“Very well,” the announcer declared, looking around nervously at the audience, unsure whether they would be satisfied by the result of the match. However, as the crowd returned to placing bets on the final fight between Yin and Micro, the announcer slowly nodded and decided to let the momentum of the evening’s events continue. “Micro of the Fire Mountain Turtle Sect is the winner, or so it seems—”

  Some cheers were heard among those counting gold in the stands, but a collective sigh of dissatisfaction was the predominant noise in the air. If not for Tohan’s smile as he continued to count his coins, the arena might have looked like it was hosting a funeral.

  “We now continue to the final round…” the announcer pushed through the awkward tension. “Yin, the reigning champion of the annual tournament of these five honourable sects, heir to the Dark Thunder Sect, will face Micro, the mysterious new representative of the Fire Mountain Turtle Sect!”

  Micro watched as Yin quickly climbed the stairs and nodded to the announcer before bowing deeply to Micro. Micro tried to mimic the gesture, and Yin seemed satisfied when their eyes met once more. Though his face was obscured by the dark hood he wore, the same dark black colour as the rest of his robes, Micro was able to discern a faint smile. he noticed the tension of the crowd grow cooler as Yin prepared himself to fight. He looked around and saw several of the workers smiling at him as they quietly left the arena through several smaller gates. One old man with an eyepatch smiled so sincerely at Micro as he left that Micro thought he could feel his heart warming slightly. However, a cool aura radiating from Yin brought his attention back to the fight at hand.

  “I understand why Kel defends you, Micro,” Yin suddenly whispered across the stage, his voice carried by his aura in such a way that only Micro could hear him. “It is clear that you are no enemy of mine, though I honestly don’t know what you are…”

  “What am I…?” Micro said, tilting his head. “I guess I’m not just a truck anymore, but I’m still a Micro.”

  “Your sense of self is intact then,” Yin whispered with a nod. “And the sincerity of your actions is evident, though the reasoning behind each of your actions is difficult for me to fathom.”

  “Thanks, I think,” Micro smiled.

  “Tell me one thing, before we begin…” Yin whispered.

  “Sure.”

  “What is the path you walk?”

  “I’m trying to find the road home,” Micro answered quickly. “I need to master a lot more Core Cards so I can find the road from this world to my world.”

  “You speak of unimaginable powers as though they seem trivial to you,” Yin replied with wide eyes. “And yet I sense no arrogance in your words, no pride, no hesitation…”

  “What about you?” Micro asked. “What’s your destination?”

  “Destination?” Yin repeated slowly and thoughtfully. “At the end of the path I walk, there is power…”

  “Power…” Micro repeated, then he shrugged. “I don’t get it.”

  “You may understand, in time…” Yin whispered as his aura flared. “I will elaborate—”

  “Oh, the fight!” Micro blurted out as he increased his own aura to prevent himself from being swept away by the intimidating force Yin was radiating.

  “I’ll warn you now,” Yin whispered as he moved his hands through the air, channelling his energy into the space around him. “I’m not an opponent you can easily imprison.”

  “I’ll do my best!” Micro shouted, and the fight began. He reflexively coated himself in armour and rooted himself to the ground as Yin’s aura grew stronger, but he was surprised by how slowly Yin ran towards him while apparently preparing a punch. He took his time preparing an aura shield and braced himself for the impact of the punch, then watched as Yin did exactly as expected. Yin’s fist continued through the air on its way to Micro, who was surprised by how slow it was when compared to many other attacks he’d seen that day.

  CRASH

  Micro’s shield and armour shattered instantly as Yin’s modest punch collided with his shield with a sound that couldn’t be confused with any other.

  “Thunder?!” Micro shouted as he stumbled backward across the stage while Yin stood up straight and shook his fist in the air. “That was unexpected!”

  “Your shield was harder than I expected,” Yin whispered as he flexed his hand. “I’ll take this seriously.”

  “I mean, your sect is named after thunder, but wow…” Micro groaned as he took a few deep breaths. Not bothering to summon his armour again, he rooted himself to the ground and summoned a much denser shield. He braced himself, but Yin had already brought his hands together. “Oh dear—”

  CRASH

  Another punch tore through his shield like a rock through glass. The impact of the punch shook Micro so violently that the energy roots attaching him to the ground broke apart immediately. He rolled backwards for a while before he managed to stop near the edge of the stage, then he crawled away from it quickly and stood up once more. Yin raised an eyebrow as Micro immediately took the same stance, apparently unintimidated by his attacks.

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  “You’ve done well to remain conscious. Those attacks contained the power of thunder,” Yin whispered with a respectful tone. “But you will eventually break…”

  “Is that all though?” Micro suddenly asked, poking his head out from behind his shield.

  “What?” Yin asked, pausing his attack in confusion.

  “The vibrations,” Micro added. “Is that all?”

  “My art allows me to shake the foundations of this world and all who reside here,” Yin explained softly. “Nothing is unaffected by thunder in this world, be it the body or the soul…”

  “Huh.” Micro frowned. “Well, do your best!”

  Yin tilted his head, staring with wide eyes at Micro, who gave him a thumbs up with one hand while adjusting the position of his shield with the other.

  “Very well…” Yin eventually whispered after resolving himself. “I will honour you with my strongest attack.”

  Yin lowered his fist for a moment, then opened his hands, pointing his palms up toward the night sky. Micro watched curiously as the energy around Yin began to swirl and vibrate with increasing intensity. He could clearly see the dark elemental energies of the night sky gathering around Yin, then flowing through him to produce an ominous rumble. Though the audience was smiling and cheering as Yin prepared his attack, many of them shifted in their seats as the vibrations intensified. Some younger spectators looked like they might be sick as they brought their hands to their mouths, and several lost consciousness fairly quickly. Micro was relieved to see that the mundane workers had already cleared away, then he focused on Yin, who extended both hands outward as far as he could reach to his left and to his right. However, to the surprise of many, Micro didn’t brace himself with energy in any way. Rather, he lowered his stance slightly and smiled at Yin.

  “The most advanced technique passed down to each heir of the Dark Thunder Sect after mastering the sacred Dark Thunder Art,” Yin whispered as the unmistakable sound of rolling thunder began to radiate from each of his hands.

  “Thunder clap…!”

  Looking at Micro as if to warn him of the coming attack, Yin finally brought his hands together. A violent shockwave filled the arena, deafening to those who hadn’t braced themselves with a strong enough defensive aura, and painful to those who were sitting the closest to the stage. Micro closed his eyes and leaned into the force as his whole body shook, falling to one knee as it passed through him. The thunder clap echoed throughout the city as everyone’s ears rang, and Kel was not alone in his look of concern as Micro took a moment to rest on his knee.

  “That’s definitely thunder!” Micro said, grunting as he brought himself back up to his feet. He shook his hands and stretched his neck quickly, then took a deep breath and relaxed. “No lightning though, thank goodness!”

  “How are you standing…?” Yin quietly gasped. “I saw the thunder pass through you. No jade level core could withstand the shock—”

  “Oh, it did hurt a little,” Micro admitted, but he chuckled as he stretched for a moment. “This body’s shock absorption is terribly designed. But if we’re talking about vibrations, that wasn’t too bad. I was mostly worried I was about to see that soup I ate for lunch again!”

  “Wasn’t too bad…?” Yin stepped back anxiously. “You raised no shield, and yet your soul remains unmoved…?”

  “Hey, I may not be the most comfortable truck, but wherever the old man drove me, I was the one dealing with most of the vibrations,” Micro stated proudly. “No bumpy road ever kept the old man from arriving at his destination safely!”

  “Even so—” Yin stuttered.

  “And my soul is still the shape of a truck anyways, so of course it’s fine,” Micro reassured Yin. “My knees do ache a bit now though…”

  “You didn’t resist it, but endured it?” Yin continued to question Micro with a look of disbelief.

  “If you’ve never seen a truck before, it’s hard to explain how shock absorbers work…” Micro explained, scratching his chin as he thought for a moment. “But the trick is to be flexible.”

  “You absorbed it, with your soul…?” Yin asked, his voice finally rising above the level of a whisper. “But that’s…”

  “It’s quite literally what I was built to do,” Micro said with pride. “A bit of thunder is nothing compared to some of the roads I’ve handled! Never mind when his son started driving me into town to meet his girlfriend—”

  “There was no method known to counter this technique,” Yin whispered in shock as the crowd looked on with wide eyes. “After witnessing it only twice, you…”

  Micro chuckled nostalgically as Yin’s mind raced. He grew flustered as he prepared another thunder clap, and he was further unnerved to see Micro begin to walk casually toward him. He brought his hands together once again to both the excitement and discomfort of the cheering crowd, and once again Micro was knocked to the ground. Yin took a tentative step forward to confirm whether his attack had worked as intended, but Micro stood up even more quickly this time.

  “I guess for humans, that much of a shock could do a lot of damage,” Micro said as if he were carrying on a lighthearted conversation over tea. “That’s why you don’t punch very fast, right?”

  “We’ve always relied more on our art than our physical abilities,” Yin couldn’t help but answer, caught up in Micro’s pace. “No amount of physical strength can endure the effects of this art, or so it is taught…”

  “That makes things a lot simpler, to be honest,” Micro said with a nearly apologetic look. “Because my new body is pretty strong for a human.”

  Yin instinctively summoned all the thunder he could channel as a chill crept up his spine. As Micro lunged toward him, fear overcame him, recalling the heretical nature of his existence. The air began to vibrate, but Yin himself was too paralyzed by fear to even scream before he was lifted from the ground.

  “Huh?” Yin was only able to open his mouth in confusion, and he was quickly embarrassed by the sound he’d made.

  “I’m sorry you don’t get to decide your destination today,” Micro said as he lifted Yin in the air, pinning his arms to his side by wrapping his own arms around him in a bear hug. “But you’ll arrive safely.”

  Yin thought of struggling to break free from Micro’s embrace for a moment as they began to move together to the edge of the stage, but it was clear to much of the audience that he had already been defeated. Micro released Yin from his firm grip, allowing Yin to fall gracefully to the ground beside the stage. Yin’s feet barely made a sound as he landed. The crowd stared wordlessly at Micro, waiting for the situation to make sense.

  The announcer opened his mouth, but no sound would come out. Micro looked around with a smile to see Tohan’s face red with excitement, the gold in his hand shaking violently. He looked back to see Kel and Tae smiling with wide eyes, though they were as silent as the other contestants who stood in shock.

  “I guess I managed to make a few friends today!” Micro called out to Kel, who only widened his awkward smile in return. Beginning to feel uncomfortable with so many people staring at him, he turned his eyes upward to the night sky and sighed, but something about the sky caused him to frown. He looked back down at Kel and pointed up to the sky, then shouted. “Hey, Kel!”

  “Yes, master…?” Kel slowly replied.

  “Was the moon always that colour?”