“It’s an honour to face you here today, Ki of the Air Moon Sect,” Kel declared with a deep bow.

  “I bet it is,” Ki snapped back, already assuming an offensive pose. “Seems like you’ve really changed since last time we met.”

  “You’ve grown as well,” Kel answered with an eyebrow raised.

  “You haven’t visited our temple in a long time,” Ki pouted, but her eyes were still full of energy. “Scared?”

  “I apologize if I have caused offence. The path I walk has taken some unexpected turns,” Kel said with a grin. “But I will make a point of visiting you and your brother in the near future. Have you succeeded in mastering the Spirit Dagger Skill yet?”

  “See for yourself!” Ki shouted as two glowing blades appeared in her hands, pointing at the ground like two long fangs. Ki’s next move was predictable based on her stance, but it was still impressive to all who watched. She quickly jumped from one side of Kel to the other while stabbing at him relentlessly with her daggers. Kel smiled at first, blocking each individual strike by summoning only a small amount of armour, but he gradually found himself coating more and more of himself in armour as the attacks grew less predictable. A flurry of stabs came from behind, then suddenly a dagger was at his throat. Each stab of Ki’s daggers quickly bounced off of Kel’s armour with a hollow sound, but the space between attacks quickly reached a point where it was difficult to count them.

  “You turtle folks all wear that sword at your waist!” Ki shouted through the barrage of attacks as Kel strained his concentration to continue deflecting them. Her childlike laughter cut through the cheers of the crowd, but her attacks only continued to increase in speed. “Is it just for show after all? You might need it, Kel!”

  “The sword of a Fire Mountain Turtle Sect disciple more of a tool than a weapon,” Kel replied slowly, slightly embarrassed to be struggling to defend himself against such small weapons. “But I assure you, I will respond to your attacks!”

  Kel then allowed his armour to dissipate and quickly channelled his energy into a single shield of light on his left arm, just in time to use it to deflect a two handed attack aimed at his chest. Ki was flung backwards several paces, but she continued to laugh boisterously as she regained her footing.

  “Oh, come on, Kel!” she shouted back as she readied her next assault. “That may be enough to keep my brother away…”

  She jumped high into the air, coming between Kel and the moon which now shone in the night sky, and threw both of her daggers straight at her opponent. Kel raised his shield to deflect them, causing both energy weapons to shatter and disappear. However, he realized to late that he was distracted from her next attack.

  “Come here!” Ki laughed while suspended in the air for a brief moment.

  “Oh, I recognize this one…!” Micro remarked, recalling the paralyzing attack which the Imperial Guards had used to capture him the previous night.

  Kel tried to duck down and brace himself, but he was unable to put any weight into his legs. He waved his hands awkwardly and his legs flailed as he began flying straight up to Ki against his will, just in time for her to begin her descent.

  “The Moon Art!” Kel shouted as he struggled to right himself in the air.

  “And I thought you were slow!” Ki mocked him in reply.

  Kel refocused his energy into the shield on his arm as she wound back a kick. He blocked it the same way he’d blocked the daggers, but the small girl’s kick delivered far more of an impact than he had expected. The moment Ki’s foot met his shield from above, a force enveloped Kel’s body which pulled him to the ground faster than he would have thought possible. Though he was able to absorb much of the impact with his feet, his knees buckled beneath the weight of Ki’s kick.

  “I thought that would squish you,” she shouted as she jumped away, leaving Kel to struggle to his feet and stretch out his weakened arm. “You’re a good turtle!”

  “To think you’ve already mastered the art to such an extent,” Kel complimented her while taking a moment to recirculate his energy, but his legs were starting to shake.

  “If you would hurry up and master the Mountain Art, you might have a chance one day!” Ki mocked him again. “Oh well!”

  Kel took the initiative this time, rushing forward and punching her while using his physical shield as an extension of his fist. The sharp corner of the bottom of the shield looked like it would tear right through the much smaller opponent. He watched her hands as he prepared to defend against a counter attack, but she waved them quickly instead. Only a single pace away from Ki, His shield suddenly accelerated beyond his own speed, slipping right off of his arm and flying over Ki’s head and disappearing into the audience far behind her.

  “Good thing the spectators are cultivators,” Micro shook his head, relieved to see that the shield had been caught in one hand by an old lady who looked frail but radiated a fiery aura.

  Kel began to summon an energy shield, but in his short moment of confusion, Ki had driven a dagger upward into his arm. She yanked it to the side, shifting his momentum just enough that he stumbled past her without landing even the smallest attack. Kel stumbled, but Ki’s attack wasn’t finished. She continued to guide Kel in a circle with the force of the Moon Art, spinning him around and sending him flying back in the direction from which he’d just launched his attack. The dagger left his arm ahead of a trail of blood, but Kel found the strength to regain his footing while his face grew pale.

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  “The Moon Art was always difficult to deal with…” Kel said as he formed a tight shield of energy around his wounded arm. He stretched out his shoulder and drew his rusty old sword from its sheath. Though his action drew some gasps from the audience, many were surprised by the way he held it with the blade pointed down, shielding his forearm. “But I’ve learned something recently.”

  “I hope you learn faster than you run!” Ki taunted him as she summoned two more daggers and immediately pulled Kel toward her with the same technique as before. All the energy in his body was suddenly drawn to her, but this time his response surprised Ki. As before, Ki prepared to attack the moment he was in range, but he was already within range before she could prepare her attack. “What did you—”

  “Sometimes you have to go with the flow!” Kel shouted, having used the force of her technique to propel himself.

  CRUNCH

  Ki almost managed to jump out of the way in time, but the flat edge of Kel’s rusty sword collided with her arm to produce a loud sound that made Micro cringe where he stood, though the rest of the stadium was jumping out of their seats with the excitement of the battle.

  “It was wise not to use the tip of his sword,” Yin noted. “He was able to catch her off guard.”

  “Going with the flow of traffic can be safer than going the speed limit sometimes, but the idea is to avoid collisions…” Micro added.

  “I see,” Yin replied, but he put aside his confusion and continued to watch the fight unfold.

  Kel rolled to a stop and picked himself up near the edge of the platform, his sword now bent and a little bit shorter, while Ki retreated to the other side, gripping her injured arm.

  “Clever turtle…” she growled at him through a smile. She quickly summoned a dagger twice the size of the ones before in her one working hand. Without another word, she launched herself forward. This time, she applied the Moon Art technique to herself as well as Kel.

  He braced himself behind his bent sword, filling it with as much energy as it could hold. But the dagger never touched his sword. As he braced himself for the impact of the ethereal dagger, he noticed too late that Ki had thrown the dagger away and left the ground. She somersaulted gracefully through the air and planted both of her feet on the bent sword which Kel was hiding behind. Kel nearly tripped over himself as she began to put her weight into her legs.

  “Visit us soon, Kel!” She shouted as she added the weight of her Moon Art to her kick, causing Kel and his shattered sword to fly straight into an audience member. Micro was relieved to see Kel still moving as the audience cleared a space around him, and he waved to Tohan, who happened to be sitting near the place where Kel had landed.

  “That…” Yin mumbled to himself. “Was an excellent fight.”

  “The young representative of the Air Moon Sect is victorious!” the announcer declared, and a deafening roar of celebration filled the arena.

  ~

  “So you can use energy to make gravity…” Micro mumbled as he watched Kel walk down the stairs of the stands back to the centre of the arena.

  “Gravity?” Tsurum asked with a tone of surprise. “You refer the tidal force technique?”

  “It’s the same thing,” Micro replied. “The same principle, at least—”

  “You have some understanding of the Moon Art, master?” Tae asked with equal surprise.

  “Well, I know gravity when I see it. That’s common sense,” Micro said. He looked back at Tsurum, then smiled. “The old man’s son learned about it in school. He was excited about things like planets and space back then…”

  “Common sense, you say,” Tae replied with a blank expression. “I’m not sure what that means anymore.”

  “Master!” Kel greeted Micro as he returned, covered from head to toe in fresh wounds.

  “Sorry you lost, Kel,” Micro replied. “Apparently you did well though…”

  “Don’t be sorry!” Kel said with a laugh. “Honour is found in the fight itself!”

  “Where in the fight was it hiding?” Micro asked.

  “That’s a good question, Master Micro,” Kel replied, wiping some blood from his mouth with his only functional hand. “My grandfather never beat the Air Moon Sect Leader once before mastering the Mountain Art. The tidal force technique is also quite formidable, and my mastery of the Turtle Art is not yet sufficient to match it.”

  “You can say that again!” Ki shouted from the stage, having overheard his explanation. “That was almost too easy!”

  Her provocations elicited a new wave of laughter and cheers from the audience, but it was clear to all that she was having trouble standing. Micro noticed for the first time how much of their blood was coating the stone stage, but he only shook his head silently as the opponents continued their exchange.

  “It was a good fight, to be sure!” Kel shouted back. “I promise to visit soon!”

  “Hmph…” Ki turned her nose up at his reply, but she could hide her delight. “If you must.”

  The air of the arena was jovial as the outcome of the battle settled in. As Vera and Kiula practiced their healing techniques on Ki and Kel, Micro overheard many spectators praising Kel’s performance in the fight, though the majority of their discussions revolved around Ki’s mastery of the Moon Art.

  “The old man would be listening to the news on the radio right about now,” Micro said as he looked up at the moon in the starry sky.

  “Are you speaking of your master?” Tae asked.

  “On warm nights he’d turn up the radio and sit outside with his wife,” Micro replied. “They talked about all kinds of things.”

  Tae nodded and smiled, not prying any further as Micro’s expression saddened. They slowly sipped some tea as the stage was prepared for the next battle, and soon Ki had returned to the centre of the arena with a wide smile. The remainder of the contestants who had previously been eliminated from the tournament had also gathered nearby in support of their friends.

  “It looks like we’re nearing the end of the tournament now. She isn’t the type to step off the stage before losing a match,” Tsurum said as he came to stand near Micro and Tae. “I wonder who she’ll fight next.”

  “Her arm still looks a bit sore, doesn’t it?” Micro asked Tsurum.

  “Oh, it is still very broken. Kiula said it would take several days of treatment to fully heal, but that won’t stop her,” Tsurum replied. “She’d rather you pretended not to notice.”

  The announcer introduced Ki once again to the delight of the audience, but the high spirits of the spectators and contestants were soon challenged by an unexpected voice.

  “Oh!” Blue said as she jumped out of Micro’s pocket. “I want to fight her!”