The sky was cloudy that day in Linbed, a city neighboring Balia. In the enormous ceremonial hall of the Arvok family, the two families gathered for a ceremony to symbolically award medals to promising young people from the allied cities.
The Solcrens and the Arvoks smiled in front of the other nobles, exchanging polite words and handshakes that concealed far more than they showed. The Arvok patriarch laughed heartily while the leader of the Solcrens returned the gesture with a rigid and polite smile.
"Our children truly represent the next generation of the union between our cities."
Lord Arvok placed a hand on young Lan's shoulder, who proudly displayed his medal.
"Yes... unity."
Matteo Solcren Ferreira replied in a tense voice while looking at his son Enrico, who remained discreetly in a corner, with his eyes lowered.
But everyone there knew the truth. This was not friendship. It was merely a disguise. Behind that courtesy, blood had been shed between those families for generations. A silent war over control of the border territories had ended with a victory for the Solcrens, but the Arvoks had never forgotten their defeat. Since then, resentment had been passed down from generation to generation like an inheritance.
"Enrico..."
Lan smiled as he approached. He was taller, had broad shoulders for his age, and wore the ceremony's gold medal around his neck.
"Always walking around alone? You really never change."
"Well, this isn't the city where I live, so it makes sense."
Enrico forced a smile.
The Lan from the past was friendly... at least, that was what everyone said. To Enrico, however, he had never been anything more than a threatening shadow. In every aspect, Lan was always ahead of him. He was stronger, had better grades, and mastered magic with an ease that Enrico had never been able to achieve.
"You know, I always say we're friends, right?"
Lan laughed and placed an arm around Enrico's shoulders. The boy trembled slightly when he felt the touch, as he immediately remembered the magic duels that the two families organized between their children. Lan always made a point of turning those training sessions into real battles and, more than once, had seriously injured Enrico.
"Even when you get the worst grades and can barely cast a spell, I still call you my friend. That must count for something, don't you think?"
The hall fell silent. Everyone was listening.
"I mean..." Lan looked at the teachers and let out a laugh. "If even a failure like Enrico Solcren can be my friend, I must be a really generous guy."
Laughter erupted throughout the hall, especially among the other children.
Enrico remained motionless. His hands trembled, but he did not react. He did not answer, protest, or even look at Lan. He simply stood there while the laughter continued around him.
When he returned home, his siblings quickly went upstairs to their rooms after noticing the heavy atmosphere. Enrico, however, still carried the humiliation with him. As soon as he entered the mansion, he heard his mother's voice.
"Did you see what Lan did today?"
Lady Solcren's cutting voice echoed through the hall.
"An Arvok... humiliating a Solcren and still calling you a friend."
Matteo, his father, seemed frustrated. He did not even look at his son while his wife continued speaking.
"Don't you have any pride? He's twelve years old and can already cast basic magic. And you? You still have nothing."
Her voice became increasingly harsh.
"If only you had half his strength... If you had half his focus, half his ambition, half his discipline..."
The two were the same age, but Enrico already knew that he would never be able to reach him. To his family, Lan was everything he was supposed to be.
Enrico's mother raised her voice even more.
"And you still say you hate him? Enrico, listen carefully. He is everything you should be."
Enrico clenched his fists until his fingers turned white. That night, he could not sleep. He remained standing in front of the mirror, staring at his own reflection while Lan's and his family's words echoed in his mind, repeating themselves like blades.
And with each repetition, that feeling of inferiority grew a little more.
'Failure.'
'You never change.'
'You should be like him.'
Enrico did not answer, because, deep down, he believed that all of it was true. He could never be like Lan.
The light novel that told that story was tossed aside while Saul stretched, remembering that part.
'What an idiot. That's no reason to be an asshole. Well, I guess at least this Enrico is better than that Lan guy.'
That story had been told on the day Enrico was defeated by the protagonist. Since the novel was still at the beginning, Saul had imagined that the author intended to use Enrico's character later on. However, as the story progressed, Enrico simply disappeared, while Lan received the development that eventually led to his redemption.
Over time, especially after the halfway point of the story, Saul came to like Lan's development. The transformation of that character had been one of the things he enjoyed most about the work.
"So that's what you want... friend?"
Lan calmly descended the stairs, still wearing an amused smile. He seemed to have calmed down after Enrico's audacity, but there was a certain cruelty in his eyes.
'He thinks that just because he climbed a few Ranks, he can challenge me... It's been a while since I messed with him. He must have forgotten.'
Lan continued smiling as he watched Enrico. Enrico, in turn, began smiling back.
'Yes, he's a character I started liking after the halfway point of the story. But that only happened halfway through the story.'
Small veins appeared on Enrico's neck. He liked the Lan of the future, the one who had matured and become a much better character. However, the boy standing before him at that moment was one of the most irritating characters he had followed in the original story, someone who constantly got in the way of everything before finally changing.
'I'm going to speed up this idiot's development.'
Enrico closed his hand and slapped his palm against his fist, preparing for the fight. Lan crossed his arms behind his back and assumed a relaxed stance.
"Begin."
As soon as the order was given, a bolt of lightning was launched at Enrico.
'So obvious.'
Enrico raised his hand and activated the ring he had created. Now that he had reached the First Circle, the ring could increase the power of his magic by another 10%.
The lightning struck Enrico directly.
An explosion engulfed the arena, spreading smoke and debris across the battlefield. Many of the students immediately believed that the fight was over, but the teachers and the Class C students remained attentive.
The smoke began to disappear.
Lan slowly lost his smile when he saw Enrico emerge from it without a single scratch. The boy simply brushed off his hand, as if the attack he had just received had been nothing.
"You'd better fight seriously, or you'll be defeated. Just so you know, I've taken worse attacks, friend."
Enrico's smile irritated Lan. For the first time since the beginning of the fight, his expression became completely serious.