Author's Preface
Olivia had disappeared into the night. Darrien caught a glimpse of her slipping into an alley and immediately moved, he climbed up the side of the building until he reached the rooftop just above it. He paused there, crouched low, scanning the area carefully.
“Yeah... no way she makes this easy,” he muttered under his breath. He checked the walls, the ground below, the corners of the alley, anything that might give away one of her traps. Seeing nothing obvious, he exhaled slowly and dropped down.
The moment his foot touched the ground, something tightened around his ankle. Before he could react, a net snapped upward from beneath him, wrapping around his body and yanking him into the air. He swung violently, suspended nearly forty feet above the alley, spinning just enough to disorient him.
“...You’ve gotta be kidding me,” he groaned.
A laugh echoed from above. Darrien looked up just in time to see Olivia leaning over the edge, holding a bucket. Something thick and sticky poured over him. He froze.
“...Honey?” he said slowly.
There was a pause, and then his expression shifted as realization hit him.
“Wait... sis... don’t.”
A memory flashed through his mind. Running through the yard as a kid, Olivia chasing him with a grin on her face, a bucket in hand, feathers already scattered across the grass.
Back in the present, feathers began drifting down from above. Darrien closed his eyes.
“...You’re really doing this shit again.”
Olivia had repositioned herself, hanging upside down from the rope that held him suspended. A bag rested in her hand, and she gave it a light shake, sending more feathers floating down through the net and sticking to the honey coating him. She didn’t say a word. She just smiled. Then, just as suddenly as she had appeared, she disappeared across the rooftops again.
Darrien hung there for a moment in silence, slowly rotating in the air.
“...Fucking hell.” He tilted his head back and shouted toward the sky, “Aren’t we too old for this?!”
It took him longer than he would have liked to get out of the net. And once he did, it didn’t get any better. The next ten hours were nothing short of a nightmare. Every time he thought he had finally caught up to her, another trap went off. Wires snapped around his legs, smoke bombs exploded in his face, crates collapsed beneath his feet. At some point, he stopped trying to win. He just wanted it to end. By the time he finally reached the entrance of the Buckeye Guild, he looked like he had been dragged through a dozen different disasters. Mud coated his legs. Feathers still clung stubbornly to his clothes and hair. There were streaks of flour across his face that he hadn’t even noticed. He spotted Olivia just ahead and forced himself forward, completely out of breath.
When he finally reached her, he tapped her shoulder. “Got you,” he said between breaths, hands resting on his knees.
Olivia turned, completely composed, as if she hadn’t spent the last several hours turning his life into hell. She gave him a small nod and gestured for him to follow. They made their way downstairs into the arena. Aaron and Blue were already there, both lying on the ground. The arena itself looked like it had seen better days, scuffed, cracked, and clearly showing the results of whatever the two of them had been doing.
Blue sat up first. The moment he saw Darrien, he froze for a second, then burst out laughing. He pointed at him, barely able to get the words out. “I thought you were training, not participating in Double Dare.”
Aaron laughed. “I remember that show!” He pushed himself up beside Blue and glanced over at Darrien, taking in his appearance. “...Olivia’s training method, huh?”
Darrien let out a long sigh and dropped down next to them. “Can I please train with you two instead?” he asked, clearly exhausted. “That woman is going to kill me.”
Aaron chuckled and shook his head. “I’d rather not become her next target.”
Olivia tilted her head slightly, her attention shifting toward Aaron. “I didn’t realize you two were here,” she said calmly. “We’ll go somewhere else.”
She snapped her fingers. Darrien immediately pushed himself back to his feet, groaning as he did. “Some friend you are, Blue,” he muttered as he started walking toward Olivia.
As he took a few steps forward, something tapped the back of his head. He turned. Blue was holding another feather, a faint trace of qi lingering around it as he hurled it toward Darrien.
“You forgot a feather,” Blue said with a smirk.
Aaron turned back to Blue. “Stay away from her. She’s got a wicked sense of humor.”
“Yeah... I can tell,” Blue said, letting out a breath. “I feel bad for Darrien.”
Aaron smirked slightly. “You sure? Because the last few hours, it looked like you felt bad for yourself.”
Blue rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah... about that.” He shifted his weight, thinking for a moment. “So... Murim has ranks like we do here. It’s not just qi. It’s control, mastery, understanding.” He exhaled. “I’m stuck at the peak of Grandmaster. I have the qi for the next level. I think I have the mastery...” He shook his head slightly. “But I can’t break through to Ascendant.”
Aaron tilted his head. “Yeah, I’m not gonna pretend I understand all that.” He stood, brushing his hands off. “Sounds like what we deal with here, though. Everyone hits a wall at some point.”
Blue looked up at him. “And what do you do?”
Aaron gave a small grin and clenched his fist. “You smash through it. We’ve got three weeks. Plenty of time to break whatever’s in front of you.” He stopped in front of Blue. “Let’s go.”
For the next two weeks, Blue and Aaron fought in the arena from dusk to dawn. Aaron pushed him constantly and forced him to use the divine energy whenever he could, for as long as he could. Most of the time, Blue couldn’t keep up. But when the divine energy flowed, he could stand toe to toe with Aaron. Still, he couldn’t surpass him. One week before the tournament, the day started the same way the last fourteen had. They stood apart in the center of the arena, staring at each other.
“Today I want you to use it from the start,” Aaron said.
Blue nodded. He reached into his dantian and let the divine energy flow immediately. No buildup, no hesitation. The aura around him shifted, gray and gold. They clashed. For five minutes neither could gain the upper hand. Blue matched every exchange, read every movement, and held his ground against the fourth-ranked awakener in the world. Then his legs gave out. He hit the floor on one knee, his fist driving into the ground.
“Dammit.” His breath came hard. “I can’t hold it any longer. Two weeks and I haven’t smashed through anything.”
Aaron sat down beside him and tossed him a water bottle. “Maybe not,” he said. “But when you use that power, you’re operating on a completely different level for five minutes.”
“Five minutes. Twice a day.” Blue caught the bottle and stared at it. “That’s not enough. I’ve come to terms with that. I need more.”
Aaron was quiet for a moment. He’d been watching for two weeks. Blue’s movements were tighter. His forms cleaner. His instincts sharper. But the wall hadn’t moved. The divine energy still cut off at five minutes without fail.
“Do you think it’s because your system is different?”
Blue looked up. “What do you mean?”
“You said you awakened and gained a system once you got to that Murim place.” Aaron leaned forward slightly. “But your system doesn’t show stats like mine. Doesn’t track progress the same way.” He paused. “So maybe you weren’t meant to grow here, Blue.”
Blue’s expression shifted. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying maybe Earth is just a pit stop for you.” Aaron stood. “Your system guides you. It’s been guiding you since the beginning. So maybe when the time is right, when you’re where you’re supposed to be, you’ll break through.” He looked down at Blue and smiled.
Blue leaned back and stared at the ceiling.
I’m not meant to grow here.
Then it came back to him. The first message his system had ever sent him. The words that played in his dreams when he first arrived on Earth and had no idea what any of it meant.
[We’ll begin when you are where you belong.]
He exhaled slowly. Maybe Aaron’s right. Maybe the system is holding me back on purpose.
Aaron watched him disappear into his own head and waited a beat before speaking. “I don’t know how many times I have to say this.” He reached down and offered a hand. “You are not alone.”
Blue took it and let himself be pulled up.
“Let’s call it here for today,” Aaron said. “Take the next few days off. Clear your head.” He looked at him steadily. “The tournament’s coming. You’re gonna need everything you’ve got if you want that guild.”