Vale forced himself not to look down as he gazed at his leader and friend. He was bowing back at Rising Shadow, probably as a sign of respect, but he seemed to barely have the strength to stand on his feet.

  He took a deep breath as Allen walked in his direction to try to see the positive side of this situation. It wasn’t something too hard, since he did that after every defeat.

  Allen… As much as he tried, he couldn’t come up with something that would cheer him, and it became even harder as tears ran down Allen’s face.

  Vale clenched his fists and stood up. “It’s not over!” he said despite the knot in his throat.

  Allen slowly raised his eyes from the floor to his face, and his mouth curled into the saddest smile Vale has seen in a long time.

  “He’s right!” Larna jumped to his feet at Vale’s side, before sending him a glance, and Vale smiled at him—he has grown so much since they met.

  He gave Allen a sincere thumbs-up. “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of the rest.”

  Allen’s eyes glistened as he tried to hold back his tears. “I’ll let it on your hands then.”

  Vale put his hand on his shoulder and stepped into the tatami with a scowl. He thought he knew how much this battle mattered to Allen, but seeing his tears made clear his guesses fell short. And it made sense—if they lost, it would be the end of Allen's dream.

  I won't let that happen. He was going to win this battle and push Larna to win the next.

  Vale's next opponent didn't make him wait as, after a few growls from the Black Slice Clan, their representative stepped into the tatami.

  Startled, Vale arched his eyebrows—his opponent and Rising Shadow looked the same. He would have mistaken him if the real one hadn’t been standing against the wall at the moment.

  But when he saw him face front, his rounded nose, big eyes, and lower stature were enough to differentiate them.

  The Rising Shadows imitator’s face contorted with repulsion as he was eating dirt. “I hate your kind.”

  Vale tilted his head, entertained by those unexpected words. “My kind?”

  The copycat winced at just hearing Vale’s voice. "You dual blade users are reckless, brainless crap who just know how to swing their blades."

  Vale contained a mocking smile. Did a dual-blade user steal his candy when he was a kid or something? Jokes aside, throughout his life, Vale had encountered a lot of frustrated people, but that guy's hate against dual blades was shocking.

  “I can only think of two things,” Vale looked down at two of his fingers. “You always lose against us,” Vale's voice turned teasingly serious, “ Or you're restraining yourself from giving a try to beautiful dual blades like those.”

  Vale's dual blades appeared on his hands. “Go ahead, I'll let you change that boring katana before we start.”

  As expected, the copycat now seemed itching to strangle Vale to death. “I'll never use them again. And I would never betray the boss’s favorite weapon.

  Vale shrugged, internally readying himself as his next words would surely make the battle begin.

  “Well, keep being a resentful imitator then.“

  The imitator exploded in his direction with a growl. Vale tensed his feet with a smirk and dashed in his direction, but after one step, he forced himself to stop.

  The beginning of the Battle was always the most dangerous part. Mindlessly lunging wasn’t the best idea. I still have to get accustomed.

  Vale breathed slowly and deeply, watching his opponent getting closer. Then remembered his training with Allen.

  He was sitting beside Allen in the green hill with the big tree.

  He could perfectly remember the corroding sensation he felt on his insides as he watched Larna doing swings with his sword.

  “I don't want to be left behind,” he admitted to Allen.

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  Allen sent him a glance he couldn't decipher, and chuckled. “Then listen to me.”

  Now with a cold mind, Vale tensed his feet and dashed in his opponent’s direction.

  “You have a great combat instinct for a novice,” Allen praised him, and Vale could only assent with a smug smile.

  But then winced when Allen knocked the top of his head.

  “Use that instinct then, don't let it control you. Think, find the best way to exploit your opponent’s styles.”

  It wasn’t necessary to be an expert to know what style the fake-Rising Shadow would use.

  Rising Shadow’s style. A merciless style that aims to end the battle with each attack, also focused on preserving energy, waiting for the right chance to swing.

  Vale knew the style well, since he had tasted it firsthand. His two battles with Rising Shadow and the occasions Allen used it against him over the last weeks had taught him its lethality when executed by a master.

  It was clear he couldn’t defeat those two, even if they battled one thousand times. But… Allen smirked, gripping his left blade. I can win against this copycat.

  Vale swung his left dagger in the instant he had his opponent in range, to let him clear it wasn’t the time to make his move. The imitator seemed to have good reflexes as he leaned back to evade the attack.

  “Swing!” he scolded.

  But they were called dual blades for a reason. Vale turned his waist and threw a faster attack with his right blade.

  “Swing, swing, swing!” The jerk barked as he evaded again.

  The strength he put into the swing cost Vale as he lost the balance carried to the left by the inertia.

  “You only know how to do that!” Vale caught a glimpse of the katana rising above the copycat’s head. “That’s why you’ll die!” He yelled before bringing his katana down.

  What was happening made sense—Vale had missed his last attack and had sold himself to his opponent’s will. That was the kind of opening that Rising Shadow’s style punished. He deserved to lose because of such a mistake, as that dumbass yelled at him.

  And because of that, he couldn’t hold his grin.

  Allen leaned back on his hands as a breeze brushed the grass and his hair.

  "I have faith in you, Vale,” he said, making Vale’s heart pulse with shock. “You're capable of being the one letting Larna behind.”

  Allen smirked.

  "Even me"

  Vale tensed his feet and pivoted back to the right, towards his opponent’s direction. He changed the grip on his blade, and now its tip pointed to the opposite side of his thumb. A reverse grip, Allen called it.

  He pleasantly glimpsed the wide eyes of the copycat, looking at his dagger growing closer to his head. Allen’s right blade thrusted into his opponent’s temple.

  “Uh, uh, uh,” the imitator sputtered, trembling as he glanced at the dagger with the corner of his eye.

  “Sorry, that's the best I could come up with,” Vale said before the Battle Scenario disappeared, and he was teleported back to his side of the tatami.

  I did it! He immediately grinned at his partners, who silently celebrated his victory.

  At the opposite side of the tatami, the imitator didn’t seem as happy. He still stared at his open hands, and now, looking at his deep frown, Vale could tell the trembling of his entire body was provoked by rage.

  “M-Monkey! You’re a monkey! A dumb, a brainless brute!” He yelled at Vale, shaking his hands and stomping in utter frustration.

  Vale’s smile faded looking at such a depressing show. It wasn’t fun to look at someone acting this way. He didn’t know what had caused him to hate the dual blade so much, but an insecurity that caused this had to be deep and rotten.

  Vale stepped in his direction, startling him, and extended his hand. He liked to do this with battlers like this guy, knowing their hate wasn’t against him; it was against themselves.

  “I’m sorry for the last words, I got a bit excited. I don’t know why you hate dual blades so much, but if you want, we can practice together someday. I can prove to you there’s more to them than just mindlessly swinging.”

  The guy stepped back at the sudden words, his wide eyes staring at him.

  “Come on, don’t let me like this,” Vale smirked, shaking his open hand.

  The guy lowered his eyes to his hand and let out a long breath that carried all his frustration, and took his hand. Any word let his mouth, but the gesture was enough for Vale.

  He ran straight over his friends, his mouth smiling on its own.

  “Vale, you did it!” Larna said his fists clenched with excitement.

  “That last move was amazing.” Allen’s swords filled Vale with gratification, after all, although being his friend, he was his master.

  “Thanks, guys!” Vale said, dropping to the floor between them.

  He was about to cheer Larna, but a notification in the corner of his view caught his attention.

  [You’ve ascended to the City Rank 16]

  Vale blinked, and his heart raced. “L-L-Larna,” he sputtered, turning towards his dumfounded friend.

  “V-Vale?”

  “Larna!” he said, grabbing his shoulders, and noticing he was being loud. “I’ve entered the top twenty.”

  Larna’s eyes widened. “Really?!” he said, getting more excited with Vale’s nod. “That’s amazing!”

  Allen put his hand on Vale’s shoulder and smiled. “We’ll see there, then.”

  Vale nodded vigorously and slammed Larna’s back with more strength than he was planning. “Now’s your turn, Larna. I’ll be waiting for you in the top twenty.”

  Larna stood on his feet, his brow furrowing when he looked at Allen, and his eyes blazing when he extended his punch at Vale. “Wait for me.”

  “Yes!” Vale said, punching back. I’ll be, my friend.