Worlds' Strongest

by Simon Archer

  “Sounds like he was a distraction,” August said as he finished tying the gauze around Elle’s arm.

  “A distraction?” I tilted my head.

  He nodded. “That bar gets them pretty frequently.”

  Clearly, the fact that I didn’t understand wasn’t as obvious as I thought it was. I raised an eyebrow and nodded. “What do you mean by a distraction?”

  August shrugged. “You know, a lot of seedy business gets done there. If someone thinks they’re going to be followed or overheard, and it’s a particularly sensitive nature, they’ll hire someone to be a distraction. The distraction waits at the bar for some kind of signal, and when he gets it, he causes a commotion to attract the attention of the bar. Then they can make whatever deals in private.”

  That… was pretty clever, actually.

  “He was probably just looking for a shouting match,” Elle said thoughtfully.

  “Well, he got a lot more than he bargained for,” August chuckled.

  I smiled at that. I couldn’t help but be excited, even proud of the way things had gone at the bar. This was someone who should’ve been able to knock me out, given that I was just in Zinc Class and had been training for only about a week. Instead, he practically ran home crying. That day, I’d managed to hunt animals, win a bar fight, and hooked up with Elle behind a tree. If you’d told me any of that a month and a half ago, I’d have asked when the last time you hit your head was.

  Still, as delighted as I was about how cool it had been, I was upset that I hadn’t intervened sooner before Elle got hurt. I wanted to avoid that ever happening again.

  After that day, our training intensified. August began focusing on teaching me to work with breath. It had been an aspect of his teachings so far, but it was never the entire subject until now.

  The only time I’d been seriously injured since arriving at Solivann was when Kistro used the window to cut me. That day, it hadn’t technically been a blade that pierced my skin. However, since it was Kistro’s breath and energy that attacked me, August seemed to think my breath and energy could shield me from it.

  “Breathe,” August instructed. First, he had me breathe while sitting, then standing. Then he had me crouch down, and now I had one leg sticking up in the air. “You need to focus your energy on specific parts of your body. These exercises will improve your isolation until you can do it with ease.”

  “And this will keep me immune?” I was breathing hard as all the blood rushed to my head.

  “No,” he frowned. “Nothing will make you immune from an attack when your opponent is using energy, but this will minimize the damage or help you avoid the blow altogether.”

  “What about the blades?” My brows pulled together as my breathing intensified. “If I’m impervious to a metal knife, shouldn’t it be even easier to deflect something that isn’t real?”

  I felt the staff he was holding swat my foot. “Switch legs.”

  “Ow!” I hissed, obeying.

  “It’s not that simple, Ren.”

  “What’s not?”

  “You shouldn’t be impervious to blades. It’s not - or, it shouldn’t be possible.”

  I paused, placing both my feet on the ground before standing to look August in the eye. “What do you mean? It’s just something that happens when people move to a higher class, right? Like, I just shouldn’t be able to do it yet?”

  My mentor shook his head. “You shouldn’t be able to do it at all. It’s not a skill that develops with class. That’s why the man in the bar could cut Elle, even though he couldn’t cut you.”

  I frowned. “So, you have no idea why I’m like this? Really, nothing at all?”

  “No,” he said solemnly. “But even your apparent immunity to blades isn’t going to help you in all situations. So get back to your exercises.”

  I’d been practicing using my breath to expand the power of the movement. It was frustrating at first. After all, I was used to breathing being something more subconscious, not something I had to think about, much less put any kind of intent into. The first few sessions, I didn’t understand what I was exactly supposed to be doing, sticking my legs in the air and thinking about breathing through my toes or whatever. Finally, I started to feel the difference, once I began doing it right.

  As I kept working with breath, I could soon tell when it worked and when it didn’t. I was used to breathing, even the way my chest felt after taking a larger breath, but this was different. It took more than just breathing in and out. At first, I could only get it to work when I closed my eyes and focused my mind the same way I had the day in the woods when I Saw with my eyes closed.

  When it worked, when I did it the way August expected me to, it was almost as though everything felt lighter, yet I felt more grounded at the same time. There was a rhythm, not just within me, but in most things that I started to become aware of. The way the wind blew, a ripple in the water, the way light cut through the air when someone first lit a candle. Everything began to feel almost palpable.

  As strange as it seemed, I could move faster, hit harder, and even remember patterns better the longer we worked like that. This focused method of breathing was the easiest method of accessing the spiritual power I held, and the difference was clear. With focused breath, I could exert myself longer and twice as hard without exhausting myself. Even with only basic training, I began to anticipate moves seconds before August made them, see further with my eyes closed then I could when they were open, and even slow time around me when I had enough focus.

  I could do all of that through clear thoughts and intentional breathing.

  In the evenings, Elle insisted I spar with her, even though August didn’t expect me to. I quickly began to notice as soon as my new training began, she turned up the intensity of our sparring.

  For weeks, we’d been using the same combination of moves when we practiced. It was a choreographed pattern of the moves I’d use most commonly and needed to get used to, and we tended to go at a pace I would set. Elle would encourage me to go faster, but she waited for me to speed up and went from there. Once we began sparring in the evenings, everything changed.

  Every session was more intense than the last. She began speeding up beyond what I was used to and sometimes even slowing back down to throw me off before shifting speeds again. Even with moves I knew to anticipate, I found myself losing my balance or failing to block things I usually had no problem with. If I had any fantasy that I was impervious to pain as well, Elle quickly shattered that every time her quarterstaff whacked me in the head.

  Once I began to handle the speed without sustaining as many injuries, that was when she stopped using the choreography I was used to. I would strike first to show I was ready, a simple angled strike. She would block, then deliver a grounded kick. I would block, spin, deliver a horizontal strike. She would block, pull back, angled strike. Block, parry, croisé, uppercut. Elle would avoid, and this pattern continued, getting more complex as it went on, but it was one I became familiar and comfortable with.

  That was until she started changing things up. I’d go to block, and before I knew it, her staff was coming at me from a different direction than I was used to. If I went to strike, instead of blocking, she would simply avoid and swipe my legs, so I fell directly on my back.

  After a few more sessions, I finally asked her what she was doing.

  Elle shrugged with a confident smile when I asked. “You’re too relaxed. You got comfortable with the combination, and that isn’t good for you. You needed more of a challenge. If you don’t know what’s coming at you or how fast, you’re going to have to use your instincts and your reflexes, and they are getting better. I haven’t hit you in the head since yesterday.”

  She had a point. I’d had to work harder since she began challenging me. I also noticed I was improving because of it. Most significantly, I was finally finding that connecting my breath and my energy to my movement was coming more naturally. If I focused especially hard, I was sometimes ab
le to sense her moves before she made them. She didn’t give off signals like she’d taught me to look for, but instead, it was almost as though I could anticipate where her action or intention was planning to move.

  I was impressed with my own improvements, and so were August and Elle. They’d continue to find new ways to challenge me in our training, but I actually began to look forward to it. A week later, when we had all sat down for lunch over August’s sugar-coated roast, something I definitely did not have high hopes for, but had to admit was actually pretty great, I realized that I was settling into a feeling of almost normalcy. I missed California, I missed my parents, and I thought about the code almost every night, but I was settling into the world around me. There was a level of comfort to our new routine, not to mention excitement for the things I got to learn.

  In the middle of the meal, August’s demeanor suddenly shifted from the jovial conversation we’d been having to a sharp expression, as though he smelled something rancid. Just before I could ask what was wrong, there was an aggressive knock at the front door that made Elle and I both jump.

  August got up and went to the door while she and I exchanged confused looks. When the door opened, Kaia stepped on the threshold. Elle jumped to her feet, and I was quick to follow.

  “Kaia! What are you doing here?” the older sister questioned.

  “Oh, Kaia!” August smiled, overcome by his excitement at seeing the girl. “I haven’t seen you since you were this tall!”

  Despite the greetings and questions, Kaia’s gaze remained locked on one thing: me. The only time I’d seen her angry was the day Elle and I left Eon, but even that couldn’t hold a candle to the look of hatred on her face at that moment.

  “Uh, hey?” I frowned.

  Kaia was eerily silent for someone who looked like they wanted to scream bloody murder. Her glare faded into a sneer, and she shook her head.

  “You—” She took a deep breath. She was clearly struggling to say whatever was on her mind.

  I centered my breathing and sensed a wave of energy coming from her in all directions, but mostly pointed at me. It was hostile, angry, and hurt. Elle began to worry. She grabbed Elle’s shoulder and turned her, so they were face to face.

  “Kaia, what happened?” Elle repeated. “Why did you come here?”

  “They found out we helped Ren.” The younger girl swallowed hard as she focused on Elle. “People realized you were missing, and Draco’s soldiers searched the house. They found his clothes and saw dad’s shop was almost empty, and they figured it out.”

  “What?” I rushed over from the table to join them at the door. “What happened?”

  “Why didn’t you burn his clothes like I told you to?” Elle frowned, her tone sharply.

  “Don’t talk to me like this is my fault!” Kaia shouted, pulling away from her sister. “They took father.”

  I felt the air, and the energy surrounding Elle go cold. “What?”

  “They took him,” Kaia sneered, “as punishment. They let us see him once a day, just so we knew they were beating him.”

  “Wh-where’s Maylon?” the older sister asked.

  “He’s with Baier,” Kaia reported dully.

  “Who’s Baier?” I asked, hardly knowing how to process what was happening.

  “He’s a friend of dad’s in Eon.” Elle’s eyes seemed glassy as she answered. “Kaia, what do they want?”

  We all knew the answer.

  “They’ll only let him go if Ren turns himself in,” Kaia scoffed.

  A heavy silence hung in the air for a moment, and August was the first to speak.

  “I wondered why no one had heard of the soldiers looking for you,” he sighed. “They should have fanned out when you disappeared. I thought it was strange, but I just figured we got lucky.”

  Kaia turned her expression of anger back at me. “Lucky for you, maybe. Father’s there, getting beaten and starved by soldiers in his own hometown, just to protect you. Heaven knows why. He should be home with me, with Maylon. You have to go turn yourself in.”

  “No!” Elle said quickly. I looked into her eyes as they filled with confusion and fear. “No, there has to be some other way. There has to be…”

  “There isn’t!” Kaia snapped. “I’ve been walking for two days, I’ve thought of nothing but father for a week. You don’t think I’ve thought about every possible option?”

  “No, I-” Elle shook her head.

  “Is he worth more to you than your father?” Kaia pressed. “Our dad?”

  “Kaia, it’s not—”

  “Stop protecting him!” When the young girl shrieked, a gentle rumble pulsed throughout the house. I was shocked, but Elle seemed unphased. August gave me a look as if to say everything was okay. I could only assume Kaia’s soul was so desperate that it was expelling its anger anyway it could.

  Everyone was silent for a moment, giving the young girl a chance to breathe. After that, August walked over and set his hands on her shoulders. “Kaia, you’ve traveled a long way all by yourself. Please, come, sit, and eat.”

  She shook her head, but when she spoke, her tone was weaker. “No, we don’t have time--”

  “Yes,” August nodded. “We do. If we all left this moment for Eon, we wouldn’t get there for two more days, so you might as well take an hour and rest. You look like you haven’t eaten in days. Besides… No matter what we do, we need a plan first. You never know what could set the soldiers off. If we’re not careful, they might harm Ren and continue to punish your family, anyway.”

  I felt whatever aggressive energy Kaia brought with her begin to dim, withdrawing back into her. Finally, she nodded and let August lead her over to the table.

  With him taking care of her, I ducked off to my room down the hall to think. My brain began to work the way it did when I was coding. There had to be a solution that didn’t end with me dying.

  I wasn’t alone for thirty seconds before Elle followed me and shut the door behind her.

  “Ren,” she spoke with a hurried tone as though there was some kind of clock running. “You don’t have to turn yourself in.” She took my hand and pulled me close. I appreciated that she was trying to reassure me, but I wasn’t sure it was going to work.

  “Can you think of any other option?” I smiled sadly.

  That struck a harsh chord with her. She stared into my eyes, searching for answers neither of us knew how to provide.

  “I don’t want Solem getting hurt because of me,” I spoke quietly, as though talking too loud would make everything too real.

  Her eyes filled with tears as she dropped my hand and walked past me. We both stood, unmoving, with our backs to one another.

  “Elle.” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, terrified at what I was about to say. Of course, I wanted an out. I was scared. There were a million possibilities and potential solutions to the problem, but there was no guarantee they wouldn’t end in anywhere from one to five deaths. But as much as some cowardly part of me wanted to grab my weapons and sneak out the window to find some place Elle and I could continue the routine we’d grown so fond of, I couldn’t abandon Solem.

  I turned around to see her looking at me. She knew what I was about to say, and she knew it was the only option.

  I took her hand in mine again. “I have to go back to Eon. You have to turn me in.”

  18

  Two days later, silence hung in the air as we marched down the road. We’d passed a few of the houses on the furthest edge of Eon, and every one of them had eyes peering from doors and windows, watching the stranger march to his death.

  Kaia would have returned that morning. August escorted her to make sure she was safe, and they’d left half a day before Elle and me. I think August half-expected us not to show up, but I’d resolved the day Kaia showed up in Grave to save Solem. Our hope was for Kaia to tell the soldiers I was on my way and that her sister had sworn to deliver me, and they’d release Solem as soon as possible.

  As we neared t
he center of the town, chills went down my spine. I hadn’t seen this place up close since the day I’d arrived in Solivann. Dozens of people had gathered around to wait, and as soon as we were within view, all eyes were on us. I could spot Kaia in the crowd holding Maylon’s shoulders, but the grave look on her face seemed to suggest that Solem hadn’t been released yet. I only prayed he hadn’t met some worse fate than being imprisoned in the time it took us to reach Eon.

  Most of the people in the square wore bright-colored silk robes with their hair long, as was customary. That made the men standing at the mosaic stick out even more.

  The men had to be Draco’s soldiers. Aside from the huntress, they were the only people I’d seen wear any sort of real armor. Unlike her leather covering, however, they were fully clad in metal. The armor was bright silver and rigid, with a decorative image forged into the metal of the breastplate. It looked vaguely like a calligraphy ‘D’ surrounded with filigree. All the soldiers had long, waist-length ponytails cascading from the crown of their heads, and each held a silver helmet at their sides. There were about a dozen of them standing in a triangle. They looked like action figures lined up in a collection rather than real people, but I feared them just the same.

  I cast a terrified expression at Elle, my eyes watering, nearly overflowing with tears. She didn’t look at me. I could only stare at the cuts under her eye and on her lip. There was another on her shoulder with a few other bruises along her arms. I hated seeing her in pain, but there had been no other choice. For my part, she’d left a bruise on my cheek that looked nastier than it actually was.

  We finally came to a stop a few feet from the mosaic. I’d almost forgotten about the way it looked. When I first arrived in Solivann, it almost drove me crazy that I couldn’t remember the name of the flower. Now I recognized the outline of the chrysanthemum immediately. There was something comforting about knowing the name of the flower that I couldn’t quite explain, but I tried to hold on to that feeling.