Dawn slid softly across the pavilion roofs, glowing a golden hue.
Kai woke first. He rolled his shoulders, hissed, then grinned through it. Mountain routine. He folded his futon, quickly did some pushups and squats, then stood on the balcony railing and ran Hanuman Step drills along it as if it were a forest branch. Below, the courtyard shimmered with dew.
Rin was already awake, sitting on the sill with Tetsuba across his knees, his eye band lightly wrapped. He watched the breath in the trees, not the street.
A knock at the suite door.
Kai froze mid-balance. "We... have room service?"
Rin stood and slid the door open.
An older man in immaculate gray robes bowed—his silver hair and steady eyes. A lacquered garment case rested in his hands.
"Good morning, Young Master Kairo," he said. "Steward Bai, at your service. Your attire. Breakfast. Letters. We will manage the household while you are away."
Kai hopped down from the rail, eyes wide. "Young. Master."
Steward Bai offered a delicate tray. "Herbal tea, lion 's-head buns, sweet rice. Your preferred blend."
Rin took the tray with a quiet nod. "You came fast."
"We never left," Bai said. His eyes softened, just a bit. "Your clan may be gone. Your people remain."
Kai tried to bow like Rin, but it turned into three different bows at once. "Uh... thank you, Uncle Bai, sir. Steward. Master. Sorry."
Bai's mouth almost curved into a smile. "Mister Kai. If the Young Master trusts you, we do as well." He offered Kai a small wrapped bundle. "Muscle salve. Tigergrass and cooling mint. Apply after training."
Kai clutched it like treasure. "I love you. I mean, thank you."
Rin set the tray down. "We meet our captain in the courtyard."
"Then I will not keep you," Bai said. He placed the garment case in Rin's hands. "Traditional black with the crest restored. Wear it when you wish." He bowed once more, then vanished as quietly as he'd arrived.
The moment the door slid shut, Kai whispered, "You have a steward."
Rin sipped his tea. "I have a history."
Kai nodded very thoughtfully. "Rightttt!!....."
Across the hall, Lila and Aria finished their own morning routines. Lila brushed her hair quickly, humming, then stuffed a pocket with sweets, another with bandages, and a third with more sweets. Aria tied her hair up, checked the fresh lightning scars along her forearms, and pulled on the black-and-gold jacket William issued, zipper half-open over her crop top.
"You slept?" Lila asked.
"A little."
"You cried?" Lila asked gently.
Aria slipped past her to the door. "I washed my face."
They met Kai and Rin on the stairs. Lila brightened. "Good morning, nobles."
Kai pointed at Rin. "He is noble. I am breakfast."
Aria's eyes flicked to the garment case under Rin's arm, then to the band on his eye. She didn't ask. "Courtyard. Let's go."
They stepped into the pavilion courtyard together.
Stone flags. Hanging lanterns still faint from the night. Training posts, sand pits, target rings, a mirrored wall for form work, and a line of water basins catching the last of the morning petals. Some senior Seekers were already drilling in quiet patterns, aura tight and controlled, like pros before a storm.
William waited by the center ring, white cloak off, sleeves rolled, a wooden practice blade tucked by his hip like a joke he could turn into truth at any moment. The sun hit the blond hair, and three trainees tripped over their feet.
He lifted a hand, smiling casually. "There you are. Morning, squad."
His eyes flicked over each of them, soft and precise. A little longer on Rin's wrap. A secret glance at Aria's shoulder. A nod to the salve bulging in Kai's pocket. Nothing spoken aloud.
"Warm up," William ordered. "Then we work."
Kai leaned toward Rin as they jogged to the line. "So... your steward... does he do everything for you?"
"No," Rin said.
Kai laughed. "So always."
Rin nearly smiled. "Focus."
They took their marks. The day began.
The courtyard thrummed like a living temple. Moonstone tiles. Pools filled with lantern light. A sea of purple blossoms shaking tiny flurries. William stood at the center of the prayer circle, one hand behind his back, the other loose at his side. A faded strip of cloth peeked from his rear pocket.
"The rule is simple," he said. "Take the rag. I do not step outside this circle. One hand only."
He smiled again. "Begin."
Rin vanished into the trees silently. Aria flickered up a branch and was gone. Lila rolled under a tree root bridge, whispering about stealth points.
Kai stayed where he was.
He looked left. Nothing. Right. Nothing. Then back at William.
"Where did everybody go?"
William chuckled. "Into the plan you forgot to make."
Kai scratched his cheek. "Right. Plans."
He took a deep breath, let his shoulders relax, then launched.
Hanuman Step. One snap. Two. Three. The courtyard blurred. Kai cut the angle on the second step and appeared inside William's reach, palm already raised.
Bodhi Palm.
A pane of light slid between them like glass. The strike connected, hummed, and dispersed its force into a halo that rippled outward harmlessly.
"Good weight," William said. "Wrong surface."
Kai went again immediately. Surya Spiral. Hips coiled, shoulders passing the pane, palm threading for a clean centerline shot.
William's free hand traced a tiny circle. The pane bent into a lens, skewing Kai's line by two fingers. Kai's palm brushed past the cloth but missed.
"Closer," William said.
Kai landed, bounced, then instinctively did the following sequence. Agni Mudra, warming his forearms. His guard brightened. He feinted high, kicked for the heel, then shifted into another Hanuman Step to reappear behind William.
The rag fluttered.
A thin wall of light grew from William's ring finger. Kai's fingers brushed the rag but met the wall instead. Heat hissed. The wall did not.
"Your ignition is clean," William said. "You rush the exhale."
Kai stepped back two paces, breathing steadily. He let the courtyard noise fade. Enlightened Senses. The world sharpened—the pull of his ribs, William's shoulder dipping slightly before each redirect, the faint shimmer when light bent above the tiles.
Kai moved deliberately. No wasted motion. A straight line turning into a spiral at the last inch. Surya Spiral unwound a narrow seam along the lens. He threaded through and fired Bodhi Palm toward the pocket.
The rag slipped down an inch, as if it wanted him. A pulse of light tapped his wrist and realigned his angle by the width of a coin.
William's smile widened. "You are reading me now. Keep reading."
Kai stepped back, sweat beading. The blossoms whispered. He rolled his neck and grinned.
"Okay. One more."
He set his rhythm with his breath. In. Out. In. When the count hit three, the floor felt lighter. Spirit Bloom. White gold coursed through his veins—pressure built. The air around his steps cracked like dry leaves.
He shifted from stillness to blur. Hanuman Step tore open space. Surya Spiral stitched through the lens at a new slant. Agni Mudra flared at the last instant—not to burn through, but to stick for a fraction. The Bodhi Palm became a hook for the cloth.
His fingers pinched fabric.
A single knuckle flick. Contact on Kai's forehead.
Tap.
The bloom broke cleanly. Kai staggered back three steps, blinking stars.
William didn't move his feet. He held the rag between two fingers, as if it were a flag he had no intention to drop.
"Breath before greed," William said calmly. "You almost had it. Good timing. Right vision. But your heart sprinted ahead."
Kai rubbed his brow and laughed. "So close."
"You made me take my hand out of my pocket. That's progress."
"Then I'll come again."
William's eyes warmed. "Good. Make me do it twice."
Kai shook out his arms, assumed his stance, and went back in.
In the trees, Aria watched with a low whistle. "He's really making him work."
Rin's eyes sharpened, tracking tiny lines of light around William's wrist. "He's showing counters without leaving the circle. Annoying. Perfect."
Under the bridge, Lila pumped both fists silently. "Go, Kai. Steal his laundry."
Kai focused again on his breath. Enlightened Senses opened. He saw the next pane forming before it appeared. He moved a half step earlier and slid under the curve.
Bodhi Palm kissed the cloth.
The rag slipped free by an inch.
William's free hand shaped a prism about the size of a coin and hung it in the air like a bell.
Kai dropped Sun from his back and set his feet.
"Watch closely."
Kai entered Lotus Guard, staff vertical to his chest, breath steady. He stepped in.
Garuda Eight.
The first cut snapped at William's wrist to disable the hand.
The second raked the forearm to open the line.
The third faked at the temple, testing the eyes.
The fourth chopped ribs, the fifth angled for the knee, the sixth flicked the cloth, the seventh and eighth boxed the pocket.
William didn't move from the chalk. He shifted inside it. A small palm parry at the wrist. A quick roll of the forearm to dull the sting. He tipped his head slightly, letting the temple feint pass, allowing the rib shot to slide along a light ripple on his tunic, then tapped the staff with two fingers when it sought his knee. The cloth never fluttered.
"Clean angles," he said. "Corners still soft."
Sutra Beat to break his rhythm. Kai drummed Sun along the staff, changing the beat quickly to disguise the hook. Sunhook Draw slid for the seam, hook inside the cloth.
William tilted his hip slightly. The pocket slid away like a fish.
"Again."
Then Temple Door, followed by Bodhi Bind.
Kai slammed the mid-shaft against William's guard to pin the arm briefly, then spiraled the staff to coil the wrist. Chandra Reversal rolled the joint, exposing the back of it. Naga Sweep scythed for the ankle to trip him. Vajra Thrust darted toward the cloth, tip humming with Dawn Lance, to pierce the light plate.
William's ankle stayed on the stone. His toes flexed, heel still inside the chalk. The sweep carved wind. He let the bind coil, then broke it with a slight elbow dip. The thrust was met with a sudden flash of light. The light condensed into a glassy plate in the pocket, ringing the staff tip.
"Good try," William said. "Pocket's shy."
Kai's eyes narrowed. He fed heat into the Sun. Agni Line pulsed down the wood until it hummed. The Flame Wheel turned the staff in a heavy orbit. Surya Spiral, staff variation, wrapped pressure around William like a twisting helix, Helix Canopy overhead to cut angles, Dune Breaker flattening everything toward his head.
Tiles cracked. Cherry petals whirled in rings. The air smelled of hot pine.
William remained still. His free hand flicked once, and the Spiral's edge deflected off a refracted plane, sliding past his shoulder. "Posture beats pressure. And you're knocking. Not cutting."
Kai exhaled, calming his body, then sharpened his focus.
"Spirit Bloom."
Aura surged. Veins lit gold beneath his skin. The ground around his toes webbed outward. Enlightened Senses snapped into focus. He could hear the chalk grinding under William's heel and the lazy sway of that cloth. His world shrank to a pocket seam.
Hanuman Step, fivefold.
Kai vanished forward, appearing at William's front left with a burst of displaced petals.
Respond with instinct.
Hanuman Vault, knee high, Sun as a springboard to land inside William's reach.
Naga Sweep again, but late in the step, just a faint feint.
Vajra Thrust drove for the pocket, tip humming with Dawn Lance to pierce the light plate.
Monk's Measure checked distance, River Turn slid behind William, and Sunhook Draw brushed against the cloth.
"Almost," William said, eyes bright.
The cloth shifted two finger-widths to the right. Light bent space around it just enough. Kai grasped at empty air.
"Fine. Then eat this."
Surya Spiral tightened into a drill at his hip. Bodhi Pulse Bind rode through the shaft, hitching William's breath for half a beat. Kai stacked Noon Halo against the rattan, pressure cresting, then snapped the staff straight at the pocket. If he split the light plate and hit the seam, the rag was his.
William's smile thinned. "Good answer."
His heel flashed white.
Photonic Heel.
He never dropped his hand. Pivoted inside the chalk. The light under his foot coalesced into a kick that arrived, not traveled.
The impact hit Kai's ribs like a bell. Sound caught up a breath later.
The world lurched sideways. Sun ripped from his grip, spiraling into the grove. Kai smashed through a trunk, purple blossoms exploding around him like a storm. He hit another tree, cracked it at the waist, then crashed into the ground beyond—a shallow bowl of shattered stone and churned dirt blooming underneath.
Silence fell. Petals drifted like slow rain.
William stood exactly where he had been, dust shedding from his boots, one hand still folded behind his back, the rag sleeping in his pocket.
"Not bad for a first date with gold," he called across the grove. "Catch your breath. Then try again."