Izai boarded the bus and spotted Kenai sitting by herself. She had the same effect on him as the Solar-Pearl had that night at the Gale-Port. They made brief eye contact, and she smiled at him. The Kin sitting next to her shifted, and Izai quickly made his way over. Just as he was about to sit, he noticed a pregnant Taur standing nearby. He stood up again to let her take the seat.
“How have you been, Pulser?” Kenai asked, now pressed against the window beside the Taur woman.
“It’s actually Pureborn. I have all three Arts, unlike most,” he replied playfully.
“And some of us don’t even have one,” she replied. “So, what do you do with your all your time? Besides you know, the whole security thing?”
“How’d you know I work in security? Are you stalking me?” he replied, wincing internally, realizing it sounded better in his head.
“Maybe it’s the giant Lotus stamp on your bag,” she teased, eyes glinting. “You see a lot of action?”
“Not really. Mostly surveillance things.”
“I heard cameras are going to put you Pulsers out of a job soon,” the Taur woman chimed in. “They’ll put them up everywhere – it’s cheaper.”
“I also do KY fighting,” Izai added.
“Very cool,” the Taur nodded.
“Very cool indeed,” Kenai said, standing as the bus approached her stop. “I have a friend who’s a KY fighter. She kicks ass.”
As she moved toward the exit, something clicked in Izai’s mind. “Hey, have you heard of that Libri circus in town? I’ve got two tickets but a friend bailed on me for a girl. Want to come?”
“You’re asking me out?” Kenai smiled over her shoulder.
“Sure.”
The bus doors closed before he could get her number, but he had a feeling he’d see her again.
In Tai’s lessons, Izai couldn’t focus. All he could think about was Kenai – her scent still lingered in his nostrils, the light brush of their arms as she’d left the bus burnt like someone had spilled Fire-Sap on him. He craved a sip of Pure-Sap, hoping it would drown him in heightened senses, as he felt deeply all the feelings coursing through him.
Tai snapped his fingers. “You with me?”
“Huh? Yeah, why?”
Tai smirked. “New lover?”
“What makes you say that?”
He tapped the chalkboard. “Focus. Important lesson.”
Written on the board was ‘Pull. Pull Essence 15.’
“You know how to Pull?” Tai asked.
“In more ways than one,” Izai winked.
“Concentrate, loverboy. I oughta dress you in a leaf garment and leave you at the local Bili temple if you’re into love so much.”
Izai sat up. “Pull internally?” he asked.
“No, externally,” Tai deadpanned, tapping his forehead with the chalk. “Yes, internally. Do you know how to Pull internally?”
Izai shook his head.
“I figured. It’s something KY fighters or I guess a lucky Peakborn could stumble into. Stand up. Hit me with anything you’ve got.”
Izai stepped back, pivoted on his hip, and struck Tai’s open palm. As he made contact, a strange sensation rippled through him, freezing him for a split moment, like when he’d fought Katalia in the alley.
“By pulling internally, I’ve reversed your move,” Tai explained. “Instead of me going into the Involuntary Duration Cycle, you go into it. It happens when you Pull internally.”
“How do I do that?”
Tai took a step back. “You know how to use a Flow Pull, right? It’s all about controlling your Essence from your head to your fingertips. For us KinFolk, when you make contact just before the Pull releases, your opponent’s Pulse Cells go into an involuntary Cycle.”
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Izai wondered how anyone had even discovered this.
“That’s the beauty of Kai-Yo,” Tai said. “Every generation, some Kin figures out some exploit that changes the whole game.”
Izai focused on his Flow Pull Essence, sensing the feeling of warmth it generated in his brain which he channelled towards his palm.
“Good,” Tai said. “When the Essence is still in your palm, if another Pulser hits it, then you have the advantage.”
Tai punched Izai’s palm with his Pulse.
“Ideally, that’s when you set up for a Punish. This costs you 5 Essence though but I guess it’s really irrelevant as you can’t really use Pull normally that much in a real fight.”
Izai wondered if that’s why Tai was insisting on the Taur being a PureBorn.
“Yes. When different Essences interact, they create these exploits. Your Push essence, too, has an exploit essential to Kai-Yo.”
“What is it?”
“We’ll get to that. Let’s finish Pull first. The Yumani Pull.”
Koralo went on to explain where it all started. Kuzai Yumani. Yes, the same Kuzai Yumani who controlled most of the WKYE. He was born in Polassa too, with a Hanu Folk mother, and a Rosea MegaFolk father. He was a ‘Pure Bastard,’ meaning that he had inherited all three Talents despite being born of two different Kin. He inherited his father’s Talents as a RiverWood. However, they didn’t follow the usual rules – they had a unique Duration Cycle.
Back in his day, when he was still a 1st Dominion Talent, the GKYA would send Kin on excursions all across Aradahi, hoping it would teach them the different Fighting Arts – and more importantly – humility. On one such trip, Kuzai met Osarok. The GKYA used to have Kin fighting in different classes such as the Megas together and the Kinlings together. Kuzai, though he had a regular Folk body, was forced to fight in the Megas because of his father.
While on their excursion to the Ansula Islands, Kuzai and Osarok had watched a trick being performed by two Libri circus artists. One would spin and kick the other in the palm, freezing the attacker in place for a split moment, before the defender would execute a flashy move to his opponent. It looked like simple theatrics to most, but for Pulsers, it was more – a hidden aart. Kuzai, curious, dug deeper and figured out how the Libri pulled it off. That’s what Tai had been trying to show Izai.
“Woah, that’s so recent,” Izai said, eyes wide. “I thought it would have been from a thousand years ago.”
“Well, back then, Kai-Yos involved armour and weapons. They didn’t have time to figure out these kinds of exploits. The Push exploit, though, that’s been around since the Mythic Epoch. The Push exploit is also the reason why Fighting Arts are the way they are. But that’s a lesson for another day I guess.”
Izai could feel his Flow Pull Essence stirring in his mind again, spreading the feeling of warmth as it made its way to his palm. Tai’s fist met Izai’s with a solid crack.
“Good,” Tai said. “That’s another 5 Essence gone.”
They tried again, this time with Tai throwing a kick. Izai grabbed Tai’s leg mid-kick, then spun and slammed him to the ground with his Pulse.
“Impressive,” Tai grunted as he stood, wincing with a hand on his lower back. “Let’s do some guided meditation for a bit… You know to get your Pull Essence up again.”
Izai sat cross-legged on the damp porch, breathing in and out deeply, with the sound of distant thunder roaring overhead. After a minute, his Essence was fully replenished. He stood again, his mind turning to a question that had been nagging him.
“What happens when you block. You know, during the Duration Cycle?”
“You go straight into Active, then Recovery,” Tai explained.
“And my opponent?”
Tai paused. “Depends. Those type of numbers only really matter in the Mythic Phase anyway. You’ll figure out soon enough eventually but for now just blocking puts you into Active and Recovery and does the same for your opponent too.”
Izai wasn’t satisfied. ‘Soon enough’ felt like forever.
Tai changed the subject. “Speaking of Yumani. How about his biggest rival huh. Osarok Taiga and the Osarok Pull Exploit. The last of the big exploits to be discovered.”
Tai explained that Osarok discovered the exploit years after losing the GKYA Ilibi Oja Championship to Kuzai, who had become back then, and until its retirement, the only non-Taur to win that title.
“In her book, she claims she worked day and night because she knew that there had to be something else. Something that accounted for the Firm Pull.” Tai grinned, “but you know, celebrities like to exaggerate.”
“So, what really happened?” Izai asked.
“She worked hard, no doubt,” Tai conceded. “But she got lucky. She was teaching an Gila girl when she stumbled onto it.”
Turns out, most Gila already did this trick. Gilas with the Art of the Heart could fly, using their Pulse to control their wings. Other Gilas cannot. When Gilas fly, they use their Pulse to control their wings and generate enough momentum to stay airborne. However, when they’re still learning as children, they rely on the Pull exploit without realizing it.
“The Osarok Exploit lets your Recovery link directly into the Startup of your next move,” Tai continued.
He demonstrated on a wooden training dummy, first with a low kick followed by a step back and a spinning heel kick.
“Now, watch this,” Tai said.
This time, when he struck the dummy with his low kick, he seamlessly spun in the air and landed the heel kick in one fluid motion.
“That’s a link. It’s the foundation of a combo, and it costs 5 Pull Essence each time.”
Izai took his stance, preparing to execute a simple jab followed by a spinning elbow. He practiced the two moves normally, feeling his fist thud into the wood, followed by the sharp crack of his elbow.
“Now the trick part,” Tai instructed. “When the Pull Essence gathers in your head, and is ready to move down to your palm, that’s when you link.”
“But I’ll still be focused on doing the Pulse move correctly.”
“It should start to become muscle memory by now,” Tai assured him.
Izai concentrated. He went for the jab, gathering the Firm Pull Essence in his mind, but as the cold sensation and a sliver of fear crept it, his focus slipped, and he failed the link.
Tai clapped his hands. “Up again. Let’s go.”