Aria's training was rough, I could tell she was taking this seriously. The next morning always came faster than I wanted. My arms were still aching from hauling water the day before, but Aria didn't care.
Every morning, I woke to the sharp crack of her voice or the swish of a wooden staff cutting through the air. Today was no different—I barely had time to rub the sleep from my eyes before Aria hurled a short stick at my chest.
"Reflexes, Kael," she said, hands on her hips as I staggered. "If you can't block a stick, how are you going to dodge a blade?"
I groaned, tossing the stick back. "Do you ever wake up not wanting to kill me?"
"That's not killing. That's training," Aria replied coolly. "Now—again."
The first weeks of our sessions were not glamorous. I ran until my legs shook, sparred until my arms ached, and carried rocks up the hillside until my shoulders burned. Aria explained it plainly: stamina and reflexes were the foundations. Even if I couldn't awaken my spirit I should be able to fight.
Still, sparring was her favorite method.
"Up. We're starting," she said flatly, tossing a wooden staff at me. I barely caught it before it smacked me in the face.
Wooden weapons in hand, she darted at me with reflexes way sharper than mine. At first, I couldn't even raise my staff in time before s he smacked me across the ribs or knocked my weapon aside. Every time I hit the ground, she'd just say, "Again."
Between rounds, I collapsed into the grass. "You're insane."
Aria only smirked. "I am the champion. You actually being able to stand against me would be insane."
I sat up, panthing. "When am I gonna learn how to fight? The techniques? Just reflexes take you only so far in a fight."
She leaned on her staff, eyes serious now. "Ughh, I actually can't teach you since I practice Spirit Arts and spirit arts don't work that way. My soul is a bat. I fight like a bat does in nature—darting, disorienting, striking from strange angles. That's what spirit arts are: drawing strength from the animal in your spirit. But your spirit hasn't awakened. You don't even know what yours is yet."
"Then I can't learn at all?" Kael frowned.
"You can learn discipline. Reflex. Strength. That much anyone can do." She tilted her head at me. "But fighting like me? No. That's mine."
I stood and brushed myself off. "Spar me again. This time—use your spirit. Not fully, just a glimpse."
"You're not ready."
"Maybe not. But humor me."
For a long moment, Aria studied me. Then, with a small sigh, she rolled her shoulders. A faint shimmer rippled around her—I felt the pressure before he saw it. Her movements sharpened, her eyes gleaming as the instincts of her spirit bled into her stance.
"Don't regret this," she warned.
We clashed. Aria moved faster than before, her steps light, her strikes sudden. I stumbled, blocked, and swung desperately. But then, something clicked. Instead of panicking, I began to mirror her rhythm—sidestepping the way she did, dipping low, lashing out in quick bursts.
Aria faltered mid-strike, eyes widening. He's copying me?
I lunged, nearly tagging her shoulder. For the first time, Aria stepped back with genuine surprise.
When the bout ended, I collapsed onto my back, gasping. Aria loomed over me, still stunned. "You… mimicked me. That's impossible."
"Guess I'm just talented," I wheezed with a grin.
Aria crossed her arms. "Or something..." She couldn't hide the flicker of curiosity in her eyes.
The next morning, Aria wasn't alone when I arrived at the clearing.
Standing beside her was a girl my age, dark hair tied loosely, eyes sharp but kind. She offered me a small nod.
"This is Leilani," Aria said. "She's also going to participate in the trial. I thought you needed someone… different to spar with."
Leilani tilted her head, eyeing me. "So you're the outsider everyone's whispering about. Hm. You don't look like much."
I frowned. "Nice to meet you too."
She grinned. "Don't worry, I'll go easy."
I straightened, curious. "You practice spirit arts too?"
Leilani's lips quirked into a smile. "Mine's not as flashy as Aria's. But yes." She tapped her chest lightly. "A gecko. More versatile than just brute strength, in my opinion makes it more dangerous too."
I grinned. "Guess I'll find out."
The spar began, and I quickly realized Leilani wasn't exaggerating. She slipped around my strikes with uncanny ease, her movements light, her footing so steady I couldn't knock her off balance. I swung, lunged, tried brute force, but she was always one step ahead.
"Too slow," she teased, ducking under my arm and tapping my ribs.
"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, frustrated.
But then, instinctively, I shifted. I stopped fighting like myself—and started fighting like her. My strikes narrowed, my posture changed, my rhythm matched hers. For a fleeting moment, I moved with the same balance, the same fluidity.
Leilani's smile faltered. "Wait—are you… copying me?"
I smirked. "Maybe."
We clashed again, this time I was pressing her harder. Leilani's eyes widened as she realized what was happening. "You shouldn't be able to do that. Not without the same spirit."
Aria, watching from the sidelines, folded her arms tightly. "I told you he was reckless. But this…" Her gaze lingered on me, a hint of awe creeping into her tone. "…this is something else."
I mirrored her every strike, until she looked almost like she was sparring herself. For once, I had her on the back foot. When she tried to strike I also did when she was going to block, I stopped. When she was going to counter I didn't give her the chance to.
"Alright, this isn't gonna work, I will have to try something else." Before I could try to figure out what she meant by that, Leilani grew a tail, flat like a gecko. Her eyes changed, glowing faintly like molten gold, and the shift in her stance was immediate. The air thickened with pressure, like heat rippling off stone. The playful rhythm vanished—replaced with something primal, older.
I froze for half a second. She's faster.
Leilani lunged, tail sweeping low. It slammed into my ankle, it was marked with pulsing symbols that shimmered as she moved. My foot skidded across the floor—I barely caught myself before she followed up with a palm strike aimed at my chest.
I twisted, copying again, and my own hand snapped up to meet hers. The impact cracked like thunder.
Her smile returned, sharper now. "So you can keep up… for a moment."
She pivoted, weight shifting with reptilian grace. Every strike flowed into the next—tail, elbow, heel, palm—each movement seamless. I mirrored desperately, but she had a whole limb that I didn't. Her new rhythm was alien, less human, more… instinct. The closer I tried to mimic, the more my body stumbled against the unnatural timing.
"You're not just fighting me anymore," she said, circling, tail dragging patterns against the floor that left faint glowing streaks. "You're fighting my bloodline."
I wiped sweat from my brow, breathing hard, and smirked anyway. "Then I guess I'll just have to copy that too."
Leilani's tattoo flared—sprawling across her shoulder, down her arm, curling in intricate island patterns like the kind I'd seen in carvings and old chants, it resembled a lizard. The glow brightened, threads of light crawling toward her fist.
Aria's voice cut through, tense. "Kael! Don't push this—"
But it was too late. Leilani's fist came at me like a lightning strike, and for an instant, I thought I saw the shape of a gecko spirit coiling around her arm.
I braced, my own body shifting, forcing itself to mimic the impossible.
And when our blows met this time, the ground beneath us cracked.
Mine was definitely weaker, the absence of a spirit affecting my power. I got blown away to a tree that was behind me and then I fell. Before I fainted I heard her say.
"You're strange," she said softly. "Strange… but impressive."
I woke up in the hut, with Aria looking over me.
"I lost huh.."
"For you that may as well be considered a win. I'm not sure how you're able to copy people but with that our chances of passing the trial skyrocketed." Though this was good news, that was the thing. I didn't know how I could do this either.
"How much time do we have until the trial anyways?"
"Like a month.. give or take a couple days." One month. That was all I had to turn a strange trick into survival. If I failed… the trial wouldn't just break me. It would bury me.