3

  REMATCH

  Timik stood in the once bustling, now empty kitchen. Shrugging his shoulders, he walked over to a knee-height metallic box. Once he lifted the lid, Timik gasped in surprise.

  “It’s just like Sorene’s bags and bottles but filled with food!” He stood straight and put a fist to his chest. “The old geezer always said to bring food when spectating anything! Maybe one of those weird people will answer my question after the match.”

  He filled an empty Mix bag that Sorene had left him with pastries and dried meats, easy things to eat while enthralled with a sparring match.

  As he made his way to the training yard, he was almost knocked off his feet by a blast of myst. “Looks like I made it just in time.” Timik said with a smile, skipping the rest of the way to the seating area.

  —

  Kalex didn’t know what to expect from the fight, but he did know he wanted to get in a few punches. He hadn’t had a chance to speak with Lyla in-depth, but he gathered that the two had become good friends. Because of that, he would stick to the rules of the sparring matches held in the Wounder Empire and not immediately go for the kill.

  His thoughts were rattled as a giant myst barrier encompassed the field he was to fight in.

  “Training match number one between Kalex Wounder and Scyris Everblade will commence!” Rigel’s booming voice filled the yard.

  “Wren or I will intervene if the fight becomes dangerous to either combatants, as this battle will be until surrender, either by verbal acknowledgment or being unable to continue without suffering permanent harm.”

  Scyris, used to the speech, readied herself on her side of the circular sparring ring, but Kalex held rapt attention to Rigel’s words.

  “The first match will be a close-range, physical test. This is to analyze your opponent’s power and formulate a plan for the next bout. The next match will be a full abilities test. You will be healed of any injury after each match. If you are ready, let’s begin!”

  When Rigel’s words ended, Scyris released all the myst she had accumulated into a dash of pure speed. She grinned as she cocked her fist back at the expressionless boy that stood in front of her.

  Her knuckles sped towards Kalex’s face, wind whistling from the speed and force of the blow. She put everything she had into the strike and showed her teeth as she felt the bodily resistance of her fist connecting.

  Scyris followed through, expecting to turn around and see her opponent on the ground, writhing in pain. The onlookers' expressions made her feel like her opening attack had worked just as she expected.

  “So slow,” A small voice said from behind Scyris. “I thought this was going to be difficult.”

  Scyris immediately burst into a rage. She put everything into that punch and knew she had made contact. Even when she sparred with other Lumen, none of them could dodge an attack like that. Instead of feeling discouraged, she let her anger fuel her. Her opponent was the person who caused her to be thrown out of the Cabal. He was the one who ruined the life she lived for so long, and he would pay for his transgressions.

  Turning to face Kalex, myst steamed from her grimace. Instead of going on the attack, he closed his eyes and fell into a defensive position. Not one to squander a gift, Scyris attacked again, this time with less powerful but more precise jabs and kicks.

  —

  Kalex was confused. The last time he had faced Scyris, he struggled— especially after she invoked the Mark of the Axiom— but this time, something seemed off. He could tell that she focused an impressive amount of myst into her hand to enforce her punch, and the speed she carried was faster than anything on the lower worlds, but once he sent out his presence sight into the arena, her movements slowed to a crawl.

  The feedback from his eyes and his presence sight baffled him for a moment, causing him to only react to Scyris a moment before her blow would have landed. It was simple. Scyris’ fist seemed to be moving through stone, so slowly that Kalex could study her use of myst before gingerly moving out of the way.

  He could sense her myst and was baffled at how it worked. It was moving just underneath her skin, with only a tiny amount making its way out. Transferring internal power to power she could use offensively was absurdly slow. After Scyris’ pass, he said as much.

  Questions flew from his mind over to Lex, asking why his perception slowed to a crawl and what was happening to Scyris’ myst. A warm sensation took his head as he was answered at the speed of thought.

  “Your perception shift was partly due to your skills, Mr. Wounder. They may be removed from your status window, but they are still there. In battle, you can use your presence sight as your eyes and see everything around you. The potency of the myst you sent out allowed you to slow your view of the fight and boost your ability to analyze the situation. I recommend closing your eyes for her next salvo to experiment with the skill.”

  Kalex’s eyebrows rose as he remembered the skills that he’d seen in his status.

  “As for Ms. Everblade’s myst,” Lex continued. “She is doing what the vast majority of others in both the lower and higher worlds do with their myst. Unlike you, Mr. Wounder, most cannot use their myst outside their bodies the same way they can internally. Being from Diat and having some fortuitous events happen to you in your life have given you complete control over your myst.”

  Lex knew Kalex’s follow-up question before he could ask it.

  “If she could control her myst in a similar way that you can, the battle would be more evenly matched. As she cannot do that in her current condition, the only way to even the odds and gain experience from this spar is to handicap yourself and attempt to emulate her way of using myst.”

  Kalex focused on his fist and attempted to move his myst the same way Scyris did. With his Mystlord skill, he was quickly able to mimic the process. His thoughts flowed out of him verbally as he closed his eyes and focused on his surroundings in his presence sight.

  Scyris was mad. Not the kind of mad that Kalex had seen in Everblade city, but pure, unadulterated anger. With his handicap in place and his physical eyes closed, he was excited to start their next round.

  Fists flew in a flurry. Although this was a training match, Scyris let her emotions run wild and didn’t hold back. Each blow was punctuated with a thought of her old life as a Lumen. While it had been challenging to stomach at times, it was the life she’d become accustomed to. This child took that away from her. From the moment he snuck into her Domain to now, it felt like everything he had done was to cause her undoing.

  She unstoppered any previous restrictions she had unintentionally placed on herself and let her myst run wild, and it seemed to be working. Though Kalex blocked all of her direct strikes, they were taking their toll.

  Purple and black bruising appeared on Kalex’s forearms every time he used them to block. The wild strikes came at a rate that outpaced anything he had seen before, with even his presence sight not slowing the action down very much. Due to him limiting the reach of his myst, this brawl felt less one-sided, and Kalex reveled in it. Since dying, he hadn’t had a fair fight. Either his strength eclipsed his opponents, or he was unable to match their might.

  The fight began to drag on, with Kalex purely on the defensive, pondering Scyris’ every move. Scyris, on the other hand, used the fight as a way to relieve the stress she had carried for countless years. Long gone was the anger toward Kalex that fueled her initial flurry. Her life on Cragfont, The Cabal, Enternia, and her hatred for the leader of the Lumen powered each strike until she felt herself running low on stamina.

  “Coward! Fight me!” Scyris screamed, eyes nearly bulging out of the sockets.

  Kalex opened his eyes and felt at peace. He watched each punch and kick in great detail and found what Scyris was missing—control.

  Though he had been in the body of a baby recently, Scyris’ myst felt uncontrolled, spastic, like a child first learning to control the power they were born with.

  Before replying to her, Kalex thought about the situation he found himself in.

  “She tried to kill me but failed. Her weapon in Everblade City ended up making Lex stronger. Lyla’s safe and at a higher level than anyone on Enternia.” Kalex mumbled under his breath. Only Lex was able to hear.

  “Mr. Wounder, I can see that you hold many negative reservations towards Ms. Everblade, but you are correct in assuming that we would not be where we are today without her interference. Yes, the dream you vie for will not become a reality anytime soon, but you have the rest of your life to achieve that goal.” Lex spoke directly into his mind.

  “Ms. Everblade has also been a good friend to Ms. Graves during your time apart, for which Ekk is very grateful. With her help, Lyla has become the strongest person they have ever bonded to and attributes much of the gain to friendly spars between them. With that said, I know you’ve handicapped yourself to fight on a more even battleground, but Ekk asks you to take it easy on her. Their exact words were, ’a broken Scyris is a bad Scyris. She already damaged and doesn’t need any more.’”

  Lex’s words were instantly ingrained in Kalex’s mind, and it took almost no time to understand them. Both Lex and Ekk were right. Although every encounter with Scyris was terrible, he could admit that she had helped him in more ways than one, and he knew the perfect way to repay her.

  Throughout Scyris’ stream of attacks, Kalex noticed her myst getting caught in specific places. It was as if her myst channels were too narrow to allow her potent myst to flow freely. He would make sure she understood her flaw—to train and get better, of course.

  “Scyris,” Kalex said as his bruised arms visibly mended. “Your myst is powerful, and you show why you became a Lumen with each strike, but you suffer from a fundamental flaw.”

  Scyris ground her teeth at the words but didn’t speak.

  “It’s obvious that some of the power you attained was given to you by someone stronger, and your body can’t cycle it through completely.”

  Kalex stopped speaking to let his words sink in. A moment later, Scyris took the bait.

  “You were a literal baby only a few months ago! How would you know anything about me?!” Scyris said with a grim edge to her voice. “If you’re so knowledgeable, then show some participation.”

  One side of Kalex’s mouth curved upwards. “Before I take part, let me show you your flaws.”

  Scyris’ eyes widened as Kalex disappeared. He hadn’t teleported or used any skills, but instead used his raw strength and agility to get behind her.

  “Here,” Kalex said as he touched the back of her shoulder with his finger, gently sending a wisp of his myst into the bundle of tangled energy. The discordant myst shuddered and turned aimless and useless. The remaining myst not caught in her channels instinctively moved to her Domain. The enforcement in one of Scyris’ hands vanished, leaving her with only the pain of her previous attacks.

  Turning around to face the white-haired boy proved fruitless, earning her a poke in the back of her neck.

  She could feel the invading myst move past her internal defenses and wreak havoc on her enforcements. Once the liquid-like myst exited from the bottom of her feet, she felt her body's weakness and general tiredness.

  Feeling the tremors of overused and overstimulated muscles caused them to give out. Tumbling to the ground, she looked up at Kalex, who now stood on his side of the area.

  “What have you done to me? I can feel the myst in my Domain, but it refuses to move!”

  She attempted to stand but toppled over. Lyla’s gasp was the only thing anyone could hear from the training yard.

  Scyris glared at Kalex, steel in her eyes.

  “You will not make me out to be a fool again, Kalex Wounder!”

  Tears flowed freely from her eyes as she managed to stand.

  Her physical pain was forgotten; only memories of her time before becoming a Lumen fueled the tears.

  She slowly made her way over to Kalex and swung with all her might. The light blow almost catching the tip of his nose. Subsequent attacks were dodged and made to seem like close calls. Everyone watching on sat quietly, with Lyla looking ready to burst.

  A final punch at Kalex took Scyris’ balance, causing her to crumple into the sand. She openly wept, unable to gather enough energy to continue.

  The second the barrier came down, Lyla sprinted to her friend and began healing her myst channels.

  Dumbfounded, she looked up at Kalex. “What did you do? Her channels feel the same as every other time I’ve healed her. There’s not a single speck of damage.”

  Before Kalex could answer, Wren sent healing to each of them.

  Lyla expected to have to hold Scyris back from lashing out at Kalex for making a mockery of the power she always flaunted, but instead, she quietly sobbed into her sleeve, holding on for dear life.

  Not knowing what to do other than try to console her friend, Lyla looked up at Kalex pleadingly.

  “I didn’t do anything that could hurt her permanently. I had an idea about her power and did a small experiment. Her myst channels are too narrow, and she lacks the fortitude to use the myst she has; I just added a bit of my myst, and it overwhelmed her system. With Wren's healing, she should be back to normal now.”

  Kalex strode over, Scyris turning her head to meet him.

  “It’s that simple, huh? A little bit of your power and I’m rendered useless?” Scyris cried, pitch-black hair stuck to her wet face. “I haven’t felt like this since I left my home world. Left to rot after I was given my essence. Abandoned by my family.” Scyris looked at the ground, deep in thought.

  “Nothing can ever come from a Vial. A Vial can never achieve anything. Vials are leeches and should be destroyed at all costs. Vials shouldn’t be allowed to live.” She trailed off, wiping away her tears with a shaky hand. She looked up at Lyla, who tried to show as much comfort as she could with her smile. Nodding her head slightly, she spoke. Not to Lyla, but to Kalex.

  “I want to live.”

  She turned to Kalex with a look of scared determination.

  “Help me.”