It was a thought that came to me the moment that I ended my performance.

I could still vividly remember how I had almost lost myself in my performance. How I had almost lost myself to Alexander's emotions.

.....It was there that the thought came.

'Can I copy their experiences and fighting styles?'

What if I were to immerse myself deeper into their characters? Not just their emotions, but their memories and fighting styles?

Would that work?

Staring at Luxon who stood on the opposite end, I closed my eyes and sank deeply into my thoughts.

I immersed my mind deeper and started to reconstruct a few parts of what I had seen after using the skill.

It was a backyard.

The world was gray, and there was no sound around.

Swoosh—!

A boy stood in the middle, waving his daggers. With careful steps and movements, he practiced against a dummy.

Contrary to what one would expect, his movements and fighting style weren't chaotic.

Rather...

It was refined and minimalistic.

There wasn't much that I could work with. I only had a few memories. However, given how boring his life was, most of them were just about his training.

Just like Azarias...

His world was a colorless one.

Staring at his figure, I immersed myself in his image. I tried to picture myself in him.

Slashing the daggers, swords, and fists, taking the little steps, and avoiding the dummy. I mimicked everything in my mind.

Before I knew it, I was no longer watching, but I was the one doing the movements.

'Slash—!' I ducked down and slashed up. 'Slash—!' I sidestepped and avoided the counterattack.

'Slash—!'

The more this continued, the more I felt myself synchronize with the Alexander from my vision. From the way he moved his body, to the way he breathed. I copied it all.

To the point where,

I....

Was slowly becoming Alexander.

"....."

Opening my eyes, I felt a lot of my emotions numb down.

Scratch. Scratch.

My neck started to itch.

The deeper I immersed myself in his emotions, the more I found myself picking up his traits.

Alexander was a dagger user. Such was the weapon of his choice. That being said, he could also use other weapons.

In my case...

Clank. Clank.

I still chose to stick to the chains and body.

.....While the memories were clear in my mind, they weren't enough for me to completely become him. It was good that way. Were I to completely lose myself in this deep sense of initiation that I was currently relieving, I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to return to who I was.

In fact, what I was doing was dangerous in itself.

I couldn't immerse too deeply into this. There was a very real risk of losing myself in the character.

What would happen if I lost myself in character?

What would become of me?

"Are you ready?"

Overhearing Luxon's voice, my chest trembled.

The world around me started to gradually lose all color. It was starting to become boring. No, it had already become boring.

Scratch. Scratch.

It was such a monotonous world that made me crave for something.

For some color.

Staring at him, I nodded my head.

"I'm ready."

Wooom—!

He appeared before me. In less than a few seconds, he had covered the distance that was between us.

On any normal occasion, I would've panicked a little.

But, now...

'Boring.'

I took a single step to the side, deftly avoiding the incoming slash.

"Uh?"

Briefly, Luxon appeared stunned. I took in his expression. Seared it in my mind as my lips trembled slightly.

Twisting my torso, I coiled the chain on my left hand and punched toward where I expected Luxon to be.

Swoosh—!

As my fist drew near to his face, I felt my heart beat faster. Yes... Yes... Finally, something to break the monotonous shell that was my world.

Just as I thought my attack was going to hit, he disappeared and reappeared right behind me.

"....!"

The chains in my hand snaked around my arm, deftly moving towards my shoulder where a wooded sword appeared.

Bang!

I felt an intense pain as the wooden sword smacked against my shoulder.

"....."

"....."

Scratch. Scratch.

I felt a wave of annoyance as our eyes met. Just in the nick of time, I had been able to protect my shoulder. But even so, I could tell that it was dislocated.

Boring... So boring...

Using my other hand, I stepped slightly and punched forward.

Swoosh.

That attack met nothing as Luxon appeared on the opening on the side of my body.

How weird...

As if I could tell what he was going to do next, I tilted my body slightly.

Swoosh—!

The sword slashed in an upward direction, narrowly avoiding my nose. It was close. Extremely close. About a few millimeters.

Had I not been careful, I might've lost my nose.

But I couldn't care at all about myself.

Rather, I found something peculiar.

Swoosh—!

I ducked down.

Swoosh—!

Stepped to the left.

Swoosh—!

Stepped to the right.

I could trace Luxon's movements.

Despite that, each time, I'd get hit. I felt pain engulf my mind, but I was used to pain. I didn't let it affect me.

Swoosh—!

Marks started to appear on my clothes as I avoided them, but I was slowly starting to get a hang of it, getting better and better at dodging.

Almost as if I was in a trance.

No, rather than trance, it was more like I was starting to be able to predict them. In this monotonous world... Everything felt bland. And as I delved deeply into Alexander's mind, I could see that Luxon's movements were similar to his.

Alexader's life was boring. In his life, one of the few means of entertainment for him was combat.

There was nothing he enjoyed more than seeing his opponent defeated and basking in the audience's praise.

It was for that reason that he spent a major part of his life just training.

So...

Swoosh—!

Taking a slight step forward, I yet again avoided his attack.

Ba... Thump!

"Haa..."

The more time passed, the more I started to grow accustomed to this new style.

It was still raw, but it was working...

I was gradually starting to mimic Alexander's movements perfectly. To the point where I slowly started to lose sight of myself.

"Haaa... Haaa..."

....And slowly, I indeed started to lose sight of myself.

"More..."

***

Luxon's opinion of Julien was rather mixed. While he did believe that he was weak and that he didn't deserve his rank, he also didn't dismiss his Emotive abilities.

They were in a league of their own.

But that said...

'So long as he doesn't touch me, I'm good.'

As far as he knew, Julien was only capable of voice transmission for [Sadness]. If one was ready, then defending against it wasn't impossible.

In that case, the only thing that he truly needed to worry about was the distance between the two.

He couldn't allow Julien to touch him.

And that...

'Shouldn't be a problem.'

Luxon was confident in his abilities. Just like Josephine, he had been trained in a knight's family. He was extremely proficient in the sword. Besides those 'monsters,' he was confident in handling everyone.

He was that confident in his skills.

Therefore...

Swoosh—!

"Uh...?"

Luxon was stunned when he noticed that his attacks were starting to miss.

'How is this...?'

Swoosh—!

Even as he slashed again, he was stunned to see that his attack graced the air.

Planting his foot forward, Luxon went for an upward diagonal slash. He was mid-way through his motion when he suddenly felt a small resistance coming from the bottom part of his sword.

"Ukh...!"

Exerting more force, he managed to push through the resistance, but the few seconds lost due to the resistance were enough for Julien's foot to land on his stomach.

".....!"

The blow hurt, but it wasn't anything that he couldn't handle as he took several steps back. As Luxon was about to reposition himself, the resistance returned.

This time, it was latched onto his foot.

".....!"

Yet again, his movements had been impeded.

Another foot came at him. It wasn't very fast, and Luxon was able to dodge it. Dodging wasn't the problem. He could dodge all the attacks. They weren't anything that put him in a difficult spot.

The problem was the fact that he couldn't gather any 'rhythm'.

Before he could initiate any of his rehearsed sequences, they were consistently disrupted, throwing him off balance and severely impeding his ability to launch an effective counterattack.

Swoosh!

It was an annoying situation since it put him in a passive spot.

"Kh, damn it!"

Gritting his teeth, he slashed again.

***

"Wow~ Luxon seems to be having a hard time."

By the side, Josephine observed everything with open eyes. Blinking her eyes rapidly, she looked at Kiera.

"I'm not seeing things, right? Julien is actually holding his own..."

"....."

Kiera didn't answer.

Her eyes were currently fixed on Julien's form. At first, his movements were sloppy. At a glance, she could tell its faults and break them down.

Had she been in Luxon's position, she would've probably been able to deal with him in less than five bouts.

But...

Things started to change gradually.

The madness that lingered within his eyes started to intensify, and his movements were beginning to become more refined.

Not only that but upon closer inspection, she noticed a familiar set of threads moving around and shattering Luxon's rhythm, preventing him from fully tapping into his skill.

But it wasn't that which sent chills down Kiera's spine.

No, it was the fact that the more the fight progressed, the fainter Julien's image became in her mind. It was as if he was transforming into an entirely different person.

From his movements to his expressions, Kiera was starting to see a different person...

'What the fuck.'

It was a strange thought.

One that she had a hard time coming to terms with.

But...

Bang!

"Haaa-!"

Seeing Julien's lips tremble as his attack finally shattered Luxon's attack, Kiera noticed that the madness within his gaze further intensified.

The emotions he was feeling - Ecstasy, joy, excitement, she could see them in his expression as a genuine smile spread across his lips.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He started a frenzy of attacks. Controlling the thin threads, he continued to shatter Luxon's movements.

With no other choice but to stay passive, Luxon could only cover his body with his arms.

Bang...! Bang!

The more Julien attacked, the more Kiera saw his emotions run rampant.

At this very moment...

"More."

He wasn't Julien. That person seemed to have been replaced by another entity, taking over his body as he attacked the flustered Luxon who despite not losing, was slowly and steadily getting pushed back.

Bang!

As another one of Julien's fists landed on Luxon's guard, Kiera stood up and appeared beside the two.

"Stop."

Kiera clasped Julien's fist.

"...."

"...."

For a brief moment, Kiera thought he'd attack her as silence ensued between the two, but gradually, his eyes started to return to normal.

Eventually, he calmed down and lowered his hand.

Turning around, he picked up his blazer and unrolled his sleeves. With his back turned, he asked,

"I take it that the result is clear, no?"

Kiera looked at Luxon who despite being unhurt was panting heavily. Turning to look towards the others, she closed her eyes before nodding.

"Yes."

".....Good."

With a small nod, he left the premises.

Staring at his back, Kiera's expression turned complex.

'What in the world... was that?