Chapter 6: The Fist That Could Not Reach
The sun crawled toward its death in the west, bleeding orange and red across the sky while the peaks of the Heavenly Flame Sect caught the last light and threw it back in shades of gold. Caelan walked ahead along one of the broad mountain paths, hands tucked behind his head, with the unhurried stride of a boy who had already accomplished something entertaining that afternoon and fully intended to find another. Beside him came Lyra, crimson-haired and aristocratic even when irritated, still trying to understand how Caelan could hum cheerfully after spending the better part of an hour humiliating Jinwu Ren in his own training courtyard.
"What are you going to do now?" she asked.
Caelan did not look back.
"My next person."
"And then?"
"Home."
The answer came simply, as though recruiting strange young cultivators and then returning to dinner were equally ordinary parts of his schedule.
Lyra looked at the back of his head.
"You make this sound disturbingly routine."
"It could become routine."
"That is what disturbs me."
Caelan laughed.
He had chosen the next boy for a different reason than Ren. Ren had been rage wrapped around a bloodline that had not yet decided what it wanted to become. This one was simpler. Not weaker. Certainly not ordinary. Just somebody who had been handed a problem without a hidden blessing buried conveniently inside it.
Li Wei had reached the Second Stage of Foundation Establishment at fourteen.
Good.
Very good, even.
But not absurd.
For a genuinely talented disciple of the Heavenly Flame Sect, that was the sort of progress people praised without gathering three elders and a clan genealogy to discuss it. Ren reaching the same stage at thirteen was different. Caelan reaching Foundation at twelve while already possessing enough combat ability to stand above nearly everyone his age was different again.
Li Wei's problem had nothing to do with how quickly he cultivated.
He simply could not release Ki beyond his skin.
Foundation Establishment was supposed to change that. Mortal Realm cultivators reinforced themselves from within. Foundation Realm cultivators took the next step. Ki left the body. Techniques gained distance. Barriers became possible. Elements reached beyond flesh. The world became something a cultivator could touch without laying a hand upon it.
Li Wei had reached Foundation.
His Ki had stayed exactly where it was.
Inside.
The sect had spent a year studying him.
Medical cultivators.
Bloodline specialists.
Formation researchers.
Teachers who understood the body well enough to rebuild pieces of one.
Nothing.
There were known bloodlines with similar properties. Some were treasures. Bloodlines where Ki could never leak from the flesh, every fragment of power locked inside and forced into the body until muscle, bone and organs became monstrously strong.
Li Wei did not have one of those.
He had the useless version.
Ki could not leave his body.
That was all.
No increased efficiency.
No miraculous physique.
No compensation waiting to reveal itself when the moon was full and everyone became suitably dramatic.
Bad luck occasionally possessed the honesty to remain bad luck.
Caelan respected that.
He respected what Li Wei had done about it more.
"Why him?" Lyra asked as they moved beneath the shadow of a floating training platform.
Caelan shrugged.
"He's good."
"That description seems inadequate."
"He's better at hand-to-hand combat than I am."
Lyra stopped.
Caelan continued for three steps before noticing.
He looked back.
"What?"
"You admitted somebody is better than you at something."
"Yes."
"Without being tortured."
Caelan frowned.
"I admit that all the time."
"No, you don't."
"I admitted Ren has more Ki."
"You immediately followed that by explaining why it didn't matter."
"It didn't."
Lyra hurried after him.
"So this Li Wei can beat you?"
"No."
There it was.
Lyra sighed.
"Of course not."
"He's better at hand-to-hand fighting."
"But."
"Eyes of Fate."
Caelan tapped beneath one golden eye.
"He can know more ways to hit me than I know ways to hit him. It doesn't help much if I know which one he's going to use before he does."
"And Destiny's Chosen."
"That too."
"So he can't actually fight you."
"No."
"And you're going there anyway."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Caelan smiled.
"I want to see him try."
Lyra stared at him for a long moment.
"You're a strange child."
"I look sixteen."
"That doesn't make it better."
Lyra had begun to understand that the Heavenly Flame Sect was built around a particular sort of cruelty.
Not the stupid kind.
There were no instructors sneering at weak children and announcing that only the strong deserved to live. No elders throwing crippled disciples off mountains to teach them determination. No ancient masters waiting until somebody failed once before declaring their cultivation future finished forever.
The sect was crueller than that.
It tried.
Again.
And again.
And again.
A disciple who stopped progressing was not discarded immediately. Teachers changed methods. Specialists examined their body. Courses changed. Resources changed. Cultivation paths were questioned. If someone lacked talent in one field, another was tested. If the personality did not fit the discipline, they found another discipline. If the technique was wrong, they changed the technique.
Only after all of that—after every sensible road had been walked and the disciple still could not advance—did the sect remove them from the system.
Talent was expected.
Improvement was demanded.
And character mattered.
Someone brilliant enough to advance but poisonous enough to damage everyone around them could also find the gates closing behind them.
Lyra found the philosophy unsettlingly reasonable.
Li Wei was proof of it.
Nobody had told him to accept mediocrity because his Ki could not leave his body.
They had spent a year trying to fix him.
When that failed, his teacher had apparently looked at the problem and decided that if Li Wei could not throw Ki outside his body, then they would simply make his body unpleasant enough that getting close to him became everybody else's mistake.
The pure physical path was not unknown.
It was simply inefficient.
Most cultivators could reinforce their bodies and use everything Foundation Establishment offered outside them. Giving up the second half voluntarily was like learning to fight while keeping one hand politely tucked behind your back.
Li Wei had no choice.
So his teacher had decided to make that one available hand very, very good.
The sect's equipment filled some of the gaps. Specialized boots and gloves gave him controlled flight. Boosters granted abrupt bursts of acceleration beyond what his body could provide alone. Defensive formations built into the equipment could produce an external barrier he could never create naturally.
The equipment gave him options.
It did not give him skill.
That part was his.
And apparently he had plenty.
They heard the shouting before they reached the training ground.
"THREE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED AND NINETY-SEVEN!"
Lyra slowed.
Another voice answered.
"Your back is bending."
"It is not!"
"It is."
"Master, you are upside down!"
"I can still see your back!"
Caelan smiled.
"There."
They stepped through the entrance.
The training ground was considerably larger than Lyra expected. Reinforced stone covered most of the field, scarred despite the formations constantly repairing it. Training constructs stood along one side. Weighted pillars occupied another. A row of obstacles stretched toward a cliff overlooking the clouds.
In the center of it all, Li Wei was doing one-handed push-ups.
With a slab of black training metal chained across his shoulders.
His dark hair was soaked with sweat. His training clothes clung to a lean, heavily conditioned frame. Boots wrapped in metallic reinforcement covered his feet, while dark gauntlets extended from his hands toward the forearms.
Hovering three meters above him, upside down, was Elder Qiao.
He was doing push-ups too.
In the air.
Lyra stared.
Caelan stared.
Elder Qiao completed another repetition.
"Four thousand."
Li Wei collapsed.
"You cheated."
Elder Qiao rotated lazily until his feet faced the ground.
"I am your master. It becomes advanced training when I cheat."
"That is not how training works."
"It has worked wonderfully for me."
Li Wei rolled onto his back.
"That explains a lot."
Elder Qiao smiled.
The Spirit Transformation elder looked nothing like the severe scholars Lyra had met elsewhere in the sect. His robes had been tied back at the sleeves, his hair was loosely bound, and he possessed the relaxed expression of a man who considered forcing his student to perform several thousand push-ups an entirely reasonable way to spend an evening.
Then his gaze shifted toward the entrance.
"Ah."
Li Wei looked over.
Elder Qiao landed lightly.
"Young Master."
There was respect in the title.
No fear.
No hesitation.
No careful examination of Caelan's eyes to see whether something else might be looking through them.
Just recognition.
Caelan liked Elder Qiao.
Mostly because Elder Qiao treated him as a twelve-year-old boy who happened to have several deeply inconvenient supernatural abilities.
"Elder Qiao."
The elder looked toward Lyra.
"And our visitor."
Lyra inclined her head.
Li Wei pushed the training weight from his shoulders and sprang upright.
He smiled immediately.
Not politely.
Actually smiled.
"Caelan Ardyn."
Caelan blinked.
"Yes."
Li Wei wiped sweat from his face with one forearm.
"I've wanted to meet you."
That was not the reception Caelan had expected.
Most people his age had one of three reactions.
Fear.
Awkward respect.
An exhausting attempt to pretend neither existed.
Li Wei simply looked pleased.
Caelan decided he liked that.
"You know why I'm here?"
"No."
"Good."
Li Wei laughed.
"That's a strange answer."
"I've had a strange day."
Elder Qiao folded his arms.
"He usually does."
"You're supposed to defend me."
"From what?"
"Slander."
"It ceases to be slander when everyone has evidence."
Caelan looked offended.
Elder Qiao smiled.
Lyra found herself abruptly understanding why teacher and student got along.
Li Wei removed the remaining training weights from his wrists.
"So what did you want?"
Caelan looked him over.
Fourteen.
Second Foundation.
Technically one of the better young physical fighters in the sect.
His inability to externalize Ki showed nowhere in his posture.
That interested Caelan.
"I want you in my group."
Li Wei blinked.
"Oh."
"That was less dramatic than I expected."
"I wasn't sure what to say."
"You can say yes."
"You came prepared."
"I usually do."
Li Wei glanced toward Elder Qiao.
His master shrugged.
"Your decision."
No order.
No pointed suggestion.
Nothing more.
Li Wei looked back at Caelan.
"Why me?"
"Because you're useful."
Lyra closed her eyes.
Elder Qiao coughed into one hand.
Li Wei stared.
Caelan frowned.
"What?"
"You could phrase that better, Young Master," Elder Qiao suggested.
Caelan considered it.
"You're very useful."
Lyra turned away so nobody would see her laugh.
Li Wei did laugh.
Loudly.
"All right. Why am I useful?"
Caelan pointed at him.
"You're one of the best hand-to-hand fighters among the younger students."
Li Wei's smile faded into surprise.
"I'm better than you?"
"Yes."
This time even Elder Qiao raised an eyebrow.
Caelan continued.
"If we ignored Fate, Wind, weapons and everything else and fought purely on hand-to-hand technique, you'd be better."
Li Wei stared at him.
Then his grin returned.
"Let's test it."
Caelan smiled.
"No."
Li Wei's grin vanished.
"What?"
"You can't fight me."
"You just said—"
"I said you're technically better."
Caelan tapped his chest.
"You're still weaker."
Li Wei's eyebrows rose.
"I'm Second Foundation."
"So?"
"You're First Foundation."
"So?"
Elder Qiao started laughing.
Li Wei looked toward him.
"Master."
"Don't look at me. I've been trying to teach you that cultivation stages are not rankings."
Li Wei looked back at Caelan.
"You actually think Destiny's Chosen will stop me?"
"Yes."
"You don't know until I try."
"I do."
"Young Master," Elder Qiao said pleasantly, "humor him."
Caelan looked at the elder.
Elder Qiao smiled.
"It will be educational."
"For him?"
"For me too."
That got Caelan's attention.
Li Wei stepped toward the marked sparring area.
"Come on."
Caelan looked at Lyra.
She folded her arms.
"You came here because you wanted to see him try."
He sighed.
"Everyone remembers everything I say."
"That is generally how words work."
Caelan walked onto the field.
Elder Qiao activated the training formation.
Light spread through the stone beneath their feet.
Li Wei stretched his neck from side to side, rolled his shoulders once, then tightened the fastenings around his gauntlets.
The boots hummed softly.
Caelan stood opposite him with his arms hanging loosely at his sides.
No lance.
No Azure Armor.
No Wind Arts.
Nothing.
Li Wei frowned.
"You aren't even going to take a stance?"
"You won't reach me."
"Confident."
"Accurate."
Li Wei grinned.
"I like you less now."
"That happens."
Elder Qiao stood near the edge of the formation.
"Whenever you're ready."
Li Wei lowered himself.
The change was immediate.
The cheerful boy disappeared behind the fighter.
His feet settled.
His shoulders loosened.
Weight balanced through the hips rather than the heels.
Hands relaxed.
Caelan's expression sharpened.
Good.
Very good.
There was almost nothing wasted in the stance.
Li Wei's inability to project Ki had forced him to learn what most young Foundation cultivators neglected once external techniques became available.
Distance.
Balance.
Angles.
Weight transfer.
The ugly little truths hidden inside every punch.
Caelan saw three openings.
Then realized two were deliberate.
His smile widened.
"Nice."
Li Wei moved.
Or tried to.
The booster in his right boot ignited.
His body began to shift.
His shoulder rotated.
His fist—
stopped.
Not slowed.
Not blocked.
Stopped.
Li Wei's expression changed.
He tried again.
His left foot moved.
Hip turning.
Elbow closing.
The instant the movement became an attack against Caelan, something simply ceased to continue.
Li Wei stared.
Caelan waited.
He changed techniques.
Low kick.
Nothing.
Straight punch.
Nothing.
A feint into a shoulder throw.
The feint worked.
The throw did not begin.
Li Wei jumped backward.
"What the hell?"
Caelan grinned.
"Destiny."
Li Wei looked at Elder Qiao.
The elder's expression had changed from amusement to genuine fascination.
"Again."
Li Wei blinked.
"Master?"
"Again. Change your intent."
Li Wei nodded.
He launched forward.
This time his hand came toward Caelan's chest slowly.
Not an attack.
A touch.
It reached him.
Li Wei's fingers tapped Caelan's shirt.
His eyes widened.
He withdrew.
Then immediately tried turning the retreat into a strike.
His fist stopped.
Elder Qiao laughed.
"Beautiful."
Li Wei glared at him.
"I am suffering here."
"You are discovering a law of Destiny firsthand. Appreciate the educational opportunity."
"Can I appreciate it after punching him?"
"No."
Caelan smiled.
"Probably never."
Li Wei stared at him.
Then his expression brightened.
"What if I don't mean to hurt you?"
"You can touch me."
"And if I decide halfway through?"
"The future disappears halfway through."
Li Wei looked delighted.
Caelan understood that expression.
It was the expression of somebody who had just been handed a problem.
The next several minutes became increasingly ridiculous.
Li Wei stepped close.
Touched Caelan's shoulder.
Tried transforming it into a joint lock.
His hand refused.
He moved past him.
Attempted a sweep without deciding whether he meant to complete it.
The instant intent formed, the movement died.
He tried closing his eyes.
Nothing.
He tried attacking a point where Caelan was going to be rather than where he currently stood.
Nothing.
He tried convincing himself it was simply another training construct.
Destiny apparently did not care about poor acting.
At one point Li Wei stood completely still for several seconds, breathing slowly.
Then his boot booster erupted.
He vanished.
Caelan's Eyes of Fate showed the movement before it began.
Behind.
Right hand.
Palm strike.
Li Wei appeared.
His palm stopped an inch from Caelan's back.
Caelan glanced over his shoulder.
"That one was excellent."
Li Wei groaned.
"This ability is horrible."
"I agree."
"You have it."
"That is why I know."
Elder Qiao laughed again.
"Can he defend?" the elder asked.
Caelan turned.
"Of course."
Li Wei looked between them.
"What are you planning?"
Caelan smiled.
Li Wei immediately disliked the answer.
Caelan stepped forward.
Li Wei's stance changed without thought.
Caelan punched.
Not particularly hard.
Li Wei's hand snapped upward and redirected it.
Clean.
Fast.
Efficient.
Caelan followed with his left.
Li Wei slipped inside rather than retreating, shoulder turning, forearm catching Caelan's wrist.
He could not counterattack.
But he could move.
Caelan accelerated.
Li Wei retreated half a step, his footwork flowing with the pressure. Caelan changed angle. Li Wei read it. A low kick came. Li Wei lifted his leg and checked it. Caelan shifted his weight before contact and turned the attack into a sweep.
Li Wei jumped.
The boosters in his boots flashed.
He rose sharply.
Caelan followed.
Li Wei's gloves ignited in short bursts, turning his body through the air. Not Ki projected from his flesh. Equipment. A solution built around a limitation.
Caelan smiled.
He attacked again.
Li Wei blocked.
Deflected.
Moved.
Caelan increased his speed.
Li Wei's expression sharpened.
The difference became visible.
Li Wei's martial technique was better.
His transitions were cleaner.
His defensive positioning tighter.
His understanding of close range deeper.
Caelan knew it immediately.
So did Elder Qiao.
But Caelan saw everything a fraction before it occurred.
Eyes of Fate painted the next moments before him.
Left guard.
Shift.
Turn.
Barrier.
Retreat.
Caelan changed direction before Li Wei did.
Li Wei's eyes widened.
He adjusted beautifully.
Caelan had already adjusted to the adjustment.
The gauntlet barrier flashed into existence.
Caelan's palm touched it.
The formation rang.
Li Wei flew backward, boosters igniting to stabilize him before he struck the ground.
He landed cleanly.
Caelan stopped.
Li Wei breathed harder now.
Not exhausted.
Thrilled.
"That is cheating."
"Which part?"
"The future."
Caelan considered.
"Yes."
Elder Qiao nodded solemnly.
"A terrible breach of martial etiquette."
Caelan looked at him.
"You approved this."
"I never claimed to possess martial etiquette."
Li Wei laughed.
Caelan did too.
The formation dimmed.
Li Wei walked back toward them, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"So I'm better than you."
"At hand-to-hand technique."
"But I still lose."
"Yes."
"Because you know what I'm going to do."
"Yes."
"And because I can't attack you anyway."
"Yes."
Li Wei stared at him.
"You are incredibly annoying."
Caelan smiled.
"I've been told."
Elder Qiao walked over and placed one hand on Li Wei's shoulder.
"You did well."
There was no grand speech.
No lecture.
Just warmth.
Li Wei smiled immediately.
"Really?"
"Your third defensive transition was late."
The smile died.
"Master."
"And your left booster fired twelve percent too hard during the aerial turn."
"You said I did well."
"You did. That's why I only found two things to complain about."
Li Wei considered that.
Then smiled again.
Elder Qiao squeezed his shoulder once before releasing it.
Caelan watched the exchange.
There was affection there.
Easy.
Uncomplicated.
The sort that required no explanation.
Li Wei had lost his family during the sealing crisis.
Caelan knew that.
Everyone who had bothered reading the records knew that.
But the boy did not carry the loss around like a flag.
Elder Qiao had become his master.
His teacher.
His tormentor through excessive exercise.
And, from the look of things, something more important than either of them needed to name.
Caelan looked away.
"About the group."
Li Wei turned.
"You really came here to recruit me."
"Yes."
"What exactly do you want the group to do?"
"Get stronger."
"That is vague."
"Train together. Learn different things. Missions later. Help cover what everyone else can't do."
Li Wei glanced toward his gauntlets.
Caelan noticed.
"You don't need to do what everyone else does."
"I can't."
"I know."
Caelan said it without sympathy.
Li Wei liked that.
"You fight close. Better than I do. Your equipment covers some of what your Ki can't."
Caelan shrugged.
"That's useful."
Elder Qiao looked pleased.
Li Wei considered the offer.
"Who else is joining?"
"Lyra."
Lyra raised one hand.
"Apparently."
"And Ren."
Lyra coughed.
Caelan glanced at her.
"He hasn't agreed."
"Then Ren is not joining."
"He will."
"You told me he said no repeatedly."
"He'll improve."
"That isn't agreement."
"It will be."
Li Wei laughed.
"So currently it's you, her, and a person who doesn't want to be there."
"Yes."
"And you're recruiting me."
"Yes."
"Your group sounds terrible."
Caelan smiled.
"You interested?"
Li Wei looked toward Elder Qiao.
The elder was stretching one leg behind his head.
Nobody had asked him to.
He noticed Li Wei looking.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Join if you want."
"You don't mind?"
"Why would I?"
Li Wei hesitated.
Elder Qiao lowered his leg.
Then smiled.
"A good group will show you things I cannot. Different fighters. Different specialties. Different problems. I am your master, not your entire world."
His expression became suspiciously enthusiastic.
"Besides, group training means I can design exercises for several people at once."
Caelan frowned.
Lyra frowned.
Li Wei's face fell.
"Master—"
"Imagine it. Weighted mountain climbing in formation."
"No."
"Underwater striking drills."
"Master."
"Five-person resistance sprinting."
"Please stop."
Elder Qiao's eyes had begun to shine.
Caelan leaned toward Lyra.
"I think I made a mistake."
"You think?"
Li Wei sighed.
Then looked at Caelan.
"All right."
Caelan blinked.
"That was easy."
"You asked."
"Yes."
"So I'm saying yes."
Caelan stared at him.
Li Wei raised an eyebrow.
"Did you want me to refuse several times first?"
"No."
"You look disappointed."
"I prepared arguments."
"Save them for Ren."
Lyra laughed.
Caelan looked personally betrayed.
"Young Master."
Caelan turned.
Elder Qiao had stopped smiling.
Not become severe.
Just quieter.
"You were right about one thing."
Caelan waited.
"Li Wei is technically better than you at close combat."
Li Wei straightened proudly.
Elder Qiao continued.
"Do not become dependent on knowing what comes next."
The pride vanished.
Caelan's eyes narrowed slightly.
Elder Qiao tapped his own temple.
"Precognition lets you answer a question before it is asked. Wonderful advantage. But if you stop learning how the question is constructed, one day you will encounter something your sight does not explain quickly enough."
Caelan considered that.
Then nodded.
"Understood."
"Good."
The softness returned immediately.
"Now do five thousand squats."
Caelan stared.
"What?"
"You came to my training ground."
"That isn't a rule."
"It is now."
"You can't make me."
Elder Qiao smiled.
"Young Master, I am a Spirit Transformation cultivator."
Caelan looked at Lyra.
She was already walking away.
"Coward."
"I crossed universes to escape one terrible arrangement. I refuse to enter another."
Li Wei dropped into his first squat.
"One!"
Caelan stared at him.
"You're doing it?"
"Master said five thousand."
"He was talking to me!"
"Two!"
Elder Qiao joined him.
"Three!"
Caelan watched teacher and student begin counting.
He looked toward Lyra.
Then toward the exit.
Then back.
His pride made the decision for him.
"Four."
He dropped into the squat.
Elder Qiao beamed.
By the time the sun vanished entirely behind the mountains, Lyra had learned several things.
First, Li Wei was insane.
Second, Elder Qiao had cultivated insanity into a teaching philosophy.
Third, Caelan was apparently incapable of walking away from a physical challenge once somebody implied he might not complete it.
The three of them had progressed from squats to weighted jumps because Elder Qiao claimed stopping after only one exercise would "confuse the muscles."
Lyra suspected his muscles had been confused decades ago and never recovered.
She sat comfortably on a stone wall while the three trained.
Li Wei's boots flashed.
He shot upward.
Turned.
Landed.
Again.
The boosters were brutally simple in purpose. Movement. Acceleration. Flight. The gauntlets helped control his direction and could raise a barrier when needed.
Nothing about them made Li Wei less of a physical fighter.
They simply allowed him to carry his fists into places fists normally could not reach.
Lyra watched him move.
There was no tragedy in him.
No shame.
No constant anger at what he lacked.
His condition was bad.
Objectively bad.
The sect had spent a year trying to solve it and failed.
Li Wei had responded by training.
Elder Qiao had responded by training him harder.
Perhaps there was wisdom in that.
Or perhaps they were both idiots.
The distinction seemed increasingly difficult to make in this universe.
Later, Li Wei sat on a bench at the edge of the training field, drinking from a bottle with both hands.
Caelan dropped beside him.
Neither was injured.
That seemed worth celebrating after Caelan's previous recruitment attempt.
"You really think I can get stronger this way?" Li Wei asked.
Caelan looked at him.
"You already are."
"I mean enough."
"Enough for what?"
Li Wei considered the question.
Then laughed.
"I don't know."
"Then that's a terrible question."
Li Wei bumped his shoulder lightly against Caelan's.
"You're terrible at encouragement."
"I wasn't encouraging you."
"I noticed."
Caelan looked toward the gauntlets.
"They'll improve."
"The equipment?"
"Yes."
"And me?"
"That depends on you."
Li Wei grinned.
"Better answer."
Across the field Elder Qiao was doing handstand presses against a weighted pillar.
Lyra stood beside him looking deeply concerned.
Li Wei watched his master.
"He took my condition personally."
Caelan glanced over.
"How?"
"When the sect couldn't solve it, he said he'd make me strong enough that people would stop caring."
Caelan considered that.
"Sounds like him."
"He also said if my Ki refused to leave my body, we'd make my fists travel farther instead."
Caelan looked at the boots.
"That explains those."
"Yes."
Silence settled between them.
Comfortable silence.
Caelan was not used to that.
Li Wei finished his drink.
"So when do we train as a group?"
Caelan looked at him.
"You actually want to?"
"I said yes."
"People change their minds."
"I haven't."
Simple.
No oath.
No dramatic promise.
No declaration of eternal brotherhood beneath a bleeding moon.
Just an answer.
Caelan found he preferred it.
"Soon."
Li Wei nodded.
"Good."
Elder Qiao's voice thundered across the field.
"LI WEI!"
Li Wei closed his eyes.
"What?"
"COOLDOWN RUN!"
"No."
Elder Qiao froze.
Lyra looked delighted.
Caelan slowly turned.
Li Wei stood.
For one glorious moment, rebellion lived.
Then Elder Qiao smiled.
"Only twenty kilometers."
Li Wei sagged.
"That isn't a cooldown."
"It is if you run slowly."
"You don't let me run slowly."
"That would ruin the exercise."
Li Wei sighed and started toward him.
Then looked back at Caelan.
"You coming?"
Caelan stared.
"No."
Li Wei grinned.
"Coward."
Caelan stood immediately.
Lyra covered her face.
And somewhere beneath the rising stars, Elder Qiao laughed like a man who had just acquired a second victim.