Heaven Breaker: SSS Rank Tiger Evolution-Chapter 48: Be humble

In the morning, Raiden summoned me through the maids so that we could begin the training as promised.

The training location was somewhat far from the castle, since the area would likely be destroyed.

"The morning is freezing... are you sure you want to come with me?" I asked Euphy, who was walking beside me with her scarf tight around her neck, her face buried inside it.

"Of course!" she said cheerfully, her nose red from the cold. "It’s been a while since I trained seriously, and I feel like I’m falling behind."

Her tone grew weaker as she reached the end of the sentence, and she soon looked away.

"Did you get sad because of me?" I said with a laugh. "Before, you gave me a low score, saying I was weak and not special at all, and now you’re complaining about how strong I’ve become."

"That’s not exactly it... but it’s also that," she said before looking at me again. "We’re near the end of the world. This place is one of the weakest, and even so, there are people like you here..." She sighed deeply.

"Raiden, Sun Eater, and that mad king..." She named some of the strongest beings in the kingdom. "These are just a few from a list larger than normal. They’re anomalies that put my journey at risk."

"Why?"

"My father authorized me to travel because this place was supposed to be calm and peaceful. My power should have been enough for a safe round trip... I was supposed to be a dominant, oppressive force... but that’s no longer the case. Therefore, I must become stronger."

I nodded, spotting Raiden in the distance with Gravis and Laxus at his side.

"Good morning, everyone. I’m looking forward to the training," I said politely with a smile that didn’t match my villainous face.

"Good morning. I’m also eager to see how strong you are," Raiden said. "Last time, everything was very hectic, and I couldn’t properly assess your strength. So first, I’d like to understand what I’m working with."

I nodded again, my eyes wandering to Gravis, who looked like he’d bitten into a whole lemon, his face twisted in bitterness, and then to Laxus, serious as always beside him.

"Gravis will start by dueling you and then be your training partner for today, while Laxus is here just to monitor the training and make sure I don’t accidentally kill Gravis," Raiden said with a laugh. "And I assume the girl came here to cheer for you. That’s nice!" The laughter intensified.

"..."

Euphy and I looked at each other for a few moments before I stepped forward.

"Up to the dueling part, that’s fine by me, since we really do need to give you a baseline and all that... however, I think it would be better for Gravis to train with Euphy. Gravis is clumsy in combat but has raw power, while Euphy is the opposite. They can teach each other a lot."

"..."

The silence that followed was strange.

Gravis looked like he wanted to say a lot but remained silent, while Laxus seemed to have the same reaction.

Raiden, on the other hand, stayed quiet, his eyes drifting to Euphy, analyzing her figure three times, then looking Gravis up and down three times before returning his gaze to me.

"I expected her to be shaking in fear and wetting herself just from seeing him. I’m surprised she isn’t already traumatized. Please don’t say that again, not even as a joke. Think of the maiden’s feelings."

I laughed, amused.

"Euphy," I called her by name. "Do you want to train with him?"

"Yes, I want to train and fight him again. That wouldn’t be a problem for me. Although it might take some time to get used to the rhythm of the battle."

She spoke with conviction and seriousness.

Gravis frowned without saying a single word.

Raiden coughed violently.

"Well, first we’ll put you against him... then we’ll think about the girl... and how the rest of the training will go..."

He said this, trying not to belittle her.

With a sigh, Gravis and I positioned ourselves on opposite sides.

"It’s fine if you lose the first exchange," he said arrogantly. "You’re not used to this form yet; it’s to be expected." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Sure, sure," I replied expressionlessly as I bounced lightly to warm up.

"Ready? Begin!"

Raiden ordered the start of the fight, his eyes quickly sliding across his eye sockets to follow the combat.

"Truly impressive," he murmured, while the others merely frowned.

"Where is he?" Gravis muttered. From his point of view, I had bounced and then vanished without a trace.

BZZ BZZ BZZ

He looked in all directions, lightning surrounding him, and still he couldn’t find me no matter what.

"Did he fly away?" he wondered, trying to find me in the sky. "This is going to be troublesome..."

I let out a few chuckles at his naivety.

His body froze in reaction.

My back leaned against his, my body draped over his, my eyes peering over his shoulders.

Gravis locked eyes with me.

"You know, Gravis, before, you had an advantage. Do you know what it was?" I asked while he was still paralyzed. "Your advantage wasn’t that you were stronger or that you had lightning powers."

"Your advantage was that... I wasn’t going all out." I laughed as he finally attacked me with a lightning-charged punch.

BOOOM

My body quickly vanished from his sight and once again slipped into his blind spots.

BOOM BOOM BOOM

Lightning after lightning exploded randomly while I just laughed, Gravis’s face twisting in fear, tears pooling in his eyes.

WOOSH WOOSH WOOSH

His body spun constantly on its own axis, trying to figure out where I was, but always failing.

All he saw were shadows and blurs—when I allowed him to.

"It’s frustrating, isn’t it?" I said from outside his field of vision. "Being weak."

The tears accumulated more and more on his face.

"It’s scary, isn’t it?" I said as he searched for me and never found me, my finger slicing his cheek, crimson blood flowing gently, making him tremble violently. "Knowing that I could kill you with a wave of my hand."

Thicker and thicker tears fell from his eyes, his cheeks turning red from frustration as the blood continued to flow.

"I can end this whenever I want," I said once more. "And you have no power over that."

BOOOOM

Snow scattered in all directions, obscuring Raiden’s and the others’ vision.

When everything cleared, Gravis was suspended in the air by my hand gripping his collar.

"ARGH—AHH!" Gravis struggled, trying to escape my grasp, his hand far too weak to do so.

BZZ BZZ BZZ

"I’m going to tell you this once, Gravis, so that we can both forget this matter," I said in a dark voice as Gravis tried to summon lightning and managed only weak sparks.

"Apologize for what you did to me and Euphy, and spend the rest of our stay making up for your mistake."

He clenched his teeth, but there was only despair in his eyes.

I released him, and he fell to the ground.

I looked down at his hunched figure beneath me.

"So... how do you say it?" I asked from above him.

He took a deep breath before speaking.

"I’m sorry, big brother. I promise to make up for my mistake from now on and treat big sister Euphy as best as I can."

"Euphy, come here," I beckoned. She swallowed hard and approached. "Gravis wants to tell you something."

"I apologize for my previous actions and promise to make up for them in the best way I can. If you can’t forgive me, I’ll understand, and even so, I’ll do everything within my power to earn your forgiveness."

"..."

Euphy watched in silence.

"He won’t use excessive force in training. I guarantee it," I said with a smile. "You two will get along very well together."