The difference in level

CHAPTER 13 — The Difference in Level
The crimson lines of Garpon's armor didn't explode. They lit slowly. Like something waking without hurry because it didn't need to rush.
That was the first thing Marek noticed. Not the intensity. The calm. Garpon wasn't preparing for a battle. He was preparing to end something he already considered resolved.
Zarpon spoke quietly without taking his eyes off the warrior.
"Sira. Right flank. Start moving now."
Sira separated from the group without answering. One step sideways. Then another. Her boots on the rock made no sound.
Garpon followed her with his eyes for exactly one second. Then he returned to Zarpon.
"Interesting tactic," he said. "The girl as a distraction."
"The girl as part of the team," Zarpon said.
Garpon didn't answer. He moved. Not toward Sira. Toward Zarpon.
With a speed none of the four had fully anticipated even though Zarpon had warned them. There was a difference between hearing that something was fast and seeing it move.
Zarpon blocked. The impact resonated through the entire second layer. Marek felt the shockwave in his chest from six meters away.
Zarpon stepped back three paces. He stayed on his feet. But his hands, which held the block, trembled slightly.
"Strong," Zarpon said quietly. Not to anyone in particular. Like someone confirming a variable he expected but which still surprised him when it arrived.
Garpon looked at him.
"That was without energy," he said.
Marek attacked from the left flank. Without the aura yet. Technique. As Zarpon had taught him. Low strike first. Knee joint. Force repositioning.
The strike connected.
Garpon looked down at his knee. Then at Marek.
"Correct technique," he said. "Insufficient force."
He raised his arm. The backhand that came wasn't aimed at Marek's head. It was aimed at his shoulder. Calculated to knock down without injuring.
Marek flew back two meters and landed sideways on the rock. The armor absorbed part of the impact. He absorbed the rest.
He stayed on the ground for a second, processing the pain that ran from his shoulder to his elbow. He breathed. He stood up.
His legs responded even though they didn't want to. That was enough.
---
Arlo had moved to the flank opposite Sira during the first exchange. Not toward Garpon. Toward the shadows at the edge of the second layer where the darkness was enough to work without being the main target.
He took out the second device. The one he had built in the workshop without telling anyone. It was small. Smaller than the electromagnetic pulse. With a design he had derived from three nights studying the architecture of Zarpon's practice armor.
He wasn't sure it would work. He had a hypothesis.
He looked for the rear connector on Garpon's armor. The problem was that Garpon wasn't still. He moved between Zarpon and Marek with an efficiency that made the rear connector visible for less than a second per exchange.
Less than a second wasn't enough.
Arlo waited. He counted the movements. The pattern wasn't perfectly regular, but it had a tendency. Every time Garpon attacked Zarpon, he twisted his torso to the right before repositioning. In that twist, the rear connector was exposed for approximately one and a half seconds.
One and a half seconds.
Enough if he didn't fail.
---
Sira moved.
Not with a fixed target. With the logic Zarpon had taught her. Not moving away from the problem. Moving toward the position of advantage after the problem.
The problem was that she still hadn't identified what the advantage position was.
Garpon almost completely ignored her. Almost. Every few exchanges, his crimson eyes found her for a fraction of a second. Not with threat. With monitoring. Like someone who doesn't consider someone a real threat but doesn't lose sight of them completely.
That monitoring was information. It meant that her presence occupied a part of Garpon's attention, even if small.
Small was enough.
For now.
Sira breathed with difficulty. Not from physical effort. From fear. The fear she had named out loud two nights ago and that was now here in concrete form fifteen meters away.
But her feet kept moving.
That was the only thing that mattered right now. That they kept moving.
---
Zarpon took Garpon's second strike to the torso. This time with crimson energy. The difference was immediate and brutal. He flew back five meters and hit the rock wall with an impact that made the crystals on the walls vibrate.
He fell to his knees. He breathed. He tried to stand. His arms failed on the first attempt.
He tried again. On the second attempt, he made it to one knee.
Garpon watched him from where he stood. Not advancing. With his usual calm.
"You've been watching this cave from the outside for six years," Garpon said. "And you chose today to enter."
Zarpon didn't answer. He focused everything on getting back to his feet.
"Why today?" Garpon said.
Zarpon made it to both feet. His hands trembled. His yellow eyes found Garpon's.
"Because today there were enough reasons," he said, his voice straining but not breaking.
Garpon looked at him. Something in that answer made him pause for a second.
Only one second.
Marek took advantage. He attacked from the flank with his aura ignited for the first time in the battle. Not with everything. With enough for the impact to be real.
The strike connected with Garpon's side. The black armor vibrated.
Garpon turned.
And in that turn, the rear connector was exposed.
One and a half seconds.
Arlo didn't wait any longer. He activated the second device. A directed pulse. Small. Specific.
Garpon's armor connector blinked. The crimson lines were interrupted for exactly four seconds.
Garpon stopped. He looked down at his own arm. The crimson lines returned. He looked up toward where Arlo stood in the shadows.
"Ah," he said.
Not with rage. With something closer to the recognition of someone who had just updated his assessment of the situation.
His crimson eyes scanned the four. Zarpon standing with difficulty. Marek with his aura ignited. Sira moving on the flank. Arlo in the shadows with a device that had just interrupted his armor for four seconds.
"Good," Garpon said.
The crimson lines intensified. Completely this time.
"Now I know what I'm dealing with."
And he attacked with a speed that was completely different from everything before.
---
END OF CHAPTER 13