Real Enemy

"I know you are expecting me to say yes. But all I feel is he got heavier. And he also knows how to use it to his advantage, but his physical strength has not improved." Edmund responded.

Philip shook his head, "If you say so… But I feel that there is definitely something more." He said before Edmund jolted in pain and lay on the bed again.

The maids were quick to tend Edmund, helping him put on the bandages and the herbs around where his body was still hurt.

"You need to rest," Philip said before heading for the door to exit and leaving Edmund to be taken care of more attentively.

"Sir. Are you sure you want to fight him? How long do we have to do this?" Edmund asked.

Philip stopped before gesturing to the maids to level the room, leaving both him and Edmund alone. "We don't have a choice. Thalia, she…" Philip said before stopping as he heard murmurs out of the door. "You know why we have to do this. Let's not talk about it anymore." He continued before walking out.

The maids walked back in, but one was quick to walk away, "Damn it…." Philip cursed as he followed the maid.

In this mansion, Thalia was the most powerful. She owned the majority of slaves, while Philip had ten and Damon with one. And it was most likely that the maid that ran was one of the spies that Thalia had sent.

He quickly chased after the maid as fast as his legs allowed him to, and as he expected, the maid was indeed heading to Thalia's room; he then quickly jumped before holding the maid back, pulling her from even touching the doorknob and cover, her mouth, "Keep your mouth shut, or else I will make sure you disappear." He whispered before letting the maid go and ran away.

The maid looked at Philip, who was clearly anxious, and strolled into Thalia's room, where Thalia was holding her sword and swinging it, "Any news?" She asked as she continued swinging her sword.

The maid gulped, not knowing what she was supposed to do, "I… No, there is not much." she said, her eyes closing slightly as she was scared to even look at the expression that Thalia showed.

Thalia stopped swinging her sword and turned to the maid while staring into her eyes, "Are you sure?" She asked.

The maid opened one eye, her back sweating more profusely as Thalia got closer, "Yes?"

Thalia sighed again before nodding and turning around, "I thought I could trust you…." She said while wiping her sword and glancing at the maid, who was visibly breathing harder.

"Uhh…" The maid replied before opening her mouth again, "Actually…." Before she could even finish her sentence, she saw a quick flash before her eyes before her vision disappeared utterly.

Thalia swung her sword so fast that the maid didn't even realize that her head was cut off. She looked at the maid's head, whose eyes were still open and picked it up, and looked at the body of the maid, which was lying on the floor, before walking up to it with her sword.

#

Pah!

A guard dropped on the floor, getting punched in the face by Philip, who was sweating after fighting with all of the guards. "Are you okay?" Philip asked as he helped the guard up.

"I'm fine… Young master, you are very, very talented; I have never seen anyone your age who is as skilled as you. If you had been born in the past, maybe you could have been a hero." The aged guard said.

Philip smiled as he looked down, "Thanks, but I'm not that good." He chuckled before he turned as he heard Damon, who had been looking at how Philip was fighting and even taking down notes.

"What are you doing here?" Philip asked.

Damon smiled, "Just continue what you were doing." He said before walking back to the mansion.

"What are you writing?" The reflection asked.

"Philip's common moves," Damon replied before entering the mansion.

"Why don't you just spar?" The reflection asked again, wondering why Damon was not doing something so obvious.

Meanwhile, the guards and Philip were also talking about Damon, "And I am sure that delegating Damon would be a walk in the park for you, young master."

"You think so?" Philip asked, raising his brows.

"Of course!" the guard replied, "You spar every day, he hasn't sparred in his entire lifetime, and you have much more experience in fighting; you will win very easily." The aged guard continued as the other guards nodded in agreement.

Despite the rumors that were circulating in the mansion, the guard's faith in Philip was as steadfast as a religious person's faith in their god. And the guards could not imagine on any planet that Damon would win against Philip, no matter what tricks he was using.

Damon entered his room before shadowboxing and imagined grappling and wrestling Philip, "That is useless…." The reflection explained, "As long as you don't spar, you won't be able to implement anything you learn!" he continued.

The importance of sparring in this world has been taught to every aspiring fighter in this world, but Damon shook his head, "Trust me, I know what I am doing." Damon continued before imagining Philip in front of him, simulating how his "brother" would fight him and how he would defeat his brother.

#

It had been a whole week since Damon challenged his Phillip, and the guest from Uldron and Thalia was the only one in the room witnessing the fight; Damon was wearing pants that were short enough to be considered slightly indecent in this world that he was in while Philip was wearing his standard formal fighting attire while standing tall and his chest puffed up, looking down on Damon.

Damon smiled before throwing punches in the air to warm up while the guard in the middle stood between them to avoid a fight from breaking out before the time officially started, "I am asking you one more time. Are you sure you want to face me?" Philip asked, "There are guards here that you will be able to defeat much more easily. Are you sure you want to fight against me?"