Chapter 218: Atlas Training Camp [III]

Kai stepped into the cage with a lot less noise around him than Kalon had received.

That did not mean the room ignored him.

After what had just happened with Holt, every readiness exchange was being watched more carefully.

The veteran assigned to Kai was a lean man with a long reach and a wind affinity, the type who won by controlling the distance and fighting patiently.

The staff sealed the barrier, and announced the beginning of the bout.

Kai started well.

He did not rush. He kept his guard tight and let the veteran come forward first, answering with clean footwork and short counters.

When the wind user tried to force him back with pressure bursts, Kai angled off instead of meeting it head-on. A body kick landed. A cross slipped through a gap and made the veteran reset his stance. It was not flashy, but it was controlled.

Kalon watched from outside with his arms folded.

Kai’s timing was better than most of the newcomers in the hall. He took a hard check kick to the thigh and still kept his shape. When the veteran finally used a proper wind skill to break distance, Kai answered with a reinforcement burst through his lead arm and forced the exchange back into range.

The cage rattled once. Both men separated, breathing harder.

The rest of the test stayed competitive.

Kai did not dominate the way Kalon had, but he also did not fold. He ate one clean shot to the ribs, returned two of his own, and kept enough composure that the official let the exchange run to the full readiness mark.

When the barrier unlocked, Kai was cut and bruised, sweat darkening the collar of his gear, but overall he was happy with his performance.

A few people near the board nodded.

"Solid."

"He’ll survive his card, I’d say."

Kalon waited near the side exit while medical staff cleared the cage. Kai came out rolling his shoulder and stopped when he saw him.

"Damn it, I was no where near as good as you." Kai said, not jealously.

Kalon shook his head.

"In skills, no. But you’re a better martial artist for sure."

Blonde-haired Kai huffed once.

"Yeah. That solar thing, or whatever it was... That’s something else."

They stood there a second longer while the next names were called.

"You said you’ve got a match in nine days," Kalon said.

"Yeah. Mid-card. Nothing like Moniqart, but enough that I don’t want to walk in half-ready." Kai glanced at him. "If you’re not the type to disappear after camp, we should train someday. Hitting pads with someone who actually stays calm under pressure is rarer than it should be."

Kalon thought about it, then nodded.

"Give me your contact."

They exchanged numbers on the spot. It wasn’t a forced alliance. Just two fighters under the same organisation putting a network in place for later. Kai sent a test message before putting his phone away.

"Don’t lose to a Dragon before we meet again."

"I won’t. Same goes to you."

Kai headed toward recovery. Kalon stayed where he was for a moment and looked down at the new contact on his screen.

Kai Renn.

It took him a while to realise something.

In all the time since the system had changed his life, almost every meaningful connection he had made was with women. Josinia. Thea. Sifa. Nyphara. Even Daisy. Allies, lovers, partners across planets.

On Earth, people either feared him, hated him, or talked about him from a distance. Kai was the first man who had approached him without an angle beyond training and staying in touch.

His first friend.

Kalon locked the phone and let the thought sit.

...

The rest of the camp ran through the remaining readiness marks, recovery checks, and staff notes. By late afternoon the veterans were gone, the cages were powered down, and the newcomers were being cleared out in groups.

Atlas staff reminded everyone with upcoming bookings to keep up with their training, but not to go too hard.

Nobody stopped Kalon on the way out, though plenty of eyes still followed him across the yard.

He returned to the high-rise as evening arrived to the city.

He showered, ate, then prepared himself to travel.

His first destination was Venduros.

[Initiating Travel Sequence...]

[Adapting body to suit conditions...]

[...]

[You have arrived!]

[Welcome to Venduros!]

Kalon appeared near the training grounds outside the resistance dojo.

The air was warm. The dirt field still held the marks of recent sparring. A few resistance fighters were packing equipment at the far edge, but the centre of the field was only one figure.

Josinia.

She stood barefoot in the packed earth with her white hair tied back and her training robes damp with sweat, clinging to her body.

Sparks jumped from her fingers in unstable bursts. Not water. Not earth. Lightning.

Thin branches of it crawled up her forearms and snapped out into the air before fading. Her pink eyes were locked on her own hands in raw concentration and disbelief.

She forced another pulse through her palm.

The lightning answered more cleanly this time, cracking across the space in front of her and scorching a shallow line into the dirt.

Josinia’s whole body tensed with the effort, then loosened as the affinity held within her body.

She had just awakened it.

Kalon watched for a second from the edge of the field before she noticed him.

When she did, the sparks around her hands flared once in surprise.

"Kalon!"

Josinia turned fully toward him, lightning still faintly racing over her skin, smile breaking wide across her glossy purple face. The scorched line in the dirt behind her made the new affinity impossible to miss.

"I felt it open," she said quickly, almost laughing from the adrenaline. "I was training earth and water like always, and then it just... look."

She raised her hand and let a small thread of lightning jump between her fingers.

Kalon walked onto the field toward her, eyes on the fresh affinity and the pride already in her expression.