Akairo uselessly threw his clenched fist at Zabu who effortlessly dodged it by stepping to the side. The man’s form was blurry to a fatigued Akairo and the dark of night didn’t help.

They had repeated this countless times in several hours but regardless, Akairo kept swinging, each punch slower than the last.

Zabu yawned as Akairo stumbled towards him once again.

“This isn’t going to work.” Zabu muttered making Akairo blink several times, focusing his vision.

Zabu tapped his chin a few times before nodding.

“Alright, stop. We’ll have to continue this tomorrow.”

“But you said-“

“I know what I said but at this rate we’ll both be in nursery homes by the time you land a hit on me. So let’s have dinner instead!”

Akairo frowned.

He remembered what Zabu himself had said.

If he wanted something, he had to ask and if he couldn’t have it, he needed to ask why.

“Why can’t we keep going?”

Zabu rolled his eyes and tried walking towards the door but Akairo stood in front of him.

“Lets keep going.”

Zabu frowned at his.

“Oh? Fine. I wanted to a kind teacher and give you a break so that we could engage in a true dual tomorrow but if you want that now, I’ll give it to you, my boy.” Zabu growled before raising his hands.

The already dark parking lot grew darker and the air grew colder, making the already tired Akairo shiver.

Zabu then dashed towards him but just as he did, Akairo bit his teeth and sent Tal into his legs.

He then sent a kick towards Zabu who saw it coming and skilfully dashed to the side but Akairo wasn’t planning on kicking him, instead he created a ball of fire in front of his foot and kicked it at Zabu who crossed his arms defensively and took the fireball head on.

Akairo then watched as the fireball, which had yet to even reach Zabu, struggled to maintain itself and it eventually collapsed under the weight of Zabu’s shadow.

“Good one but as it stands, your fire is about as hot to me as a lukewarm cup of tea!” Zabu taunted before dashing towards Akairo once again.

This time, both of them were out of Tal and so had to resort to physical attacks.

Akairo could have dodged but he knew that he was far too slowly to escape and so, as Zabu sent him a right hook, Akairo ducked beneath it and tried punching Zabu in the chin.

Zabu saw this shifted his head to the side, avoiding the punch but Akairo, with the last of his strength, kicked himself forward and tried grabbing Zabu but a sharp pain suddenly assaulted the back of his head and what followed was unconsciousness.

.

..

Akairo awoke to the smell of good food. A common occurrence.

He opened his eyes to find Zabu cooking and let out a sigh as he sat up.

He remained silent as Zabu finished cooking and said nothing after eating.

Silence followed as Zabu washed the dishes.

Akairo’s half open eyes scanned his dirtied uniform.

He then glanced at his aching hands.

He briefly wondered why he was doing any of this.

He thought back to the stars which couldn’t see from beneath the tower city of Babilu.

Shiny, distant things that looked so peaceful and still it made Akairo’s heart ache.

He wanted to be with them.

To be at peace.

But… in order to reach the stars, Akairo would need to catch Zabu and so he closed his eyes and slept as he pondered on how to make that a reality.

What followed, as he drifted onto unconsciousness, was a warm feeling as Zabu covered him in a blanket.

.

..

Akairo let out a groan as he awoke.

He thought he would have figured a way to best Zabu by the time he woke up but he dreaded the idea that Zabu wasn’t even fighting at full strength.

He sat up and wondered just how much faster and stronger Zabu really was as the strange man prepared breakfast a few meters away from him.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Akairo bit his teeth all while thinking about the best way to fight Zabu and before he knew it, he was smiling.

He looked forward to fighting the man who he had come to call Master if it meant that it would make him even a little stronger.

And so, with a faint grin and after joining a contented Zabu, he hopped onto his feet and followed Zabu to their makeshift sojo where a new mat awaited them.

Nothing could be done about the scorch marks on the concrete though.

Akairo sat opposite the Zabu and the two locked gazes for a moment.

“Are you ready?”

Akairo nodded.

“Good. Give me your hands.”

Akairo did as instructed and placed his scarred hands within Zabu’s.

His vision then suddenly blurred as Zabu’s eyes flashed green.

“We weren’t supposed to stop yesterday so I’m gonna take an entire training day’s worth of Tal from you.”

Akairo’s entire body grew several times heavier and he began fighting for every breath.

Zabu stood up, prompting Akairo to do the same but it was a struggle just to remain upright.

Akairo knew for certain that he wasn’t this tired when they previously fought but he wasn’t going to complain and so he raised his fists.

Zabu nodded before dashing towards him and thus began what would become forty five hours of hand to hand combat.

No matter how tired Akairo got and no matter how bruised his body became, Zabu didn’t stop or heal him.

During all this, Akairo failed to land a single hit.

“Ah!” He cried as he fell flat on his face after getting a relatively soft kick to the chest.

Zabu said nothing as he walked towards the coughing young man.

He simply watched as Akairo forced his scar lined palms onto the ground again.

He stood up and raised his fist once more and at this point, it was all his body could remember doing.

Zabu nodded before sending forth a punch and although Akairo tried dodging it, he failed, getting hit in the gut but Akairo, in a desperate bid, grabbed Zabu’s arm and tried head-butting him.

Zabu easily dodged the attack and tried reclaiming his arm but Akairo didn’t let go and so, he punched Akairo in the face, shattering his nose.

A fresh wave of pain assaulted Akairo’s head but he held on regardless making Zabu punch him again.

Akairo saw, even in his dazed state, that Zabu wasn’t enjoying this.

His face was stiff and his has half closed.

But it had to be done.

And so, just as Zabu prepared to punch him again, Akairo tried kicking Zabu’s right shin.

Zabu moved his legs just in time to avoid getting kicked but Akairo grinned with whatever teeth he had left before creating a fireball at his foot using the Tal he had recovered during the forty five hour period.

Zabu’s eyes finally widened and he tried kicking the ball of fire away but Akairo simply poured more Tal into it, making it bigger and burning off his jumpsuit’s right leg and the very flesh beneath.

The ball of fire had a similar effect on Zabu only it was significantly reduced.

His face twisted and he raised his fist to punch Akairo again with eyes that glowed blue but at this point, Akairo’s body had given all that it had and so his ball of fire died just as he let go of Zabu who caught the young man as he fell backwards.

“I... Hit you.” He wheezed as his consciousness faded.

“Hehe. You sure did.” Zabu softly chuckled while gently placing his hand on Akairo’s chest.

Akairo’s body was then washed over by a wave of relief and he used his newfound energy to grin at Zabu again.

Zabu opened his mouth as if to speak but the remained as Akairo sat on his own.

“So...” Akairo started to say.

“What?” Zabu asked with a faint smile.

“Can I start fighting back in the Gauntlet?”

Zabu’s eyes fell and a slight frown formed on his forehead.

“I don’t see why not.”

Akairo smiled.

“But that doesn’t mean your training is over- in fact, we should start fighting all over again. You only managed to hit me because I let my guard down-“

“Yeah, no.” Akairo said as he hopped onto his feet.

“I’m not doing anything until you give me that dinner your promised.”

Zabu’s shoulders fell.

He let out several low grumbles as he stood up and accompanied Akairo back to his home where he prepared a feast for the grinning lad.

Akairo glanced at his leg while Zabu cooked.

He knew what he had done was reckless but...

No.

There was no excuse for it.

He needed to learn how to better use his fire.

He only ever had two uses and so restraint was of the highest importance.

He raised his palm but just as he thought about creating a ball of fire, he lowered it and let out a contemplative sigh.

Zabu eventually finished cooking and Akairo devoured all that he was served.

This also incapacitated him but he didn’t mind.

Zabu sat next to Akairo and gently placed his hand over the young man’s head.

He then lightly slapped his forehead and since Akairo couldn’t move without the risk of vomiting all he had eaten, he simply let out a pathetic groan.

“That was a stupid move.”

“I know.” Akairo nodded but, with the same hand as before, Zabu gently ruffled Akairo’s hair.

“When I was training, way back in the day, we practiced combat under the most ideal of circumstances with countless safety nets. However, just as we, my fellow warriors and I, stepped onto a real battlefield... We were introduced to Death and he showed us the true fragility of life, however resilient it may seem.” Zabu said with a voice that grew quieter with each word.

Akairo knew he was right and was determined to avoid his mistakes.

“Alright. After one more session of one on one dual between you and I, everything you learn will be from the Gauntlet.”

Akairo sat up and looked into Zabu’s eyes which glowed a bright blue.

“Its time for you to give me the returns of my investment.”

.

..

Akairo wore his uniform over then protective suit given to him by the coliseum.

Zabu had preemptively bought him another only this one was instead made of black fabric with red embroidery that resembled the waves of heat from a fire.

Akairo nodded to himself as he hopped onto his feet and as usual, people in the changing room gave him unsavoury looks.

He ignored them as he made his way into the arena and onto the platform where his opponent awaited him.

Surprisingly, it was a man who was a lot shorter than he was.

The man wore a very intense looking set of leather clothing that clung tightly to his skin and his hair was drenched in styling gel which kept it pulled backwards.

The referee signalled the beginning of the fight and with wasting a second, Akairo dashed towards his opponent who simply sent forth a punch from which came a blade made from the concrete of the arena itself.

Akairo suddenly remembered the blade that attacked him and the others on their way to Babilu and so, with fiery breath, he leaned to the side narrowly avoiding the blade and punched his opponent in the chest with so much force that he stumbled back and shortly after fell to his knees.

Akairo then took slow steps towards the wheezing man as his mind was filled with flashes of those horrible days.

The Red Sky then appeared before him.

Akairo bit his teeth as more embers left his mouth and nose alongside his breath.

His opponent looked up into Akairo's burning eyes and tried getting up but Akairo simply kicked him in the face, sending him tumbling backwards.

Akairo then rushed towards him, mounted him and raised his fist.

His opponent’s eyes quaked as he held his fist in the air but ten seconds eventually passed and the match was declared his victory.

Akairo stood up and, after taking a deep breath, made his way to the changing room while a handful of murmurs about him filled the air.

He arrived in the changing room where he was met with an observant silence.

Everyone was looking at him differently now.

They wanted to fight him but all Akairo wanted to do was run away.

Something he couldn’t do just yet

And so he met their eyes only his were filled with a glare of swirling fire.