In the Training Ground
'Fudge….'
Seven could not help but curse inwardly.
He had no idea what Eden was thinking. As a reader, he knew that she had no interest in the Hart family's throne. The novel made it clear that Eden, the firstborn among the seven siblings, was the strongest of them all.
And yet, she had willingly stepped away from the ruthless and dirty battle known as the succession war.
But the original Seven who had grown up in the exile mansion had no idea that Eden stepped out from the succession war.
Thus he needed to act that part.
Now, standing before Eden, his body trembled.
Eden noticed it.
"Are you nervous?"
He nodded and forced a wry smile.
"This is my first time fighting you, sister. I suppose… I'm just a little on edge for some reason."
"You're… on edge?"
Eden blinked.
For a second, her expression shifted first to surprise and then to something almost regretful.
After all, the Hart tradition dictated that siblings were meant to keep each other in check and to crush one another.
That was how they were raised.
That was how they were meant to be.
But Seven…
He was never included in that brutal battle.
Given that unlike the others, he was cast aside and left in the exile mansion under the Archduke's protection. Their father's statement made it so that none of the siblings could step onto the grounds of the exiled mansion without his permission.
If they wanted him dead, they had to resort to assassins like the one from days ago.
But even that required layers of approval.
And really, what was the point?
Why waste effort on a failure who lacked any talent in swordsmanship and was destined to be cast out of the family?
Eden's gaze darkened.
'Does Seven think I'm here to put him in his place?'
The thought unsettled her.
Silence remained between them for a couple of seconds, at least before she nodded and decided to speak again.
"It seems I've been inconsiderate."
"…Pardon?"
"You may still be a child, but I seem to have forgotten that you are a Hart."
Then, to his utter disbelief, Eden slightly bowed her head.
"My apologies."
Step.
As if bowing was not enough, Eden stepped forward and kneeled before him.
Her movements were careful and filled with grace, yet her expression carried something almost reverent. Then without hesitation, she took both of his hands in hers.
Right after, she lowered her head and pressed a kiss against them.
Seven froze.
His body locked up, but this time, he did not react the way he had with Iria. His face warmed, and yet, the overwhelming feeling was not embarrassment, but confusion.
'What… is she doing?'
Eden lifted her head and met his gaze and tightened her grip around his hands.
"I would like to help you open your first gate.
"My lovely little brother.
"May I ask for your permission?"
Hff…
He took a deep breath.
Eden was asking, not commanding or demanding. That alone was enough for him to know the level of seriousness of the situation.
But more than that, Eden spoke to him not as a failure or exile, but as if addressing the Archduke himself.
Eden bit her lips.
No one else would receive this kind of gesture.
No one.
Not even the other Hart siblings.
No one except the Archduke himself.
But if it was to help her younger brother survive the succession war he might participate soon, she needed to do this in order to prepare him.
Seven closed his eyes and processed the information.
'So she just wants to help me open the first gate?'
Opening the Zaen Gate was not as easy as it sounded.
There were only three ways to do it:
The first method was through meditation, such as gathering the natural Zaen that existed in the universe. It was everywhere and was flowing through every living being.
It was the energy that coursed through one's blood and kept the heart pumping and the body alive.
The second method was through rigorous training, real combat experience, and deep knowledge of Zaen. Only by honing one's body and mind could they have a higher chance of unlocking the gate.
And then, there was the third method.
It only worked for the first gate.
It was having someone else inject their Zaen into one's body.
It was risky.
If done improperly, the body would reject it. The failure rate was high and only had a 7% success rate.
But if it worked…
Not only would it open his gate, but his body itself would be strengthened by being infused with the very essence of the one who granted it.
Like their blood now flowed in him.
'Sister… wants to inject her Zaen into me?'
Thus he could not help but smile. After all, there were more advantages than risks.
He would inherit a fraction of Eden's immense strength.
He would no longer be completely powerless.
More importantly, this was a one-time process. Or simply put, a person could only ever do this once. Which meant Eden would never be able to help anyone else open their Zaen Gate in the future.
And yet, she was choosing to use this chance on him.
Seven did not know.
Maybe it was favor she mentioned.
Maybe it was guilt.
Maybe it was something else entirely.
'But regardless, this was not a bad situation.'
"…Yes, sister."
He steadied his voice.
"Please do it."
Eden smiled.
She released his hands and rose to her feet before returning to her position across from him.
"Then, let's begin."
The moment she said those words, the air between them shifted.
Eden's presence, though always imposing, now felt overwhelming. It was as if an invisible pressure had settled over the training ground.
'She's not holding back her presence at all…'
If he were an ordinary boy, he might have already fallen into fear.
But he was not just Seven Hart.
He was also a reader.
And being a reader had its own advantages.
His mind raced through the knowledge he had, combing through every fighting style he had read, every technique the characters had used, every move he could possibly replicate with his frail body.
Just one hit.
That was all he needed.
Step.
His first step was cautious.
Eden still stood there with a wooden sword lowered as if she had no reason to raise it.
If she was not going to attack, then he had to close the distance.
Step.
He ran forward. He had no plan of doing any fancy footwork or attempting a deception, but just a straightforward step and strike.
He aimed for her side.
Clack!
A simple flick of her finger sent his blade off course.
She did not even bother to raise the wooden sword to block it.
Seven grit his teeth. He stumbled lightly, but he regained his footing.
Again.
He swung at her shoulder.
Clack!
Again.
He thrusted the sword to her torso.
Clack!
He then also tried to sweep his sword below and any other moves that he had seen on anime, but all of them got parried effortlessly.
Eden never counterattacked.
'It's not enough.'
He knew that.
His body was sluggish, and his attacks was no different to a preschooler hitting a college student.
No amount of mimicry could change that.
But he moved again.
This time, he combined everything and pushed his body to its limits as he combined everything.
Swosh.
He did a feint on the right, then shifted the direction into a follow-up slash and immediately took a step back and swept the sword below, which was a feint and slash it upwards.
It continued for seconds, and seconds turned into minutes, minutes into…
Hff…
An hour passed, but he still had yet to make Eden raise her sword.
Seven clenched his jaw, adjusted his grip, fingers trembling from fatigue, and focused on Eden's stance.
Dash.
He lunged forward again.
But the moment he did, a piercing sensation struck his left eye as if hot needles were driving themselves into his skull.
His vision twisted and suddenly, he was not in the present anymore.
A second ahead.
But this time, it did not stop there.
That one-second vision continued, and the supposed to be just one second stretched into ten.
Then twenty.
He kept on attacking.
Over and over, lunging, slashing, twisting, swinging—his future self struck tirelessly with movements that grew desperate with each passing second.
His future self poured everything into each attack, copying every technique he could recall, mimicking stances, footwork, and angles he had only ever read about in the past.
Thirty seconds.
Forty seconds.
Fifty…
But not a single attack landed.
His future self panted, but still continued and forced his body past its limits.
Sixty seconds.
Seventy.
And beyond the endless struggle of his future self, something else stirred. A silhouette. A pair of celestial eyes gazing down upon him.
And suddenly.
He fell to his knees. His fingers ached. His legs trembled. His breath came in ragged gasps, his lungs burning as if he had been running for hours, in which he actually did for an hour.
Hah…
He gasped.
Blood.
It splattered against the dirt.
His left eye throbbed violently, in which he clutched it and felt a liquid spilling down to his cheeks.
"Urghh-khh…"
He forced himself to stay conscious amidst the searing pain and looked at Eden who broke her own calm demeanor and was heading towards him with a worried expression.
He should have been worried.
He should have been terrified.
But instead, he only smiled.
After all, on the seventy-seventh strike presented in the vision, he had landed an attack right straight to Eden's neck.
"I… did it…"
Thud.
He fell to the ground face first.