The days that followed were heavy with thought. Rei had tried to move past the conversation with his parents, but the truth of it sat in the pit of his stomach, weighing him down. The idea of being a knight—the very thing he had always tried to avoid—was starting to feel more like his only option. The thought of it churned inside him like a knot, making him restless. He had never wanted this life. It had always been a life of duty, of expectation, of being nothing more than a soldier with a sword. The magic he had dreamed of, the freedom to be something more, had slipped through his fingers.That evening, Rei stood in the training yard, sword in hand. The weight of the bde felt familiar, but also foreign. He had always thought of it as a tool, a means to an end, something he had never wanted but had been forced to learn. Now, in the quiet of the yard, it seemed like the only thing left to hold onto.

  He gripped the hilt, trying to focus. He swung the sword through the air in slow, controlled arcs. His movements were sharp, calcuted, but cking that natural flow of someone who was truly skilled. He was better than he had been years ago, but it was still clunky. He wasn’t fluid like some of the knights he had watched. His strikes were powerful, yes, but they cked finesse, the kind of grace that came with years of dedication to the craft.

  Rei swung again, this time more forcefully, cutting through the air with all his might. The sword sliced into the training dummy with a satisfying thud, but it felt hollow. The satisfaction didn’t st long.He stepped back, taking a deep breath, and ran a hand through his sweaty hair. Why didn’t it feel right? He had the strength. He had the body for it. But something was missing—something deep inside that told him he didn’t want this. Not the way it had always been id out for him.

  He set the sword down on the ground with a soft thud and sat down on the nearby bench, staring at the darkening sky above.

  "Why do I keep doing this?" he muttered under his breath. "Why do I keep trying to be something I don’t want to be?"

  It wasn’t that he was bad at it. Far from it. He was strong, capable, and the sword felt almost right in his hands, like it had always belonged there. But it wasn’t his dream. It wasn’t his choice. The weight of the sword, of the knight’s life, felt like a chain around his neck. He had been born into it, expected to take up the mantle of knighthood simply because it was what he was built for. His parents had never pushed him into it, but the world around him had. Everyone around him saw potential in his strength and his body. Everyone assumed that he would become a knight, just like his ancestors. But Rei had never wanted to follow in their footsteps.

  His mind wandered back to the moment in the workshop when he’d tried to forge metal and failed. To the times he’d worked in the stables, sweating through the long hours, but never feeling like he belonged there. And now, with the sword in his hand, it was the same feeling. He wasn’t sure if it was the life he was supposed to live or if he was just too afraid to find something else.

  “Maybe this is all I’ll ever be,” Rei muttered, his voice heavy with the weight of his thoughts.

  He had the physical strength. He had the endurance. He even had the determination to get better, to keep pushing himself to be a better fighter. But the idea of becoming a knight—being trapped in that life of endless battle, of duty, of serving others without ever questioning it—felt suffocating.

  What if he wasn’t meant to be a knight at all? What if there was something else he was supposed to do, something beyond the sword, beyond the expectations everyone else had for him?

  Harn’s words from the other day echoed in his mind. You’re better at this than anything else you’ve tried, Rei.

  Rei clenched his fists, the grip on the sword tightening. He didn’t want to be trapped in this life. He wanted more. More than swinging a bde for a cause that wasn’t his. More than the endless battles that would drain him, body and soul.

  But what other path was there for him? He had already tried so many different things, and they had all led him back here. To the sword.

  Rei stood up slowly, picking up the sword again and swinging it one more time through the air, though this time with less force. He let the bde cut through the air in a smooth arc, his movements slower, more deliberate. His arms burned from the effort, but the rhythm felt almost calming. Like he could lose himself in the motion.

  He stopped, breathing heavily, and looked down at the sword in his hands. The weight of it still felt wrong, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was his only option.

  “Maybe… maybe it’s not about what I want,” he muttered quietly, almost to himself. “Maybe it’s about what I can do. What I have to do.”

  For a moment, Rei let the sword fall to his side. The thoughts swirled in his head like a storm—doubt, fear, frustration. But beneath it all, there was something else. A sense of resignation. A deep, unspoken understanding that no matter how hard he tried to escape it, no matter how much he wished for something else, he might just be stuck with the sword.

  He exhaled sharply, wiping the sweat from his brow, and slowly walked off into the fading light. The weight of his choice—his destiny—pressed down on him, but the future was still his to decide.

  For now, at least, the sword was all he had.