Honourbound: A Progression Fantasy (Surgecaller Book 3)

by Todd Herzman

  Kalak? Huon wondered. Did Jakob know the name of his Celestial? He wasn’t even surprised the man had received a soul binding—it had been the only thing that made sense. How else had he become oathless? Except he wasn’t oathless—just as Huon wasn’t oathless—he was soulbound.

  ‘Fight me.’ Huon let out a long breath, wondering if this were the right decision. He remembered what it had been like at the Justice Arena, fighting Champions as a Squire. They had all had their abilities restricted, and he still hadn’t been able to defeat them. He had no idea how strong his father truly was. Though he now believed the man was in fact a Legend, even though he’d been able to defeat Blaze.

  He was just a soulbound Legend. Huon wondered what other advantages he’d discover as he moved up the path of advancement. For a Legend to defeat an Immortal… it seemed impossible, but Huon was so much stronger than he’d been before, and he’d been training as soulbound for less than two months.

  His father had been training for as long as Huon had been alive. Even if he hadn’t reached Immortal yet, that didn’t mean he wasn’t strong. I’ll have to be faster. Stronger. Obviously, Jakob wasn’t strong enough to go against the Everlasting King—if he had been, the continent would be free of the tyrant by now.

  ‘Fight you? Why in the world would I do that? I would destroy you in mere moments, son. You know what I’m capable of—you’ve seen me kill before.’ He clenched a gauntleted fist. ‘You’ve seen me defeat an Immortal.’

  ‘Restrict your surges, like the contenders at the Justice Arena when they fought me. Make it as fair a fight as it can be.’

  Jakob’s frown deepened, the lines digging into his forehead. ‘And how would this benefit me?’

  ‘If you win, I’ll go with you. I’ll… I’ll listen to everything you have to say.’

  ‘You’ll go with me anyway—you don’t have a choice.’

  ‘Maybe. But wouldn’t you rather I come willingly?’

  Jakob sighed. ‘You have so much potential, why waste it? I was right to let the Immortal of Fire keep you bound—look at how much stronger it’s made you. I promise, my son, I only ever have your best interests at heart.’ He put a hand on his chest in what felt like mock sincerity.

  Huon again wondered what the man had given up when he’d become soulbound, what aspect of his soul had he lost? Had he always been this cold, even when he was married to Huon’s mother, or had that happened after? When he’d escaped the oath binding?

  Had he lost his conscience then?

  ‘Please, do this for me, Father.’ Huon held back a wince from calling him that.

  The man sighed again, more heavily this time. ‘The world is a harsh place, Huon. Leaving Harlon is a bad idea—one you should abandon.’ Jakob stepped back. ‘This is not going to work out well for you, son.’

  ‘Will you do it?’

  Jakob closed his eyes. His stone-faced expression… eased. There was something else in his face, now. Something almost like… concern? ‘I will do this, for you. But I warn you, even restricted, you will not be able to defeat me. This little match of yours is for nothing.’ He put his hands together, and seemed to enter a meditative state for a moment. ‘But perhaps it will prove something to you.’

  This is when Huon should have tried to run. His speed reserves were full, and he’d only been getting faster and faster these past few weeks, even without the ability to actually run on the deck.

  But running wouldn’t help.

  Honestly, he was surprised his father had even accepted the deal. Was he beginning to actually listen to me? Huon wondered. Maybe the man wasn’t everything Huon had thought. After seeing what had happened to the Queendom of Arisalon, all those people bound, killed. Including the man I murdered… Maybe Jakob had been right to be ruthless.

  Still, Huon didn’t want to walk that path, and he certainly didn’t want to be forced to walk it. He was free now—he wouldn’t exchange an oathmaster for a tyrannical father.

  ‘This isn’t going to work, Huon. Even if you win, he’s just going to take you,’ Liona whispered.

  Huon looked at her. She’d walked back to his side. He took her hand and squeezed it. She was right—he knew that. His father wouldn’t respect the deal they made, not if it wasn’t in his favour. But it might give Captain Avery enough time to find them. Huon just hoped she was keeping tabs on them somehow. And a fight in the middle of the street? Even if it was a quiet street, it was likely to grab some people’s attention.

  Captain Avery will find us.

  Win or lose. He wasn’t going with Jakob—not without a fight.

  Chapter 29

  Huon clutched his sword, his shield in the other hand.

  Jakob opened his eyes. ‘I have restricted myself to four surges—strength, speed, stamina, and wind, and I’ll only use them at Knight-level. Do you agree this is fair?’

  Huon pursed his lips. It sounded fair enough. Of course, even with the man’s surges restricted, his natural body would be far stronger than Huon’s. A Legend’s natural strength must be… phenomenal. ‘I agree.’ Again, it didn’t matter if he won—he just had to ensure the fight made enough noise. There must be guards in this place… and Captain Avery is with the Sea Guard, the Ganadon Royal Navy. If one of her crew were in a fight, she’d find out fast.

  Jakob didn’t seem worried about them fighting in public. He didn’t look worried about anything. His face had taken on that same incredible calmness that never failed to unnerve Huon.

  Huon looked inside himself, examining his core. He hadn’t had a chance to train fire and earth while aboard the Strong Wind, but his other surges? They’d grown much in the past three weeks. Huon had made many leaps in strength over the last year—when he’d been training to advance to Squire without sleep. When he’d been working with Danieja. When he’d gained the soul binding…

  But over the past three weeks? His skilled had increased even faster than before. He felt like a full-fledged Knight, not someone who’d only been one for a few months.

  Maybe he could defeat his father in this fight. He has a soul binding too, and he’s a Legend.

  Huon banished all those thoughts. He stepped forward. ‘Ready to begin?’

  Jakob nodded once. ‘This will be an interesting lesson for you, son. I hope it shows you where your place is.’

  Huon still didn’t understand this man—why on the one hand, he seemed to want to be a part of Huon’s life, and on the other… always failed him, treating him as though he were nothing, as though his wants and needs didn’t matter at all.

  Jakob didn’t wield a weapon. He held his arms loosely in front of him, just as he had before he’d faced the Immortal of Fire. That, coupled with his calm expression, only served to further Huon’s unnerve.

  Control, Huon thought, remembering Danieja’s lessons. He had to have complete control over his own mind, his own body, if he were going to do this.

  Jakob sprang forward. Even only triple-surging, it took a moment for Huon to react to his father’s speed. The man was powerfully built—one would think that would slow him down, but the muscles in his legs only offered him more speed.

  Huon surged fire into his sword, surged wind around him to block whatever strike his father was about to perform. At the same time, he surged ice shards into being—now that he could use his full abilities as a Knight, rather than fighting with only single surges, Huon was able to create thirty ice shards.

  Last of all, he created a thin layer of rock armour over his martial arts robes, wishing he’d worn armour off the ship.

  He did these four surges simultaneously in the few steps it took Jakob to come within striking distance.

  Huon slashed out with his sword, ignoring whatever strike Jakob was delivering—it would be caught by Huon’s wind shield, he was sure of it.

  As his prediction came true, and the Legend’s first punch was absorbed by Huon’s shield, the ice shards came down to bear on the man.

 
The ice shards did no damage. They were ineffectual against the Honourbound armour. Huon had accounted for that. He’d done these moves many times in sparring against Liona and Gale on the Strong Wind. The ice shards were only supposed to be a mild distraction, it was his sword that had the true strike coming. It wasn’t only imbued with fire essence—it was imbued was sharpness essence. It was always imbued with sharpness essence. He kept it in the sword, and his reserve was full. Two strikes, Huon thought. The first, he hoped, would come as a surprise.

  Assuming he could actually hit Jakob.

  The Legend slipped away from Huon’s strike. He wasn’t using his Legend-level speed, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t fast. Somehow, he ended up behind Huon, sending a swift kick to the back of his knee. Huon faltered, falling forward a step. But instead of letting that lose his balance, he went with it, diving into a roll, using his shield to dampen the impact against the cobblestone street.

  When Huon was back on his feet, he whirled around. Jakob’s face was no longer calm. A smile had appeared on it.

  ‘I like the way you move, son. You’ve come a long way since you fought Bern.’ Jakob settled into a fighting stance, one hand behind his back, the other thrust forward, palm facing Huon. ‘But it won’t be enough.’ He beckoned with the outthrust hand.

  Huon didn’t take the bait. He stood his ground, sending fireballs and ice shards at Jakob all at the same time, coupled with harsh gusts of winds—but the wind did nothing to even shake the Legend’s stance. He was immovable.

  Huon took a moment to breathe naturally, cultivating as he did so. Cultivating breath always steadied his hand and cleared his mind—at least, it helped. It wasn’t always perfectly reliable. Fortunately, today, it seemed to be. He just needed to draw out the fight long enough for Captain Avery to get here.

  With sharpness essence already imbued into his sword, Huon assessed his other options—something that only took a second to do, as he was used to doing such things during a sparring match. His roar surge would help him for sure, but much like the sharpness essence, he couldn’t use it twice—there was no way he’d be able to cultivate it while fighting like he could with his physical essence types.

  Acute hearing would probably only come as a distraction if he surged it for the entirety of the fight. While his control over that surge had rapidly grown since its first use, it was still somewhat overwhelming to use while fighting. But he could use it in small bursts, to more accurately ascertain where an opponent was standing if he couldn’t see them.

  His acute touch essence, on the other hand, would help. He’d trained with it diligently over the past three weeks, since picking it up from the core merchant back at the docks where they’d met Captain Avery. It was capable of so much more than Huon had initially thought it would be. It was almost like… he could see better when he had it activated.

  He felt the subtle shifts in the air. That, coupled with his Knight-level perception and his acute hearing surge, had made it possible for him to fight while blindfolded.

  He hadn’t fought very well, but he’d been able to survive far longer than he’d expected to.

  Without a blindfold? It would help him even more.

  Huon took a deep breath, sinking into a strong stance. He stared at the man who was his father, wanting to run at him—wanting to defeat him. Even if I do win, it’s only because he’s restricted—I’m no match for him at full strength. But he would be, someday—he knew he would be. It was only a matter of time.

  Maybe it’s not only the Everlasting King I’ll have to come back to defeat. That thought made him shudder—he didn’t believe in his father’s methods, but the man was trying to do the same thing Huon was.

  Jakob smiled again, then he moved. Running at probably the highest speed a Knight could run at—far faster than Huon could manage. His natural base as a Legend gave him a massive advantage over Huon in every physical way. And his technique…

  Why did I do this?

  Huon braced himself. None of his elemental barrages had so much as pierced the man’s armour—Huon hadn’t even taken that into account when he’d asked to fight the man. He should have gotten him to take off his armour. That armour is imbued with at least Legend-level essence, there’s no way any of my surges will be able to break through it. That was all Huon needed to know about his father—he’d agreed to this fight knowing that there was no way it would be fair. No way Huon would be able to defeat him.

  Huon stopped using his elemental surges offensively, instead taking on a different tack. If all he had to do with last longer…

  He surged water, wind, earth, all into one shield. He surged fire into his sword, even though he knew it wouldn’t help—it didn’t feel right not to.

  With those three elements swirling around him like armour in themselves, Huon decided he no longer needed his shield. That’s why he loved using a hand-and-a-half sword—it doubled so easily as a two-handed weapon when he needed it to. He silently thanked Captain Avery for making them practice without their shields.

  Holding his sword in both hands, he instantly felt like his strikes would be stronger—maybe even faster, now that he could better and more accurately manoeuvre them. And as Jakob was unarmed, Huon had far more reach than the man.

  I should be able to do this., Huon had done so many impossible things—at least, things he’d thought were impossible. No limits.

  In that moment, while Jakob was running at him at full pelt, Huon assumed a meditative state—the meditative state used to commune with the universe.

  If you are listening, please, guide me—somehow.

  Huon didn’t know if the Celestial could hear him—didn’t know if the man would even care, now that he’d got his soul binding. He still hadn’t figured out what aspect of his soul was missing—what price that was that he’d paid.

  But if there was ever a time the Celestial could help Huon, he hoped it was now.

  He didn’t want to fail before he’d truly began—didn’t want to lose his freedom now he’d finally gotten it back.

  Jakob was using the wind to push him forward, making him even faster than before. Huon tracked his movement exactly, noting how fast the man could run. He struck out with his sword, knowing how difficult it would be for the Legend to change trajectory at the speed he was running. Huon brought the sword down, though the Legend wasn’t there. Again, he’d moved faster than Huon thought he should be able to move. Is he using bursts of higher-level essence, cheating?

  Jakob sent a kick right for Huon’s head as Huon reangled his sword for another strike. The kick, like Jakob’s run, was reinforced with wind essence.

  Huon’s elemental barriers managed to prevent the strike from hitting him, but he could only surge so much essence for so long. He may have grown better at it—and the soul binding had helped him surge them all at the same time—but Huon didn’t have an unlimited reserve.

  Just hold out a bit longer. He glimpsed Liona, watching the fight, but couldn’t focus on her long enough to identify her expression. A few other people had gathered around. Fights among surgecallers probably weren’t too unusual around places like this, and as long as they weren’t damaging property, Huon doubted anyone would interfere—even though he wished they would.

  With Huon’s shield blocking each strike Jakob sent his way, it gave him the opportunity to send a barrage of sword slashes and thrusts.

  How is he dodging each one—how is he moving so fast?

  Huon leapt backward, creating distance after his tenth strike in a row missed. His elemental reserves were down by a quarter. He wouldn’t last long like this—not if he wasn’t even able to hit the man. I don’t even know if my sharpness essence will damage that armour.

  The roar surge—he’d used it against a Legend before, and it had slowed them down. Couple it with breathing fire—it might further affect his vision.

  Ever since that day, when he’d rescued Liona from the Queen of Arisalon’s dungeons, he’d
practiced that technique. If it could affect a Legend? He wondered how powerful it would be when he was a Legend.

  So when Jakob came in for another attack, Huon had the essence for both surges pooled in his throat.

  Huon surged the technique.

  Chapter 30

  Huon surged roar and fire simultaneously at Jakob, using every ounce of essence he could.

  Jakob’s eyes widened the second the surges were released—he hadn’t been expecting that. Finally, Huon thought. I’ve caught him by surprise.

  The man didn’t shut his eyes—the flames didn’t seem to affect him the way Huon had hoped they would—but the noise? The noise made him falter. He slipped the tiniest bit, losing his footing for less than half a second—but that was enough.

  Huon sent his sword slashing at his father’s faceplate.

  The blade thudded against the helmet, embedding itself within. The sharpness essence had worked, but it hadn’t gone all the way—Huon’s sword was stuck. In a burst of speed, Huon—the hilt in both hands—jumped, kicking the Legend with both feet square in the chest. The impact sent each of them backward.

  He’s stumbling, Huon landed smoothly on the ground. He’s actually stumbling. Huon pressed forward. It was a small advantage, but it was the only one he was ever going to get. He imbued the sharpness into his sword again. Control. He needed full control. The sharpness essence had only gotten him halfway through his father’s helmet—he needed to go the rest of the way if he were going to do the man any real damage.

  Which meant he had to hit exactly where he’d hit before.

  Jakob, still disorientated, wasn’t able to slip out of the way this time.

  The strike contacted the crack in the helmet.

  And slid right through, straight into his face. Huon wrenched the sword out, stepping back a few steps, creating some distance between him and Jakob.