“Okay, Will, the floor is yours.”
Nothing could have prepared him for hearing that, nor for seeing nineteen pairs of eyes focused on him so intently. He opened his mouth, but found that he couldn’t think of anything to say, so he closed it again. How had he planned on starting? He couldn’t remember. Panicking slightly, he turned to look at Charlisa. She didn’t move or speak, but somehow, her level expression gave him a bit of calm. He took a deep breath, and opened his mouth again.
“Right,” he said, stepping a bit further away from the group so that he could be seen clearly by all of them. “So, I’ve thought a lot about what would help us most over the past three weeks.”
Silence followed this statement, but he hadn’t really expected anything just yet. “I’ve noticed that you guys are a lot stronger and faster than the average person. This is obviously thanks to Edward’s power.”
This time, he got a few nods of acknowledgment. The reaction, tiny as it was, bolstered him a bit, giving him the strength to continue. “Well, what you don’t have is balance or technique. And without those, power and speed mean nothing.”
A few wide eyes, but just as many eager expressions. That boded well, he thought. He pointed at James, the friendliest face of the lot, and beckoned him over. James came at once, a broad grin stretching across his face. “Ready, Sensei.”
“Don’t call me that,” Will said quickly, which only made James laugh. “Now, take a stance like you’re about to fight me.”
After a moment’s hesitation, James raised his fists like a boxer, feet planted an inch or two apart. Will shook his head. “Not quite.” With careful movements, Will helped him get into a proper stance, feet spread shoulder-width apart, hands a little further apart, and weight balanced evenly between each foot.
“That’s better,” he said, hoping he sounded encouraging. “Now, that’s a basic, balanced stance. You can do a lot of damage with this, as long as you’re careful.”
“But the other fighters in the tournament won’t be punching or kicking me,” James interjected, looking more than a little confused. “They’ll be throwing rocks, water, and wind at us.”
“I know,” Will replied, still trying to keep his encouraging tone. “But learning the basics here can help a lot. I’ve already experimented with some combinations, and most of it works so far.”
James stood up straight and frowned. “What do you mean? Combinations?”
“Combining fire with martial arts,” Will said. He glanced around at the others, who all looked just as confused as James. “You’ve never thought of this? You just throw fire?”
“Well, yeah,” James said. “What else should we do?.”
Will racked his brains. How could he prove his point and explain what he was talking about? True, throwing fire around was already deadly enough in its own right. They’d been doing that for nearly a decade, and it had never failed them before. Case in point, Richard had nearly killed him with that same philosophy. But he’d also been able to avoid being burned with his reflexes and martial arts. That gave him an idea. He turned to Edward.
“Edward, can I get your help? You’re the strongest, so it’ll show better.”
Curiosity showing all over his face, Edward got up from the ground and walked over. James stepped back respectfully, eyes locked on the two, watching intently. Will shook his head slightly, not sure how this thought had never been considered. “Edward, remember how to block a standard kick?”
Edward nodded confirmation, and adopted his stance at once. He’d been the first to start learning from Will, which had been the perfect opportunity for the young man to iron ot his teaching style, not that there was much of one to speak of. “I’m going to do a normal kick first.”
As he’d expected, Edward blocked the kick without issue. He had considerable power in his body already, as Will had noted. Will nodded, lifting one finger to stop the spectators from muttering. “I already know what you’re going to say. But just hold on. I’m going to kick again, but this time with fire.”
He did so. It had taken him the best part of a week to figure out how to do it, but he was glad he’d put in the effort now. He lifted his right leg, deliberately going just slow enough that he knew Edward would be able to react. He didn’t know exactly how powerful it would be, and he wanted to give the Alpha plenty of time to react. Once he was sure that Edward was ready, he turned his entire body, snapping his right leg out in a standard kick. Except that, as fast as he could, he conjured fire to coat his foot, the instant before it connected.
Edward let out a grunt of surprise as he blocked the kick, and actually staggered back with the force of it. He wasn’t hurt, of course, because of how much stronger he was, and the fire just splashed harmlessly off of his skin. But his eyes were still wide, and he looked down at his feet as if surprised to find that they’d moved. Noratuk and James both let out a shout of surprise as they saw Edward rocked by a simple kick, and several others let out similar noises of surprise.
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“Just with fire?” Noratuk exclaimed, looking incredulous as she bolted over. “How hard was that hit, Edward?”
Edward shook the arm he’d used to block, still staring with wide eyes. “Almost knocked me over. That would have been worse if he’d moved faster.”
Will nodded. “That’s how much extra power you have. But first, we should focus on the basics.”
He broke them into pairs after that, going around and correcting people’s stances. Then he demonstrated the basic punch, making sure to remind them to keep their balance and not overextend. It came as new information for quite a few of them, who were only used to the wild haymaker punch that boxers were known for. Then he showed them the most basic way to block a punch aimed for the head, and set them to take turns striking and blocking.
“Take it slow,” he reminded them. “You’re stronger than you think, so we don’t want anyone out of commission on the first day.”
There was a lot of muted laughter in reply to that, and he grinned in reply. He walked in a large circle around the pairs, trying to keep an eye as each moved. It was a rough start, no denying it. They used too much strength, and some moved with exaggerated care. They struck so slowly that there was no benefit to fire. He made a mental note to correct that behavior as soon as possible, but let it slide for the moment. Instead, his attention was diverted as he saw Richard and James sparring. Richard was putting too much of his body out of position with each punch. James, he saw, was taking full advantage and punching back quickly. More often than not, Richard was getting hit in the face.
Will quickly moved to separate them, as Richard’s face was getting redder by the second. “Whoa there. Take a short break, Richard. James, a word.”
As Richard walked away, nearly stomping in frustration, Will turned to James with a sigh. “Why are you hitting him in the face?”
“That’s the point, isn’t it?” James asked. His voice sounded reasonable and polite, but Will could detect the amusement lurking behind his tone. “To hit him?”
“It’s the point eventually,” Will said, frowning. “But you know that’s not what the point is right now. You want both of you to get better, and that takes patience.”
James appeared to consider that. “Do I want that though?”
Will blinked. “What?”
“Do I want both of us to get better? I mean, he’s a stuck up little brat.”
It took all the self control Will had not to laugh at that comment. Probably best if he didn’t seem too keen on the idea, he thought. “Be that as it may, take it slower. Give him time to recover.”
“What if I don’t want to?” James asked, tilting his chin back slightly. He was the very image of casual stubbornness.
Will looked at him in silence for a second or two, not sure if he was serious or not. He wagered on the latter. “Then I won’t teach you.”
“Oh no!” James exclaimed in mock-horror. “Anything but that!”
Will rolled his eyes and turned away, hearing James snicker. He walked over to Richard now, a bit more wary. “Everything okay, Richard?”
“I’m fine,” Richard said, quickly arranging his face into a stubborn mask. “He punches like a girl.”
A girl on steroids, Will thought. But he took a deep breath, and in what he considered to be his most reasonable voice said, “That’s good to hear. Let’s start again. But this time, don’t put so much of your body behind the punch. If you overextend, it leaves you open to getting hit right back. If you keep it controlled, you can block, and then punch again. Got it?”
Richard glared at him for several seconds, then seemed to consider it. He nodded begrudgingly. I might just make progress with this one after all, Will thought to himself. He clapped Richard on the shoulder and swept his hand towards James. “Right. Carry on, then.”
He lingered just long enough to see that Richard was being more careful now before moving along. Another minute or two, and he’d completed his first circuit of the room. Maybe he was imagining it, but he already felt exhausted, as if he’d been teaching for hours. Glancing at his phone, he saw that only thirty minutes had passed. Well, fuck. Still two and a half hours to go. He let out yet another sigh, and moved back to where Edward and Noratuk were practicing. It had been common sense to pair them up. They stood less of a chance of crippling each other if they made a mistake.
To his surprise, Edward and Noratuk were already picking up the pace. Obviously, they knew each other well, and so didn’t suffer from the awkward stage of getting used to moving and attacking each other. They were already more than proficient with the first stage. He toyed momentarily with the idea of having them skip ahead a bit, but decided against it. He really didn’t think he could manage having everyone at different levels. That would make teaching a nightmare.
“Edward!” A shouting voice called out, distracting Will from his thoughts. Turning quickly, he saw one member of the Fire Nexus, who had broken away from his practice, pointing across the field to where the hill began to slope away. There were people just walking into view now, he saw. Strange. Nobody ever really came to the university grounds now that it was owned by the Nexus. He wondered who it was, but quickly moved closer to Edward. Something had made him uneasy.
The figures approaching were all wearing robes. White robes, that fluttered wildly in the late afternoon breeze. There was something familiar about that he thought. Then, with a shock strong enough to make him stumble, torn between surprise and fear, he realized where he’d seen it before. He’d seen it on the most influential man he’d ever met, in their chance meeting shortly after his last tournament.
“Is that who I think it is?” He muttered quietly. “Or am I just crazy?”
“You’re not crazy,” James said, moving over quickly. “That’s Hitori.”
Will stared at the approaching figures in some alarm. There were only four of them, but their presence on the hill somehow made Will feel incredibly out of place. Until now, Nexus Hill had begun to slowly feel like a home. It was a space that he and the other Fire Nexus members shared, a private space apart from the rest of the world. Now here were strangers invading that private space. Not just any strangers, but members of the Soul Nexus. And at the head of their group was Hitori, their leader. The only man to ever kill an Alpha.