James pushed against an opponent in an attempt to make space for a pass. Yusuf moved on the edges, trying to escape his tail and catch the ball. James grunted. He needed to focus on the goal, but the man’s sweaty armpits were not helping matters.

The ball sailed overhead, only to be knocked aside by someone. James dove for the ball, missing by inches but knocking it back into the air. Someone tried grabbing the ball, only to get shoved aside. The ball bounced once before a stray foot kicked it back into the air.

James stood and skated at the ball with all his might, the thoughts of training melted away by the heat of the moment. He saw Yusuf out of the corner of his eye, the man skating hard toward James for a pass. There was a moment where time hung suspended in the air as James reached to get the ball and pass it. Something sparked at the edge of his vision.

The ball suddenly changed course, flying out of play and bouncing off the stands straight into the air. It slammed against the ceiling before falling straight down. Nadia was there to catch it.

Someone clapped. James looked over at the door, sweat dripping down his face. Two young teenagers, practically children from James’s perspective, stepped forward. Osman followed.

Nadia frowned, as did James.

“A particularly stunning display of prowess,” Osman said in his dull voice. James could practically see the sarcasm dripping from his lips.

Nadia stepped forward. “Osman, might I ask why you’re here?”

“I had caught wind of your,” Osman picked at a fingernail, “unusual movements and wanted to make sure everything was satisfactory.”

“As you can see, we are,” Nadia said. “Thank you for inquiring, but if that is all, we really must return to the game.”

“Yeah!” Curt shouted. “We were about to win!”

For a moment, the briefest of moments, Osman’s stern face dipped into that of anger. Only Nadia and James seemed to catch it, the former due to her cultivation ability and the latter’s due to his experience on the streets.

James skated over to Curt, moving in front of the teenager to shield him from Osman’s gaze. Nadia moved in front of both, followed by Xander. The bearded bear of a man didn’t know exactly what was going on, but he understood these new arrivals weren’t on friendly terms.

“No, Nadia, I am also here to inspect our new facility,” Osman said, ignoring Curt’s outburst.

“This isn’t yours!” Curt shouted again. “The floor government owns it!”

“And as of two minutes ago,” Osman said coldly, “the floor government decided that the Blue Mountain Sect could better manage this building. Incidentally, as I must now inspect the facility, those not affiliated with the Sect must vacate the premises.”

Nobody moved.

“He said leave, mortals,” one of the other cultivators spat.

“Yeah," the second parroted.

Both were young, probably just reaching their teenage years if James was correct in guessing their age. Though, who actually knew how old cultivators were. At least James was fairly certain these two cultivators were young. Both had that youthful confidence that the world tended to beat out of people as they grew.

They wore robes similar to Osman’s. However, their belts were silver instead the gold cinching Osman’s white robes at the waist. They had silver tassels woven into their hair that was tied neatly into a bun at the back.

The young cultivators moved forward aggressively, ready to evict the others if it came to it. Nadia took a step to meet them.

“You would not allow them to finish their game?” Nadia asked.

“I see no reason to,” Osman answered.

James scoffed. Osman’s stern glare landed on him. “Doesn’t seem very honorable,” James said.

The medicine hall leader’s eyes narrowed, but before he could speak one of the other cultivators spoke out of turn. “As if these mortals would know honor.”

“I know more than you!” Curt shouted. “Mortals don’t kick people out without notice!”

“Quiet,” Osman said. “Our decisions are not to be questioned.”

“How honorable,” James spat. Nadia took a step back to let James speak, willing to let him dip his hand into the sect’s politics. After all, he would have to learn this himself later. Now would be good training.

Seeing that his master didn’t intervene, James continued. “You think it’s right to do this?”

“I am allowed to make decisions that would benefit the sect,” Osman answered.

“And no one can question you, is that it? Because you’re right?” James stared back at Osman, matching the steely gaze with one of his own.

“Because we know better,” the younger cultivator said. “Our long lives give us insight into how things have to be. Others should learn to trust and follow their elders.”

“You buy a building for the good of the sect, kicking out those already inside without a word and say, ‘trust us’, when they want to know why,” James said. “And here I thought cultivators had honor.”

“Do not presume to know us, boy,” Osman said. “We hold more knowledge that yours three times over. This is for the good of the sect.”

“But will others think that?” James asked. “Say everyone goes home, tells their friends and family what happened. Maybe a news story gets a hold of it, puts in big bold letters: ‘Blue Mountain Sect Disrupts Community!’ Doesn’t sound honorable.”

“What are you implying?” Osman asked.

“Look, I know that honor is everything to sects,” James said. “As such, you must have a good reason for buying this property from the government, correct? All I’m saying is you should explain why. It’s only honorable.”

James fully expected Osman to not have an answer. He’d expected this venue purchase to be a petty attempt at harassing Nadia as she taught James. So it came as a surprise when one of the younger cultivators had an actual answer.

“We need more space to process beast parts,” the teenager said. “There was a surge on the lower floors and we need more space for all the monsters we killed.”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Monsters that we protect people from,” the other cultivator added.

Xander sighed. “Well if that’s the case we’ll get out of your hair.”

“This is stupid!” Curt shouted. “We can’t even finish the game?”

“As if your feeble skills in the game mean anything,” One of the young cultivators said.

“I bet I’m better than you!” Curt shot back.

“Ignore him,” Xander said quickly.

But the young, brash cultivator did not ignore Curt. James saw a blur of movement as the teenager dashed forward, fist out to strike Curt.

Nadia stepped in front, grabbing the fist and cutting the attack short.

“You forget yourself,” she said. “Power is not meant to be used in this way.”

“He insulted me,” the young cultivator said. “My honor demands retribution.”

“Your honor demands nothing,” Nadia said simply. “Honor holds no demands, only good intentions.”

“But we cannot have the boy’s challenge lay unclaimed,” Osman said. “What say this? We hold a new competition. The boy may choose a team of six against my two charges. If the boy wins, we will admit he has a modicum of skill. If he loses, he shall have to answer for his disrespect.”

“Deal!” Curt shouted before anyone else could answer.

“You idiot,” James said. Curt looked at him. “They’ll cripple you if they win. Look at them.”

James pointed to the young cultivators, both eagerly cracking their knuckles at Curt.

“I’m better than them,” Curt said, his voice filled with that youthful confidence. “I’ve been playing Skateball since I was crawling. It’s in my blood.”

“Then allow James and I to be on your team,” Nadia said.

“This is a match between mortals and cultivators, Nadia,” Osman said. “You cannot join their side.”

“Then allow James to,” Nadia said. “He is still mortal.”

James caught the flash of a smile on Osman’s face. “Very well.”

The answer came all too quick for James’s liking. It was likely Osman expected something like this. In fact, James wouldn’t put it past the man to have gotten two cultivators familiar with Skateball.

“Then I want Xander, Yusuf, Ayda, and Venkat,” Curt said.

“No way,” Venkat said. “I’m sitting this one out.”

“Then Haru,” Curt pointed.

Haru faltered.

“Aren’t you mad at them?” Curt roared. “They’re kicking us out! This is our place!”

“But they need it for the monsters,” Haru said meekly. “And there’s another court further away.”

“It isn’t about that!” Curt shouted. “It’s about respect!”

Ayda nodded. “They can’t do anything outside of the rules Haru. It will be fine.”

“Okay,” Haru said.

The new team of six turned to face the two cultivators.

“This is the team?” one of them scoffed. “Well this is going to be easy.”

“Took the words out of my mouth,” Curt said. “You two are so short a light breeze will knock you over.”

The young cultivators narrowed their eyes.

“Maybe stop making the cultivators angry,” James cautioned. “They don’t have the best track record of keeping their cool.”

“I know what I’m doing,” Curt said. “And you and I are going to be Linchpin.”

“Okay…” James said.

He looked over at his master, who was in a staring contest with Osman. He looked back to his team, Curt already making plans.

“Xander and Yusuf are going to be Leadoff,” Curt said. “Yusuf will sprint out of the gate and Xander will block. We’re going to get the ball across the court faster than they can react. There’s only two of them, the idiots.”

That left Ayda and Haru as Midstep. The two nodded along to the plan, Curt’s confidence rubbing off on them.

“Are you ready?” one of the young cultivators asked. “Planning won’t help you.”

“Wow so impatient,” Curt replied. “You’d think a long-lived cultivator would be able to wait a second.”

James chuckled despite the tension. Leave it to a brash teenager to hold the most scathing remarks.

Everyone skated over to their positions, Nadia placing the ball ahead of the Leadoff players. Osman moved to sit on the stands, producing a line of cloth from a pouch before placing it on the seat before him. The two young cultivators leaned forward in a sprinter’s crouch, confusing both Yusuf and Xander. They were in a more traditional starting crouch, their bodies turned sideways to instantly push off for speed.

“Begin,” Nadia said.

Yusuf darted out of the box almost as fast as a blink. Xander followed, putting his body in front of the two cultivators. But it was like the two were expecting the movement. Almost as soon as Xander moved, one of the cultivators had jumped to grab the large man’s arm. A tug was all it took to trip Xander up, the large man crashing to the ground.

The second cultivator dashed in a straight path right past Xander as if he knew what would happen. He seemed to lazily gain speed, catching up to Yusuf just as he handed the ball off to Haru. The cultivator skated right next to Haru, not touching him but playing close enough to scare the meek man into passing the ball. A hand darted out, snatching the ball the moment it left Haru’s hand.

The cultivator sneered in contempt. “Pathetic,” James heard.

He saw the cultivator turn, the back of his foot clipping Haru’s skate and sending the man tumbling. The cultivators laughed, taking their time to regroup and skate toward the Linchpin position.

James fumed at the unsportsmanlike showing, but not as much as Curt. “I’m going to break them,” the teenager said.

“Hold on,” James said. “We need a plan.”

“I have a plan,” Curt said. “It involves getting even.”

James sighed as the brash teen skated forward. He followed, all the while wondering how the two cultivators predicted almost every movement from the others.

It must be the Metastate, James theorized. Their movements were like James’s when he was in the zone, only better. They moved only moments after their opponent did, almost like it was instinct.

The two cultivators skated into the relay box, laughing as Ayda and Haru uselessly tried to steal the ball. Things changed, however, when Curt arrived.

The teenager wasn’t bragging about his skill. James now realized that if it wasn’t for Xander’s large body, Curt would have easily scored for their team. His hands moved like lightning, snaking in and out to try and pick the ball. When the cultivators moved, he moved in step with them, matching their moves.

The young cultivator’s face turned to one of concentration. “What’s wrong?” Curt mocked. “I thought you were better?”

The ball became something of a blur as hands darted back and forth, the two skaters moving around the box. Ayda and Haru did their best to block out the other cultivator, though his uncanny movements had him slipping through more than once. Despite this Curt still stuck to the cultivator with the ball, preventing a pass or handoff.

James knew he needed to get involved. Despite Curt’s skill, he couldn’t keep up with both cultivators forever. But James knew he wouldn’t be able to compete unless he was able to match the cultivators in skill.

“Don’t overthink it, disciple,” James heard. He glanced over at Nadia in surprise, but there was no indication that she had spoken.

“Breathe,” James heard again. He glanced at Nadia again, wondering how his master was talking to him without actually speaking.

James realized he was distracted when Nadia gave him a pointed stare. He turned back to the match, only to see Haru once again tripped up. This time, the meek man fell right on top of Ayda, as if the two were dominoes. The cultivator laughed and turned to tackle Curt.

James had to make a move. He darted forward, planning to put himself between the cultivator and Curt. But a twitch of an arm had James reacting in a different way. It was purely instinct that he ducked, and perhaps complete luck that the ball sailed straight over his head and out of bounds. The cultivator who had thrown the ball stared in surprise. James stared back in equal surprise.

“What were you trying to do?” Curt mocked. “Bounce the ball off James into the other guy’s hands?”

James realized that was exactly what the cultivator was trying to do. Play reset, giving James another moment to think.

He’d moved on instinct, something telling him to duck before he’d even known. And that movement had surprised the two cultivators.

James took a breath, falling into the breathing pattern Nadia taught him. He looked around, taking in Curt, the two cultivators, and the ball. He imagined himself moving, only to realize his imagination wasn’t strong enough. No matter what he did, James couldn’t accurately predict what the two cultivators would do.

But something inside him could. An instinct. A form of unconscious thought that took in the world around him and told his conscious mind what to do. It was like the zone, but better.

And James suddenly understood. He didn’t need to try and imagine every scenario for his person, he just needed to stay ready as he took in the world around him. There was an underlying part of his mind that would help him, James just needed to listen. Listen like he had when he flipped himself off the flagpole and onto the AC unit.

James smiled as the world changed around him. Lines appeared, vectors of energy and motion that a part of him took into account instinctively. His vision became a mix of energy, matter, and numbers, all three working in tandem to describe the world in a manageable form for James’s brain.

He looked over at the cultivators, saw their bodies twitching ever so slightly in response to the other’s movement, and understood. They too could see the lines, the energy that came off everything around them. They shifted to react to it, ready to strike against what came their way.

Nadia shouted start, her words rippling waves across the fabric of the world.

James moved.