Piper and I took one corner of the hall, while Kate and Cinar went to the opposite one. I had no idea what was happening on their end. I refused to stand with my back to the wall, not wanting to give Piper the chance to pin me. So Kate and Cinar ended up behind me.

"After you," I said, gesturing her toward the corner.

"How chivalrous," she smiled. "Think that'll help you?"

"I think it'll give me more room to move."

Piper stepped closer to the corner — then suddenly spun and snapped her right arm forward.

I flinched left on instinct, but the spike still came dangerously close — missing my ear by inches. Another one hissed under my arm, and the third made my stomach lurch as it smacked me dead-centre. Thank God Piper had spun it mid-air — it hit blunt-side first.

I barely had time to register that when the one that had missed my head looped back and smacked me in the back of the skull. Blunt side too — but my instincts were already howling, and instead of just ducking, I threw myself into a roll.

I actually managed to dodge the last spike, and it snapped back into Piper's hand.

"Not bad," she nodded. "For a first time, pretty decent."

Her spikes didn't fly straight, and they weren't chaotic either. Their flight was controlled. Much more so than Adam's projections. But I already knew that was a trait of Point-type techniques.

"Feel anything?" she asked, tossing the spike lightly in her palm.

"Stop," I said firmly.

She raised a brow.

"As much as I'd love to amuse you, there's a more effective way to teach me to sense Point Qi and get a feel for your technique."

"Oh really?" Now both eyebrows went up in mocking amusement. "Do enlighten me."

"I'll close my eyes. You throw the spikes so they pass just a few centimetres from me. That's how Adam trained me when he was filling in for Kate. Gives a perfect sense of danger."

"Adam Weyron?" Piper asked, and the smirk vanished from her face. "Well then, sounds like you know what you're talking about. But just keep in mind — wind kicked up by a spike isn't the feeling you're after."

She glanced behind me, where heavy breathing and crackling lightning could be heard, then nodded.

"Close your eyes."

"First," she called.

I felt a breeze graze my cheek.

Every instinct told me to flinch, but I held still.

"Swing it by me again," I asked, and the breeze brushed my other cheek. "Keep it away from bare skin. I shouldn't be feeling wind."

A spike whipped past on the right, another on the left — but I couldn't say for sure what exactly I was feeling. Just that it felt dangerous.

I opened my eyes, and Piper froze mid-throw, left arm raised. The right-hand spike was already in the air — and it shot straight between my legs.

"Don't do that again," I said.

"I was controlling the trajectory!" she replied.

"I was barely controlling my bladder! And there's no way to sense qi with that kind of tension."

"Fair enough," she laughed.

The spike curved in a hook and zipped back past my left shoulder, straight into her hand.

"Close your eyes," she said again.

I shook my head and turned sideways.

"Try passing it behind my back," I suggested. And when she did, I turned fully, facing away from her.

Now I could also keep an eye on Kate and Cinar. His style was reminiscent of someone wielding a two-handed axe — except instead of a blade, he had a spike, and the 'axe handle' kept changing length. He swung it like a man possessed, while Kate dodged easily, firing back finger-bolts charged with Fist and Lightning Qi. She wasn't hitting him, though — which made me think she wasn't really trying. Still, something about the exchange made me pause.

I turned back to Piper and thumbed over my shoulder.

"Your boy's not throwing his pick. How exactly is our training going to help me spar with him?"

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Piper caught her spikes and returned them to the bandolier, then unclipped the vine from her hip and cracked it like a whip. It shot out into a taut, predatory line, the tip stopping just inches from my face.

"How are you planning to feel Wood with only five points in the stat?" she asked. "Trust me — when he hits, you'll feel the Point."

"I believe it," I replied, gently brushing the wooden needle away from my face.

She snapped the vine back, and it coiled neatly around her hips again.

Something told me I'd been seriously underestimating Wood.

"Shall we continue?" she asked.

"Yeah. But this time, aim for the shield," I said, warming up with a short burst of projections just to her left.

"As you wish!" Piper grinned — and the next spike shot past my right ear like a bullet before I even had time to activate the shield. It curved around and punched straight through from behind — right through the weakest part of the barrier.

Rene was right — those bastards really do love hitting you in the back.

Piper smirked, pleased with herself — but there'd been something there. A feeling during the impact.

"Again!" I said. "But this time, hit the front."

"Think I won't break through?" she asked smugly.

"I think I felt something. One more time, please."

There was no point trying to outmuscle a third-stage cultivator, especially one already deep into it, so I didn't reinforce my shield too much. Just enough to keep it stable. Piper pierced it just as easily — straight through, like a bullet through an eggshell, but in the moment of impact, I felt my solidity crack under her sharpness.

"I think that was it," I said, surprised.

I wasn't wearing my armour with the hypersensitivity formation. We'd only been training for half an hour. But I was picking something up already.

It was strange. Like…

Point Root +1

Total Root: 16

"Ha! That was it!" I grinned. "Another flash of enlightenment. Though a small one — just +1."

"Another?" Piper echoed.

"Yeah. I already had one before — +3 to Fist."

"You two are just the perfect damn pair," she said, like she was cursing. It wasn't exactly clear what she meant.

"Me and Kate?"

"You and Mustafa! That little bastard of mine had his second one yesterday. I've had one in seven years! And you two — two in two months!" Piper fumed, loud enough for Kate to hear.

My mentor intercepted Cinar mid-swing, catching his weapon right by the hooked tip. The sudden stop threw him off balance — by all laws of physics, it should've been her getting launched backwards. Instead, Kate told him to hold on a second and turned toward us.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Your boy just had another enlightenment!" Piper snapped.

"Really?" Kate called back, visibly pleased. "Good boy."

"My boy had his second one yesterday!" Piper added.

"You're doing great too," Kate said.

"Umm… thanks," Cinar muttered. "Should we continue or start sparring?" He nodded toward me. "I can already distinguish your qi."

Kate raised her brows.

"My qi's a mix of Fist and Lightning," she said and fired off a clean Fist projection past his head. The shockwave ruffled his messy hair.

"I can feel that," he nodded.

Kate shifted her hand and fired a bolt of lightning into the sand.

"And that too," Cinar nodded.

Now it was Piper's turn to puff up with pride.

"Let them test their strength already," she said. "That's what they came here for."

I was starting to get the feeling that the girls wanted this fight even more than we did. Judging by the look in shaggy boy's eyes, he was thinking the same thing.

Piper nodded to Cinar, and he jogged to the wall where his bag lay, rummaging for a bright green spherical cap — which he promptly attached to the pick's hooked tip. It made the weapon look less like something meant to kill and more like an oversized toy.

"No blood, no broken bones," Piper declared.

"Take off the gauntlets," Kate ordered — even though she was the one who told me to bring them in the first place.

Still, they were excellent. Just… heavy as hell. Without that extra weight, I felt immediately faster — and against this opponent, I'd need all the speed I could get.

We met in the middle of the sandy field. The girls stepped back — not far, of course. They were eager to watch.

"Ready?" Mustafa asked. His voice had a hint of nerves, and I got it. Even with that rubber cap, it would take effort not to break something with that oversized club.

I nodded and smiled, trying to project confidence. The truth was, unlike him, I was pretty sure I was going to get hit — in the teeth, ribs, or somewhere else important. Still, that didn't mean I planned on losing.

I had speed — and volume.

I raised my hands. He lifted the pick.

"Begin!" Kate called.

I didn't wait. My arms launched at full speed — punch, punch, punch! Projections burst out in rapid succession, hammering his chest, the weapon, his arms, even his face.

He hunched forward, and the pick — which had already started to move — hesitated for just a fraction of a second. I saw the trajectory and ducked under the hook. It missed me and kicked up a spray of sand as it hit — the green tip squeaked like a children's toy on impact.

I followed up with another Chain Punch, shifting left. They were bothering him — not knocking him down, but definitely wearing him out. So at the end… Hook!

Cinar swung again, faster this time, more aggressive, but before he could build momentum, the Hook projection curved and slammed straight into his jaw.

The pick flew from his hands. I ducked under the hooked head, but the shaft caught me right on the forehead.

Both of us hit the sand, but I rolled through and sprang up on reflex.

I staggered, but didn't fall.

My opponent didn't get back up.

Kate was beaming like a polished coin, while Piper crouched beside her little boy, checking if he was still alive.

I stepped back and let the tension drain from my arms. They were shaking.

Piper slapped him twice and asked, "You alive?"

"Probably…" he croaked. Then he sat up and looked at me. "What was that?"

"Chain Punch. With a Hook at the end," I said honestly.

Cinar rubbed his chin. His eyes were foggy — and probably full of existential questions.

"That was fast," he said. "And… not what I expected."

Piper gently helped him to his feet.

"Let that be a lesson," she said, giving him a light shove on the shoulder. "Not every opponent's going to give you time to wind up your club. We're doing this again tomorrow. But with armour!"

"I'm out," I raised my hands. "I've got a Flow Chamber session tomorrow, and my armour's still not ready."

"Still not ready?" Piper tried to poke, but Kate backed me up, confirmed I was telling the truth.

"Then the day after — without armour," Piper insisted.

Seemed like the loss stung her even more than it did her mentee.

Nope, Cinar nodded eagerly too.

"Day after works," I agreed.

Piper huffed. Cinar smiled. And that was that.

I'd tasted victory and now I didn't plan to go back to losing. But Piper and Cinar didn't plan to keep losing either.

"Kate, we need to talk about this fight… I mean, sparring. We need to talk about this sparring over a cup of coffee."

Kate laughed.

"Afraid he's gonna beat the crap out of you next time?"

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