Kael furrowed his brow as he received yet another bewildered stare. He'd been scouring the bustling city streets for hours, asking anyone and everyone if they'd seen a child radiating an unusual amount of energy. Each confused response chipped away at his patience.
Just as frustration began to bubble over, a rhythmic clang of metal caught his ear. He turned and spotted a worn wooden sign hanging above a doorway across the street. Emblazoned in bold lettering were the words "Iron Lotus Dojo."
Kael approached a burly man clad in a black gi who was leaning against the wall, wiping sweat from his brow.
Inside, a dozen young men and women practiced intricate sword forms, their movements sharp and disciplined. A gruff voice boomed over the rhythmic strikes.
"Eyes sharp, blades true! We don't swing haymakers here!"
"Excuse me," Kael began politely, "I'm looking for a child, maybe ten or eleven years old, with an unusual amount of energy around them. Have you seen anyone like that here?"
The man, all bulging muscles and a shaved head, eyed Kael with suspicion. "Strong energy? You some kind of mage or somethin'? This ain't Hogwarts"
Just as he was about to thank the man for his time and move on, a smug voice chimed in from the group practicing.
"Maybe he's one of those lost circus performers," a young man with a neatly trimmed beard and a smug grin sneered.
"Looking for his runaway fire-breathing dragon."
A ripple of laughter spread through the trainees
Kael didn't have time for childish taunts. Yet, seeing the amusement Eos' description sparked
Kael straightened, his voice hardening. "Look, this is important. If you haven't seen anything, just say so."
The man's eyes narrowed. "Seems like you're the one who needs a lesson, kid. Maybe a taste of steel will knock some sense into you."
He gestured to the practice katanas leaning against the wall. "Think you're tough enough to handle a real blade? Win a duel, and maybe I'll consider wasting my breath on your crazy question."
Kael didn't want a fight, but the man's arrogance burned. He glanced at the trainees, who had stopped their practice to watch
"Finally, some entertainment. Everyone, gather around! We're about to witness a city boy get a taste of real steel"
The man reached behind a rack of weapons and pulled out a sword that looked more like a rusted crowbar than a proper blade.
A snide smile played on his lips as he tossed it towards Kael.
The other students, eager for a spectacle, gathered around, forming a rough circle. Kael caught the sword with a practiced ease. It was indeed dull and poorly balanced, a clear attempt at humiliation
With a curt nod of respect, Kael lowered himself. But the man scoffed, dropping into a sloppy guard position, his smug grin widening further.
For a moment, there was a tense silence. Then, the man lunged.
It was a predictable move, an attack meant to overpower with brute force. But for him, it was his most practiced maneuver. However, what happened next defied everything he thought he knew about combat.
In a blink, faster than the human eye could follow, Kael's hand blurred. Then, just as quickly, the sword was back in its sheath.
Silence descended upon the dojo, broken only by the student's bewildered gasp.
He looked down at himself, his eyes widening in disbelief. His training uniform was now in tatters, the fabric shredded from shoulder to hem as if by an invisible blade.
The students erupted in a cacophony of gasps and murmurs. Their arrogant colleague, the self-proclaimed master swordsman, stood there exposed and utterly bewildered. The smug grin had vanished, replaced by a mixture of shock and fear.
Kael straightened. He raised the rusty sword he had offered him, its dull surface gleaming faintly in the sunlight.
"Seems courtesy extends to offering a worthy blade," he remarked, his voice calm and quiet
Fury contorted the man's face. Humiliation burned hotter than the midday sun. With a guttural roar, he abandoned any pretense of form and charged.
He moved like a bull, predictable and powerful, swinging the rusty sword with all his might.
Kael didn't react at first
Just as the rusted blade arced through the air, Kael's hand blurred again.
Frozen mid-lunge, he stared at his hands in disbelief. In them, instead of the formidable katana he'd wielded moments before, were a dozen or so useless minced pieces of metal.
Kael began "Maybe we should continue this conversation without theatrics."
Rordan, the burly instructor, finally broke the stunned silence. A slow grin spread across his face
"Alright, alright," he began, his voice a welcome intrusion into the tense atmosphere. "Seems we've all learned a valuable lesson today, haven't we?"
He shot a pointed look at his student, who shrunk further under his gaze. "Clean yourself up and grab a proper blade. We'll continue your lesson later." He mumbled an apology and a hangdog expression, and scurried off to obey.
Rordan then turned to Kael, his grin widening further. "You, stranger," he said, his voice hearty. "You handle a blade with a skill rarely seen around these parts. Care to tell us where you learned such moves?"
Kael hesitated, unsure how much to reveal. He couldn't exactly say he was a warrior from another dimension searching for a powerful child.
"Let's just say," he began cautiously, "I've had some… unconventional training."
Rordan chuckled, a deep sound that rumbled in his chest. "Unconventional, eh? Well, unconventional skills deserve unconventional rewards. You mentioned you were looking for someone, a young boy?"
Kael's eyes lit up. "Yeah, He has… unusual energy. Have you seen anyone like that around here?"
"You said this boy's important, right? Someone who needs protecting?"
Kael straightened under Rordan's touch, a flicker of gratitude warming him. "More important than you can imagine," he said
Rordan's gaze sharpened. "Family, then? Your son?"
Kael hesitated. "Not exactly,"
"Someone very special, someone I need to find."
Rordan seemed to accept the answer without further question. "Alright then,"
"Special needs a special search party, wouldn't you say? Consider me and these curious trainees of mine officially on the case. We might not know your friend's exact location, but we know the city like the backs of our hands. We'll find him, you can bet on it."
"Thank you," he said, a genuine smile gracing his lips for the first time since arriving on Earth.