We were jolted awake in the morning by Mei Ling shaking us. "Up. Clothes and breakfast, Liwei wants everyone in the war room."
"Feels like school," Deandre groaned. "Why so early?"
I rubbed my eyes. "Because today is… basically a war. We need the whole day to prepare. And the day after that."
Silas stretched. "And because we need an entire morning to cram the plan into your tiny brain."
Deandre gave him a fake laugh.
We walked to the war room. Inside, nearly the entire army was packed shoulder-to-shoulder, Spirit Monks, Titan Monks, Archer Monks, Warrior Monks. Everyone was here. Haitao stumbled in behind us, dragging Fang along.
"He better not make this long," he said, yawning loudly. "That old man's liquor was strong as hell. I need a nap."
Wang Tianlei stood and raised his hand. The room silenced instantly. Liwei stepped forward.
He cleared his throat.
"Listen well," Liwei began, voice strong. "Seven days ago, our Abbot was killed. A mole in our ranks, our mistake, led to that tragedy."
The room tensed.
"But today is not about guilt. Today is about action." His eyes swept the crowd, "today, we take the fight to Ihuoin Mechu."
You could feel the air grow hotter with determination.
"For years, tensions have grown between us. When they attacked, when they burned our homes, when they killed our leader, they declared war. If we do nothing, our village will fall next. Battle is a scary thing, you risk your life, your home, your comrades may even meet their demise in front of your very eyes. But do not act with fear, do not hesitate, for the enemy did not even blink when they attacked us, why should we feel fear in the face of the enemy. Why should I feel fear in the face of my attacker? I should feel anger, resentment, I should have some damn pride for my village, and show we are not weak."
He pointed toward the doors.
"If any man feels fear holding him back, leave now. This is the last chance you'll ever get to walk away."
No one moved a muscle.
Liwei nodded.
"Good."
"Here's the plan."
He laid it out, sharp and precise, we'd have the Warrior Monks led by Haitao, infiltrate Nenchu Forest, eliminating patrols, and scout routes to attack. Once the forest is secure by night, the Titan Monks, led by Tianlei, will break the front gates. Most enemy forces will rush the Titans, so the Archer Monks cover them from the ridgelines. With attention pulled forward, Spirit Monks and Warrior Monks strike from behind the Zhao palace, and move in to take out the targets. That squad will be led by Liwei himself.
Next we'd destroy food storages, barracks, armor stockpiles. Take out the generals. Burn the Zhao family compound.
"No civilian casualties," Liwei emphasized. "Our targets are Weilong Zhao and Kai Zhao."
He finished.
"Any questions?"
Haitao raised his hand.
Liwei sighed. "Yes, Zhou?"
"Yeah, uh… when did an idiot like you get so tactical?"
Laughter broke the tension instantly.
"Shut it, Zhou!" Liwei barked, but he was smiling. "Everyone dismissed. Rest. Say your goodbyes. Meet at the gate at sunset. Killian, Deandre, Silas, Fang, Tianlei, and Haitao stay here."
We grouped, curious as to what sort of task he probably had for us this time. "Listen, this isn't going to be easy, you boys are strong. But these guys are no pushovers, all the generals are just about, if not more skilled than me, although I highly doubt that." Liwei said.
Haitao shook his head in annoyance, "can you get to the point of all this bud."
"Yeah yeah, okay the reason I'm saying this is you guys need to train, soak up as much as you can. Since my old buddies are back, and they owe me one, they can help train you. Silas can go with Haitao and Fang to learn about the way of the sword, and magic. Deandre can be with Tianlei for his experience with reinforcement magic, and Killian can be with me." He explained.
Everyone agreed, and it sounded good. We had today and the next to get about just as much information from them as we could. Haitao's group was heading towards the training platform, while Deandre and Tianlei decided to go to the forest for some reason. Liwei decided it'd be best for me and him to train in the Abbots personal training room.
When we reached the training room, Liwei's mood shifted, it let me know just how serious this would really be. "So, Deandre says you're the strongest out of the three. I don't think so, so why don't you prove me wrong."
We circled each other.
Before I could rush in, he beat me to it, dashing forward and snapping out a lightning-fast jab. I barely got my guard up in time.
He didn't stop.
A roundhouse followed immediately, his left leg slamming into my side. The impact knocked the air from my lungs as I skidded backward.
I forced myself to move.
I increased my speed, using my afterimage technique I split into copies that dashed around him in a wide circle, each one hurling bolts of lightning.
Liwei didn't flinch.
Wind exploded outward from him, forming a dense dome that swallowed my attacks whole. Every bolt dispersed on contact, shredded into harmless sparks.
I grinned. There was no way he could keep it up forever.
I was wrong.
He held the defense longer than I thought possible. I could see the strain now, the tightness in his jaw, the slight tension in his shoulders. Then he raised his arms and crossed them in front of his face.
There was no way he'd try it. He couldn't even tell which one was real.
But he did anyway. He released a violent blast of wind, it erupted outward, tearing straight through the afterimages and slamming into me dead-on. I was sent flying. I barely rolled to my feet before he was already there.
"I bet you're wondering how I knew it was you," Liwei said calmly. "It isn't hard to learn the technique I used. Even your friend Silas mastered it."
I rolled to the side but he stayed on me, never letting up. A head kick came in fast, I ducked under it by inches and went for a leg sweep while he was still balanced on one foot.
He jumped, just like I knew he would.
While he was airborne, I snapped my wrists forward. Electric whips lashed out, wrapping around his leg. I yanked hard, flipping him over my shoulder, and slamming him into the ground. For a split second, I thought I had him.
He twisted mid-fall, landing cleanly. He sprang back into his stance like nothing happened. Then he changed, his feet were spread wide, his arms tucked in close to his sides. The air around him grew heavy.
Ether poured off him in waves before slowly calming, settling into something controlled. Focused.
He punched the air with his left hand, a compressed ball of wind tore toward my head. I raised my arms to block. Then he punched again, this one aimed at my torso.
The first ball hit, it felt like I was getting struck by a cannonball. My guard shattered under the impact as my arms slammed back into my face. Pain exploded through my shoulders, my body folding under the force.
I couldn't recover in time. The second blast crushed into me.
I dropped to my knees, and saw a shadow approaching.
Liwei stood over me. The position I was in sent a chill through my spine, it reminded me of my trial.
"This is how it will be in battle if you don't focus," he said. "Always be alert. Never rush a stronger enemy. Feel them out. What can they do? How much ether do they have?"
He paused.
"You must also learn to envelop your body in Ether. It reduces the impact." I frowned, struggling to breathe. "But I don't know how to do any of that, Master Zhang."
Liwei knelt and placed a hand on my shoulder. "That's why you'll learn today, Killian." He motioned for me to stand. "Come on. You're a tough kid, shake it off."
I stood up, following him to the middle of the arena, he had me stand up and relax.
"Relax your body," he said. "For defense, people think Ether should be solid, hard like armor. But that's wrong." He tapped his eyes, "focus your Ether here. Tell me what you see."
I did as he said.
When I opened my eyes, I finally understood. An aura flowed around him, calm, steady, like a peaceful stream wrapping his entire body.
"Good," Liwei said. "Now send a blast of electricity at me, I know you don't have much experience doing it, so it should be weak enough."
He raised his hand. Wind gathered in his palm, spinning faster and faster until it formed a dense sphere. He grabbed it and hurled it at the wall. It tore through the air, kicking up dust before slamming into the stone and carving out a small crater.
"Still got it," he muttered.
"Remember," He made goggles with his fingers. "Visualize."
I tried. Sparks danced between my fingers, frustration building as nothing formed.
Then I hit my breakthrough, A small ball of electricity flickered to life in my palm. I tried again, pouring more Ether into it. It grew larger.
Liwei grinned, "alright, throw it."
I launched it at him. He barely moved, his Ether absorbed the impact and redirected it effortlessly. "Did you see it?" he asked.
I nodded, "it absorbed the force first… then guided it away. That's why the Ether has to flow steady instead of becoming hard.
Liwei clapped once. "Good analysis. You're reckless, but you're smart."
We continued practicing what Liwei called Roteh. We trained for hours. Ether reinforcement essentially. He tested me in different ways, first making me hold it while in combat, then using it while doing magic attacks, which seemed to stretch my Ether thin. I went through many different attacks, seeing what each one felt like, by the end of it all I was burnt out.
But I knew I had gotten stronger.