Dreiki spread out a picnic of dried jerky, hardtack, Ingen fruit hot coffee. They were provisions Tadios had brought out with them so they could train all day, “Hey Tadios,” Dreiki started.

“Hmph?” Tadios said with a mouthful of hardtack.

“Why do you trust me so much?”

Tadios washed the hardtack down with his coffee, “Why wouldn’t I? You seem like a good kid.”

“You don’t ask too many questions about who I am or how or learn all of this stuff.”

“I suppose you’re right, I don’t. I figure you’ll tell me if you feel the need, though.”

Dreiki nodded, “That’s the sense I get from you, and I appreciate that, but I always wonder why you trust people like that.”

“You’re saying you’re worried I might get manipulated or somethin’?”

“Sort of? I guess what I’m saying is, how do you know to trust me and the others? We’re Noxa, after all.”

“I don’t put too much stake in names an’ shit like that. I go with my gut feelin’ and my gut feelin’ says you’re alright. My gut aint never been wrong neither.” He took a bite of jerky, “Suppose you could say I’ve been in a position where no one gives you a chance even though you’re not a bad guy. You get enough people treatin’ you like a bad person eventually you end up becoming a bad person. I figure the opposite is true too.”

“I see.”

“It’s pretty clear to me you aint no normal Noxa, though. But I think you know that otherwise you wouldn’t be askin’ right? We aint out here practicing these techniques in secret just because someone like Deka might see us are we?”

“Well, I suppose it’s part of the reason, but you’re right. Long story short, if anyone found out I could do these things, I’d probably be killed.”

Tadios leaned on his palms, “I see, so the less I know the less danger I’m in as an accomplice, eh?”

Dreiki nodded, “I don’t want to pull you into this, but I also want to help you win these war games.”

“Well I guess I’ll turn your question around then. Why do you trust me not to go and rat you out?”

Dreiki smiled, “I guess you could say it’s a gut feeling. My gut’s never been wrong either.”

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Tadios laughed, “Man I’m gonna miss you Noxas when the ceremony is over. Y'all are such interesting folk.”

“Do you mind if I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Where do you think your power comes from? These techniques and all that. When did you notice you could use them?”

Tadios cupped his chin in thought, “I suppose it was after I lost my parents.”

Tragedy. That was one of many ways Ux could be awakened, but could it fully awaken it like it had with Tadios? Could it have made his Ux as powerful as it was?

Tadios smiled to himself, “In a way, I guess this power is just my parents watching over me in some way. Sometimes when I fight it’s like they’re right next to me.”

“Is that why you like to fight so much?”

Tadios nodded, “Yeah. For a time I was a real bully, y’know? I’d start a fight for any reason just to get that feeling again.”

“What made you stop?”

“I came to see someone as a little sister, I guess. An’ I didn’t need to fight to see her. Kaara’s her name. You’ve probably seen the dork around camp. Her hair’s real red. Like real red.”

“I’ve seen her around, yes. She’s on the other team, right?”

“Yup, wouldn’t be the first time either. She was the first one who gave me a chance, I think. I was always caught up in my feelings and my rage. People avoided me. The Malaki who killed my parents had used them like puppets. So no one trusted me, not even the adults. Guess they thought I might’ve also been a puppet. But she trusted me, and she got other people to trust me too. I guess she showed me I was only fighting because I felt lonely.”

“Why do you fight now?”

Tadios chuckled, “In a way, it’s still the same reason. I’ve made a couple friends by fighting. There’s a lot I can learn from the way someone throws hands. It’s why I know you’re not a normal Noxa. It’s also why I trust you.”

“Yeah? What does my fighting say to you?”

Tadios crossed his arms, “You’re way too smart when you fight. Tells me whoever taught you how to fight knows what they’re doing. It also tells me you listen to them and you don’t cut corners.”

“How so?”

“Even though I know a hit from you aint gonna hurt me I still end up falling for your feints. Something like a feint can’t be half-assed. It's gotta have the full intent behind it. You gotta be able to convince me you’re gonna actually strike in order to trick me. Makes me realize I’ve got some holes in my fighting style. I keep thinking ‘if this kid had more power, or if he was just a bit faster, I’d be out cold right now’. You can also counter like you’ve been fighting for decades. It’s scary how good you are at predicting what I’m gonna do. That’s some real talent, there.”

Dreiki was blushing, “It’s not much. Like you said, my punches don’t hurt you, so even if I’m good at that stuff it’s not like it matters in the end.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. Power punchers and hard hitters are a dime a dozen. Smart fighters like you are rare. Sure, you might be behind now, but once you get some power behind your strikes everyone else is gonna have a hell of a time catching up to you. I give you five years before you’re one of my rivals.”

“Five years huh? I don’t think I wanna wait that long.”

Tadios stood up, offering his hand, “It’ll be four years if we get back to training right now.”

Dreiki took it, “Three if I land a Straffaka Parry on you in this next sparring match!”

“That’s the spirit!”