Hour 25
Krad's knuckles were bleeding again. Not from enemy attacks or sparring accidents, from hitting the training pillar Mist had erected in the center of the plaza. It was a column of stone reinforced with basic durability enchantments, smooth and unforgiving. Krad had been striking it for the past hour under Mist's watchful eye.
"Again," Mist commanded. "And this time, remember what I said about hip rotation."
Krad planted his feet, feeling the connection between ground and body that Mist had drilled into him. He drew back his fist, rotated his hips, and drove forward with everything he had.
The impact sent a shockwave up his arm. The pillar didn't crack, it wasn't supposed to... but he felt the difference. The strike had weight behind it now, not just wild aggression.
[ Damage Dealt: 47 ]
[ System Buddy: Hey, that's almost double what you were doing two hours ago! ]
[ System Alpha: Improvement rate: Acceptable. Current striking power without enhancement: 34% increase from baseline. ]
"Better," Mist acknowledged. "Your form is getting cleaner. But you're still hesitating right before impact, like you're afraid of hurting yourself."
"I am hurting myself," Krad said, looking at his bloodied knuckles.
"Then hurt yourself correctly." Mist walked over and grabbed Krad's hand, examining the damage. "See these scrapes? That's from your knuckles dragging across the surface. You're not making solid contact, you're glancing off."
He positioned Krad's fist against the pillar. "The first two knuckles, index and middle finger, those take the impact. Land with those, and your hand bones align properly to transfer force. Land with your ring and pinky knuckles, and you'll break your hand."
"Why didn't you teach me this before I destroyed my knuckles?"
"Because pain is an excellent teacher." Mist's grin was absolutely unrepentant. "Now you'll remember. Again."
Krad reset his stance. This time, he focused on those first two knuckles, visualizing them as the point of contact. He struck. The impact was cleaner, and his hand hurt less despite hitting harder.
[ Damage Dealt: 52 ]
"There it is," Mist said with approval. "That's the foundation. Everything else, all the techniques, all the power, all the flash, it's built on basic mechanics like this. Get the fundamentals right, and the advanced stuff follows naturally."
Queen Hania approached, carrying what looked like strips of cloth. "Here. Let me wrap those hands before you do permanent damage."
As she carefully bandaged his knuckles, her touch gentle but efficient, Krad found himself studying her face. The resemblance to Hanan was still striking, but there were differences too. Hania's eyes held depths of sorrow that her daughter's hadn't yet known. The lines around her mouth spoke of centuries, most of them spent in corruption and pain.
"You're thinking about my daughters," Hania said without looking up from the bandaging.
"Is it that obvious?"
"You get a certain expression. Sad and determined at the same time." She tied off the bandage with practiced ease. "Hanan has that same look when she's trying to be brave."
"She gave me foods," Krad said quietly.
Hania's hands stilled. "She... she helped you?"
"More than that. She inspired me." Krad clenched his newly bandaged fists. "She told me about Green Kingdom, about what Damos did. About how she's been hiding, waiting to get strong enough to fight back. And when I saw how determined she was, how she refused to give up even though she's just a kid facing an army of goblins..."
He met Hania's eyes. "I wanted to be like that. To have that kind of courage. That's partly why I agreed to fight Liyab... because Hanan showed me what it means to stand up even when the odds are impossible."
Tears gathered in Hania's eyes, the first Krad had seen since her domain collapsed. "She's... she's grown so much. When I last saw her, she was barely twelve. Just a child, and now..."
"Now she's a princess leading a resistance," Krad finished. "Or trying to. She's smart, brave, kind, everything you'd want a daughter to be."
Hania's composure finally cracked. She covered her mouth with one hand, shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Dani, who'd been observing from nearby, moved closer instinctively, one hand hovering uncertainly near Hania's shoulder before finally settling there in comfort.
"I failed them," Hania whispered. "I was supposed to protect them. To be their mother. And instead, I became a monster that would have killed them if they'd crossed my path."
"But you didn't," Krad said firmly. "You were corrupted, controlled by forces beyond your power. That wasn't your choice."
"Wasn't it?" Hania looked up at him, her eyes red. "I was Queen of the Green Kingdom. I had access to magics, powerful artifacts. I could have found a way to resist if I'd been stronger, smarter, better---"
"Stop." The word came from Mist, sharp and commanding. He'd been silent during the exchange, but now he stepped forward. "I've heard that speech before. The if only I'd been stronger speech. You know who says it? Every parent who's ever lost a child. Every warrior who's survived when their comrades didn't. Every person who's ever faced something beyond their control and blamed themselves for not being superhuman."
He crouched down to Hania's level, his expression unusually gentle. "You fought Damos alongside your husband. You unleashed Celestial Storm, one of the most powerful elven magics in existence. You did everything right. And you still lost because sometimes, the enemy is just stronger. That's not failure... that's tragedy."
"But I should have---"
"Should have what? Predicted that a god would intervene? That Xerxes would find your body and complete a corruption that was already divinely mandated?" Mist shook his head. "You're not weak, you were beaten by forces that would have crushed anyone. The Red God, a Goblin Lord, a Corrupted Mage with centuries of dark research. That's not a fair fight... that's a joke."
Hania was silent for a long moment. Then, very quietly. "How do I face them? If we survive this tournament, if we somehow make it back to the Green Kingdom... how do I look my daughters in the eye after becoming the thing I died fighting against?"
"The same way I looked at my squad after I failed them," Dani said, her voice rough with old pain. "The same way Kora looked at herself in the mirror after losing her combat magic. You tell them the truth, that you were broken, that you were remade into something terrible, but that you fought your way back. That even as Han, even corrupted and controlled, some part of you was still screaming to protect them."
"Was I though?" Hania whispered. "I don't remember thinking of them even once while I was the Cursed Queen."
"You wouldn't," Queen Hania said. "Corruption doesn't just twist your body, it rewrites your memories, your priorities, your very sense of self. But the fact that you broke free the moment your domain shattered? The fact that your first thoughts after regaining clarity were of Hanan and Bruwa? That tells me the real you never stopped fighting."
Krad thought about the Moon Eater, about those moments when it took control and his consciousness dimmed. He'd felt it... the terrifying sensation of being a passenger in his own body, watching through eyes that weren't quite his anymore.
"When the Moon Eater takes over," he said slowly, "I can barely remember what happens. It's like watching someone else pilot my body. But even then, even when I'm almost completely gone, there's this tiny part of me that's still aware... still resisting."
He looked at Hania. "I think you were doing the same thing for fifteen years. Fighting from inside a prison you couldn't escape, waiting for any chance to break free. And when Mist destroyed your anchor, that's exactly what you did."
Hania wiped her eyes, some of the crushing guilt easing from her expression. "Thank you. All of you. I don't know if I deserve such kindness, but---"
"Deserve has nothing to do with it," Mist interrupted. "We're all just trying to survive in a world that's been broken by forces beyond our control. Now come on, we've got limited time, and Krad still fights like he learned from watching drunk tavern brawls."
"Hey!" Krad protested.
"Prove me wrong." Mist's grin was challenging. "Back to the pillar. Another hundred strikes, and this time, I want to see you maintain form even when you're exhausted."