Chapter 20 — The Partner Who Chose His Tamer
The sparring platform still shimmered faintly with the remnants of Clark's match. Thin wisps of steam curled from the scorched stone, frost clung stubbornly to one edge of the arena, and everyone had grown considerably quieter after learning that Luminel had accomplished all of that while using only a fraction of his actual strength. Haruto and Ryu were still arguing over whether they ought to be next when Raikōmaru slipped away from Caelan's side and started toward the platform, sparks crawling softly through his red-and-blue fur.
Caelan noticed almost immediately. "Raikōmaru?"
The little Voltkin stopped and glanced back, his expression unusually serious. "I want to go."
Caelan looked toward Luminel, then back at him. "You want to fight him?"
Raikōmaru nodded, but before Caelan could object, he added, "Not alone."
That drew the others' attention. Raikōmaru walked back until he stood directly in front of Caelan, paws clenched but voice steady. "I want you to be my tamer."
Caelan stared at him. "My what?"
"Like them." Raikōmaru pointed toward the children and their partners. "Haruto has Ryu. Daichi has Clark. Misaki has Sakura. They fight together. Their humans support them, warn them, strengthen them. We're different, but we've been training together too."
They were different. Caelan possessed no Resonance Linker connecting him to Raikōmaru, no Virtue Sigil and no artificial system designed to force evolution through a human-Aetherkin bond. Still, he had promised to train him, and that promise had become more important to Raikōmaru than Caelan had first realized.
"I know I can't evolve yet," Raikōmaru continued, glancing briefly toward Clark, who was recovering nearby after returning to his smaller form. "And I'm not as strong as their partners. But I don't want to wait until I'm stronger before I start acting like someone worth fighting beside. You believed I could improve when I didn't. So support me. Tell me where to move, strengthen me like you did yesterday, and help me fight him the way a tamer would."
Caelan studied him for a moment before a faint smile appeared. "All right."
Raikōmaru's ears shot upward. "Really?"
"You asked, and I did promise to train you."
Caelan crouched and placed one hand on his head. Ki spread from his palm, but he did not try to force it into Raikōmaru's body. They had already discovered why that was a poor idea. Instead, the energy flowed around him and settled over fur and limbs like a thin second skin. Pale light shimmered across his frame, while blue sparks from Raikōmaru's own electricity began racing through the mantle until both energies overlapped.
Raikōmaru grinned. "There it is."
"Don't get overexcited," Caelan warned as he stood. "I'm controlling that mantle. If you start moving without listening, maintaining it gets harder."
"I can handle it."
"And when I tell you to move, move."
"Yes, Tamer Caelan."
Caelan's expression flattened. "Never call me that again."
Haruto laughed loudly from the sidelines while Raikōmaru marched onto the platform looking considerably more pleased with himself than before.
Luminel tilted his head, spear resting against one shoulder. "No evolution, no Resonance Linker and no Sigil. Just a cultivator supporting you."
"He's not supporting me from behind," Raikōmaru said.
Caelan folded his arms. "I am literally standing over here."
"Spiritually beside me."
Caelan sighed.
Luminel's mouth twitched. "Very well. Show me."
Raikōmaru moved first. Electricity burst beneath his paws, and the ki mantle amplified the force of his launch, sending him streaking across the arena in a red-and-blue blur.
At the same instant, Caelan opened his Eyes of Fate.
Possibilities unfolded before him. Luminel shifting left. Raikōmaru attacking high. The spear descending. Lightning deflected. A counterstrike. Raikōmaru thrown. More futures followed, branching again and again, but Caelan understood the problem almost immediately.
There were many possible ways for the fight to unfold.
None of them ended with Raikōmaru winning.
He reached instinctively for Path Maker, only to find that the ability had nothing useful to show him. There was no route to select because the desired result did not exist.
So Path Maker is useless here.
That did not mean the fight itself was useless.
"Left!"
Raikōmaru moved without hesitation. Luminel's spear swept through the place his ribs would have occupied a heartbeat earlier, and Raikōmaru twisted in midair to fire a bolt from his tail.
Luminel turned his spear.
CRACK!
The electricity split around the golden shaft.
"Down!"
Raikōmaru dropped flat as Luminel flashed overhead.
"Now!"
Raikōmaru launched upward and slashed. Luminel rotated just enough for the claws to miss, but the gap was much smaller this time.
Raikōmaru landed with a grin. "You almost had to dodge!"
"I did dodge."
"You know what I mean!"
Caelan saw the next sequence forming and found little he liked in it. Three futures ended with Raikōmaru being struck cleanly; one merely ended with him being thrown aside.
"Back!"
The warning came a fraction too late.
Luminel's spear shaft slammed across Raikōmaru's side with a heavy WHAM, sending him tumbling across the platform. The ki mantle absorbed part of the impact, and he rolled twice before digging his claws into the stone and forcing himself to a stop.
"Ow," Raikōmaru muttered.
"Still moving?" Caelan called.
Raikōmaru pushed himself upright. "Obviously."
Luminel floated several metres away. "Good."
Raikōmaru's fur bristled. "I wasn't asking you."
He charged again, and Caelan increased the reinforcement mantle around him. The extra ki tightened over Raikōmaru's limbs, giving him another burst of speed.
"Two steps right."
Raikōmaru obeyed.
Luminel thrust.
Missed.
"Jump."
A second thrust passed underneath him.
"Tail."
Lightning erupted downward, but Luminel vanished before it struck.
Caelan followed the future instead of the present. "Behind you!"
Raikōmaru spun just in time to find the spear point stopping centimetres from his face. He froze for the briefest instant.
Luminel smiled and flicked his wrist.
The shaft struck Raikōmaru across the chest and sent him skidding backward.
His breathing had already become heavier, and Caelan could feel the drain building in his own body as well. Maintaining a precise reinforcement mantle around another fast-moving creature required constant control, especially when Raikōmaru accelerated unpredictably.
Still manageable.
For now.
Raikōmaru glanced toward him.
Caelan understood the question in his expression. "Again."
A grin returned to the Voltkin's face, and he charged.
Bolt after bolt tore across the arena, forcing Luminel to shift rather than simply hover in place. Caelan continued calling the futures as they appeared.
"High!"
Raikōmaru ducked.
"Turn!"
He pivoted.
"Don't attack!"
Raikōmaru aborted a strike just before Luminel's spear would have caught his foreleg.
"Forward now!"
He slipped beneath the shaft and lunged, claws coming within a handspan of Luminel's chest.
The fairy's eyes widened slightly before one tiny foot struck Raikōmaru squarely in the forehead.
THUMP!
Raikōmaru landed on his back.
Haruto winced. "That looked painful."
Renji nodded. "Very."
Raikōmaru sat up slowly, eyes crossing for half a second before correcting. "Still majestic."
Caelan laughed despite himself.
Luminel floated backward. "Your coordination is improving, but your body is badly suited to the style you're trying to use."
Raikōmaru's expression soured as he looked down at himself. His small frame was excellent for bursts of speed, but every attempt to exchange close-range attacks with a humanoid spear fighter exposed the difference in reach and balance.
He looked toward Caelan. "Can you fix that?"
Caelan blinked, then understood.
Transformation.
He knew how to alter his own appearance and the appearance of others. It was not evolution and would not increase Raikōmaru's fundamental power, but power was not the issue here.
Body structure was.
"I can try."
Luminel raised an eyebrow.
Caelan walked to the edge of the arena and formed the technique. "Hold still."
Light wrapped around Raikōmaru's body as Caelan shaped the transformation. His silhouette stretched upward, hind legs lengthening and torso rising while his forelimbs became arms without losing their claws. He remained recognizably himself—crimson-red fur, blue markings, long ears, crackling tail and bright electric eyes—but now stood nearly two metres tall with broad shoulders, longer limbs and a body capable of fighting upright.
When the light faded, Raikōmaru stared at his hands, then down at his feet, and finally back at Caelan.
"I'm tall."
Haruto burst out laughing. "That's your first observation?"
Raikōmaru ignored him and threw two experimental punches, adjusting his balance as he moved. "Oh."
Caelan pointed at him before the excitement could get out of hand. "You're not stronger."
Raikōmaru paused. "What?"
"It's just transformation. Same power, different body."
Raikōmaru looked down at himself again and smiled. "Good enough."
Luminel's expression had become noticeably more interested. "You changed another being's form without changing its stage."
"Yes."
"And he retains his abilities."
Raikōmaru raised one hand, electricity forming between his claws. "Apparently."
Luminel's wings fluttered once. "Interesting."
Caelan returned his attention to Raikōmaru. "Ready?"
The transformed Voltkin lowered into a stance that now actually looked like one. "Ready."
Caelan opened his Eyes of Fate again. "Then move."
Raikōmaru shot forward.
The difference was immediate. He could change direction without dropping to all fours, strike while moving and threaten Luminel before stepping fully into spear range.
Luminel thrust.
"Inside!"
Raikōmaru stepped toward the attack instead of away from it. The spear point passed beneath his arm, and two ki-reinforced claws caught the shaft.
"Lightning!"
Electricity surged down Raikōmaru's arms and into the weapon.
Luminel released one hand rather than absorb the full current.
Raikōmaru punched.
For the first time, his fist connected.
THUD.
The blow was glancing, but Luminel still slid backward through the air.
Everyone went silent.
Raikōmaru stared. "I hit him."
Haruto jumped to his feet. "YOU HIT HIM!"
Raikōmaru's face lit up. "I HIT HIM!"
"Don't celebrate!" Caelan warned.
Too late.
Luminel appeared above him.
"Lesson one."
The spear shaft crashed into Raikōmaru's shoulder.
"Never celebrate before the fight ends."
WHAM!
Raikōmaru struck the ground hard, rolled onto one knee and immediately found Luminel attacking again.
Caelan's eyes raced through futures. "Block high!"
Raikōmaru caught the shaft on both forearms.
"Turn!"
He rotated with the force.
"Kick!"
His heel swept toward Luminel, who rose over it.
"Tail!"
Lightning snapped upward.
Luminel twisted aside.
Raikōmaru followed with claw, elbow, tail and another burst of electricity. He no longer fought like a small animal desperately trying to touch an opponent designed for close combat. In the transformed body, he could finally fight like the warrior he wanted to become.
He was simply a very inexperienced warrior fighting a master.
Luminel's spear struck his wrist, then his ankle, then his ribs in three clean movements.
Raikōmaru staggered.
"Back!" Caelan called.
Luminel was already there.
The butt of the spear struck Raikōmaru's stomach, driving the air from his lungs. As he doubled over, Luminel hooked one leg with the shaft and swept him from his feet.
Raikōmaru crashed onto his back.
His transformation flickered.
The ki mantle weakened.
Caelan could feel him nearing his limit.
Luminel hovered above him with his spear lowered but ready.
Raikōmaru tried to rise. His arms trembled as he forced one knee beneath himself, but it slipped and he dropped again.
"I'm still not enough," he whispered.
Caelan stepped forward.
Raikōmaru looked toward him, frustration and embarrassment burning beneath the exhaustion.
"I couldn't beat him."
"There was never a way to beat him," Caelan said.
Raikōmaru blinked. "What?"
"My Path Maker couldn't find one."
Luminel's gaze shifted toward Caelan.
Raikōmaru stared at him. "You knew from the beginning?"
"Yes."
"And you still let me fight?"
"You didn't ask me to help you win." Caelan folded his arms. "You asked me to help you fight."
Raikōmaru went quiet for a moment before giving a weak laugh. "That's annoyingly fair."
Luminel lowered his spear. "You were never going to defeat me. You're Juvenile and I'm Elite. You have almost no formal combat experience, while I've been fighting longer than you can presently imagine."
Raikōmaru grimaced. "You're very good at encouragement."
"But you made me adjust."
That silenced him.
Luminel pointed the spear toward the place where Raikōmaru's punch had connected. "You listened to your partner. He learned to support rather than control every movement, and you kept fighting after being knocked down repeatedly."
His expression softened slightly.
"That was the lesson."
Raikōmaru tried once more to stand, but the transformation gave out before his legs did. His humanoid shape collapsed back into his familiar small Voltkin form, and the ki mantle faded with it.
His knees buckled.
Caelan caught him before he hit the stone.
Raikōmaru slumped against his chest. "Did I do all right?"
Caelan looked down at him. "You hit an Elite-stage fairy who knew you were coming."
Raikōmaru's eyes brightened weakly. "Once."
"Once is more than zero."
"I'll take it."
Caelan carried him toward the edge of the platform while the others watched in a different sort of silence than before. Raikōmaru had not won, had not come close to winning and had not evolved. What he had done was step onto the same battlefield as partners who possessed forced Adult evolutions and fight anyway. More importantly, he had chosen someone to stand beside him.
Later, Caelan sat beneath one of the silver-leaf trees with Raikōmaru resting across his lap. The little Voltkin's breathing had steadied, though his limbs still twitched occasionally from exhaustion. Caelan ran one hand lightly across the fur between his ears.
"You were good."
Raikōmaru opened one eye. "I lost terribly."
"Yes."
His brow furrowed. "You're supposed to disagree."
"You did lose terribly."
"Caelan."
Caelan smiled. "That doesn't mean you fought badly."
Raikōmaru looked away. "The others have evolutions. They have Linkers and Sigils. I don't have any of that."
"You have me."
Raikōmaru looked up.
Caelan shrugged. "You asked me to act like your tamer, so apparently that's my problem now."
A small smile appeared.
"Do you really think I can get strong?"
"Yes."
"Strong enough to stand with them?"
"Yes."
"Strong enough to protect people?"
This time Caelan paused just long enough to make the answer matter. "If you keep training."
Raikōmaru nodded. "I will."
"Then so will I."
The Voltkin settled back against him, quiet for several seconds before murmuring, "That transformation was cool."
Caelan sighed. "I knew that was coming."
"Can we do it again tomorrow?"
"If you can walk tomorrow."
"I'll walk."
"You currently can't stand."
"I'll recover."
Caelan shook his head.
Raikōmaru's eyes were already drifting closed when he spoke again. "Next time, we hit him twice."
Caelan glanced across the training grounds, where Luminel had already begun preparing the next match, and smiled.
"Twice."
Raikōmaru finally relaxed.
Losing had not felt like failure this time, because this time someone had stood beside him through it.