(Reverence 5, 59 / 10:02AM)

  Back at the Pacithiest Adobe.

  A garden full of cottonwood trees, with light green leaves, stood on each four corners of the garden. The grass was patched in yellow, and a small pond shimmered underneath the desert sun above, but there was one thing that didn’t sit right with the patch of nature.

  For one, there was a sparring ring dead center of the garden. And around the ring, stood Pacithiest soldiers all unarmed with drinks in their primary hands.

  Just on the other end of the garden was a wooden door, with a young man behind it. Hearing the sound of his beating heart, the man with light-brown hair pced both of his sweaty palms onto the wooden door.

  (Luke’s thoughts) Here goes.

  Pushing the door open, all of the guards turned to see Luke.

  Silence filled the garden air, the soles of his feet froze to the ground below him, his face growing paler the more the soldiers stared at him. Their brows furrowed, their lips churning upward, some of them whispered amongst themselves, passing rumors and gossip from Luke’s eyes.

  Breathing in, breathing out.

  His lungs ballooned to the dry air that rustled his throat, he pushed it out with the same force. Withering his throat, he unglued his right foot by taking a single step forward, leading to his other foot to do the same.

  Another step, and another, and another…

  He pced both hands inside of his leather jacket while keeping his head down. Ignoring their stares, he kept his fastening breath silent the more he etched closer and closer to the ring. Still having his side bang covering his right eye, he let it bnket it as he reached the base.

  (Luke’s thoughts) Look after me…

  Pcing his palms onto the base, he lifted himself, pushing his body so that his two feet could stand himself onto the ring painted pure white. His hands lowered onto his sides, Luke gulped a load of saliva down his throat as he stared at an old man with spiky white hair.

  The same man who was dubbed; Master of The Art of Togo.

  Still wearing his bck robe, he wore his usual sandals whilst looking around his surroundings. Seeing his soldiers, but no signs of David, Iris, Christian, or Pacifica, he exhaled softly and closed his eyes.

  (Kenji) Have you ever sparred before, Fenix?

  (Luke) Several times…

  (Kenji) Then you know the rules. Whoever forfeits first, or taps out, becomes victorious in our little gamble.

  Luke nodded, before raising both of his hands to the height of his shoulders. His hands balled into fists, his eyes snted inward at the old man who looked defenseless, whose hands remained in his pockets while tapping the floor.

  Giving him a nod back, Kenji tilted his head farthest to the right, letting out a shriveled crack from his neck. Tilting his head to the left, another crack traversed the air. Now keeping it straight, he began taking off his bck robe that covered his body, letting it fall on the ring.

  Widening his eyes, Luke took note of Kenji’s bck sweatpants that reached down to his ankles, his upper body completely bare for everyone to look at. Despite having white hair, wrinkles, and stingy facial hair along his cheeks, his chest and stomach were indentured with hardened abs.

  (Female Pacithiest Soldiers) Woah…

  Every female blushed red, their eyes trailed along the gleaming muscles under the scorching sun. Most of them covered their mouths with their hands, it looked as if Kenji’s body was stuck in his 20s, despite his face aging normally.

  (Male Pacithiest Soldier #1) I wish I had abs like that.

  (Male Pacithiest Soldier #2) Don’t dream too hard.

  (Male Pacithiest Soldier #3) Damn, I need to train more.

  (Male Pacithiest Soldier #4) Maybe you need to eat less.

  Every male soldier admired the physique of their boss, their heads nodding up and down with their arms crossed over their chests. Some of them looked down at their bodies, and most of them sighed out long exhales of breath that reeked of envy.

  But everyone then turned their eyes on Luke.

  Sweat trickling down his temples, Luke followed Kenji’s lead, as he took off his bck leather jacket and white shirt. Now shirtless, his lean body was bare for both men and women to see, their eyes traveling every ounce of his skin that gleamed and sparkled.

  Despite being skinny, he wasn’t scrawny. Having some form of abs and chest that signaled some form of muscle, it didn’t radiate the same as Kenji’s.

  (Female Pacithiest Soldier #1) Well, at least he’s cute.

  (Female Pacithiest Soldier #2) I’m more into men that have muscles than cuteness.

  (Male Pacithiest Soldier #1) He has the ideal body, but if only he could work out more.

  (Male Pacithiest Soldier #4) Maybe he needs to eat more, bulking would help him.

  Luke ignored the spectators, as he focused on the old man with hardened abs. Pcing his right foot back, he readied himself in a fighting stance, while Kenji didn’t look the part to fight at all.

  Instead, Kenji pced both of his hands into his pockets. His eyes pinned on the young man who continued to stare at him with snted eyes, Kenji shrank the size of his pupils. Like a pet lion trying to pounce on its prey, Kenji froze himself like a mannequin, his eyes traversing every minuscule of skin, bone, or muscle of Luke’s body.

  (Kenji) I suppose you could nd a strike against me first, and see how much you fare in offense rather than in defense.

  Luke’s right foot finally pushed his body off of the ring-cushioned floor.

  Pulling back his right hand, Luke already balled it into a fist, his knuckles scraping at each other as if they were on the verge of snapping in two. Shutting his mouth to keep close a warcry, he reached the old man who stood defenseless.

  Thrusting his knuckle-creaking fist straight to Kenji’s face—

  Not even the snap of a finger.

  Not even in the blink of an eye.

  As if it teleported, or even faster, a hand wrapped itself around Luke’s hand.

  (Luke) Wah…

  Like a bear getting caught in a bear trap, Luke tried to pull out his hand, but the old man’s fingers dug deep into his youthful skin. Nudging back and forth, his upper body muscles bulged noticeably to everyone, with a couple of veins popping out as he tried to pry himself out.

  On the verge of dislocating his shoulder, his face reddened, but unknowing to him…

  Kenji let go.

  Even though his shoulder was free from being disjointed with his body, his feet lost the grip that he honed on the ring. Smming his upper back onto the floor, he yelped as he sprawled his hands and arms out, closing his eyes and gawking his mouth wide.

  (Kenji) Stand.

  Obeying his command, Luke stood once again, his hands raised to the height of his shoulders like previously. Both of his feet spread apart, his breathing hardened the more he watched Kenji for any movement along his hands, feet, arms, and legs.

  Sprinting in full force, the bottoms of his soles crashed and stomped the ground whilst lunging to the left. Pulling back his right hand, he lowered it down to his hip, his eyes pinned on Kenji’s chin.

  Then lunging to the right, he pces his left hand into his pants pocket, moving his body to the right side of Kenji’s. Moving like a regur boxer rather than a swordsman from a manga or anime, he thrust his hand again upward.

  (Kenji) Yet you don’t learn twice.

  But Luke didn’t fully throw his punch.

  Stopping midway, he had it hover inches away from the man’s chin because the main attack that Luke pinned…

  Was the area between Kenji’s calf and hamstring.

  With the tip of his boot striking it, Kenji’s eyes didn’t widen, as he let his right leg wobble relentlessly before smming his knee on the ground. With the force of a jackhammer, a bristled shockwave traveled the ring’s floor, his hands id motionless on the ground.

  Unable to smirk, Luke pulled out his left hand from his pocket, his palm holding something that crinkled the floor with—

  (Luke) Here!

  Sand.

  With his left hand, he threw the sand straight into Kenji’s eyes, whose hands continued to remain motionless to his sides. Blinding him, not a groan or yelp trembled his throat.

  His body even more defenseless than before, Luke moved his right foot back, pulling back his right hand as he balled his fist once more. Thrusting it straight to Kenji’s right cheek, his knuckles blew against the air that softened his skin.

  And then…

  (Kenji) Wits and smarts are what make a man stand on top.

  His hand was yet again held by Kenji’s.

  Luke remained still, as both of his feet were frozen solid to the floor. Without nudging back his hand to himself, he kept it there while gncing down at every muscle or hair that flew with the desert wind.

  Pulling Luke close, Kenji only nudged his hand forward to allow the lightweight Luke to tumble toward him.

  (Kenji) Luck can determine the forefront of a fight, but yet…

  Kenji finally balled his right fist, his hand low as he only moved a few inches forward. Bringing it to Luke’s stomach, that few inches was enough—

  Luke spit out whatever saliva stuck to his gums.

  Spttering the floor with his spit, his breathing fastened while reddening his face like a cherry tomato. Drool dripped down from both corners of his lips, his eyes flickered once before he scrunched them up with his lower eyelids.

  (Kenji) I still prevail.

  Luke let his shins sm along the floor while pcing his hands on his stomach. Coughing out relentless gags of air chained inside his throat, his breathing went up and down irregurly and abnormally as if he held his breath for three minutes.

  His vision blurred by tears, he smmed his right palm on the floor while spitting out more and more saliva.

  Unknown to him, Kenji stood up and pced both of his hands on his waist, his eyes looking down at the groveling Luke. His spiked hair blocked the sun and cast a dark shadow onto Luke, causing the young man to gaze his eyes up at the old man.

  His thoughts zapped through his mind like a bullet train, and his entire body froze.

  (Luke’s thoughts) What can I do? What should I do? How can I defeat him? What should I use? What can I use? How can I use ‘use’? Why did I do this? How? How? How? Why? What? Should? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why should I do this—

  (Kenji) Now to test your defense.

  His brain ceased his marathon-thought-run.

  As if a bolt of lightning traversed his nervous system, his entire body jumped to the frozen words from Kenji’s lips. His eyes widened to the max, every pore from his body began releasing sweat barely freezing sweat.

  Without seeing—

  Luke arched his head back. Unknown to the ws of physics, his entire head pushed back to the max it could go, his upper spine creaking from the sudden whipsh. Instantly, the back of his head smmed onto the ring floor, causing tinnitus to boom like a fshbang.

  Everyone took a step back as they saw Kenji pull back his right foot. Noticing a dark purple bruise underneath Luke’s chin, it swelled and bled from that very spot, swerving down to the inside of his jacket.

  (Kenji) You don’t even know The Art of Togo. But I can drill it into you.

  His body still lying on the floor, Luke tried to push whatever strength inside his head to tilt up, but even stressing his chin was enough to burn the bruise. Feeling as if his chin was touched by a burning metal on a hot summer day, its sting caused Luke to weep out a couple of tears from both his eyes.

  Kneeling, Kenji grabbed the top of Luke’s head, dragging him by the hair as he threw him across the other side of the ring. Rolling and tumbling, he stopped right along the edge, his left hand dangling over the base while he faced the old man—

  He was gone.

  Still ying on the floor, Luke’s legs bulged the more he pced his strength onto his knees. Whilst his hands and upper body failed, his lower body used whatever hidden areas that weren’t swallowed to…

  He felt his stomach squeezed his insides.

  (Luke) gasp

  The pain resembling someone kicking a bowling ball straight into his abdomen, all of his insides burned and squeezed itself. Churning, turning, his gag reflex took action as the imaginary vomit tried to escape from his stomach. Having his hands onto his stomach, he curled himself like a ball while his eyes reddened.

  Struggling to even breathe, only a slight trace of air burned his throat from both in and out.

  (Luke’s thoughts) I wanna die.

  He felt his back crack.

  Rolling and tumbling along the ring, his lower back soared and burned his muscles just above his butt, clenching his eyes shut while opening his mouth. Trying to yell, trying to scream, his vocals were bnketed by the pent up air that struggled to come in or out.

  (Luke’s thoughts) I wanna die. I wanna die.

  Someone grabbed the top of his head, and like the speed of a guillotine, his blurred vision noted the incoming floor, nose first.

  Hearing another crack, his upper lip felt moistened, as the liquid traversed down to his mouth and chin. His hearing still clouded with tinnitus, his vision blurred to the level of a low quality movie. And with his nerves bring harshly, it was like every follicle of his skin burned relentlessly.

  (Luke’s thoughts) I wanna die. I wanna die. I wanna die. I wanna die.

  His ribcage snapped.

  His jaw split in half.

  His heart skipped a beat.

  (Luke’s thoughts) I wanna die. I wanna die. I wanna die. I wanna die. I wanna die. I wanna die. I wanna die. I wanna die.

  Kenji’s kicks were on the same level as that of a metallized baseball bat. Every nerve heating to the same temperature of molten va, his entire body slumped to the floor like a ragdoll. The more he got kicked, the more and more blood flew out from his ears, mouth, nose, and crevices of his eyes.

  Finally, Kenji pulled back his foot.

  (Kenji) I think that should be enough.

  David, Iris, Christian and Pacifica finally exited out of the wooden door. Seeing the group of Pacithiest soldiers focused and silent on the sparring duel, they left a wide enough gap for the four of them to see…

  Luke swollen with blood.

  His arms, hands, legs, and feet spread far apart, blood bnketed his face as it moistened the cheek part of his face. His eyes rolled in the back of his head, his nose bone split it into two separate parts, his chin glinting a hint of bone underneath.

  (David) Jesus…

  Despite his hands, fingers, and feet the only body parts that weren’t crushed, even a single twitch was too much strength. Beyond being injured, David walked fast to the base of the ring, his eyes widening at his foster father who had blood smeared on his sandals.

  Putting his palms onto the ring, Kenji noticed his foster son gawking, making him push back his spiked hair that lowered onto the right side of his face.

  (David) You didn’t have to go that far…

  (Kenji) Then how far do you think I should’ve gone?

  Everything burned.

  Seeing nothing but whitish red, his eyes were full of blood that stuck onto his pupils and scleras like glue. Unable to see what’s in front of him, his heart smmed against his broken chest that stung him with every beat.

  (???) Luke…

  He couldn’t move. His fingers unable to twitch or jolt up, his mouth opened wide to stream off the excess blood that ruminated his enamels and gums. While his hearing rang, the only thing he heard was the thoughts arming in his head.

  (???) Luke.

  Hearing a soft female voice drenched in honey, his breathing continued to harden, whilst tainting the ring from the smell of his iron. Pushing both of his palms, he couldn’t, but his right finger twitched once.

  (???) Get up Luke.

  The sounds of his heart began to override the sound of his tinnitus, and the taste of his iron continued to draw. The smell of metal worsened, the nerves of his body replicated the fiery pits of hell tenfold.

  (???) Save everyone.

  All of his fingers and toes twitched once, like a small wave of electricity ran through his burning nerves. His entire body shaking and trembling, he slowly let his head tilt up, his vision of whitish red soon repcing that of just red.

  Slowly closing his mouth, he pushed his right cheek that was stained by his own blood, his palms glued and frozen to the ring floor. Unable to look up or at Kenji, his eyes still wavered down at—

  (Old Luke in Luke’s thoughts) You can’t run from your own story.

  He pushed both of his palms up, lifting his face to look at the desert sun.

  Everyone had their hands covering their mouths, their eyes sparkling at the young man that stood on just his shins. His eyelids covered in dark eyebags, his face bloodied, even his chest and back were swollen and bruised with most of his bones broken and crushed…

  His right foot finally settled firm on the floor, his body wobble violently while keeping his hands drooped down to his sides. Putting his other foot on the floor, he hunched his head, lowering his eyes at David and the others who stood near the base of the ring.

  Turning around, he faced Kenji.

  (Luke) I … I can’t …

  Coughing out a ball of blood, he let the liquid flow onto his chest, having it drip onto the red floor. Not swiping it from his purple red lips, he tilted his head back while nonchantly eyeing the old man.

  (Luke) I won’t … I won’t kneel.

  Kenji puckered both of his lips shut, his eyes widening from the procmation coming from Luke’s swollen mouth.

  Taking a look at all of the spectators that joined in the spar, his own soldiers admired the dispy of will that Luke had. Iris, a woman that always looked upon people with a cold gaze, let her hands drop to her thighs whilst twitching her fingers.

  Christian colpsed onto the floor, his shins hardening and bleeding while having his palms hold his upper body up. As for Pacifica, both of her hands covered her mouth, tears on the verge of breaking free from her twitching eyelids.

  (Kenji) You still stand, yet you still bleed. You look at me with willful eyes; yet they’ve seen images that st a lifetime. Why won’t you rest?

  Luke took a single step forward, his body shuddering like a drunken man.

  Slowly and burningly, he pced his right hand inside of his pocket, shutting his lips and jaws tightly. His right arm bulging, he pulled out a simple metal concoction from his pants, his thumb flicking the switch to reveal a switchbde.

  His right hand on the verge of dropping the bde, he used both hands to help carry it right onto the left side of his chest.

  Tapping the tip of the bde twice onto his skin, he dug it lightly, before slicing it across his chest and ending it to the right side. A wall of blood trailing from the sliced wound that he carved, he dropped the switchbde, while still keeping his right fist on his chest.

  (Luke) Because my friends won’t.

  David bit his lower lip, his upper teeth drawing out blood.

  In front of him, in front of everyone, all of them witnessed the birth of a leader. A leader that stood unshaken, with a side bang covered his right red eye.

  Not carrying breath into his bloodied throat, nor carrying out, Kenji nodded once before raising his right hand. Garnering everyone’s attention, he pushed down his sunken eyes, eyes that softened under the young man’s resolve.

  (Kenji) I forfeit this match. It seems that my bones are too tired to fight anymore, so I hereby decre Luke the winner of this match.

  The spectators acted like a busted water hose, all of them cheering and cpping for the willful man that remained standing. Whistles and jeering loudening from the soldiers, Pacifica and Christian both looked at each other before pushing up their lips.

  To form smiles.

  Forgetting the despair and sadness and guilt from previously, both got into the ring that Luke stood, reaching up to him while David and Iris remained on the ground. The jeering and whistling deafening the garden’s tranquil ambience, a small smirk formed along Iris’s right lip.

  (Iris) Was there ever a time my father delivered a beating to that level?

  (David) Many times. He has a record for making every man kneel down and grovel on the dirt. But Luke broke it.

  Pacifica and Christian wrapped their arms around Luke, their faces pushed up with a happiness and aspiration that couldn’t be rivaled. Both of them shaking him back and forth, he allowed his head to flow with the motion of their strength.

  (Pacifica) Hot dog! You did it!

  (Christian) Shit man you look like, well shit! Let’s help you on out of here!

  Luke slowly tilted his nonchant and spent body forward, his hands, arms, feet, and legs straight and stuck to his body like a twig. Almost like a cartoon…

  He smmed his upper body onto the floor, shutting his eyes and opening his mouth wide for a loud snore to break free from his lips. Giggling, Pacifica knelt next to his face as she reached down to pat his head, her fingers sinking and soaking in the blood that moisturized his hair.

  Pcing both of his hands onto his waist, he exhaled an abundance of air out of his lungs, as he also knelt beside his sister.

  (Christian) And we should patch his wounds while we’re at it.