"Kita."
The word wouldn't leave my head.
I stayed on one knee, blood dripping from my mouth onto the snow.
Ygros hadn't moved.
Neither had I.
The distance between us felt different now.
Before, it had been a battlefield.
Now it felt like an interrogation.
My fingers dug into the snow.
"What did you call me?"
No response.
The storm moved around Ygros, but never seemed to touch it.
I forced myself upright.
Pain immediately shot through my ribs.
Not broken.
I didn't think.
Bruised badly, maybe cracked.
My right shoulder wasn't happy either.
One hit.
That was all Ygros had given me.
One casual movement.
And my body already felt like I'd been thrown out of a moving train.
I wiped the blood from my lip.
"How do you know that name?"
Ygros stared.
Six red eyes.
No expression I could understand.
Then its head tilted.
"Blood."
My stomach tightened.
"What?"
The voice wasn't entering through my ears.
I knew that now.
It was inside my head, but it wasn't like hearing a thought. The word simply appeared fully formed.
Blood.
Ygros raised one enormous claw.
It pointed at me.
"Kita."
Then the claw shifted.
Toward my sword.
"Steel."
I looked down at the ice blade lying twenty feet away.
Back at Ygros.
"What do you know about my father?"
That did it.
Something changed.
Small.
So small I almost missed it.
Ygros's eyes narrowed.
Not anger.
Recognition.
My heartbeat quickened.
"You know him."
Nothing.
"You know Lutoro Kita."
Ygros's upper-right hand closed.
Slowly.
The mountain beneath us trembled.
My blood ran cold.
I had spent years hearing stories about my father.
The world's greatest hero.
The man who died stopping something terrible from reaching Earth.
Except he wasn't dead.
I knew that now.
Or at least, I knew enough to know the story I'd grown up with was a lie.
But Ygros…
Ygros reacted to his name.
"Where is he?"
Silence.
I took a step.
"Where is my father?"
Ygros looked down at me.
Then, for the first time, I felt something from it.
Not through its face.
Not its body.
Something deeper.
Amusement.
The bastard was amused.
My fear turned into anger.
"Answer me."
Ygros moved.
I barely saw it.
One second it stood hundreds of feet away.
The next, the sky disappeared.
My body reacted before my brain did.
I dove sideways.
BOOM!
A fist crashed into the mountain.
The world became white.
Snow and rock erupted around me.
I hit the ground, rolled, planted one hand and pushed myself upright.
Move.
Another arm.
I ducked.
Something passed over my head so fast the air itself seemed to tear.
My ears popped.
Third arm.
Coming low.
I jumped.
Wrong.
A fourth arm was already waiting.
"Oh, shi-"
The back of Ygros's claw caught my stomach.
Pain exploded through me.
I flew.
Again.
I slammed into the snow, bounced, and kept sliding until my shoulder smashed against exposed stone.
My vision flashed white.
I couldn't breathe.
Couldn't think.
Couldn't…
Move.
Move!
I rolled.
A claw punched through the ground where my head had been.
Stone erupted against my back.
I scrambled to my feet.
Ygros was already there.
Too fast.
Way too fast.
I ran.
Not away.
Around.
There was no away anymore.
Ygros's reach was too large.
Its speed was ridiculous.
Distance meant nothing.
So I stayed close.
One arm swung.
I stepped inside it.
Second.
Duck.
Third.
Turn.
Fourth.
Jump.
Fifth.
I twisted my shoulders.
The claw passed close enough to slice fabric from my jacket.
Sixth.
I saw it late.
Too late.
I crossed both arms.
THOOM!
My feet left the ground.
I flew backward, but this time I controlled it.
Barely.
My boots hit the snow.
I slid.
Twenty feet.
Thirty.
Forty.
I dropped one hand.
Ice spread beneath my fingers.
My momentum slowed.
I stopped.
Still standing.
Barely.
Ygros watched.
I breathed hard.
Something wasn't right.
Six arms.
Six different attack angles.
A body four times my size.
Speed that made absolutely no sense.
And yet…
I'd dodged five.
No.
My breathing slowed.
I replayed the sequence.
First strike.
Obvious.
Second strike.
Fast, but readable.
Third pushed me into the fourth.
Fourth forced the jump.
Fifth nearly clipped me.
Sixth hit.
That wasn't random.
It had built the sequence.
Ygros had herded me through every dodge until I ended exactly where it wanted me.
My stomach sank.
"You planned that."
Ygros said nothing.
Of course it had.
I looked toward my sword.
Still lying where it had landed.
Ygros followed my eyes.
Then looked back at me.
I understood.
"You want me to pick it up."
One of its claws flexed.
"Why?"
Nothing.
My anger grew.
"What the hell do you want from me?"
Ygros took one step backward.
Giving me room.
That scared me more than another attack would've.
I slowly moved toward the sword.
Ygros allowed it.
I crouched.
My fingers wrapped around the hilt.
Cold rushed through my arm.
Immediately, the weapon felt calmer.
Like it'd been waiting.
I stood.
Ygros shifted into its stance.
There it was again.
Upper arms guarding its center.
Middle arms wider.
Lower arms slightly forward.
Six weapons attached to one body.
I exhaled.
"Fine."
I raised the blade.
"You want to see what I can do?"
Ice crawled across my wrist.
"Watch."
At United States Hero Command, nobody spoke.
The footage replayed across three screens.
Kai dodging.
Ygros attacking.
Kai getting hit.
Again.
Slower.
The general leaned forward.
"Pause."
The technician stopped the footage.
Ygros's sixth arm was inches from Kai's guard.
"Back twelve frames."
The video reversed.
"Play at ten percent."
The sequence crawled forward.
First arm.
Kai moved.
Second.
Kai ducked.
Third.
Jump.
Fourth.
Turn.
Fifth.
Then the sixth landed.
The general's expression hardened.
"That's not a monster."
One of the analysts looked at him.
"Sir?"
"That's a combatant."
Evelyn said nothing.
She had reached the same conclusion.
The general pointed toward the screen.
"Every attack has purpose. It isn't trying to overwhelm him."
"Then what is it doing?" a researcher asked.
"Teaching him."
That silenced the room.
Evelyn looked over.
The general shook his head.
"No. Wrong word."
He watched Ygros step backward.
"Testing."
Evelyn stared at Kai.
"Can he tell?"
The general didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
On-screen, Kai picked up the sword.
And raised it.
"He's going again?"
Paul stared at the broadcast.
"He just got launched twice!"
Frank didn't answer.
His attention was fixed on Kai.
The room had gotten quieter with every exchange.
Nobody was making jokes anymore.
Not even Toma.
Emi stood with her arms crossed, eyes narrowed.
Beth had moved her tablet onto the table so she could watch both the live feed and the combat telemetry being released publicly.
"What?" Benny asked.
Beth glanced up.
"What?"
"You made that face."
"What face?"
"The Beth face."
Paul nodded.
"Yeah, you definitely did the Beth face."
She ignored him.
Benny leaned closer.
"What'd you notice?"
Beth looked at the screen.
"Ygros is changing speed."
Frank frowned.
"Obviously."
"No."
Beth rewound the public footage.
"Look."
She played the first attack.
Then the second.
Third.
Fourth.
"Each strike gets faster."
Toma shrugged.
"So it's trying harder."
"Maybe."
Beth tapped the screen.
"But why incrementally?"
Nobody answered.
She looked toward Emi.
Emi understood immediately.
"If Ygros wanted to know how fast Kai was…"
Beth nodded.
"…it would increase the speed until he failed."
The room went quiet.
Paul looked back at the screen.
"So you're saying it's testing his reaction time?"
"I'm saying that's one possibility."
Toma scoffed.
"Or we're overthinking a monster punching somebody."
Emi shook her head.
"No."
She hadn't taken her eyes off Ygros.
"It's measuring him."
Threya finally spoke.
"Why?"
Nobody had an answer.
Bladeon did.
Or at least, he thought he did.
"Technique."
The woman beside him looked over.
"What?"
Bladeon stood with his arms folded, watching Kai retrieve the sword.
"It doesn't care how strong he is."
"How would you know?"
"Because it could've tested strength immediately."
He pointed toward the destroyed mountain ridge.
"That established the difference."
She looked at him.
"So what does it want?"
Bladeon watched Kai raise the ice sword.
"Something else."
His eyes narrowed.
"The boy's swordsmanship."
I moved first.
No dramatic charge.
No screaming.
No giant attack.
One step.
Then another.
Ygros watched.
I changed my grip.
Nothing.
Shifted the blade behind me.
One of Ygros's middle arms moved.
Interesting.
I stepped right.
Its eyes followed.
Another step.
I accelerated.
Ice cracked beneath my boots.
I closed the distance.
Ygros swung.
I didn't dodge.
I watched.
Shoulder.
Elbow.
Wrist.
Claw.
Every attack started somewhere.
No matter how fast.
No matter how strong.
Movement had structure.
And structure…
I understood.
The claw came down.
I stepped left.
Not away.
Inside.
The attack passed beside me.
Ygros's second arm moved.
I turned my sword.
CLANG!
The blade met one claw.
The impact nearly tore my shoulder from its socket.
But I didn't block.
I redirected.
The claw slid along the flat of the sword.
Down.
Past me.
Ygros's third hand came from behind.
I dropped.
Fourth from below.
I planted my sword.
Vaulted.
The claw passed beneath my feet.
Fifth.
I rotated in the air.
The blade touched Ygros's wrist.
Not cutting.
Guiding.
I landed on its forearm.
For half a second, I was standing on Ygros.
All six eyes turned toward me.
"Hi."
I ran.
Up its arm.
Ygros's upper hand came down.
I jumped.
The claw smashed into its own shoulder.
BOOM!
The impact cracked its armor.
My eyes widened.
Not much.
Barely anything.
But a crack.
Ygros paused.
So did I.
"Oh."
I smiled.
"You're strong enough to hurt yourself."
Ygros's eyes narrowed.
"Good to know."
I kicked off its shoulder.
Backflip.
Sword raised.
I aimed for the crack.
Ygros moved.
Fast.
Its hand intercepted.
One claw met my blade.
Same as before.
TING.
Stopped.
But this time…
I was ready.
I twisted my wrist.
The sword slid along the claw.
My body rotated.
I used Ygros's resistance as leverage.
Changed direction.
The slash curved beneath its hand.
Straight toward the damaged armor.
Ygros's eye widened.
Just slightly.
Got you.
The blade connected.
SKRRRCH!
Ice exploded across black armor.
A line appeared.
Thin.
Almost pathetic.
But it was there.
A cut.
I landed in the snow.
Silence.
I stared.
Ygros stared.
A single blue line stretched across its shoulder.
Frost gathered around the wound.
My mouth opened.
"I…"
I had actually…
A laugh escaped me.
Not because I'd hurt it badly.
I hadn't.
The damage was tiny.
Meaningless.
But after everything…
I'd touched it.
"I cut you."
Ygros looked at its shoulder.
Then at me.
Something changed.
Not anger.
Not pain.
Interest.
Real interest.
The pressure around the mountain deepened.
My smile disappeared.
"Oh."
Maybe that wasn't good.
Across the world, people exploded.
Times Square erupted into cheers.
Bars shook with screaming.
Phones recorded televisions recording the broadcast.
Commentators shouted over one another.
"He damaged it!"
"Kai Skyline has landed the first confirmed physical strike against Ygros!"
"We are seeing visible frost formation across the creature's shoulder!"
"The unknown seventeen-year-old has done what multiple military operations failed to accomplish!"
The little boy on his father's shoulders screamed Kai's name.
His father joined him.
For the first time since Ygros appeared…
humanity saw blood.
Or something close enough to it.
Hope spread faster than fear ever had.
The Flag-Bearers didn't cheer.
Frank slowly sat down.
Paul's mouth hung open.
Toma stared.
Kenya's fox emerged beside her chair.
This time, it didn't hide.
Emi looked almost offended.
"That was…"
Benny glanced at her.
"What?"
She didn't answer.
She replayed the strike in her head.
Redirect.
Vault.
Position.
Bait.
Use the opponent's own strength.
Attack the damaged point.
Then adapt when the first line was blocked.
None of it had been improvised badly.
It had been immediate.
Clean.
Natural.
"That was perfect," Emi said.
Toma looked at her.
"It was one cut."
"I'm not talking about the cut."
She pointed toward Kai.
"The sequence."
Beth looked over.
Emi's expression had changed.
Not admiration exactly.
Professional disbelief.
"He made six decisions in less than two seconds, and every one of them was correct."
Frank leaned forward.
"Could you do it?"
Emi didn't answer immediately.
That was answer enough.
Then she said:
"Not like that."
Benny stared at Kai.
For the first time, something other than concern entered his expression.
Respect.
"Who the hell trained this guy?"
Bladeon was smiling.
Not slightly anymore.
Actually smiling.
The woman beside him noticed.
"You're enjoying this."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I was wrong."
She blinked.
"You sound very happy about that."
Bladeon pointed toward the screen.
"I thought he was talented."
"And?"
"Talent doesn't do that."
Kai stood in the snow, ice sword raised.
Bladeon leaned closer.
"His body is behind."
"Behind what?"
"His knowledge."
She frowned.
"That doesn't make sense."
"No."
Bladeon smiled.
"It doesn't."
On-screen, Ygros shifted.
Bladeon stopped smiling.
"Oh."
"What?"
He took one step closer.
"Now we're going to see something."
The cut on Ygros's shoulder disappeared.
Not healed.
The frost simply fell away.
The armor beneath it closed like the damage had never existed.
My excitement died immediately.
"That's cheating."
Ygros straightened.
All six arms slowly spread.
The storm stopped.
Not weakened.
Stopped.
Snow hung in the air.
Thousands of white flakes suspended around us.
My breath froze in front of my face.
No wind.
No sound.
Nothing.
I tightened my grip.
"Okay."
Ygros took one step.
The mountain sank.
Not cracked.
Sank.
Like something had pushed the entire ridge several feet into the earth.
I stumbled.
The pressure hit me.
My knees almost buckled.
I forced myself upright.
Every instinct screamed.
This wasn't the same Ygros.
No.
Same Ygros.
Less restraint.
Its six eyes burned brighter.
The sword trembled in my hand.
For the first time, it wasn't eager.
It was afraid.
That scared me more than anything.
Ygros raised one arm.
I prepared.
Second.
My stance lowered.
Third.
Ice spread beneath my feet.
Fourth.
My heartbeat thundered.
Fifth.
My hands stopped shaking.
Sixth.
All six arms were raised.
Ygros looked at me.
Then the voice entered my mind again.
This time, it wasn't one word.
"Again."
I stared.
Ygros knew exactly what it was doing.
Exactly what I was.
Maybe even who I was.
And somehow…
that pissed me off.
I spat blood into the snow.
Raised my sword.
And smiled.
"Gladly."
Ygros vanished.
My smile disappeared.
I didn't see it move.
Didn't sense it.
Didn't understand it.
One instant, thirty feet of armored monster stood in front of me.
The next…
nothing.
My eyes widened.
Where?
A shadow covered me.
Above.
I looked up.
Too late.
All six arms came down.
And for the first time since the battle began…
Ygros attacked fast enough that I couldn't react.