Like a Reflex

Ignacio held out his hands, face scrunching up as he tried firing a beam of blue-light.

Koharu hovered above him, blue-light streaming from her bare feet. She shook her head as she folded her arms.

“You’re not responding to it, you’re trying to force it,” Koharu said. “It’s like a reflex, Ace. Imagine someone is trying to hit you and you have to hit them first.”

He planted a foot backward, boot bristling against the dead grass. He threw a punch, a flicker of blue-light forming on his knuckle.

“Good!” Koharu said, pointing. “When that light flashed on your knuckle, what were you thinking?”

Ignacio stared at his fist. “I think it was the image of my fist connecting with Doctor Ivo’s jaw.”

Koharu frowned, then shrugged. “Good, okay. We can work with that.”

He placed his hands on his hips. “When do you think I’ll learn to fly, like you?”

Koharu chuckled. “Not for a while, Ace. It took me a few months of practice to fly. It’s a mixture of confidence and connection to the Ethergeist that takes you to the next level.”

“You think it’ll take me long?”

“Not if we keep at the rate we’re going now.”

“Or we just throw him to another dire-bear,” Kiyomi said from behind.

Koharu cocked her head to the side. “You’re not helping.”

Come on, Ace, he thought, raising his fists.

He flicked out two more punches. Nothing. Not even a flicker of light.

“Maybe the dire-bear isn’t an awful idea,” Ignacio said, placing his hands on his hips.

“Thank you, Ace,” Kiyomi said.

Koharu rolled her eyes, descending and landing in front of him. She jabbed a fist towards his face, making him flinch and raise a hand to block.

Blue-light blossomed from his wrist, swaying atop his fingers like a tongue of flame.

A smile widened across his face. “Nice.”

“See?” she said, leaning towards him. “Reflex. Treat it like a limb.”

Footsteps boomed behind him, shaking the ground. “Eh, you can do better,” came a deep voice as shadow engulfed them.

Ignacio turned, staring up at the giant stone creature. Its lower jaw was bulkier than the top, locked in a severe under bite, sharp slits running down its square chin. Its eyes shone like rubies, stalagmites covering its shoulders and back.

What the hell, Ignacio thought.

He backed away, eyes wide as he raised his fists, blue-light enveloping both of them.

“Wow, that worked,” Koharu said, placing a hand on Ignacio’s shoulder as she gave the stone giant a thumbs up. “Thanks, Zeeq.”

“Zeeq?” Ignacio said, lowering his fists. “As in, Ezequiel?”

The stone giant saluted. Stalagmites coated its forearms too, but those slanted backwards.

“That’s me,” the stone giant said, its voice like boulders crashing together.

“Zeeq,” Kiyomi said, sitting under a tree beside him on her carpet, one leg crossed over the other as she read her tome. She flicked her wrist at him, eyes fixed on the book. “Shoo, you’re blocking the light.”

Ezequiel stepped to the side, sunlight beaming down on Ignacio again. “My bad, your highness.”

Ignacio smirked, shaking his head. “That worked.”

“It did,” Koharu said, pressing a finger against her cheek. “You just need to learn how to do it on command now. Then you need to learn how to channel,” she paused, placing her hands behind her back. “You may struggle to adapt to certain power types, though.”

“Like?” Ignacio asked.

“Like Golems,” she said, raising her eyebrows at Ezequiel as the stone giant lumbered around them, lowering to its haunches with a stony scrape.

It hung its head down, and a fist burst from the back of its head, stone and dust flying around. Rock shards and chunks began to fall down the sides of the Golem’s head as Ezequiel tore his way out, standing atop the stone giant with hands on his hips.

He wore an open tunic, his muscular frame glistening with sweat. His hair was jet black now, his body wiry compared to the bulk of a man Ignacio had met in the real world.

“Hey,” he shouted, his voice much younger. “You can practice fighting me.”

Ignacio frowned, placing his hand over his eyes. “Is that… a kid?”

Koharu sighed. “Yes, believe it or not Ezequiel is still fifteen years old in the Ethergeist.”

“I do kind of believe that,” Ignacio said.

Koharu tucked her hair behind her ear as she glanced away. “Yeah.”

“Hey,” Ezequiel said from atop the Golem, waving his arms. “Did you hear me?”

Ignacio glanced at Koharu, gesturing at kid-Ezequiel.

She smiled. “You can fight him if you’d like, but he’s tougher than her looks. You have to be strong to be a Psyonic crew Leader.”

Ignacio nodded, wiping the corner of his mouth with his thumb. “Sure thing, Ezequiel. Let’s go.”