Gabriel
The first two names were already glowing on the board by the time everyone settled into their seats, and neither cadet looked particularly happy about it. The boy on the left kept opening and closing his hands like he was trying to remind himself that they still worked, while the other bounced lightly on his heels and kept glancing toward the instructor instead of his opponent. They both looked like they had expected this combat class to involve things like drills, padded targets, maybe some controlled sparring after a week or two, but apparently nobody had prepared them for the possibility that thirty people would sit around and watch them figure out whether they actually knew how to throw a punch.
The instructor stepped away from the mat and raised one hand. "Alright, remember, no spirit reinforcement, and no intentionally crippling strikes. If I tell you to stop, you stop, and if you surrender, make it obvious enough that your opponent doesn't have to interpret your facial expression."
Neither of them laughed, and when the instructor asked, "Ready?" one nodded quickly while the other swallowed first before doing the same a second later.
His hand dropped.
The first challenger immediately charged, and I almost winced. He ran straight forward with both fists raised far too high, which gave the other cadet just enough time to throw an awkward punch that landed somewhere around his shoulder instead of his face. The impact barely mattered, but apparently being hit at all startled the first guy, because he answered with three punches that had absolutely no rhythm between them.
"Whoa," Elias whispered beside me. "Technique."
"Be nice," Nadia muttered, although she was already trying not to smile.
"I am being nice."
The fight somehow became worse from there. One of them grabbed the other by the uniform, the other tried punching while being pulled around, and within a few seconds they stopped looking like cadets demonstrating combat ability and started looking like two people fighting over the last seat on public transportation. They stumbled sideways, separated, charged again, and one of them nearly tripped over his own foot.
I hated admitting it, but it was a little amusing. It wasn't because either one was pathetic; they were new, and most people were.
Eventually the second cadet managed to land a cleaner shot to the ribs. His opponent folded instinctively, and before he could recover, the second cadet hooked an arm around his shoulders and dragged him down. They rolled once and struggled awkwardly for a few seconds before the instructor stepped closer.
"Enough. Cadet Mercer wins."
Both cadets froze as somebody had unplugged them. The winner immediately crawled backward and sat there breathing hard while the loser stayed flat on his back staring at the ceiling. A healer stationed beside the mat walked over, crouched between them, and placed a hand against the loser's chest. Pale spiritual threads spread beneath her palm, and within seconds the awkwardness along his ribs softened.
"Alright," the instructor said, waving them away. "Both of you, back to your seats."
The winner looked almost disappointed, like he had expected applause, but nobody gave him any. The board shuffled, two new names appeared, and then came another fight, followed by another.
It became obvious pretty quickly that most of the people in this class had very little experience fighting anyone who was actually trying to hit them. Some were athletic, some were strong, and a few had clearly watched enough instructional videos to imitate proper footwork, but imitation disappeared surprisingly fast once somebody's fist got close to their face.
Then the board changed again.
NADIA VOSS
Nadia leaned forward. "Oh."
A second name appeared beneath hers.
ARION ARDENT
She looked between Elias and me. "Well, wish me luck."
Elias gave her a completely serious nod. "Don't die."
"Thanks."
She stood and headed down the stairs while Arion Ardent came from the opposite side of the room. He was around average height, with light brown hair shaped in a strange rounded bowlcut style that almost resembled a helmet except for a longer section trailing around the back of his head. He looked normal enough physically, but the expression on his face told me immediately that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with this.
Nadia walked onto the mat and rolled one shoulder while Arion looked toward the instructor, then toward Nadia, and finally back toward the instructor again.
I leaned slightly toward Elias. "He's going to quit."
Elias looked at me. "Already?"
"Watch."
The instructor raised his hand. "Ready?"
Nadia lowered herself slightly into position while Arion barely moved. The second the instructor's hand dropped, Nadia exploded forward fast enough that Arion visibly flinched before she even reached him, and her fist stopped maybe an inch from the center of his face.
Arion shut both eyes.
Nothing happened.
Nadia froze, and for maybe two seconds they simply stood there, her fist hovering in front of his nose while he refused to move. Then he slowly crouched and sat down.
The entire room went silent.
Nadia looked toward the instructor with an expression that practically screamed, Are you serious?
Arion raised one hand. "I surrender."
Someone near the back laughed, and Nadia lowered her fist before staring at him. "...You couldn't have done that before I ran over here?"
Arion looked genuinely apologetic. "Sorry."
The instructor rubbed his forehead. "Voss wins. Ardent, if you intend to surrender next time, I would appreciate learning that before your opponent commits to an attack. Nadia, go sit down."
She turned around slowly and started walking back toward us, scratching the side of her head like she still hadn't processed what happened. The moment she sat down, Elias leaned toward her with mock seriousness.
"Wow. Dominant performance."
"Shut up."
"You didn't even take damage."
"I didn't even get to fight!"
I looked at her. "I told him you were going to scare him into quitting."
Nadia pointed at me. "Then next time you see something like that, warn me. I was about to look cool."
Elias nodded sympathetically. "Tragic."
She elbowed him.
The board shuffled again, and one name appeared that I didn't recognize.
URIEL ALWICK
Then came the second.
KIERAN HOLT
Elias straightened slightly. "Wait, isn't that the guy from yesterday?"
I looked toward the lower section of seats as Kieran stood, and now that Elias mentioned it, I recognized him too. Blue-black hair, brown eyes, athletic build; he had been one of the people involved in the banquet fight, and Nadia had held him off for a couple of seconds before everything became too chaotic to keep track of who was fighting whom.
"Yeah," Nadia said quietly. "That's him."
Kieran pulled his jacket off and handed it to somebody near his seat before stepping down toward the mat. He wasn't huge, but his shoulders and legs were built in a way that suggested he had done some kind of sport for years. The way he moved reinforced it too; he didn't look nervous, and he certainly didn't look like somebody about to throw his first punch.
Uriel Alwick came down from the opposite side. He was dark-skinned and a little taller than Kieran, with bright green eyes and orange-red dreadlocks decorated with small golden cuffs and rings. He rolled his neck once before raising his hands.
Elias leaned closer. "Who you got?"
"Kieran."
Nadia looked at me. "Because you know him?"
"No, it's because his stance is better."
Kieran's feet were already positioned properly, his weight balanced, shoulders loose, chin down. Uriel looked good too, but he carried more tension.
The instructor dropped his hand, and Uriel moved first. He came in with a fast jab, testing distance more than actually committing, while Kieran slipped just outside it and answered with a short strike toward the body. Uriel blocked, immediately came back with another punch, then added a low kick that Kieran barely pulled his leg away from.
It was much better than most of what we had seen so far.
The room got quieter.
Uriel pushed forward with a quick combination, jab, cross, then a hook, but Kieran stayed just outside the worst of it and answered every mistake with something small, a tap to the ribs, a kick against the thigh, a short hook whenever Uriel's guard opened. He wasn't overwhelming him, but he was gradually taking pieces away.
Uriel stepped in harder and threw another punch. Kieran ducked beneath it, pivoted, then spun, bringing his heel around quickly enough that Uriel barely got both forearms up in time. The kick slammed into his guard and knocked him sideways.
Someone whistled as Kieran didn't let him reset.
The fight stopped feeling competitive.
He immediately stepped into Uriel's space and started throwing harder punches, one toward the ribs, another high, then an uppercut that forced Uriel backward. Uriel covered up, but Kieran kept following him instead of allowing the distance to reopen.
"Okay," Nadia murmured. "He's kind of an asshole."
I didn't answer.
Uriel tried to circle out, but Kieran cut him off with another body shot, then a hook against the guard and a short uppercut. Uriel shoved him away and finally created some room.
"Back up," Uriel muttered.
Kieran smiled, barely, but enough.
Uriel threw a frustrated right hand, and Kieran caught it against his forearm, stepped inside, hooked Uriel's arm, then turned his hips. Uriel's feet left the floor, and he hit the mat hard.
Before he could recover, Kieran followed him down and mounted him. One punch landed, then another. Uriel brought both arms up, but Kieran kept going, punching against the guard until one slipped through and cracked across Uriel's cheek.
I frowned. "Okay."
Elias had gone quiet beside me.
Uriel twisted underneath him and tried to buck Kieran off, but Kieran adjusted his balance and drove another punch down. The instructor was watching, and so was the healer, yet Kieran hit him again. Uriel's resistance was fading now; there was technically still movement, technically still an attempt to defend himself, but there was no reason Kieran needed to keep throwing that hard.
Another punch landed, and Uriel's head snapped sideways.
"Enough," the instructor said.
Kieran stopped immediately, stayed there for half a second, breathing through his nose, then stood while Uriel remained on the ground. The healer hurried onto the mat and crouched beside him, spiritual threads already forming around her hands.
Nadia folded her arms. "Yeah, no. I officially don't like him."
Elias looked toward me. "That was extra, right?"
"Yeah."
Kieran stood over Uriel while the healer worked, and there was something about the way he looked down at him that bothered me more than the punches themselves. He hadn't lost control, and that was the problem; he had known exactly what he was doing.
My eyes stayed on him, and a few seconds later Kieran looked up across the room and directly at me. We held eye contact for a moment, neither of us smiling, before he finally turned and walked back toward his seat.
The instructor waited until Uriel was conscious enough to sit up before moving on. "Next."
The board shuffled.
My name appeared.
GABRIEL CAIN
I exhaled and stood.
Elias slapped my shoulder. "Try not to get mounted."
"Helpful."
Nadia leaned back. "If you lose after making fun of everybody else, I'm never letting you forget it."
"I wasn't making fun of them."
"You absolutely were."
"I was just observing."
"Sure."
I headed down the stairs while the second name appeared.
NORA SKY
I stopped for half a step because that name was familiar. A guy stood several rows away and started walking toward the mat, black hair with blue and lavender highlights, sky-blue eyes, and that same polite smile I remembered from our first day in the cafeteria.
Nora.
Right.
Deacon, Noah, Reyna, Nora. They had been the group that introduced themselves while we were eating.
He stepped onto the mat and looked at me with mild amusement. "Well, this is definitely not where I expected to see you again."
I smiled slightly. "Yeah, me neither."
Nora rolled one shoulder and raised his hands, although his stance immediately told me almost everything I needed to know. He hadn't trained much, maybe not at all.
"Hey," he said, giving me another smile, "go easy on me, alright? I don't really know how to fight yet."
"Alright."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
That seemed to reassure him.
I settled into position while the instructor raised his hand. "Ready?"
Nora nodded, and I did the same.
The hand dropped.
Nora approached carefully, too carefully, and jabbed. I moved my head slightly and let it pass, then watched him pull back, surprised he had missed, before throwing another from farther away.
I stepped outside it.
He tried a kick this time, and I checked it. Nora stumbled slightly when his leg came down, and somewhere behind me I heard Elias.
"GET HIM, GABE!"
The instructor looked toward the seats. "Cross."
"Sorry."
Nora laughed despite himself, which was probably the mistake.
I stepped forward while his attention flickered. He immediately raised his hands, but too high, so I tapped him once in the body, not hard, just enough to make his elbows drop. I moved to his outside, and when he turned to follow me, his feet crossed.
I hooked one ankle behind his and gave a light shove to the shoulder. Nora stumbled, caught himself, then spun around with a surprised laugh.
"Okay, wait."
I gave him enough room to reset.
He shook his arms out. "Yeah, alright, you actually know what you're doing."
"A little."
"A little?"
He came forward again, this time faster, throwing a jab followed by a second punch toward my ribs. I caught the first, shifted away from the second, then stepped close enough that he couldn't comfortably extend his arms.
Nora tried to pull away, so I caught his wrist. He twisted, and I let him, because the movement turned his back toward me. I stepped behind him, caught one arm across his chest, and secured the other before he realized what had happened.
He froze. "...Oh."
The instructor raised one hand. "Cain wins."
I released him immediately.
Nora turned around and gave that same polished laugh. "Yeah, alright. You got me."
"You good?"
"Yeah." He rubbed one shoulder. "Actually, that was kind of fun."
He held his hand out, and I shook it.
"Thanks for not destroying me."
"You did ask nicely."
"Well, apparently that's the strategy."
He laughed again before heading back toward his seat, and I watched him go for a second. Nora was almost too polite for this place, although I still couldn't tell whether that was genuinely who he was or whether he had simply become very good at pretending.
When I got back to my seat, Nadia looked at me with raised eyebrows. "That looked easy."
"It was."
Elias turned toward me. "Wow."
I looked at him. "What?"
"You didn't even pretend to be humble."
"He told me he didn't know how to fight."
Nadia smiled. "Still, you looked like you were teaching him during the match."
"I was trying not to hurt him."
Elias nodded toward the board. "Well, congratulations. You're officially better than somebody."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
The names shuffled again.
AMAYA FAWN
I immediately recognized the girl who stood: straight black hair, blue eyes, light-brown skin, the same girl who had been with Reyna earlier.
"So that's her name," Nadia murmured.
"Apparently."
Amaya walked down to the mat without looking at anybody, while her opponent was somebody I hadn't met, a taller cadet with broad shoulders and closely cropped hair.
The match started and ended faster than I expected. The other cadet tried using his size immediately, stepping forward and throwing a heavy punch, but Amaya slipped underneath it, drove a short strike into his ribs, then hooked one leg behind his ankle while pushing against his shoulder. He hit the floor, and before he could stand, she caught his arm, turned him onto his stomach, and locked it behind his back.
The instructor barely waited. "Fawn wins."
Amaya released him, stood, and returned to her seat without celebrating.
Nadia watched her go. "Okay. Reyna's friend can fight."
"Apparently."
"I still think she doesn't like us."
"You're still thinking about that?"
"Yes."
"She spoke to us for almost twelve seconds."
"Exactly. Twelve hostile seconds."
I shook my head.
More fights followed, some close and others not. Names disappeared from the winner side of the board and shifted into a separate column marked LOWER BRACKET, while the class gradually became louder as people started figuring out who was actually capable and who had simply looked intimidating.
Then Elias's name appeared.
He stopped smiling. "Oh."
I looked at him. "Good luck."
"Don't say it like that."
"Like what?"
"Like I'm leaving for war."
Nadia leaned toward him. "Try not to die."
Elias looked offended. "You stole my line."
"Go."
His opponent was a cadet named Mason Calder, slightly shorter than Elias but much heavier through the shoulders. Mason looked confident when he stepped onto the mat, while Elias did not. He stretched one arm across his chest and looked toward us.
"I hate you both."
Nadia waved.
The instructor dropped his hand, and Mason came in immediately, but Elias moved fast, much faster than his casual attitude usually suggested. That was something I had noticed about him before; he didn't have formal combat training, but he was naturally coordinated, and manipulating currents probably made him unusually aware of motion even when he wasn't actually allowed to use the ability.
Mason threw a punch, and Elias leaned away. Another came, and Elias stepped sideways.
"Stop running," Mason muttered.
"I'm not running."
"You're literally backing up."
Mason charged harder.
Elias waited until the last moment, stepped diagonally past him, then stuck one leg behind Mason's while guiding his shoulder forward. Mason stumbled, Elias shoved, and he went down.
The class laughed.
Mason got back up looking significantly less amused.
"Oh, now you're mad," Elias said.
"Cross," the instructor warned.
"Sorry."
Mason came forward again, this time feinting high before punching toward Elias's body. Elias actually got clipped and grunted as he moved backward.
Mason smiled. "There."
Elias rubbed his side. "Okay, that actually hurt."
Mason moved in to capitalize, but Elias suddenly stepped forward instead of back, caught Mason's wrist, redirected the arm past himself, then drove his shoulder into Mason's chest. Mason lost balance for half a second, and Elias used that moment to sweep his leg.
Mason hit the mat again.
Before he could stand, Elias dropped beside him, trapped one arm, and used his weight to keep Mason's shoulders down. Mason struggled, so Elias adjusted. Mason tried again, but nothing changed.
The instructor raised his hand. "Cross wins."
Elias immediately rolled away and stood, looking toward us as he raised both hands. Nadia started clapping dramatically, and I joined her.
Mason sat up, looking annoyed but unharmed, while Elias offered him a hand. "Hey, good fight."
Mason stared at him for a second before taking it. "Yeah."
When Elias returned, he dropped into the seat beside me and rubbed his ribs. "That guy hits hard."
Nadia looked at him. "You won."
"Yeah, but now I hurt."
"You have a healer downstairs."
"I'll survive."
I looked at him. "You did better than I expected."
He slowly turned toward me. "Was that supposed to be a compliment?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Work on those."
The ladder continued from there, match after match, with some names I recognized and most I didn't. There were a few surprises too; a small cadet who looked like he would get flattened ended up being one of the best grapplers in the room, another guy who had been talking loudly before the matches started lasted maybe fifteen seconds, and one girl won without throwing a single punch because her opponent kept overcommitting until she simply tripped him three times.
Gradually, half the room moved into the lower bracket.
The board reorganized, all thirty names disappearing for a moment before returning in two columns labeled UPPER BRACKET and LOWER BRACKET. The instructor stepped into the center of the mat while the healers finished working on the last pair.
"Alright, round one is finished."
Conversation immediately picked up, but he raised one hand. "Save it."
The room quieted again.
"If you lost, you're not eliminated from the ladder; you're simply entering from below. Win through the lower bracket, and you can still climb. If you won, though, don't get comfortable, because everybody you're facing now also won."
A few people visibly relaxed while others leaned forward.
The board shifted again, and names began pairing themselves.
Nadia leaned toward the screen, Elias sat up beside me, and I watched my own name slide across the board until it stopped in one of the upper-bracket slots.
A second name began flickering beneath mine.
The instructor looked up at the room, a faint smile appearing as the next round finished loading.
"Alright, part two starts now."
The board stopped shuffling.
My next opponent's name appeared.