—Ehhhh?!

Well, that was definitely not the reaction I was expecting from him.

We were at our usual café. One that had been home to many of our most important conversations along our lives. A usual place for young people like us, who just liked to hang around with friends with nothing better to do.

—What do you mean by the Challenger’s Path? You don’t even have an image!

The surprise was genuine. He had known that we had been training for a while, but we hadn’t told him about the vitals. We were currently hiding them in a bag with us so showing them wouldn’t have been hard, but that would have probably caused a commotion in the place. Weapons themselves were banned items in civil areas; we didn’t want to attract some unwanted attention by taking them out.

—Don’t worry, we have a plan to deal with that.

—I don’t think there is anything to do about you not having an image, Nath. It’s not something you can substitute easily. You are being too reckless.

He wasn’t wrong, but he didn’t have the whole picture.

—Please, Kai. We already have something to deal with Nath’s imageless condition. Have some faith in us —Syl intervened.

—So you’re supporting him?

She looked unsure at that point. As if she was caught doing something that she shouldn’t have been.

—Ok, let’s do something. Imagine that we did have a way to help Nath participate. What is the reason why we should join in the first place? I’ve generally been supportive of the Guard, but the organisation of a tournament to have the most dangerous kids in the country beat up each other in exchange for the small possibility of catching the eye of some higher up has always seemed like a scam to me.

That was something I didn’t expect coming out of his mouth.

—Listen. I am always down to beat up people whenever you want. But the Challenger’s Path is but an excuse for those who for some reason have the uncontained need of being recognised. In the end it’is just a bunch of younglings desperately looking for the attention of those that are stronger than them, and I don’t really want to join them.

I wasn’t sure how to react. He was right in the end. Our objective was to actually call the attention of people the level of Drest’s. It might be a self-humiliating experience seen from that perspective. But I still thought it was for a bigger purpose than that.

—You met my brother, right?

He nodded.

—I was a great admirer of his —I said, even though he already knew—. When he came back, I didn’t know how to react. Seeing your brother in that state is nothing but nightmare fuel. He left something behind though. He left an item for me. He asked to open it when I got an image. But since I had no other option, I opened it two years ago, after my failed rupture. It was a sword. A sword with an image.

He looked at me, urging for me to go on.

—At the beginning I was confused. Did he know that I was not going to get an image at all? And if he did, why make me wait until my forced rupture? So… I think he was trying to send me a hidden message. But I still haven’t been able to find out what he wanted me to do.

»I have a theory. He saw something after he left. Something that left him scarred. Both physically and mentally. And I want to see it too. Whatever he saw, whatever the danger it might mean to me, I want to know. The answer to my questions must be out there somewhere. And for this I must participate in this year’s Path.

I slapped the tournament’s leaflet on the table.

—This year is a special edition. They are advertising the event by stressing out the participation of three of the guard’s Captains. But most importantly… —A specific name was written at the bottom of the page with bright colours and big letters, advertising his participation.

Haze. The guardian.

I hadn’t had the chance to meet a guardian until we encountered him randomly some time ago. But that situation had left a big impact on me. I hadn’t seen him battle live. The only thing I heard were stories and rumours. But I didn’t need to know about that. All I had needed was to meet his gaze at that time, to know his strength. That white eye, devoid of any life, shouldn’t have been able to see me. But he still looked at me. Straight into my eyes.

If there was someone in the Guard who could help me figure out what happened to my brother, it was him. The strongest Guardian himself. The man in the Mist.

Kai held his hand to his chin. Still deliberating if it was a good Idea or not.

—Well. It seems like you’ve thought this through… Ok I’m down. But I have a couple of conditions —We both listened carefully—. First is, I am going to chose myself my rivals. I am not going to resort to some convoluted strategy of yours to reach the end of the tournament. It is only worth for me if I make my own path. Is that alright?

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We nodded.

—And second, I am not going to talk to you guys again if you don’t reach any lesser than the finals. If we are going to do this, we do it the right way. I’m not willing to participate unless we have a fair fight between the three of us. I’m going to beat everyone’s asses until the finals, and I cannot expect any lesser from you guys. Is that clear?

Seemed reasonable.

He nodded, acknowledging our agreement, finally relaxing his posture after this intense exchange.

—Well, talking about strategies —Syl intervened— I assume you already know it’s not going to be easy, right?

—Can you elaborate? —Kai said.

She frowned, detecting the mockery in Kai’s words.

—I’m just saying, the other participants are not going to be an easy match for us. Usually, academies train their participants to compete among the best of the best. And the stakes are higher than ever with the participation of a Guardian. Anyone with even a small amount of ambition will not want to miss this chance to battle with him.

—And?

She didn’t like that. Her eyes wide open as to make her annoyance clear.

—You better wish we don’t find each other during the tournament.

—I’ll be looking forward to it.

A grin coming up on his face as he leaned forward to show his enthusiasm. But it didn’t seem to bother her any further. Already used to Kai’s taunts, she had grown close to the young man. Condescending comments were constantly raining on her since he learned of our training. He seemed to have felt something on her. A kind of growth he hadn’t seen as clearly in me. And it was something I was really amused with. I held great admiration for both of them. Their strength and quick-witted skills surpassed anyone else I had ever seen before. After training for so long I was very much interested in witnessing a face off between the two. It was hard to hold back the excitement of battling together with them.

A sudden burst of emotion with her crossing her arms and facing away from him as she closed her eyes.

—I’ll let that slide for the sake of our team.

—Just when things were getting interesting —He countered.

—The issue is that we are going to participate without the support of bigger organisations. The usual thing is to participate while being backed by a university or an academy. They present individually to the tournament. But the tournament rules do not usually prevent them from working together as a team. Having a group of people to help you guarantee your ticket to the finals seems to be a strategy that many have taken during the years. My intention is to basically do the same thing they are. Our limited workforce might be a problem, but joining forces with other allies might be the best way to help us reach the top.

Kai didn’t seem happy with that. I’m sure he would have preferred we did everything on our own.

—The preliminary phases gather a great amount of people, between whom there are many that, like us, have joined individually or with a very small group. We should be relatively safe to split up during the first phase. Then, each of us will find either a bigger group to join or other individual participants that might want to join our own. Alliances will be helpful in the latter phases. This might become a determining factor for us to guarantee our victory.

Kai’s expression showed nothing but boredom at that point. Holding his arms behind his head and laying on the seat as horizontally as humanly possible.

—Something to add, Kai? — her seamless smile and squinted eyes preventing her inner rage from coming out immediately.

—Well, since you asked… —Syl’s face twitched to that—. It is obvious that you will want to get allies as you climb up the ranks in the tournament. But your objective is reaching out for the big fish, right? I don’t think there is anything better than an individual ascension to catch his attention. The competition will be big since a Guardian is going to participate. If what you want is an opening for you to reach out to him, it will be hard to be able to do it alone. But I can make that opening for you.

Determination wasn’t what was showing on his face at that point. It was pure confidence.

—Kai, this is not a fight between school kids that have just learnt about their images. We are talking about potential threats to security. It is not unusual for people to have to drop out the contest after a clash with an especially strong opponent. Many end up injured to the point of no return. We cannot let you take things so lightly.

But he wasn’t bothered. He looked straight at us lifting his index finger.

—I just need one opening. That’s all I will ask from you.

He noticed our hesitation though.

—You guys have not been the only ones getting stronger all this time. I know some of the guys that are going to participate this year. They are that kind of person that has won all his life and cannot imagine losing to some unknown overconfident kid. I’m used to people like that. There are many of those in the streets —a small pause—. I will take the only thing they have and tear it to pieces.

We both watched. So, he was serious then.

—Very well. I’ll be looking forward to it then— I challenged him.

—There are a couple dangerous guys which I heard are going to participate this year —Kai explained— One of them is coming from the Academy of image. He’s quite popular in that place. I’m not sure about his image, but I have some theories. He has quite a bunch of supporters which are willing to follow him until victory, but he is quite hot headed. Kind of like me. He does not like to work in groups and likes to leave behind his team to fight on his own. He’s achieved big things in other tournaments, but it is the first time he participates in the Challenger’s Path. He’s quite young, but already an aspiring Guardian. People are comparing him to the Shooting star.

He paused, knowing the mention of my brother might bring back unwanted memories.

—The other guy is coming from Arkadia, another big fish of image competitions. But he seems to be more like a tactician. It is hard to catch him off guard. In more than one sense. He has a strong reputation as a leader. This means that he does not rely as much on his image, but it is still one to be wary of. His information network is quite wide. He is a big shot in the suburbs of the city. He is involved with some questionable activities, which the Guard is completely aware of.

—What does he do?

—Can’t be sure. But I heard he is gathering image users that might be useful in different ways other than fighting. Exploitation of the weak and stuff like that. Have never wanted to get much involved into it but it’s not the first time I clash with his band.

Syl was thinking. It was good information to know.

—But neither of the two are a problem.

He was unbothered by the confused looks the two of us gave him.

—I can serve them to you on a silver plate and open your way to the top.