Authors Note: Judo is a type of martial art traditionally from Japan that focuses on take-downs, throws, trips, and joint techniques that off-balance the opponent. This martial art has a large presence in the tournament scene because take-downs are normally big swings in fights. Many other martial arts have come about by branching off of Judo as well.   

Chapter 13

Zale sat relaxed in the hot springs below the Spirit Hall. It had been one month since he had accepted Malchi as a master. It had been an entire month of physical training. His progress was visible to everyone who saw him. He was never fat or bone skinny, in fact his time working on the farm had given him a fit body. The training over the last month had pronounced his good qualities even more while getting rid of the little body fat he did have altogether. It was important to note he was still only fourteen. His body had only just started to hit its growth spurt. Aided by natures natural course he was growing and gaining strength at a very fast pace.

He had continued to run every day wearing the training vest. The vest was a blessing and a curse. No matter how much he improved, the vest would automatically calculate and adjust its weight in order to compensate to make the run equally as difficult every time. There was no fooling it. So no matter how much Zale improved his cardio, leg strength and endurance overall he could still only run the same distance every day before he collapsed of exhaustion. That didn’t mean though that he wasn’t progressing because the weight of the vest was constantly increasing. Zale had long ago given up on trying to figure out how much it actually weighed. He had tried to get Malchi to tell him, but the old man would only put his hand on the vest and smile. Zale still didn’t know how to communicate with spirit artifacts so he couldn’t check himself. They were mysterious objects sought after by many for a reason. If their secrets were given out to easily they wouldn’t be worth as much.

Over the course of the last month Zale had been able to complete one cycle of the bar exercise. He was currently able to climb a third of the way up on his second cycle before his arms and abdominals gave up on him. His arm and stomach strength couldn’t be hidden by his master like his cardio could. It was clearly visible to the eye. His arms had grown in size to become much denser while his stomach had lost all traces of baby fat and been chiseled out to be like a washboard. He now had to be careful when using the wooden training dummies because he could irreparably damage them if he hit them with his full strength.  

Lastly was his progress in martial arts. He had moved on to the advanced kata and techniques of Ruling Fist. Malchi would still look over the basics and correct here and there but there were many days where Zale would demonstrate the basic kata and techniques and Malchi would never need to intervene and provide guidance. On top of that Zale had fully incorporated the elbow and knee techniques of Muay Thai into his repertoire. He was now working on studying the art of takedowns by trying to incorporate the basics of Judo into Ruling Fist. Ruling Fist was a straightforward martial art streamlined for soldiers. While it had decent techniques for guarding and attacking it was still lacking in some of the more finesse sides of martial arts. It didn’t waste time with joint techniques, acupuncture points, ways to off balance your opponent and throw them. It didn’t even incorporate all the body parts able to attack and defend into its art. Ruling Fist was truly built for its namesake. Its creator, one of the long forgotten emperors, had achieved enlightenment with the ways of the fist and had created a punch that could use the power of the world itself. Ruling Fist was a guide to reach that level of the fist, everything else was forgone so as to not hinder the advancement to that goal. Zale wasn’t trying to master a single punch. His goal was to master unarmed combat; the empty hand. That was why Malchi was directing him to incorporate other martial arts into Ruling Fist.

While Zale himself was acutely aware of his progress over the last month so too were the other students. They could see him training during the mornings and were motivated to train faster themselves. From their point of view, Zale was progressing at a terrifying rate. He had started weeks after they had in his training and had even chosen to learn empty handed fighting. At first they had all secretly patronized him for being foolish, but when he had accidentally destroyed the training dummy in the martial training room while practicing they had begun to see him as a true adversary. They couldn’t look past the fact that he was being trained by the legendary General Malchi any longer. It didn’t matter to them that the man had been washed up for years. Results spoke for themselves.

None of the other students were more alert to this than Yale Brekk. While Zale had searched for the peeping boy he had encountered his first day in Delvers Ridge and eventually found him training in a brutal battle of abilities with his master behind the Spirit Hall, so too was Yale searching for Zale. However, Yale hadn’t ever seen Zale use any abilities. He had only ever seen him practice absurd physical training. His master had told him that Zale was someone who he should befriend because he would make waves. While the physical training was impressive, Yale still couldn’t see what could cause Zale to be any real benefit to him. Yale had two A rank abilities.

Active –  Ice Toy

Level Three

Able to create small objects out of ice and manipulate them to a small degree without contact.

Current intricacy of objects: Low

[ Rank A]

Passive – Fluid

Level Two

Move with the elegance of water and naturally know how to adapt.

Dexterity: Moderately Improved

Sixth Sense: Almost nonexistent

[Rank A]

“We should spar. We can be considered allies going into the competition. Both of us have been sponsored by our respective Spirit Halls. It would do us both good to learn from each other,” Yale said as he sat across from Zale in the hot spring.

“Who would want to be considered an ally with a pervert?” Zale asked.

Yale stood up and faced Zale without covering up at all. “Sixth rule of man, once a brotherhood is struck it shall last for eternity. We became brothers that night over a month ago when we peeked together,” Yale said.

Zale almost spat blood. Who had done the peeking? He had certainly never joined Yale. The strange thing about Yale’s inquiry was that Zale truly did want to spar. If not with Yale, then any with any of the other students. He had felt he had made significant progress over the last month and real practice in sparing was what he needed to bring everything had been doing together. However, Malchi had been very adamant that he was not ready yet to spar with anyone. Originally Zale had thought this was because he hadn’t caught up to the others training. In regards to training abilities he knew was behind by a large margin. Both of his abilities were stuck at level one still. However, Zale knew his martial skills were equal if not above the others. He could spar in just the martial field with no abilities being used. He wasn’t sure why Malchi was so stubborn when it came to this.

“I will ask my master but he hasn’t let me spar with anyone yet so don’t get your hopes up,” Zale said.

Yale smiled and sunk back down into the water answering Zale’s prayers. “Come then, let’s celebrate our brotherhood with a good look at what the fairer half of humans have to offer.”

Before Yale could even swim to the thin wooden wall that divided the hot spring, a rock flew over the divider landing eerily on Yale’s head. A high pitched voice followed the rock over the wall.

“If you even think to peek over this wall Yale Brekk I will have your head in the gallows so fast our master won’t have time to save you.”

Zale recognized the voice as the same one from when Yale had peeked all those weeks ago. He never believed in coincidences. Maybe Yale wasn’t such a pervert as he had thought, maybe he was just interested in one girl. The phrase “our master” hadn’t slipped by Zale either. While Yale laughed and rubbed his head Zale got out of the hot spring and dried himself off.

“Who is that girl anyway?” Zale asked.

“My apprentice sister. Delvers Ridge is bigger than Jeskai City so it has a larger budget. They sponsor two people a year instead of one. She is the other sponsor.”

Zale had been told by Malchi that Delvers Ridge had sponsored two people. At least now he knew who they were. The voice over the divider wasn’t forgettable, and Zale was sure he hadn’t heard it in any of his classes. He wouldn’t stress over it though; he would meet her eventually. If not when training in Delvers Ridge, then at the school tournament as a rival. The other students that practiced in the martial training room and attended group classes to train their elemental abilities weren’t his real competition. They were the bulk that was sifted through before the gems were found. Maybe one or two of them would be able to attend a good school to further hone their abilities but most of them would be eliminated very early in the competition. Zale’s goal was to stand out from all of them. At the moment he was equal to all of them in martial skill, maybe even a single level above them. By the time the school tournament came he needed to be so far above them that one was the sky while the other was the earth.     

Not wanting to linger and not caring to listen to anything more Yale had to say, Zale left the hot spring and went to his room for a well-deserved nights rest. The next morning, he would ask Malchi for permission to spar. The last time he had asked, Malchi had made him run an extra lap after he had finished with the bar exercise. He was hoping that now Malchi would be forced to allow it because Yale had specifically asked. Commander Cipher was no pushover and neither were his disciples. Yale wouldn’t have asked for a spar if Commander Cipher hadn’t suggested it. If Malchi rejected the idea without any consideration it would be the same as giving Commander Cipher no face at all.  

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