After several minutes lying on the bed, Jay slowly opened one eye.
"Where's Tina?" he murmured. "She was only supposed to change…"
Dragging himself with all the laziness in the world, he got up as if the mattress had been enchanted with extra gravity. He shuffled his feet, opened the door, and began to shout:
"Tinaaa! Tinaaa, come here!" —like he was calling a runaway puppy.
He went down the stairs, following his own echo, until he reached the living room. There he found Daru sitting in front of an artificial fireplace, reading a thick book while eating fruit like a bored noble.
Daru didn't even look up.
"You're a bit noisy, aren't you? Maybe I should put mattresses on the walls so I don't hear your yelling."
Jay rolled his eyes.
"Yes, yes, Miss Eicker, excuse my interruption, Miss Eicker," he said in such a sarcastic tone that the fireplace almost went out.
Daru closed the book and looked at him with a half-smile.
"Looking for Nekotina? She's probably with the maids, dressing her up in something nice. And hey… walking around with that torn shirt, don't you think it's a bit ugly?"
Jay put a hand on his chest and feigned indignation.
"I already gave the maid a paper with what I want. You read it to her exactly, right?"
As soon as Jay said that, Daru's eyes widened. His gaze began scanning the room as if searching for an emergency exit.
"Ah, y-yes, your clothes… of course, they're being prepared exactly as you asked…"
Jay narrowed his eyes. Clearly, Daru was hiding something. Something very suspicious.
Daru cleared his throat to change the subject.
"I also heard you want to repair your current clothes… Don't you want to let go of your old world or…?"
Jay cut him off.
"My clothes are awesome! They've got style!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," Daru replied, like someone humoring a madman. "By the way… it's time we practiced a little with the sword."
Jay froze.
"Eh?"
"If you came to this world, you need the strength to survive. Besides…" Daru smiled with malice, "if you don't practice, I'll kick you out of my house."
Jay felt an immediate chill.
…He knew Daru was joking. …Or maybe not? …No, with Daru you never know.
"Fine, fine…" Jay answered with resignation. "I'll train."
And so, unwillingly, Jay ended up agreeing.
His life as a spoiled millionaire was about to last less than his shirt.
The sun was already setting when Jay and Daru stepped into the mansion's courtyard.And that courtyard… was no simple yard. It was almost a kingdom of its own.
It stretched like a perfectly leveled plain, covered in grass so green and well-kept it looked like an emerald ocean rippling in the wind. On the sides, carefully trimmed bushes marked the boundaries of the land, and beyond them rose giant trees with lush crowns glowing in the golden light of dusk. The air was fresh, clean, filled with the scent of earth and freshly cut leaves.
From above, one might swear another mansion—or even two—could fit there. This wasn't the yard of a noble… it looked like the yard of a king.
Jay was stunned.
"Shit…" he whispered. "Darth Vader could park all his Star Destroyers here and there'd still be space…"
Daru walked to one end of the field with total confidence and elegance, as if the infinite expanse were part of his own body. Jay did the same, taking position at the opposite end.
They stared at each other.
Jay's black, determined eyes against Daru's blood-red gaze, filled with a strange mix of mockery, pride, and danger.
Daru raised his hand and shouted:
"Hey, brother! Since you don't have weapons, I won't use my katanas, alright? Don't start crying!"
Jay curled his lips into a mocking smirk.
"Yeah, yeah, sure. You were the one who always lost back on Earth in our brother fights. Just because things are reversed here doesn't mean anything, bastard."
Daru clicked his tongue, amused. Jay clenched his fists.
A breeze swept across the field, rustling their clothes, as if the world itself wanted to accompany their clash.
And then…
It began.
Jay shot forward, raising a small whirlwind of dust with each step. His movements were fast for someone without formal training, driven more by adrenaline and determination than technique. He tried to punch with his right fist, straight, strong, aimed directly at Daru's face.
But Daru simply tilted his head a centimeter.
Jay's fist missed.
He didn't stop. He spun hard, throwing a left hook. Daru stepped back, smooth, almost elegant.
Jay tried a knee strike. Daru turned his body like a feather carried by the wind.
Jay threw three consecutive blows. Daru dodged them all without even losing his smile.
It was humiliating. It was maddening. It was like fighting a dancing shadow, a shadow that knew every intention before Jay even thought it.
But Jay didn't stop.
He leapt forward, throwing a downward punch with all his weight.
Daru shifted aside with the calm of someone dodging a raindrop.
"Is that all, Jay?" he asked, laughing.
"Shut up and let me hit you, damn it!" Jay shouted.
He kept attacking. One, two, ten, twenty times.
But to Daru, it was like watching someone fight underwater: slow, clumsy, predictable.
Until finally…
Daru yawned.
"I'm bored now."
With a movement so fast Jay couldn't see it, Daru thrust his leg forward and kicked him square in the stomach.
A dry, precise, brutal blow.
Jay was launched backward, rolling across the grass as the air fled his chest like his lungs had been ripped out.
"Ghu—agh—!" he tried to breathe, uselessly.
"Wasn't this supposed to be sword training…?" he muttered between gasps, his face pressed to the ground. "Brother… bastard…"
Daru burst into laughter.
"If you can't fight with your hands, you'll never know how to use weapons, stupid brother."
Jay clenched his teeth, pressing his trembling hands against the ground.
"No… I won't lose to you. Not again… And not in something this simple…"
His voice was low, but burning with an inner fire—a fire that years ago, in Caracas, had been buried under problems, frustrations, and defeats.
But now… for the first time in a long while…
It was awakening.
Jay lifted his face.
And Daru stopped laughing.
Because he saw it.
First, a faint tremor in the air around Jay, as if heat distorted reality. Then, small orange sparks flickered around his body. After that… a faint, pure, almost transparent aura of fire began to envelop him. Like a fiery spirit struggling to be born.
The wind stirred. Leaves danced. The world seemed to hold its breath.
Daru narrowed his eyes, surprised, a bead of sweat sliding down his forehead.
"…Well, well…"
Because he didn't just see the fire.
He saw that.
Behind Jay—or rather above him—a silhouette began to form.
Two feline eyes, crimson red, gleamed in the air. No full shape, no body… just the eyes.
And they stared directly at Daru.
Vertical pupils, intense, wild… defiant.
It was as if an ancient spirit were awakening inside Jay, saying without words:
「——I am here.」
Daru felt a chill run through his body.
But he also felt something else.
An immense pride. An emotion only an older brother who has waited a long time could feel.
And then he smiled.
A wide, dangerous, excited smile.
A smile that clearly said:
「This is going to get interesting for you, brother.」
And for him too.
Because something had awakened in Jay Baker.
Jay stood still, still breathing heavily. His gaze, firm like a freshly forged spear, pointed directly at Daru's red eyes.
The wind blew once.
And as if that breath had extinguished a divine candle, the flames around Jay vanished. There was no explosion, no smoke. They simply… faded away.
The atmosphere returned to normal. The garden was once again just a garden. And Jay was once again just Jay.
Daru stepped forward with a serious expression, something unusual for him.
"Hey, Jay… have you made a pact with some spirit?" Daru asked, his look both proud and suspicious.
Jay blinked, confused.
"What? Typical otherworld stuff? No, no, no, that hasn't happened to me yet," Jay said sarcastically, waving his hand as if brushing away a ridiculous idea.
Then, with complete calm, he added:
"Oh, but I did meet a jaguar that talked and was made of fire. He said he was the fire elemental."
Daru froze for a second.
And then burst into laughter so strong he nearly fell to the ground.
"What a brother I have… and to think we used to watch anime together," he said between laughs, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.
Jay raised an eyebrow.
"Well, between you and me, you were three times more of an otaku and geek than I was, huh?"
Daru froze for a moment, as if struck by a paralyzing spell.
Then he coughed, straightened up as if nothing had happened.
"Shut up," he said, trying to regain composure.
Jay let out an even louder laugh, straight into his brother's face.
The echo of his laughter spread across the vast garden, mixing with the fresh evening air.
Daru sighed in resignation and, turning around, said:
"I'm going inside to eat something. Don't stay out here too long."
He began walking toward the mansion at a calm pace.
Jay, still smiling, stretched a little, relaxing his shoulders.
And then…
A fiery voice appeared in his mind, resonating like a soft roar:
"It's time, Jay. Don't complain. There's no time for farewells."
Jay frowned.
"What are you talking about, elemental? If you start saying random things, I'll put you in a cat shelter. And by the way, I suddenly feel a strange heat all over my bo—"
He didn't finish the sentence.
Because at that instant, the ground beneath his feet cracked open.
A rift, like the one that had brought him to this world, appeared. But this time it was different.
Its edges burned with small orange flames that danced like fiery serpents. The air vibrated. The world seemed to tilt.
Jay barely managed to say:
"Wait, wait, wait, DON'T—!"
The rift swallowed him immediately.
And closed as quickly as it had appeared.
Silence.
Daru stopped when he heard the shout.
With complete calm, he turned his head.
"What's wrong, brother? Did you twist your foot or—?"
And when he looked at the place where Jay should have been…
…he found only a small flame on the ground, the size of a candle.
Daru's eyes widened. And his mouth. And almost even his ears, in shock.
"…Little brother?"
The wind blew once more.
And the small flame flickered softly, as if bidding him farewell.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jay stood still, still breathing heavily. His gaze, firm like a freshly forged spear, pointed directly at Daru's red eyes.
The wind blew once.
And as if that breath had extinguished a divine candle, the flames around Jay vanished. There was no explosion, no smoke. They simply… faded away.
The atmosphere returned to normal. The garden was once again just a garden. And Jay was once again just Jay.
Daru stepped forward with a serious expression, something unusual for him.
"Hey, Jay… have you made a pact with some spirit?" Daru asked, his look both proud and suspicious.
Jay blinked, confused.
"What? Typical otherworld stuff? No, no, no, that hasn't happened to me yet," Jay said sarcastically, waving his hand as if brushing away a ridiculous idea.
Then, with complete calm, he added:
"Oh, but I did meet a jaguar that talked and was made of fire. He said he was the fire elemental."
Daru froze for a second.
And then burst into laughter so strong he nearly fell to the ground.
"What a brother I have… and to think we used to watch anime together," he said between laughs, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.
Jay raised an eyebrow.
"Well, between you and me, you were three times more of an otaku and geek than I was, huh?"
Daru froze for a moment, as if struck by a paralyzing spell.
Then he coughed, straightened up as if nothing had happened.
"Shut up," he said, trying to regain composure.
Jay let out an even louder laugh, straight into his brother's face.
The echo of his laughter spread across the vast garden, mixing with the fresh evening air.
Daru sighed in resignation and, turning around, said:
"I'm going inside to eat something. Don't stay out here too long."
He began walking toward the mansion at a calm pace.
Jay, still smiling, stretched a little, relaxing his shoulders.
And then…
A fiery voice appeared in his mind, resonating like a soft roar:
"It's time, Jay. Don't complain. There's no time for farewells."
Jay frowned.
"What are you talking about, elemental? If you start saying random things, I'll put you in a cat shelter. And by the way, I suddenly feel a strange heat all over my bo—"
He didn't finish the sentence.
Because at that instant, the ground beneath his feet cracked open.
A rift, like the one that had brought him to this world, appeared. But this time it was different.
Its edges burned with small orange flames that danced like fiery serpents. The air vibrated. The world seemed to tilt.
Jay barely managed to say:
"Wait, wait, wait, DON'T—!"
The rift swallowed him immediately.
And closed as quickly as it had appeared.
Silence.
Daru stopped when he heard the shout.
With complete calm, he turned his head.
"What's wrong, brother? Did you twist your foot or—?"
And when he looked at the place where Jay should have been…
…he found only a small flame on the ground, the size of a candle.
Daru's eyes widened. And his mouth. And almost even his ears, in shock.
"…Little brother?"
The wind blew once more.
And the small flame flickered softly, as if bidding him farewell.