Is this how the Empire treats its vassals?!"

  Jin's voice cracked with fury. His fists clenched at his sides, knuckles white against the leather of his gloves. "By murdering the innocent?!"

  Tao's eyes narrowed.

  "Know your place, insolent brat."

  The pressure hit Jin like a physical wall. One moment he was standing, the next his knees buckled and his chest seized. He couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. The air itself had become hostile, pressing down on him from all directions with crushing, suffocating weight.

  This was qi pressure. He'd felt echoes of it during training, instructors demonstrating what higher realms could do. But those had been controlled. Gentle. Educational.

  This was a Martial Master releasing his presence with intent.

  Jin's vision darkened at the edges. His lungs burned. He tried to take a single breath and failed.

  Then warmth erupted beside him.

  Captain Hu's qi exploded outward, a wave of heat that pushed back against the crushing pressure. The air around Jin cleared. He gasped, sucking in oxygen, and found he could move again.

  Hu Xiao stood between Jin and Tao, his fire qi radiating from his body in visible waves of distorted air.

  "I'll be your opponent."

  Tao regarded him with professional assessment. His broadsword shifted slightly in his grip, a blade wide enough to cleave through armor and a hilt wrapped in black cord that allowed for two-handed strikes.

  Hu turned his head slightly toward Jin, not taking his eyes off Tao. "I'll handle them, go to the king."

  "Father, I can help—"

  "The young one beside him is 1st rate." Hu's voice carried no room for argument. "You're not strong enough. Not yet." His jaw tightened. "You swore an oath. Jin Xiao, Your duty is to protect the king. This is an Order, GO!, NOW!."

  Jin looked at Ryze, who watched the exchange with an expression of mild amusement. Then at his father. Then at the corridor leading deeper into the castle, toward the inner courtyard, toward the throne room, toward a king who might already be dead.

  He ran.

  "Tao." Ryze's voice was casual. "Stop him."

  Tao moved, a blur of dark armor and killing intent, broadsword rising.

  Hu Xiao was faster.

  Steel met steel with a sound like thunder. Fire qi erupted along Hu's greatsword, meeting Tao's blade in a shower of sparks. The impact cratered the stone beneath their feet.

  "I said..." Hu's voice was low, dangerous. "I will be your opponent."

  Tao pulled back, resetting his stance. His eyes measured Hu with new consideration.

  Ryze sighed. The sound was theatrical. Utterly bored.

  "Fine. Handle him." He started after Jin, a casual jog that somehow covered ground faster than Jin's full sprint. "I'll deal with the boy myself."

  The moment Ryze turned away, Tao attacked.

  "Storm Serpent Strike!"

  Lightning coiled around his broadsword as he thrust forward. The technique was fast, Martial Master fast, the blade becoming a streak of blue-white energy aimed at Hu's chest.

  Hu's response was immediate. "Flame Tiger's Fang!"

  Fire condensed along his greatsword, forming something almost like fangs of crimson light extending from the blade's edge. He brought it up in a rising slash that met Tao's thrust head-on.

  The collision sent shockwaves rippling across the courtyard. Stone cracked beneath their feet. Sparks, both fire and lightning, cascaded outward in all directions.

  Tao pressed forward, not giving ground. His next strike came in from the side, lightning crackling along the blade's edge. Hu deflected it, pivoted, and countered with a horizontal slash that forced Tao to leap backward.

  They separated for a heartbeat. Then crashed together again.

  This was Martial Master combat. Techniques flowing seamlessly into techniques. Power that reshaped the battlefield with every exchange. Neither holding back.

  Hu's fire qi wrapped around his entire weapon now, the greatsword burning with concentrated crimson light. Tao's lightning answered in kind, blue-white energy that jumped and arced with every movement.

  For thirty exchanges, neither gained ground. Neither gave it.

  Jin made it halfway across the outer courtyard before Ryze appeared in front of him.

  One moment the path was clear. The next, black and silver robes filled his vision. Ryze stood between Jin and the corridor to the inner castle, one hand resting on his sword hilt, the other hanging loosely at his side.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  He hadn't even drawn his weapon.

  "While Tao finishes up over there," Ryze said, tilting his head toward where fire and lightning were still clashing behind them, "you can help me kill some time."

  Jin's sword came up. His stance was solid, feet planted, weight balanced, blade angled to defend or strike. Captain Hu had drilled these fundamentals into him for years.

  Ryze looked at the stance the way someone might look at a child playing with a wooden stick.

  "Jin Xiao, was it?" He smiled thinly. "That's what that brute called you before. What a forgettable name." He rolled his shoulders, utterly relaxed. "Well then, Jin, try not to bore me too quickly."

  Jin attacked.

  He came in fast, a thrust aimed at Ryze's center mass, followed by a lateral slash meant to catch him if he dodged. Textbook combination. Good speed. Proper form.

  Ryze didn't even shift his feet.

  His hand moved, a lazy flick that brought his blade up just enough to deflect Jin's thrust wide. The lateral slash met empty air as Ryze simply leaned back, the edge passing a finger's width from his chest.

  Jin pressed forward. Overhead strike. Rising cut. Feint left, strike right.

  Each attack met the same response: minimal movement, perfect timing, casual dismissal. Ryze parried when he needed to and dodged when he didn't. His expression never changed from that look of faint boredom.

  "Is this really all you have?" Ryze asked, deflecting another thrust without looking. "I expected something more from someone who'd dare shout at House Valerian."

  Jin's jaw clenched. He pushed harder. Faster. Drew on his qi to enhance his speed, his strength, his reflexes, everything he could enhance as a 2nd rate martial artist.

  It wasn't enough.

  Ryze's next parry sent Jin's sword wide, and before Jin could recover, an open palm struck his chest. The impact lifted him off his feet. He flew backward, hit the ground hard, rolled twice, and came up gasping.

  Ryze hadn't moved from where he stood. He examined his palm like he'd touched something distasteful.

  "Disappointing."

  Jin forced himself to his feet.

  His chest ached where Ryze had struck him. His arms burned from the impacts of parried blows. But he was still standing. Still breathing. Still holding his sword.

  Ryze watched him rise with an expression caught somewhere between amusement and annoyance.

  "You're persistent. I'll grant you that much." He drew his sword properly now, a blade of dark steel that caught the firelight from the battle raging across the courtyard. "Since you insist on continuing, let me show you something."

  Qi gathered along Ryze's blade. The energy didn't just coat the steel, it merged with it, sinking into the metal until the edge shimmered with barely contained power. The sword seemed to hum in his grip.

  "This is the difference between us," Ryze said, admiring his own weapon. "At 1st rate, qi can be imbued directly into a weapon. It becomes part of you." He swung the blade lazily through the air, leaving a faint trail of light. "Something a 2nd rate insect like you couldn't begin to understand."

  He leveled the sword at Jin.

  "Now then. Show me your attribute. Even trash like you should be able to manifest something by now." His smile turned cruel. "Fire? Earth? Water? Surely living in this pathetic kingdom gave you something."

  Jin attacked instead of answering.

  Ryze met his blade effortlessly. Their swords locked for a moment, Ryze's shimmering with imbued qi, Jin's dull and ordinary by comparison. The difference was visible. Obvious. Damning.

  "Why won't you use it?" Ryze pushed, sending Jin stumbling back three steps. "Are you holding back? Waiting for some dramatic moment?" He laughed. "Go ahead. I'll wait. I have nothing but time until Tao finishes his fight."

  Jin came again. And again. Each exchange ended the same way, Ryze deflecting him with contemptuous ease, asking questions Jin couldn't answer, his qi-enhanced blade ringing against Jin's ordinary steel.

  "Your form is decent enough. Your speed isn't entirely worthless." Ryze caught Jin's overhead strike and held it there, their faces close enough that Jin could see himself reflected in those cold eyes. "But you're fighting with nothing. No enhancement. No element. Unless..."

  Something clicked behind those eyes.

  "Could it be..." The smile that spread across his face was slow. Delighted. "You haven't manifested an attribute at all?"

  Jin's silence was answer enough.

  Ryze released the bind and stepped back. He didn't laugh this time. Instead, he studied Jin like he was looking at something genuinely fascinating, the way a collector might examine a particularly ugly insect.

  "Now that is interesting." He began to circle Jin slowly, sword hanging loose at his side. "Every martial artist manifests an elemental affinity by the age of five. It's the most basic foundation of cultivation. Fire, water, lightning, earth, light, darkness, among others, the element finds you, shapes your qi, defines what you can become."

  He stopped circling. Faced Jin directly.

  "Without one?" He shook his head, still wearing that smile. "You'd never get far in the martial world. The gap only widens at higher realms. Techniques require elemental foundation. Combat at any real level demands it. You've been crippled since birth and didn't even know it."

  Jin's grip tightened on his sword until his knuckles ached.

  "Killing you would be doing you a favor, really." Ryze's tone was almost kind now, the false kindness of someone who enjoyed twisting the knife. "You and this kingdom deserve each other. Both defective. Both trash that should have been disposed of long ago. At least now you can die together."

  He raised his sword. Lightning crackled along the blade, not the full power of his qi-imbuing technique, just a casual display of elemental control. The kind of thing any martial artist above first rate with an attribute could do without thinking.

  "What is your relationship to that brute over there, anyway?" Ryze gestured with his blade toward the Martial Master battle still raging across the courtyard. "Father? Master? Someone foolish enough to see potential in you that clearly doesn't exist?"

  Jin said nothing.

  "Silent to the end?" Ryze shrugged. "Fine. It doesn't matter. Sooner or later we'll find out." His smile sharpened. "When he sees me take your life, I'm sure his face will tell me everything I need to know."

  Across the courtyard, Hu Xiao's attention slipped.

  He'd been holding his own against Tao, thirty exchanges, neither gaining ground. But in the brief pause between techniques, his eyes found Jin. Saw his son on his knees. Saw Ryze standing over him with lightning dancing along his blade.

  His boy. About to die.

  That single heartbeat of distraction was all it took.

  "Storm Serpent Coil!"

  Tao's technique came in low and fast, lightning wrapping around his broadsword in spiraling patterns as he thrust forward. A strike Hu would have deflected easily if he'd been focused.

  Instead, the lightning-charged blade caught him across the ribs. The impact was devastating. Electricity surged through his armor, into his flesh. The force of the blow lifted Hu off his feet.

  He flew backward across the courtyard, crashed through a wooden support beam, and slammed into the outer yard wall with enough force to crack the stone behind him. He slid down, catching himself on one knee, greatsword planted in the ground to keep from collapsing completely.

  Blood ran from the wound at his side. His muscles spasmed from the residual lightning. But he was still conscious. Still breathing.

  Tao stood across the courtyard, broadsword raised. "You looked away." Not mockery. Just fact. "In a battle between Martial Masters, that's death."

  Ryze heard the crash. Saw the captain slumped against the wall.

  "Well." He lowered his sword slightly, looking almost disappointed. "This is no fun at all."

  He looked at Jin, still on his knees, still breathing, still somehow refusing to give up despite everything. Despite the realm gap. Despite having no attribute.

  "It seems Tao is almost finished over there." Ryze's tone was light. Conversational. Like he was discussing the weather rather than murder. "I suppose I should wrap things up on my end as well."

  Lightning gathered along his blade. Real power this time. Not a display.

  "Any last words, 'Jin'?"