CHAPTER 16

"Okay, okay, now your mom sent you here, right?" my father asked, his voice tinged with anticipation.

His sharp features remained unchanged, his chin still smooth without a hint of a beard.

"Yeah, she told me to bring you this," I replied, holding out a lunchbox towards him.

He settled into the nearest table, motioning for us to join him with a couple of spare chairs.

The auction house loomed large, its white facade imposing, guarded by familiar faces - the very guards my father had trained.

Lilia nudged me back to the present with a gentle push, and we took our seats.

"Okay, wanna share lunch with me, you two?" he asked, his eyes twinkling.

"Absolutely, I'm starving," Lilia chimed in.

I nodded in agreement; hunger gnawed at my stomach.

"But don't overdo it, Lilia; you've been putting on a bit of weight lately,"

I teased.

Lilia's reaction was immediate. She froze for a moment before exploding.

"DID YOU JUST CALL ME FAT?" she demanded, her voice trembling with fury, yet her stance unmoving, a statue crackling with a dangerous energy.

Despite knowing I could easily overpower her - because, of course,

I was stronger - a wave of unease washed over me.

My legs twitched involuntarily.

Sensing the escalating tension, my father intervened, hoping to defuse the situation.

"He was just joking, Lilia. Let's eat before it gets cold," he urged, his eyes silently pleading for calm.

"DON'T INTERVENE," she snapped, her gaze now fixed on my father.He glanced at me, a silent exchange passing between us, conveying his efforts to ease the tension.

"WE'RE NOT STAYING, MR. LEYWIN. WE MUST BE BACK SOON, OR MS. LEYWIN MIGHT START WORRYING ABOUT US,"

LILIA declared, her tone final.

I couldn't refuse, not with Lilia in such a state.

Dad worried about me, but his hands were tied.

AT THE HOUSE

The echoing knock on the door reverberated through the house.

With Ms. Lewin tucked away in the bedroom (a detail conveniently omitted from the light novel), a small figure hurried to answer.

And with a creak, the door swung open.

"Big brother!" Ellie exclaimed softly.

"Ellie, what did I tell you about opening the door..." Alice's reprimand trailed off as she caught sight of the visitor.

In an instant, she dashed forward, a whirlwind of emotions swirling across her face - worry, excitement, and joy, all intermingled.

ALICE'S POV

And then, I saw him.

Art, returned at last.

Without hesitation, I rushed forward, enveloping him in a tight embrace.

Ellie joined in, amplifying the emotional reunion.

Art's tears flowed freely as he clung to me, the weight of his ordeal evident in every sob.

Guilt gnawed at me;

my actions led him to this harrowing journey, But now, in this moment, my child was back - his safety assured.

Ellie remained by our side, a silent witness to our reunion, her confusion evident yet unspoken.

After what felt like an eternity, we reluctantly released our grip.

With a nod from the main maid,

Reynolds, and the children were summoned, their arrival imminent.

TOM LEYWIN

Of all the times for him to return, it had to be now.

Just when I wasn't there.

Typical.

"Can't we speed this up?"

I grumbled impatiently.

"This is as fast as we can go, Mr. Leywin,"

the driver replied evenly.

"Damn it,"

I muttered under my breath.

If only I'd mastered that instant teleportation.

"Why didn't you inform me, Tom?" Lilia's voice cut through the silence.

I offered no response, opting for silence until we reached our destination.

Immediately, I made a beeline for my brother Arthur.

"Welcome back, brother. I can't wait to hear all about your adventures,"

I greeted him warmly.

"We'll have time for that later.

Right now, let him rest and eat," Mom interjected, her concern evident.

Vincent and Tabitha peppered Art with questions, their curiosity mirroring that of characters from a well-worn novel.

Meanwhile, I lingered in the corner, waiting for the opportune moment to make my move.

"Let's test your strength, Arthur," my father suggested eagerly.

"Now?" Art's eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Of course," Dad replied, a matching grin spreading across his face."Alright, let's find a spot for a sparring match," I suggested, eager to showcase my own growth.

"Are you serious, Reynolds? He just got back," Mom interjected, her worry palpable."If he's up for it, why not?" Reynolds countered.

"I'm in!" Art's enthusiasm was infectious.

And with that, we made our way to the backyard, accompanied by the Helsteas and a notably silent Lilia.

As the battle unfolded between father and son, I couldn't shake the feeling of Lilia's simmering resentment.

Nevertheless, the spectacle of Art's prowess left us all awestruck.

"Hey, Art, care for a round with your brother?" I proposed, seizing the opportunity.

"Bring it on," Art accepted eagerly.

It was time to put my skills to the test against my brother's lightning-fast reflexes.

As we faced off, a surge of adrenaline coursed through me, propelling me forward into the fray.

It was time to show him how much I had developed in the past years.

We both took our fighting stands, got up at least 20 meters away.

Then we charged at each other.

Arthur immediately used his lightning again to make himself faster.

Then we had contact; the impact was pretty strong that we both were sent away.

The first to get back to fight was me; I sent towards him a few fire attacks - one towards his hands, one towards his legs, and one way up there, limiting his options.

It was impossible to dodge all of the spells at the same time, so he used a water barrier to stop the heat, which was my plan, but according to the last time I had used this attack.

Sending a clone towards him was the better option, using the fact that his vision is limited compared to my mana sensing.

My clone used a Rasengan, a wind one that hit me quite hard, but using his lightning, he was able to avoid most of it.

As soon as the vapor was no longer there, Arthur closed the distance between us immediately, which made me enhance my reaction speed using Thunderclap Impulse to follow up to his level in hand-to-hand combat.

After a few quick blows and more dodges, it seemed like Arthur was still better than me in close range.

So, I used gravity magic to slow down his movements, then struck him hard in the chest.

That was actually a successful attack.

But Arthur wouldn't let me use that as an opening, he was on his feet this time.

I tried using gravuty again but ut didn't work, he escaped the domain quickly enough to not affect him.

So it was close range again, and he dealt some damage this time, I was thrown away multiple times.

But my phoenix assimilated body, was more than enough to heal the damage.

A strike here and another there.

Arthur was tired.

And  I wasn't done yet; I used a wind spell and gravity magic to get him cornered up in a tornado.

He was able to stop it using a counter wind spell, but I got him distracted just like I wanted.

I sent toward him a giant Rasenshuriken, a water-based one, and as soon as it was going to hit him, I stopped it.

My mother was finally able to get us. Arthur wasn't dangerously harmed or anything; he was just tired because at this point, he was still quite young.

My father wanted me to teach him the Rasengan, but that's not something I would be doing right now.

Mr. Vincent, just like canon, wanted to get us in Xyrus Academy.

And finally, I got time to speak with my brother Arthur after dinner.

Mom, of course, gave us a nice speech about the fact that we used very powerful attacks and got us helping in fixing up the garden - surely an Alice-like thing to do.

This time, Lilia had lots of questions, but she wasn't talking to me yet."So, are you going to start, or me?" Arthur asked.

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