It took Edan most of the night to figure out why Tali had said those words. She knew if those were the last words he heard before meditating, Edan wouldn’t be able to think of anything but them. The result was a long, stressful night as Edan was forced to confront his actions and not shy away from their results.

  Only after the sun had begun to rise and the sky outside their room window turned a light gray, did Edan open his eyes. He had come to two conclusions. They were not groundbreaking, or world-shaking, but they were his, and he knew them to be true.

  “What is your answer?” Tali asked.

  She hadn’t moved throughout the night and remained in the exact same position. Her eyes, though, were as alert as ever, and they never wavered as she looked at Edan, weighing his reactions as much as his words.

  Edan didn't shy away from her scrutiny. Instead, he took a minute to collect himself and get his thoughts in order. When he felt ready, he began.

  “I have realized that when push comes to shove, and someone tries to take my life, I am willing to kill,” Edan admitted, maintaining eye contact with the Titan. “I knew when I pulled Yaw into the path of Kumi’s blow that he would likely die. I told myself at the time I didn’t, but I did. I chose my own life over his. I did it again when I realized that Kumi would not stop getting up. I couldn’t afford to have him at my back and the solution was to stop him. Permanently.”

  Tali nodded once, firmly, before making a gesture for him to continue.

  “And that is something I can live with.” Edan expected to feel light, having revealed the first of his conclusions, but if anything it weighed heavier on his shoulders. The knowledge that he would need to kill, likely many times, along his path to the top, was not easy to bear, but Edan now knew it was a weight he could carry.

  Before Tali could interrupt, Edan held up a second finger.

  “And secondly, I realized that part of me has been holding back. I’m not sure if it’s doubt or fear, but I can still feel it, like thoughts whispered at the edge of my hearing, telling me I will fail, and that I should stop.”

  “Will you stop?” Tali asked.

  “No. I won’t.”

  “Good.”

  -

  The Spilt Drop had a little garden out back. It wasn’t large by any stretch of the imagination. A well near the center, and the clothesline across the back wall, took up most of the available space. Tali, along with Edan, and the cubs found a small, relatively flat, patch off to the side. Perhaps it had once been a garden, but now the soil was dry and bare.

  The sun still hadn’t made an appearance, but already Edan was panting with effort. Tali twisted him around and planted a foot on his back. She was so large, Edan felt like her foot take up his entire back. Shoved forward, Edan landed roughly on the ground.

  Rolling to the side, he avoided the Titan's stomp. Rolling back the other way, Edan grabbed her angle. Twisting his own legs around hers, he attempted to shift her hips and get her off balance.

  Tali laughed quietly and picked Edan up. Much like a mother cat would her kitten.

  “Bwaka, you are nowhere near my size, weight, or strength. Grappling is not your answer here.”

  Edan grunted acknowledgement as she set him down. Off to the side, the sound of growling snarls ripped through the air as the two bear cubs had their own mock battle.

  Surprisingly, the female cub looked to have the upper hand more often than not. Regal, all aggression, would attack blindly and be overpowered almost immediately.

  Moving forward, Edan threw a quick combination of punches and fought the urge to grapple with the larger woman once he closed. His training taught him to tie her up, use her size against her, and find a way to nullify her advantages.

  The truth he had to face, was the gap between them was too great.

  Pushing against instinct, Edan slipped a jab and moved in for a body shot. Tali dropped her elbow, blocking the blow, then pushed Edan back with her other hand. Going with it, Edan increased the distance between them. A wise move as he felt Tali’s kick brush past his nose. Taking advantage of Tali’s turned back Edan rushed forward, but the Titan donkey kicked back.

  Caught off guard, Edan tried to twist away but was too slow. She caught him on the hip. A glancing blow with enough strength to send Edan to the ground. He hit hard and rolled. But refused to stay down.

  Staying down meant defeat. Defeat was death.

  Edan rolled to his feet, crossing his hands over his head to stop the chop that would have left him unconscious. His knees buckled from the strength of the blow. Knowing his weight was nothing to Tali, Edan grabbed her wrists and used her arm to hold him up as he drop-kicked her.

  Tali stepped back, a grin on her face.

  Edan used the kick to springboard himself back. He hit the ground, rolled, and was back on his feet, moving after her a split second later.

  “Good!” Tali encouraged him. “Never stop moving forward. Be relentless. Be unstoppable. Do not give me time to breathe, to think, to plan. Push!”

  Edan blurred, pushing his body and stats to the limit as he wove punches and kicks together in wild, unpredictable patterns. He felt the Vitalis surging through his body, agitated and bubbling, as it responded to his unconscious desire.

  Energy burned his limbs like acid as he pushed himself further. Faster. Harder. He couldn’t stop. Wouldn’t stop.

  Tali gave ground, blocking the blows she could and moving swiftly out of the way of others. A few landed, and she would allow them to rock her body, lest Edan brake his hands on her by mistake.

  Edan flipped over a kick, lashing out midair with one of his own. It hit Tali across the jaw, the Titan’s eyes going wide as the blow was true and not one she had seen coming at her reduced level.

  Landing on one leg, Edan twisted, another kick following the first. Tali braced, using her forearm to ward against the blow. Edan grunted as it hit, the shock reverberating up his shin.

  Push!

  Edan hammered the Titan’s guard with a flurry of punches, the meaty thump of flesh on flesh running together.

  More Vitalis rolled through his body with each movement. Like the tides and waves. Back and forth, pulling impurities and weakness from his muscles and bones like sand on a beach.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  He was actually cultivating!

  It’s the dance. Edan realized so suddenly, he almost fell out of rhythm.

  He’d unconsciously begun to move through the forms of the Dance of Titans, Tali had shown him. But it was different this time. He was adding to it. Advancing it. Changing it to suit him.

  And then Tali was moving with him. Her own blows followed patterns Edan recognized before switching up to something new. He turned, avoiding a punch, and stepped in. Tali stepped back at the same time, and turned the other way, her arm rising to block his sidekick.

  Edan shuffled forward and Tali shuffled back. He rolled under a kick and changed sides with Tali, only for her to grab his shirt and pull him close. Edan pushed at her elbows, breaking the hold. He kicked, flipping through the air, to land where he had first started.

  Edan felt the Vitalis calm. The rolling waves of energy began to flatten out, even as they sped up. They no longer crashed through him.

  They moved in a cycle, and Tali joined that flow. Her action's becoming just as important as his own in keeping the rhythm.

  A smile stretched across Edan’s face, a mirror of the one on Tali's.

  -

  Sanik stood just inside the back doorway of the inn, an arm wrapped around Reema.

  “It looks beautiful,” Reema whispered, as if afraid her voice would break the peaceful morning.

  “And terrifying,” Sanik added, just as quietly.

  “He’s come so far.”

  Sanik pulled Reema close and kissed her head. Sanik's eyes never left his son and his mentor.

  “And he’ll go so much further.”

  -

  Edan faltered, his chest contracting painfully as he gasped for breath. Just like that, the spell was broken. Edan stumbled, too slow to avoid Tali’s elbow. It cracked him across his jaw, almost jerking his head from his neck. Rocking back, Edan refused to drop. This would not end with him on the ground.

  “Bwaka, my apologies,” Tali said quickly, holding out a hand to help steady him. "I lost myself in the dance."

  It wasn’t needed. Edan rubbed his jaw and gave her the thumbs up.

  “All good, that was my fault.” Edan pulled his shirt from his body. It stuck to him and, taking a quick sniff, Edan wrinkled his nose. It smelt horrible. Not just of sweat, but a sour, rotting smell. “What the fuck?”

  “You will need to bathe,” Tali laughed and slapped his back gently. “Your body has many impurities.”

  “That was body cultivation, right?”

  Tali smiled with real warmth as she looked down at Edan.

  “That, my dear little Bwaka, was a great first Dance.” She laughed again, looking happier than Edan had ever seen her. “It has been so long since I have been able to dance with someone. Thank you. Truly!”

  “Sure,” Edan muttered, still in a little bit of a daze. Moving towards the well, he cranked the handle as he opened up the notification at the corner of his vision.

  Dance of Titans [Rare]

  There is expression in dance and freedom in movement. Motion shared brings gains for all.

  Fear not the Titan who sings, fear the Titan who dances alone.

  Modifier: +.1 Strength, +.1 Constitution, +.2 Endurance, +.1 Dexterity,

  +.1 Charisma, +.1 Willpower

  For a second, Edan was disappointed as he thought only the description had changed, but then he noticed the Endurance modifier had gone up by .1.

  The last line made him wonder, though. The dance seemed most effective when done with a partner, so why did the system say to fear the one who danced alone?

  Pouring a bucket full of frigid water over his head, Edan scrubbed at his body and clothes. No great insight hit him, so with practiced ease he put those thoughts aside for now.

  “Your father's gone to get you a towel,” Edan heard Reema say as she came to stand next to him. “I doubt Mrs. Wachoo wants you dripping water all over her floors.”

  Reema turned to Tali, who was still smiling.

  “I’ve ordered some breakfast for us all. Tish agreed to meet us by the Northern wall around nine-ish.”

  Tali nodded her thanks before heading into the Inn. Edan noticed she hadn’t broken a sweat.

  Sanik popped out a second later and tossed an old, threadbare towel at Edan.

  Stripping down to his boxers, Edan paused, towel in hand, as an idea came to him.

  Using images of flame and heat, he focused on his Path of Embers. Slowly coaxing it to influence the Vitalis in his body. Steam rose from Edans skin in thin, wispy curls.

  It was a small thing. Barely a party trick. But it was a sign of things to come.

  Edan smiled.

  Overhead the sky had lightened to a soft pink with dark clouds off in the distance. They were heading out to the wilderness today. Tish had agreed to lead them to where she thought Adept Tarik would be.

  She had said it wasn’t meant to be far, only a few hours there and back. Edan hoped they would get back before those clouds split open and they all got wet in the coming rainfall. The mud was just annoying.

  Curious to see how his stats were looking, Edan paused long enough to pull up his stat sheet. He knew some people could focus on moving while reading, but he wasn't one. At least not yet.

  The addition to his Endurance modifier was tiny at the moment. A mere .1 didn't mean much when his base state was still low, but that would change the more points he put into it. At 112, that was only an extra 11 points into Endurance, but when Edan got to 400, that 11 points became 40. And who was to say he couldn’t advance his dance further, increasing the modifiers.

  Needless to say, it was with a cocky strut that Edan entered the Split Drop.

  It took Sanik bursting into laughter at the sight of him for Edan to remember he still only wore his boxers. Strut gone, he raced for the stairs.