The Underdogs Throne

Chapter 3: The First Duel

The next few days were pure torture.

Master Shen didn't go easy on Leo. Not even a little bit. Training started before the sun came up and didn't end until it was completely dark. Every movement had to be perfect. Every breath had to be controlled. Every thought had to be focused.

"The Battle Core is like fire," Shen explained one morning as Leo lay flat on his back, gasping for air. "It can warm you or it can burn you alive. Without control, it will destroy you from the inside out."

Leo groaned and rolled over onto his stomach. His whole body hurt. His muscles screamed every time he moved. But he got up anyway because that's what Shen expected.

"I don't understand this," Leo said after failing to do a simple spinning kick for the tenth time. "When those gang members attacked me, my body moved like lightning. But now I feel like a wet noodle."

Shen sat cross legged on his mat, watching Leo with those ancient eyes. "The Core helped you survive that night. It acted on instinct. But training teaches you to truly live. You must learn to control the power instead of letting it control you."

Leo wiped sweat from his face with the back of his hand. "I'm trying my best here. It's just really hard."

"It's supposed to be hard," Shen said. "The Fang Clan has been waiting for centuries. They won't give you time to figure things out slowly."

Leo wanted to argue but he was too tired. His legs felt like jelly. His arms could barely lift themselves. But something deep inside him refused to quit. Maybe it was the Battle Core. Maybe it was just stubbornness. Either way, he kept getting back up.

By the third day, Leo started to notice small changes. His balance was getting better. His reflexes were sharper. He could feel the energy flowing through his body like warm water instead of wild electricity. It still hurt, but it was a good kind of hurt.

"You're improving," Shen said that afternoon as Leo managed to complete a full sequence of punches and kicks without falling over. "Your body is starting to remember what it was born to do."

Leo felt a tiny spark of pride. "Really?"

"Really. But don't let it go to your head. You still have a very long way to go."

That evening, Shen sent Leo into the city to buy supplies. They needed herbs for healing, bandages for training injuries, and food for dinner. "Take the pendant with you," Shen reminded him as Leo got ready to leave. "Never go anywhere without it."

Leo tucked the green jade stone into his jacket pocket. It felt warm against his chest, like a tiny sun.

The city above ground felt different now. The sounds were still loud and chaotic, but Leo could pick out individual voices in the crowd. His steps were quicker and more confident. His eyes caught movement that he would have missed before. It was like someone had turned up the volume on all his senses.

He stopped at a small market near the industrial part of Ironvale. The owner was a friendly old woman who always smiled when she saw him. Leo bought a bag of dried rice, some healing herbs that Shen had written down on a piece of paper, and a few rolls of clean bandages.

Just as he was putting his change away, Leo felt something cold creep up the back of his neck. Like someone was watching him.

He turned around slowly, scanning the crowd. Nothing seemed out of place. People were walking around, buying things, talking to each other. But the feeling didn't go away.

Then he saw it. A flash of movement on the rooftop across the street.

Leo barely had time to jump backward before twin daggers came flying through the air right where his head had been. The blades buried themselves in the wooden wall behind him, still vibrating from the impact.

He dropped his bag of supplies and stumbled, trying to get his balance back.

Standing on the rooftop was a girl about his age. She was lean and fast looking, with short black hair and the coldest eyes Leo had ever seen. A long scar ran down her left cheek from her temple to her jaw. She wore dark clothes that looked like they were made for fighting.

It was the girl from the vision. The one who had told him he wasn't ready.

"You," Leo said, his heart pounding so hard he could hear it in his ears.

"You stole it," she said. Her voice was like ice.

"Stole what?"

"The Battle Core. It doesn't belong to you."

Leo barely got the words out before she jumped down from the rooftop and came at him again. This time with both daggers in her hands. He ducked and rolled to the side, feeling the wind from her blades as they missed his head by inches.

"You're from the Fang Clan," Leo said, trying to catch his breath.

"Very good," she said with a cold smile. "And you're even slower than I expected."

She moved like water, smooth and deadly. Every attack was perfectly timed. She seemed to know exactly where Leo would be before he even decided to move there. Leo tried to block one of her slashes with his forearm and felt the sharp sting as her blade cut through his jacket and into his skin.

Focus, Leo told himself. Remember what Shen taught you.

He let the Battle Core rise up from his chest. His breathing slowed down. The world around him seemed to get quieter and clearer. He started to notice things he hadn't seen before. The way she shifted her weight before attacking. The slight twist in her wrist right before she struck. The pattern of her footwork.

When she came at him again, Leo was ready. He dodged to the left and threw a punch at her ribs. His fist connected and she grunted in pain, but she didn't go down.

Better, Leo thought. But still not good enough.

"You fight like a Tian," she said, circling him like a wolf. "But you don't feel like one."

Leo kept his distance, trying to catch his breath. "You said I stole the Battle Core. What do you mean by that?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she charged at him again, moving even faster than before. Leo managed to block the first dagger but the second one got past his guard. It sliced across his side, leaving a burning line of pain.

"You don't deserve it," she whispered, grabbing the front of his jacket with her free hand. "You don't even know what you really are."

Just as she raised her dagger for the finishing blow, a powerful gust of wind exploded between them. Leo was thrown backward and landed hard on the ground. The girl was pushed back too, but she landed on her feet like a cat.

Master Shen appeared out of nowhere, standing between Leo and the girl. His robes were flowing in the wind that he had somehow created.

"That's enough, Kira," he said calmly.

Kira. So that was her name.

She jumped back and raised both daggers, ready to fight. "Still hiding behind children, old man?" she said with a sneer.

"He's not ready for this fight," Shen replied. His voice was calm but there was steel underneath it.

Kira looked at Leo, then back at Shen. She lowered her weapons slightly. "Maybe not today. But he isn't ready for what's coming either."

She turned to leave but stopped at the edge of the rooftop.

"Ask Shen about the real betrayal," she said without turning around. "Ask him what really happened to your precious clan."

Then she vanished into the shadows as quickly as she had appeared.

Back in the underground dojo, Leo sat on his mat holding a wet cloth against the cut on his side. The bleeding had stopped but it still stung. Shen stood by the small waterfall, staring at the water as it flowed into the pool.

Leo couldn't stay quiet anymore.

"Who was she really?"

Shen turned around slowly. "Her name is Kira. She's the Fang Clan's best assassin. They've been training her since she was a small child to kill people like us."

"She said I stole the Battle Core," Leo said. "She said I don't deserve it. And she told me to ask you about some betrayal. What did she mean?"

Shen's calm expression cracked just a little bit. His eyes got darker.

"There are some things you're not ready to know yet."

Leo stood up, ignoring the pain in his side. "I just fought someone who tried to kill me. I think I'm ready for whatever you have to tell me."

Shen took a long, deep breath. "Some truths are too dangerous to know right now."

"You told me the Fang Clan destroyed my family," Leo said, his voice getting louder. "But Kira made it sound like there's more to the story. Like someone inside the Tian Clan betrayed everyone else."

Shen didn't say anything.

Leo felt his heart sink. "Was it you?"

Before Shen could answer, the entire dojo shook violently. Dust fell from the ceiling. The weapons on the walls rattled. The pool of water rippled like an earthquake was happening.

BOOM!

A deafening crash echoed through the underground chamber. The sound was so loud that Leo's ears started ringing. Wood splintered and cracked. Stone dust filled the air.

They both turned toward the entrance.

The massive wooden doors that protected the dojo had been completely destroyed. They lay in pieces on the floor, smoking and broken. Through the gap came thick black smoke and the sound of heavy boots marching in formation.

Shen's voice turned ice cold. "Get ready, Leo."

Leo stared at the smoke pouring through the destroyed entrance. His heart was racing again and the pendant around his neck was glowing so bright it hurt to look at.

Whatever was coming through that door wasn't just one person this time. It sounded like an army.

And Leo had a terrible feeling that his training time was over.