighting.

“Fighters ready?”

At the instructor’s words, both Verin and Bright nodded.

If there was one thing Verin was confident about, it was his capacity to win in this fight. Ability and weaponry aside, Verin was positive he and Bright were closer in terms of power than most people realised. Granted, Bright still held the edge in raw physical power, but that would be a non-issue.

Everything else was in his favour.

He was more skilled, more battle-hardened, and a more willing combatant. He also had studied his opponent well, too well. Pouring endless hours into studying their fighting style. He had honed and forged himself as the perfect counter. Furthermore, one big advantage still remained. Bright didn’t typically fight with a weapon. Relying on her abilities alone to win.

He could best her here.

“Begin!”

Verin immediately took a defensive stance. Hands low, sword point down, guard ready. He centred his focus entirely on Bright, searching for the slightest twitch. In this exchange, the first move would be critical, for it could be the end of him. Bright, for her part, didn’t move. She merely stared at him.

Verin’s grip tightened.

She should’ve moved by now.

‘She’s off…’

The thought barely registered as Verin was forced to step left of his original position. A crisp blade tore through the air where he had once been, whistling as it flew by. Bright briefly locked eyes with Verin. Her eyebrows were slightly raised. Was she surprised at his dodge?

Verin went in for a diagonal slash.

Bright was off balance, her first attack causing her to overreach. There was no better opportunity than now to quickly end this. Her reckless charge will be her downfall. Verin’s longsword sailed through the air. The effort to move his blade fast straining his whole body.

In no time, it arrived in front of Bright.

She didn’t try to dodge.

With both feet now planted on the ground, she raised her Khopesh to meet the longsword.

Verin changed tactics immediately.

Uncommitting from the strike, he jumped back and created some distance between them. Adrenaline flooding his system. The duel had almost ended just then and there.

‘How devious…’

Steadying his nerves, Verin analysed the situation. He couldn’t afford to have their blades meet, but she could. The sturdiness of her weapon combined with her innate power created a fearsome comb. If their blades were to meet, it would shock no one if his shattered.

Verin eyed Bright.

She was lazily swinging her sword in the air.

Playing with it like a child plays with a stick, her attention already seemingly lost.

Verin frowned.

They were in the middle of a duel, yet she was so unbothered and distant.

She walked about the area briefly before abruptly stopping.

“A little more shouldn’t hurt, right?” (B)

A soft murmur escaped her lips.

She turned and faced Verin.

In a flash, she was beside him again, but this time, something was different.

She was faster.

 

---

 

<Bright>

 

 

 

Heroes were not coddled.

Seen as the hope and future of humanity, it was believed doing so would only weaken them. It was for that reason they were often pushed beyond what many would consider reasonable. For example, the weapons they were using in today’s class were real.

But.

There was a fine line between not being coddled and actual abuse.

Staring at the broken boy on the ground, Bright inwardly swallowed.

This was definitely one of those reputation-killer moments all famous people have.

‘M-My career is so over….’

The duel had started off on a very light note. The boy, who Bright knew from… somewhere, was quick on his feet and steady in his defence. It allowed them to exchange attacks with a nice back-and-forth rhythm. A fact that did greatly surprise Bright initially. In a world where most kids around his supposed age couldn’t properly look him in the eyes, it was refreshing.

Naturally, Bright still held back at first. He didn’t want to seriously hurt the kid at the end of the day, but the longer the fight continued, the less he held back. It felt like the kid could take a little more… Plus, the fight was serving as an excellent stress reliever. If the strain of dealing with those blasted heroes wasn’t enough, Bright discovered he had lost his book.

The dumb book about making friends.

He didn’t really need it, but it would’ve been a lot easier to chat with the girls he charmed if he had the book.

He hadn’t spoken to them all day.

They still had the incriminating video of him.

‘What’s wrong with me?’

He's been making way too many mistakes as of late.

The latest of which was too public to hide. No doubt someone in the class was taking a video of this duel. The duel where Bright beat a little boy half to death. While countless wounds littered the boy’s body, Bright stood pretty much pristine.

He could already imagine the video and article titles.

Hero Fraud?! Bright the Bully?!

Bright looked over to the combat instructor, the referee of these duels.

‘Ref, please, do something!? End this match already!!’

The match could only end if one party conceded.

Unfortunately, the downed boy still had those fighting eyes.

Bright walked over to the downed boy.

His breathing was light. If he didn’t concede soon, he would just pass out. Taking on a commanding voice, Bright spoke to the boy. Going any further in this fight would be cruel to the both of them. Bright needed to make sure he understood that.

“Concede.” (B)

The boy stared daggers into Bright.

He seemed a little angry?

“No….”

The rebuke came out in sharp, bated breaths.

‘Oh, fine then!’

Bright didn’t care much about winning this duel. The only thing winning would do was help foster his reputation as unmatched. A reputation already pretty well established.

“I concede.” (B)

Without bothering to observe reactions, Bright immediately booked it out.

Class should be well over by now considering how long the fight took.

‘Ha….’

Today was turning out to be such a headache.

 

 

 

“Time allotted for work cannot be wasted! After school, it’s home immediately!” (B)

Lying on the living room couch, Bright spoke in a mocking tone.

“So much for that, huh?” (B)

The pup in Bright’s lap barked in what felt like agreement.

After arriving back at the house and finding no one around, Bright was understandably miffed. All that grandstanding before, and they couldn’t be bothered to follow their own rules. To make matters worse, he couldn’t do anything to pass the time or relax.

 

His phone was practically bricked, his old laptop had been replaced, resulting in something similar, and the TV required a password to access the internet. In short, he was locked out of every gadget within the house and left with nothing to do. Not even his old collection could entertain him.

“You can go battle horrible monsters, wield dangerous weapons, and catch career criminals, but god forbid you have free access to the internet!” (B)

If the wider world found out about these idiotic rules, Bright would simply die of shame.

He, the greatest upcoming hero, was being policed like some naughty child.

Staring at his useless phone, he did something that was steadily becoming a habit.

He called the Chairman.

The man no longer picked up his calls, but with nothing else to lose, it didn’t hurt to try.

Buzz Buzz

A sound echoed across the house.

Bright slowly sat up.

His phone was on silent.

Where was that noise coming from?

Placing the dog on the couch… which then proceeded to fly and nest on his head, he got up to investigate the noise. Again, he was the only one at the house; no phone should be ringing. He traced the noise for a bit until arriving at the dining table. At its head, a lone golden phone was repeatedly buzzing.

Bright picked up the phone.

“Hello?” (B)

He shouldn’t really be answering a phone not his, but boredom was one hell of a motivator.

Anything to pass time would be great.

“Hello?”

Bright froze.

A voice had just called from the living room. Cautiously approaching the living room, he prepared for the worst. He couldn’t see a body around, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t one. Life had given him an important lesson about invisibility not too long ago.

“Hello? Anybody there?” (B)

“Hello? Anybody there?”

Bright’s words were parroted back to him, his exact words.

Running over to the couch, he grabbed his own phone, and sure enough, it was on a live call.

Confusion turned into disbelief, and disbelief evolved into anger.

He hung up the phone.

A lot started to make sense.

Swoosh

‘Huh?’

The phone in Bright’s left hand vanished.

“I thought I had left my phone up here.” (S)

“Agh!?” (B)

An impossibly handsome face blocked Bright’s view.

It was Hero Sun.

He spotted a charming smile.

“Let’s get to training, alright?” (S)

The Goddamn Chairman.