Chapter 19
Zale walked out of the Guild excited to get back to the Spirit Hall and delve into the beginners book on glyphs. Despite everyone telling him his dual passives were a blessing Zale still felt disadvantaged. Right now, he stood almost no chance in a fight against his peers because of the disparity between an active and passive skill. Being accepted into the Glyph Master guild felt like he had evened the playing field somehow. With the constant threat of lightning falling down upon him, knowing he had at least some form of power gave him confidence.
Three boys blocked his path on the street. Zale moved to the left to get out of their way, but they moved in accordance to stop him. They looked to be the same age as him but he didn’t recognize either of them from the Spirit Hall. Whoever they were, they didn’t frequent the martial training fields. The three boys looked at Zale with disdain.
“Excuse me,” Zale said as he tried to go around the trio again.
The three boys blocked his way again. “You’re General Malchi’s disciple? Have a quick duel with us. We want to see what someone capable of bringing him out of retirement is made of.”
Great. Zale did not want to duel with these boys. A duel was recorded by the Spirit Gems. Some schools would take duel records into account when deciding on acceptance. He had just begun leveling Impulse Control while Lightning Rod was still completely untouched. He didn’t like his chances at winning.
“My master has forbidden me from duels or sparring,” Zale responded as he tried to move past the trio again.
The leader of the trio had short blond hair and a single feather earring in his right ear. He shot his hand out and a blade of wind shot out in-front of Zale. A basket of fruit on a nearby street stall was cut in half by the wind, the fruit spilling out onto the street.
“It wasn’t a request. I will have my duel,” the boy said as he shot another wind blade at Zale.
Zale leaned to the side and dodged the blade. The people on the street panicked and ran as the blade sliced down the street. Zale was worried the other two boys would join in as well, but instead they seemed to each take different ends of the street to prevent anyone from interrupting the fight.
The blond haired boy punched out again and again, each punch producing another blade of condensed air capable of slicing through hard wood. Zale shuddered at what his body would look like if he was actually struck by it. He peddled backward dodging the blasts of wind as best he could. Unfortunately, he wasn’t going to win by dodging, eventually he would be hit. He needed a way to close the distance. None of his abilities could help him. Impulse control gave him zero advantages thus far, while Lightning Rod was simply useless. He had yet to even look at the beginner’s book that he got at the Guild Hall, so anything Glyph Master related was out. The only tool he had available was his martial training. He had been studying non-stop since he discipled himself to Malchi. He had improved and strengthened his understanding of the empty-fist to a very high level. Certainly at a higher level than any of his peers. The question Zale was afraid of was whether that difference in martial skill could make up for not having an active ability.
He needed to close the distance between himself and the blond haired boy as fast as he could. That meant instead of retreating from the blades of wind he would have to move towards them. He relied on his foot work to spin, duck, and jump over the blades as he closed the distance. He was lucky the blond haired boy hadn’t leveled his ability to a high enough level where he could make the blades of wind appear from anywhere. If that was the case Zale would be doomed. But since the wind blades needed to be pushed out from his hands in the form of a punch it was easy for Zale to anticipate where the wind blades were aimed before they were even released.
Zale was surprised he arrived at the blond haired boy without incident, but not as surprised as his adversary. The blond haired boy punched toward Zale’s face. Zale lunged inside his guard and knocked the hand up and away with his right forearm sending the wind blade slicing into the sky only to dissipate harmlessly. Instead of retracting his arm back Zale sent his elbow into the boy’s jaw, sending him to the ground in one hit. The boy hit the ground hard, blood leaking from his mouth.
Before Zale could even rejoice in his victory the ground beneath him turned soft like quicksand. His body was half buried before he even understood what had happened. He realized quickly it must have been one of the blond haired boy’s friends. Zale struggled as hard as he could but it was pointless, no matter how much he tried he couldn’t free himself from the earth. The blond haired boy picked himself up and spat out a mouth full of blood onto the street, his friends arriving at his side.
“You will regret striking me,” the blond haired boy said.
“You were the one that attacked me. I didn’t want to fight in the first place,” Zale responded.
The blond haired boy ignored him and punched toward Zale sending a blade of wind directly at his head. Zale closed his eyes waiting for his end but only heard a bang followed by the ground slightly shaking. He opened his eyes to see a large metal pillar similar to what he saw Commander Cipher use planted in front of him. It was clear the metal pillar had protected him from the blade of wind. Zale tried to turn his head and look behind him to see his savior but with his body half buried he couldn’t turn enough. It wasn’t until the blond and his friends ducked to avoid an icy arrow that Zale knew who his savior was. Devon Brekk.
“This isn’t over,” the blond said as he quickly retreated with his two friends.
Devon ran over and offered Zale his hand.
“Well, that was pretty close. You’re lucky I was in the area.”
Zale took his hand, and with Devon’s help he was able to get himself out of the half buried state he was in. The metal pillar flew into the air and landed on the back of a small girl with silver hair. She seemed unperturbed at all about the fight.
“Thank you very much. My journey almost ended right there,” Zale said as he cupped his hands in thanks to both Devon and the girl.
“Fifteenth rule of man: A friend’s enemy is your enemy. Nothing to be thankful for,” Devon said as he wrapped his arm around Zale’s neck and pointed out into the distance. “Your enemy is my enemy. Brothers have to stick together,” he continued.
“That was Duke Etland. By saving this boy we gained a dangerous enemy. He will not be easy to deal with during the school tournament,” the silver haired girl responded in a very matter of fact way.
Zale removed himself from Devon’s grasp and humbly bowed again to the girl. It was her metal ability that had saved him from deaths door.
“We have yet to be introduced. My name is…”
“Zale Ashwater,” the girl interrupted.
Devon stepped in front of the silver haired girl and made a grandiose display of presenting her.
“Zale, may I introduce to you my lovely apprentice sister Regina Ywaylnn. As you can see she has the same active as Commander Cipher. A rank ability Metal Manipulation. It is very versatile and very sought after. Much more so than mine.”
Regina smacked the back of Devon’s head. “Who asked you to share my information. It isn’t guaranteed he will be our ally during the tournament.”
“He certainly will. When men partake in peeping together it creates a bond that lasts a lifetime…”
Zale was the one that struck him this time. “Who peeped with you? I think your memory is as delusional as your rules,” Zale said.
Devon laughed. “Forget about all of this. Let’s get back to the Spirit Hall before we miss dinner. Knowing how strict Malchi is with you it may be your last meal for a while once he finds out you got in a fight.”
Zale paled at the thought of telling Malchi about his street fight. It wasn’t something he could hide though. Malchi was well connected in the city and would definitely find out eventually. Devon was on to something though. A good dinner before he broke the news wouldn’t hurt anyone.