by Jakob Tanner
Casey and her family stuck out like sore thumbs.
They looked poor, but even worse, they looked traitless.
Casey saw two kids playing nearby and she decided to approach them.
She had always been good at making friends at her old elementary school. She’d poke someone in the shoulder and pretend not to notice, goofy little pranks like that to get kid’s attention and get them to play with her. Then she’d start doing similar goofy jokes on other kids with her new friends until they were all a happy gang of kids playing with each other.
She’d do the same thing here.
She approached the little blonde girl and boy and surreptitiously tapped the blonde girl on the shoulder.
Before Casey could pretend like she hadn’t poked her, the blonde girl spoke with hostility.
“Excuse me,” she said. “Did you just touch me?”
Casey shook her head with a silly grin on her face.
“She did,” said the blond boy. “I saw her.”
“My father tells me to keep my hands to myself,” said the girl. “To touch someone is a mark of war.”
Casey blinked. “I’m sorry. I was just kidding around. I don’t want to go to war with you.”
“Of course you don’t. I’m a Westley and he’s an Archer. The question is: who are you?”
“I’m Casey,” she said.
“No, but what family are you from?”
“My last name is Everton,” she said. “My parents are over there.”
“Oh,” said Sybil. “You’re one of the fake-veins.”
Sybil and Cyrus giggled at her. She didn’t like being excluded from the joke. They were speaking in a coded language she didn’t understand.
“What’s a fake-vein?” she asked.
“Don’t tell her,” giggled Sybil. “Tell me: what do your parents do?”
“They own a stationary shop,” said Casey, proudly. “Our family sells really cool pencils, pens, and paper. I’m learning to do origami. I can show you if you’d like.”
They laughed even louder now. It was venomous.
“A shop!?” they laughed with theatrical cruelty. “Wow, how pathetic! They should just get rid of the traitless from the tower-zone!”
“Well, nice to meet you, Casey,” said Sybil. “See you never!”
With that the two kids laughed and walked off together.
Casey stood there all alone.
She looked over to see her parents, equally confused and ostracized at this meeting.
She wiped a tear from her eye.
One day, she thought. I’ll show them. I’ll show them that being born from traitless parents is a strength and not a weakness.
I’ll show them I’m proud of where I come from.
That a fake-vein can beat a pure-vein with enough effort.
One day, she said to herself, I’ll make them regret their dismissal of me.
Casey stood across the arena from Sybil.
The Westley girl looked as if she was mustering the strength inside her to unleash another devastating attack.
Casey had no other choice but to use her final move. She had been hoping to save it as a trump card until later in the tournament, but it was now or never.
She pulled out a small paper crane from her pouch.
“Really?” balked Sybil. “Is that your big ace up your sleeve? A stupid piece of folded up paper?”
Casey muttered, gritting her teeth angrily, “I once offered to teach you how to make a paper crane and you laughed in my face. Now, I’m going to make you regret that.”
Casey twirled her hand creating a gust of wind around her and as she did so she opened up her pouch, unleashing one paper crane after another, until she sent forth a whole flock of origami cranes in a swarming tornado at Sybil.
This was Casey’s trump card. Her ultimate move.
The Thousand Paper Crane Attack!
85
“What’s this!?” shouted Sakura to the arena down below. “I’ve never seen an airbringer do something like this before. This is truly a unique use of the trait!”
Samuel’s face was red with anger, a thick vein of irritation forming just along his forehead.
“How fascinating,” said the climber president. “She’s really made her airbringer trait her own with this move.”
They stared through the window to the arena below as the paper cranes swirled around Sybil.
Sybil held up her arms defensively but it was no use.
There were simply too many cranes.
“Aghhh!” she screamed out in pain.
She tried to push the wind back but it was no use. Technically, Sybil’s power over the wind and higher mana affinity stat should have been able to reverse direction of Casey’s tornado, but Casey’s paper cranes were imbued with mana of their own. All of the cranes were contributing to the ferocity and power of Casey’s tornado to a level much stronger than Sybil was capable of pushing back on her own.
The wings of the paper cranes sliced through Sybil’s clothing and flesh. Tiny bleeding paper cuts opened up all over Sybil’s body.
Sybil jerked spasmodically all over the place unable to defend the countless number of small attacks from the paper cranes.
The audience was silent, waiting with bated breath to see the outcome of Casey’s powerful attack.
For the longest time, Casey had never known how to make her trait special, unique to her. But it was after meeting Max and seeing the fierce determination in his eyes, his willingness to do anything to find and save his sister, that unlocked a determination in her self that had long been dormant. From that point on, she’d been working on perfecting an airbringer attack that would take advantage of her own unique strengths.
The thousand paper crane attack was the result of that effort.
“Agggghhhhh!” screamed Sybil as the pain grew worse and worse. She was bleeding out of countless cuts across her body now.
Casey screamed as she used all her power and mana to unleash the devastating attack.
The cranes swirled in a destructive violent torrent all around Sybil, her childhood tormentor.
“Do you see now, Sybil?” shouted Casey. “There’s one thing being raised within the traitless community that I’ve learned that a pure-vein doesn’t and that’s learning to work together with others, the idea that when combining forces you can create whole new strengths you never thought possible. You’re so focused on channeling as much mana and wind as possible to do powerful martial attacks, you didn’t realize one could use the wind to empower something seemingly innocent into something incredibly powerful. My paper cranes aren’t strong on their own, but when infused with mana and wind power and in a collective flock, each weak individual crane suddenly becomes infused with a massive amount of power! MY TRAITLESS BACKGROUND IS MY STRENGTH! BEING A FAKE-VEIN IS SOMETHING ONE CAN BE PROUD OF! NOT ASHAMED FOR!”
Casey threw her hands out with all her might as she channeled even more of all the wind around her.
“Incredible!” shouted Max at the TV screen.
Toto squealed and cheered on his shoulder as well.
Max turned smugly to Cyrus who had slumped in a sofa chair and crossed his arms with a scowl.
“She’s freaking doing it!” shouted Max. “Go, Casey, go!”
The wind began to die down. The paper cranes fluttered back to Casey’s pouch, disappearing once more.
The arena was clear for everyone to see.
“What was that, Sybil?” asked Casey. “About you promising me mercy?”
Sybil couldn’t even respond. She staggered back and forth until she collapsed on the ground.
The referee blew his whistle, while a medic team appeared from one of the arena’s side tunnels and picked Sybil up onto a stretcher and carried her away.
The referee grabbed Casey’s arm and lifted it high in the air.
“AND THE FIRST MATCH OF THIS YEAR’S CLIMBER ACADEMY FINAL EXAM GOES TO CASEY EVERTON!”
The whole
arena erupted with cheers of excitement and delight.
86
Everyone stood up and congratulated Casey as she stumbled back into the waiting area.
Toto leapt off Max’s shoulders and onto Casey’s, nuzzling his head into her neck, giving her little kisses of joy and happiness.
“That was incredible,” said Max.
The move was so powerful and cool and so uniquely Casey’s own, it made him slightly jealous. He needed to work on his own extra special ability. It also made him nervous for his own fight; what if his own opponent had readied some incredible trump card like that? After witnessing Casey’s fight, he realized he had to be ready to face anything.
“Look,” said another student.
On the TV screen the next contestants were being chosen.
A name appeared.
Max Rainhart.
“Looks like you’re up,” said Casey. “Good luck.”
Max gulped and stared at the screen. Who was he going to be facing?
Everyone gasped as his opponent was named.
It couldn’t be more perfect.
The second name to appear on the screen was none other than Cyrus Archer.
Everyone in the room turned to Max then Cyrus.
Cyrus stood up off the sofa and smirked. “I was hoping I’d get to face you. Glad it happens sooner rather than later.”
“Shut up, Cyrus,” shouted Casey. “I’ll kick your ass with my paper cranes!”
Two of Cyrus’ goons stood up to defend him and it looked as if the student waiting room was going to turn into an all out brawl.
The debuffer suddenly stood up and in a flash was between all the kids holding out his arms.
“Can you step out into the arena, please.”
Samuel looked down to the large screen across from them in the arena.
Max Rainhart versus Cyrus Archer.
“You must be so proud to see your boy here today,” said the climber president, smiling fondly at the man.
The fool, thought Samuel. He doesn’t have any inkling, does he?
Samuel smiled back and nodded his head.
“Yes,” he said. “It’s a true pleasure to see one’s own child grow up and train to become a climber.”
The climber president smiled and Sakura simply nodded her head at him.
Sakura was definitely suspicious of him.
It didn’t matter though any more.
It was already too late.
The plan would begin any moment now.
87
Max stood across from Cyrus in the large arena as the massive audience roared around them.
He was nervous but he didn’t want anyone to see it, especially Cyrus.
“The match will begin at the blow of my whistle,” said the referee.
Max gulped. For a long time now, he’d wanted an excuse to punch Cyrus in the face. The boy had given him plenty of reasons in the past, but now the opportunity was officially sanctioned by the climber’s guild.
There was just one thing that was bugging him. He actually had no idea what Cyrus’ trait was. That said, he was pretty sure Cyrus didn’t know the two different abilities he currently had up his own sleeve.
The referee leapt backwards and blew his whistle.
SHRIIILLLLL!
The match had begun.
The crowd let out a massive roar that tremored across the arena. They then quieted down to watch the opening moves of the match.
Max rushed towards Cyrus.
He wasn’t going to hesitate or dilly-dally, he’d attack as soon as he could
“You idiot,” snickered Cyrus.
Even now he was still an arrogant jerk, thought Max. But he could see why his current plan might appear idiotic: he was rushing straight ahead into an effectively unknown enemy.
Too bad for Cyrus it was all misdirection.
Max triggered shadow blink.
He emerged right behind Cyrus. His opponent’s shoulders jumped in surprise.
The whole arena gasped.
The only thing Max didn’t like about this strategy was that he didn’t get to see Cyrus’ smug grin disappear off his face as Max bested him.
Max swung a clenched fist right into the back of Cyrus’ head. As he propelled his fist forward, he sent as much mana as he could to imbue around his knuckles.
POW!
His fist smashed right into the back of Cyrus’ head. The power of the blow was enough to send Cyrus hurling across the arena.
“Incredible!” cheered the crowd.
Max watched as Cyrus was knocked back through the air. The boy must have low endurance stats compared to everything else. In a weird way that wasn’t surprising. The boy had spent his entire life with bodyguards and henchmen, he probably never thought he needed to train that stat. He assumed he was invincible already, but as Max had just shown him, he was far from invulnerable.
Cyrus collapsed a few meters away into the dirty ground of the arena. A swirl of dust formed around the boy after he made impact with the ground.
The crowd chanted Max’s name.
Sakura smiled from the observation box at the top of the arena.
She placed her hands on the glass, and looked down at Max, who was standing ready for a retaliation attack from his opponent.
“Your pupil is putting up quite the magnificent display, Sakura,” said the climber president.
“Thank you, sir,” said Sakura. “I only nudged Max a little bit, this impressive display is mostly down to him.”
Max was truly remarkable though, she thought. The amount of abilities and moves he’s learned in so short a time was incredible. Even more amazing was how quickly he’d ranked up and raised his stats. If Max could get this powerful in a matter of months, who knew what heights he might reach as he trained and grew in strength.
Samuel tried to conceal his irritation, though his face was noticeably red.
It must be tough to watch his own son get smacked down like this, thought Sakura.
“Sakura’s pupil is really giving your son a run for his money, isn’t he, Samuel?” laughed the climber president.
Sakura tensed at the president’s words.
Don’t add salt to the man’s wounds, sir, Sakura thought to herself.
Samuel just looked down at the swirling dust and dirt where Cyrus had landed.
“Just you wait,” he said, gritting his teeth. “My boy isn’t down for the count just yet.”
Casey and Toto cheered with glee in the student climber waiting area.
“Aw, yeah,” she cheered. “Go Max! Beat Cyrus to a pulp! You can do it!”
The other students grumbled and looked at her.
“Will you shut up, we’re trying to watch the match!”
Casey sighed and felt her elation deflate a little bit.
The match definitely wasn’t over yet and Cyrus hadn’t even revealed his trait yet. Even though she’d grown up with the boy, she still had no idea what his special power was; it must have been very rare otherwise it wouldn’t be kept such a highly guarded secret. Then there was his hereditary trait—the passive ability the Archer family was most famous for—blood eyes.
Be careful, Max, she thought to herself as she petted Toto’s fur. You can do this, but be careful.
Samuel clenched his fists as he stood between Sakura and the climber president.
He was trying to steady his breathing without calling too much attention to himself.
What the heck was Cyrus doing?
He was supposed to initiate the plan before any blows were delivered.
The idiot. He probably thought he could land a punch on Max before they started the plan. Prove to himself that he would have won this match fairly if it weren’t for their other plans.
Now he’d mucked up the entire operation.
It looked as if they were going to have to improvise.
Max watched the dust settle.
Through the dust, he saw the figure of his opponent get off the ground.
“It looks like Cyrus Archer is getting up! The boy is not down for the count just yet!”
One punch would have been too easy. On the bright side, Max thought to himself: I might get to punch Cyrus in the face a second time.
Max rushed the Archer boy once more with a raised fist.
He sprinted towards Cyrus, closing the gap that separated them.
“Max! Max! Max!” cheered the crowd.
Now that he knew how low Cyrus’ endurance stat was, it was all a matter of sneaking in one more devastating hit.
Max rushed towards Cyrus but then suddenly found himself frozen mid-step.
What!? he thought. Why can’t I move!?
Cyrus snickered in front of him.
Had Cyrus paralyzed him somehow? Was this his trait ability?
“You idiot,” said Cyrus. “Did you really think you could beat me?”
88
Samuel sighed with relief as he watched the battle down below.
Cyrus was back on his feet. The plan was slowly getting back on track.
“It looks like Max will have to fight a bit more for his victory,” smiled Sakura at Samuel.
The insolent woman, Samuel thought. She dared to mock him and his family. Just wait. Her time would soon be coming to an end.
“Your pupil is very talented,” said Samuel. “But don’t forget my boy has been in the tower-zone all his life. Max may have dealt the first blow, but he’s still the underdog.”
He looked out the window and grinned at the red-haired boy, squirming on the ground.
C’mon now, Cyrus, stop toying with this boy and initiate the plan.
Max squirmed, frozen in place.
He willed himself with all of his might to move forward and yet he was completely stuck, as if he’d been glued to the ground.
What’s happening to me? Max thought with a new found panic.
