Fight my Golem

The night before the first day of training, when Iwao seemed to be asleep, Celi reached toward Saya, woke her, and spoke to her.

“Hey, Saya. For tomorrow, you’ll be in charge of the training, like we said. But you need to do one thing if you want it to work better with Iwao.”

Saya turned inside her sleeping bag to face Celi. She was still half-asleep but aware of what Celi was saying.

“What do you mean? Don’t I just have to teach him and show him how to improve?” Saya asked.

“You’re right. But you know… well… you have a rather gentle, sensitive, and tender character. Yet, Iwao needs to be jolted into action to break him out of his habits. So, you’ll have to be more confident and also a little stricter in your teaching methods. Don’t make things easy for him.”

“But that won’t be me, right? And if he notices that I don’t act like I usually do, won’t he question that and refuse to just follow along?” Saya asked, now fully awake.

“I’m sure that he won’t say anything. And you know why? Because as much as he cares for you, he knows just as well as I do that you need to change mentally for the fight against your father and for the battles ahead. You can’t always let your emotions dictate your actions at the slightest thing that upsets you.”

Saya looked down, weighing Celi’s words.

“My father is a horrible man, I know it. But still... it’s my father, and I don’t know if I can fight him at full strength. If I don’t, he’ll surely defeat all of us – though I still have some doubts about Iwao and Lo.”

She sighed deeply. Her head was still fuzzy since she had just woken up in the middle of the night. After a few seconds, she looked at Celi.

“I’ll try. Maybe it will feel strange and exaggerated, but the goal is to make Iwao train and change his mindset, right? Seeing him focused and happy is enough motivation for me to do this quickly.” Saya affirmed.

Celi smiled gently in the firelight beside her.

“Now let’s sleep! You’ll need a lot of energy to make Iwao suffer through his hard training starting tomorrow.” Celi said, laughing quietly so as not to wake him.

******************************

The golem was immense – at least fifteen meters tall. It was entirely made of rock and looked like any other golem Iwao might have seen in manga or movies back on Earth. But this one had some peculiar features.

None of its arms, legs, or even its head were directly attached to its body. They floated near it, as if held together by a magnetic field. Where its eyes were supposed to be stood two rocky peaks pointing horizontally forward.

All golems were supposed to have a core that contained their energy source, hidden deep inside to prevent it from being destroyed easily. But this one had its core exposed, glowing in the middle of its chest.

Its power could be felt from the energy it gave off. Iwao shivered as it ran down his spine. But the adrenaline rising inside him gave him the necessary confidence, showing on his face with a confident smile.

“Now, Iwao, this is simple. Break its core and you’ll win the fight. You can start now!” She shouted.

As this words reached Iwao’s ears, he started running toward the golem on the other side of the plateau. He had shielded himself with a barrier.

“I just have to keep the image of the bottle in a corner of my mind so I can fill it quickly when charging a spell.” He thought.

The golem didn’t move an inch. It just waited for Iwao to come.

“Not a spell at first. I need to test its resistance. So let’s go for a punch with nearly all my strength.” Iwao thought as he approached his opponent.

He set his sights on the golem’s leg, still immobile.

“I’m going to make it fall. Even if its leg isn’t attached to the rest of its body, I think it should destabilize it and bring it down. That way, I’ll save my physical energy by not having to jump too much.”

As Iwao arrived in front of the leg, he suddenly stopped running and anchored himself to the ground by digging his claws into it.

He drew back his right fist, concentrating all of his monstrous strength. With a cry that distorted his face, he thrust his fist into the golem’s leg.

The impact created an enormous shockwave that pushed the air around them. Saya had to shield herself.

As the shockwave reached a nearby mountain, its peak crumbled and fell to the ground, destroyed by the brute force of the punch.

Any other enemy would have been killed or severely damaged.

The wind had raised a cloud of dust, preventing Iwao from seeing the result of his attack.

“Well, I almost never use all my physical strength against an enemy – it’s exhausting, causes massive damage, and has no use against most opponents, since they’re usually defeated before I need to use it. But since Saya said this thing was really strong, and I didn’t want to waste time with it… I gave it everything I had.” He thought.

When the dust cleared, the golem was still standing, its leg completely unharmed. Not even the slightest scratch. Iwao was stunned. He looked up to see the size difference more clearly.

“Where’s its arm?” He muttered.

The arm had disappeared. It was no longer where it was supposed to be.

“I need to jum-”

Before he could finish, something struck him and sent him flying into the air.

“What?! What was th…”

The blow was so powerful that he fainted midair.

It had been the golem’s arm. During the dust cloud, it had detached and moved to gain momentum. Then it struck Iwao with its speed and brute strength – a monstrous attack.

Iwao was hurled into the mountain – or rather, through it. Several of his bones were shattered, the sound echoing across the entire plateau. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

Saya rushed to him and cast a healing spell.

“That’s what I called a one-shot, Mr. Intrepid!” She said, aware that he couldn’t hear her.

Once she had healed his body and repaired the bones, she sat beside him. She commanded the golem to sit against the rock wall on the opposite side of the plateau, then deactivated it as if storing it until the next fight.

A few hours later, when the suns began slowly turning the sky into a beautiful orange, Iwao woke up, sweating and panting, trying to gather information about his surroundings, not understanding what had happened.

He looked at Saya, who smiled sweetly at him.

“Better luck next week!” She said mischievously.

******************************

After that, three weeks passed during which Iwao trained every day, still with the same exercises. He had lost against the golem twice more, fainting each time.

“Today is the day I will win – I’m sure of it, unlike Saya.” He thought.

“Well, it’s been a month since your training started, and I can say that you’ve greatly improved your physical abilities and your control of Firia, even though it’s still not perfect. I’m not perfect either, don’t worry. But I can see your potential, and I know you can do better. As for your mastery of spells... it’s a bit disappointing that you chose to focus only on Fireballs and Thunder Burst instead of broadening your range. But that’s your choice.” Saya said, summarizing the results of his training.

“Well, these two spells will be useful after all! You’ll see since I found your golem’s weakness!” Iwao shouted, full of confidence.

Saya stepped back from the combat zone and raised her hand toward the golem to activate it. The rock monster stood up, the sound of its body echoing across the plateau.

The golem began to charge heavily toward Iwao. Over the weeks, Saya had allowed it to use other techniques to make the battles more challenging.

“This fight will be quick. I’ve had enough broken bones for a second life already. Time for revenge!” Iwao thought.

The silence of the plateau was broken only by the golem’s heavy footsteps, shaking the ground. But Iwao didn’t care – he ran forward, unfazed by the trembling earth.

In a fraction of a second, the golem detached its arms from its body and hurled them toward both sides of Iwao, aiming to crush him. But Iwao had anticipated the attack. Before the arms could strike, he leapt quickly into the air, boosting his jump with a wind spell.

“As I expected, my reflexes and anticipation are much sharper now… but if I’d jumped a second later, it would have been fatal.”

While airborne, Iwao wasted no time. He cast the spell he mastered throughout his training.

“Thunder Burst!” He shouted.

A burst of bright orange lightning shot from his hands, striking the golem. Its massive stone body trembled violently under the electric shock.

Iwao descended gracefully, cushioning his landing with gusts of wind beneath his feet.

The golem’s arms, which had been returning to its body, crashed lifelessly to the ground. Then, to Iwao’s satisfaction, its legs and head followed, tumbling down with a deafening noise that echoed across the plateau. Only its torso remained, half-buried in the earth due to its fall.

Iwao stood before this hulking ruin, eyes fixed on its glowing core.

“I was right. The electric shock disrupted the magnetic field holding its arms, legs, and head together.” He thought.

He turned to Saya with a victorious grin.

“I won, Saya! Look!” He exclaimed proudly.

From her vantage point, Saya gave him a doubtful look.

“Are you sure? I can still see the core, so technically you haven’t won yet.” She teased.

Iwao smirked, brimming with confidence.

“Oh, you mean that core?” He asked without waiting for an answer.

Still facing Saya, he extended his hand toward the glowing core.

“Fireball!” He shouted.

The fireball he cast was perfect: not overloaded with energy, perfectly round, and followed by a powerful explosion. The core shattered instantly. Iwao had finally won.

Saya rushed to his side.

“Congrats! Your training is finally over. But you didn’t need to destroy its core like that. Were you just trying to flatter your ego?” She asked with a laugh.

“Haha… Well, my fireballs are now powerful enough to cause serious damage, so of course I’m proud to use them.” He replied, a playful tone in his voice.

Night had fallen by the time they returned to the camp.

Celi and Lo were already asleep, the pendant, books, and notes spread out in front of them. Iwao and Saya slipped in silently, careful not to wake them. Saya nibbled on some bread and rice – a meager meal – before falling asleep as well.

Later that night, Iwao was awakened by faint noises in the cave, like someone whispering. He sat up on his sleeping bag and turned toward the source. It was Celi.

“Iwao… please… don’t die...”