CHAPTER 84.5 — THE GAP

The next morning, they stood side by side at the foot of the mountain again.

Clara turned to Percy and reminded him of their agreement. “Whoever reaches the summit first doesn't get to spend all day talking about it.”

“I remember.”

“You remember what happened yesterday too, don't you?”

Percy looked up the trail. “Hard to forget.”

Clara smiled. The moment she gave the signal, they both started running.

For the first stretch, Clara kept pace with Percy. She threaded her way between the stones and picked up speed as the slope steepened. She expected him to pull ahead; yesterday, they had traded places several times on the way down. But this time, when Percy passed her, he did more than accelerate. He stepped onto a rock, changed direction, and cleared a narrow ledge in one stride while Clara took the path around it. By the time the routes joined again, the distance between them had grown.

Clara followed. After a while, she lost sight of him.

It was the same route as yesterday. The stones, the sharp turns, the rocky stretches she had to climb were all where she remembered them. Clara was making better time than before, yet there was no sign of Percy. When she reached the summit, four hours and nine minutes had passed.

Percy was sitting on a rock, watching the sky.

Clara looked at him, then back down the mountain. She tried to work out whether he had taken another route. But the dust on his shoes was the same as hers.

“How long?” she asked.

Percy turned his head. “Since I got here?”

“From when we started.”

“I made it up in two hours and nineteen minutes.”

Clara said nothing for several seconds. She knew her own time. She had heard his. She did not need to calculate the difference again.

“How did you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Percy.”

Percy stood. When he saw that she was waiting for a real answer, he stopped smiling.

“When you run, you're thinking about reaching the finish,” he said. “Before I even start, I've already lived through it in my head. What I'll do if my foot slips on that stone, how fast I'll take the turn, how I'll change my stride when I get tired. Then I don't have to stop and decide all over again while I'm running.”

Clara looked at him. “Meaning?”

“Did you forget? We agreed the winner couldn't spend all day talking about it.”

“I asked how you did it.”

“And I told you. I didn't mention the result.”

Clara narrowed her eyes. “Is it because you brought every level to fifty percent?”

“Not just that. My understanding of the fire element is almost at forty-nine percent.”

This time, she could not hide her surprise. “Forty-nine? So when you weren't working on your Core, you were developing your fire.”

“Still not quite.”

“The way you talk has changed a lot these past few years, Percy.”

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“You're probably right, my heart's balance.”

“Monkey.” Clara stepped closer. “Tell me the other reason.”

Percy was about to answer when an arm reached around him from behind. A moment later, his feet left the ground as he was pulled into a tight embrace.

“Stop doing that,” Percy said. “I'm not little anymore.”

“That's an unusual way to say you're glad to see me.”

Percy looked up. Galahad was looking down at him through his blond hair. He had just returned from fighting in a monster incursion. The journey had left its marks on his clothes, but his smile was familiar. The graduate who put other graduates to shame, now at Awakened Core Level Five, set Percy down without taking his hand off his shoulder.

“I'm glad you made it back, big brother,” Percy said.

“And I'm glad I found you two here.”

Galahad turned to Clara. “Oh, look at you. You've grown even prettier this past year. Percy's a lucky boy.”

Clara came over and hugged him. “Welcome back, big brother.”

Galahad looked between them. “Now, what did I interrupt?”

“Percy explaining how he reached the summit before me this morning,” Clara said.

“By how much?”

Percy did not answer. Clara did. “An hour and fifty minutes.”

Galahad looked at Clara, then at Percy. “You climbed the same mountain?”

“Yes,” Clara said. “And I'm still waiting for the rest of the explanation.”

Percy paused to gather his thoughts. “After I brought every level to fifty percent, I realized I could use my fire throughout all the layers I'd reached. As my understanding of fire improved, the gap between deciding to move and actually doing it got shorter. I didn't just run fast today. I didn't waste steps that I had to correct.”

“You've been working on this for six years?” Galahad asked.

“I've been working on a lot of things for six years.”

Clara folded her arms. “Another half answer.”

“This time, I know how to show you.”

Percy took a few steps back. Clara's expression changed. She knew him. Percy would not stand across from her like that unless he meant to demonstrate something.

“You want a match?” she asked.

“A short one.”

Galahad moved out of the way. “I'm not refereeing. If either of you complains, I didn't hear it.”

Clara did not hesitate. She changed her pace once as she approached Percy, then cut off his retreat. She had won the last three interclass tournaments. Percy might know how she moved, but Clara had not spent those years standing still either.

Percy did not retreat.

As Clara's hand reached for his shoulder, he shifted half a step sideways. Clara immediately changed direction and came at him from the other side. This time, Percy slipped beneath her arm and stepped behind her. Clara turned and kept attacking. For several seconds, they moved around each other without making contact.

Light appeared around Clara. The open space beside Percy began to close. He did not bring out his fire. He did not activate an ability either. Before the light sealed the gap, he saw Clara move and stepped toward her.

Clara had anticipated that too. She turned to cut him off.

That was the movement Percy needed.

He placed a hand on her arm without pulling or shoving. He simply guided her another step in the direction she was already turning. At the same time, he set his foot just in front of where she needed to plant hers. As Clara shifted her weight to her other leg to regain her balance, Percy changed direction. A moment later, her back touched the ground.

It was not a hard fall. Percy had caught her arm and slowed her descent at the last moment.

Clara lay still, looking up at him.

Galahad's smile had disappeared. He looked at Percy's hand, then at the air around him. He had seen no flame during the exchange. No ability had answered Clara's light.

“You didn't use your power,” Galahad said.

“No,” Percy replied.

Clara held out her hand. Percy helped her up. She looked at the stone where her foot had been, then replayed the movement in her head. She had seen the moment Percy brought her down. What she had missed was when he had begun leading her into that step.

“Again,” Clara said.

This time, Percy spent even less time defending. Clara changed her footwork from the first exchange, refusing to give him the same opening. Percy followed her new direction, stepped past her, and was behind her before she could finish her second attack.

He rested his fingers lightly on her shoulder.

Clara went still. Percy immediately withdrew his hand.

Galahad looked at the distance between them. The second exchange had been even shorter than the first.

Clara slowly turned to face Percy. “How long have you been able to do that?”

“A while.”

“Could you have done it in the tournaments too?”

Percy hesitated before answering. “I didn't enter the last three.”

Clara's face fell.

She had won all three of the last interclass tournaments. She had fought for each title, improved, and become champion. Percy had watched and congratulated her. But he had never stepped into the arena himself. Only now did Clara see clearly what he had been doing while he stayed away from those tournaments. He had been working toward something else.

Percy noticed how his words had landed. So did Galahad. Both stayed silent until Clara spoke.

“I didn't stop working either, Percy.”

“I know.”

Clara held his gaze. “And I'm not going to stop now.”

A small smile appeared on Percy's face. “I know that too.”

Clara turned toward the trail. By the time Percy caught up, she had already begun walking down without him. Galahad followed a little way behind, still thinking about that second exchange.

He had expected to see Percy use his power on the summit. His fire, another ability, something to stop Clara's light.

Percy had simply moved.