Cultivating Heroism Read online

  “Come out you little bastard,” the same voice called. “And let us get our revenge for our friend you killed yesterday. Don’t make us take it out on more hick farmers. We promise not to hurt your lady friend.” Several of the bandits could be hurt laughing among themselves.

  He felt his stomach drop. That lizard man he’d pulverized was definitely one of them, then. And it was Mack’s fault the farmer had been threatened and beaten that morning. Kaarina inhaled deeply and stopped herself from shaking. This group had been terrorizing her village for probably years, and now he’d brought her straight into their path by killing that thing.

  Of course, she’d have been dead if he hadn’t stepped in.

  “Not that it matters if you don’t come out. I’m sure we’ll find you again after we’ve razed that village to the ground.”

  Kaarina gasped. Her sudden intake of breath was what gave away their position. He could tell by the sudden stopping of footsteps that they’d heard her.

  “We’re fighting,” he said, not bothering to lower his voice. “We’re fighting right now.”

  He gave her an impulsive kiss on the lips, and then stepped around the side of the door to see how many people he was going to be facing down.

  There were three of them, standing with weapons drawn in the middle of the path they’d been walking down just seconds ago. He felt at a severe disadvantage with just his hands, but he clenched them into fists anyway.

  All three of the men were keiju, which meant he could expect some sort of elemental manipulation from them, he figured, but he didn’t know if all keiju were tied to manipulation plants or whether there was more to it. He was still too ignorant about the place he was to go into a fight feeling confident, even if he’d beaten the last two people he’d gone up against.

  Kaarina was right beside him, her katana drawn and held with both hands. It seemed to shimmer with energy, and Mack was captivated for a moment.

  He still didn’t know the extent of Kaarina’s powers.

  If there was more she was capable of than he’d already seen, then he definitely welcomed it now. She wasn’t shaking anymore. Her grip was steady. Her bravado had returned.

  “So,” the man in the middle of the trio said, almost conversationally. “You’re the one who’s planning to revive the temple, hey boy?”

  Mack stopped himself from blurting out a question about how they knew that. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said instead. “I’m just a traveler.”

  “That’s not what my reports are saying,” the bandit replied. “And I tend to trust my own men over some snot-nosed kid.” The bandit didn’t even seem that much older than Mack.

  “You should leave the village alone.” Mack tried to ignore the cheap insults and maintain his resolve.

  “I’m going to raze that good for nothing village to the ground. They’ve stopped being any use to me. Their last lot of taxes was pathetic.”

  “We’ll see what the Lord has to say about that,” Kaarina tightened her grip on her sword. “Maybe the killing of taxpaying citizens will make him see that you’ve stopped being any use to him.”

  “When I tell the Lord that someone was trying to revive the temple—and I killed them—I’ll have all the immunity I want.” The bandit grinned, revealing yellow and misshapen teeth. “Let’s get this over and done with.”

  The bandit to the left of the leader, who was wearing a red helmet of some kind of leather, reached for his belt, drawing a small knife and flinging it straight at Mack, who was still digesting all information he’d heard and not remotely ready to dodge it. The throwing knife hit him in the right arm and he hissed in surprise before recovering.

  Kaarina dashed forward without hesitation, her sword swinging in front of her in a dangerously fast circle and catching the bandit on the left in the chest. For a moment it looked like Kaarina sped up suddenly as she swung her katana and landed yet another hit on the smart-mouthed bandit, this slashing the center of his chest. But no, Mack realized that the beautiful elf hadn’t sped up—the bandit had slowed down for just a moment. Then his speed seemed to catch back up to him all at once and he dove straight for her. That left Mack to deal with the other two.

  He dropped into a fighting stance, wanting to stay on the defensive because he was still unsure exactly what he was facing.

  The bandit who’d been doing the talking, probably the little group’s leader, dashed forward, pulling a throwing knife of his own from somewhere on his person and flinging it at Mack. He dodged this one with some fancy footwork and a crouch that gave him the advantage when it came to hitting back. When the leader got close enough, Mack was ready with a series of swift punched to the midriff that sent them flying backward. There were a number of crunches indicating broken ribs.

  With that guy out of the way for a moment, Mack turned his attention to the third. This one was wielding two curved swords tipped with what looked like a green slime. If he got some of that on his skin—never mind in his bloodstream—he didn’t want to know what would happen. These assholes really did not play nice. Avoiding those was the most important thing he had to focus on.

  His heart was so loud in his ears it blocked out any sound, and he resisted the urge to check on Kaarina and see how she was doing. She could hold her own. He’d seen that in the last fight.

  He tilted his head at the bandit and said, “You fancy some broken ribs too?”

  The bandit charged. It was exactly what Mack had wanted. His footwork was good, and he easily sidestepped the too-eager attack the enraged bandit had gone for, moving to the left and bending his back away from the outstretched swords that came just inches from his face. With the bandit forced to slow himself down, Mack went on the aggressive.

  He moved with superhuman speed, crossing ground faster than any human could have done and delivering such a powerful blow to the back of the bandit’s head, that he thought it might whip forward on the neck. That didn’t stop his assault. Unlike with Okko, Mack had no fear about whether he extinguished the life of the man in front of him.

  This bandit was going to destroy Kaarina’s village if he survived. Mack was going to stop that happening if he could.

  He landed four swift, powerful punches all before the bandit had a chance to hit the ground. When he did, he was limp and lifeless.

  Mack turned around, breathing heavily, to look at the leader. He was clutching his ribs with one hand and barely standing, slumped over like he wanted to lie down. Taking this opportunity, Mack focused his attention of Kaarina. She was holding her own just fine, so he didn’t need to worry.

  Mack looked back to the leader who had sure seen better days. Something flashed—another throwing knife. He’d caught the action too late to dodge it properly, and instead ended up blocking. The tip of the little blade stuck in his forearm but at least missed his heart where it had been headed. Luckily it wasn’t in very far and he was able to easily pull it out. Then he noticed the tip was coated in that same lethal-looking green slime. “Oh, shit.” He had no idea if Kaarina could heal poison, assuming she could even get to him in time; the fight wasn’t even over yet.

  He felt the effects of the poison immediately as blinding pain shot up his right arm. It went numb in seconds, hanging limp as his side.

  The fight was still his. He could still move everything else while the keiju bandit with the broken ribs struggled to breathe and stand. He could only punch with one hand, but it went to the face of the leader and three punches were enough to send him to the ground, chest not rising and falling anymore. Even with using only his non-dominant hand!

  Mack was sure his punches were getting more powerful and quicker the more he used them. His Muay Thai moves had taken so much longer to improve back on Earth, and he always had so much trouble adding any more strength.

  He turned to look at Kaarina and the final enemy. Using the advantage of surprise, Mack dashed forward, arm hanging like a dead weight at his side, and delivered a blow to the side of the bandit�
��s head that visibly caved in his skull.

  Kaarina gasped at the violence of it. Then her lip curled. “He’s still breathing,” she said, stepping forward and putting her sword to his neck. “I’ll finish the job.”

  “No, I’ll do it,” Mack said. “You don’t have to.”

  “No, I want to … I’ll have to if I’m to be any sort of warrior.”

  But she seemed queasy just looking at the man. The last thing he wanted was for her to do something that she would regret or wouldn’t be able to get over. Mack went over and brought down a first that swiftly severed the prone bandit’s spine.

  This was the start of their journey, and he refused to do anything that would make her decide it was the end. She looked like she might want to throw up.

  “I don’t suppose you can heal poison?” he asked , hoping it would divert her attention. “It feels bad, like it’s moving away from just my arm.”

  “Mack!” Kaarina cried, dropping her sword on the ground and rushing toward him. She pulled up his sleeve and observed the sickening color his veins had changed to. “This is bad.”

  A shiver of dread worked its way up his spine. “But you can fix it, can’t you?”

  “I think so. I’ve never handled anything like this before though. The elders in the village deal with these poisons. I’m just a novice really.”

  He was beginning to realize just how green she was. She’d probably barely been in any real fights, and her healing might be more theoretical knowledge than practical knowledge. It was now apparent that she’d never killed anyone.

  He’d been so overwhelmed by how she saved his life on that first day from what should have been a deadly wound that he hadn’t considered the fact there would be magical attacks that would be more difficult to heal than a fatal injury on Earth.

  “I believe in you,” he said, though he was struggling to keep the panic out of his voice. The numbness was starting to spread into his side and chest, and he got the feeling that if it reached his heart, he would be in a lot of trouble.

  Kaarina kneeled beside him and pressed her forehead to his hand. She whispered under her breath and kept her eyes screwed shut. Mack thought he saw a tear escape one of them.

  But the numbness had started to recede. The off color that had been in his veins faded. When he regained the ability to wiggle his fingers, it startled Kaarina so much she let out a little squeak.

  Wide glassy eyes looked up and met his. “You’re okay?”

  “I think so. You’ll know better than me.”

  She ran fingers all the way up his arm and peered and it from every angle, then lifted his clothes at the neckline to make sure it hadn’t spread farther. Then she wrapped her arms tight around his neck. “You’re fine. I can’t believe that worked.”

  “You’re more powerful than you think you are,” he said. “You’ve saved my life twice in two days now. I owe you a lot.”

  “You owe me nothing,” she said fervently. “We’re a team. This is my role. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  He cupped her face with his now healthy hand and leaned down to kiss her. She responded eagerly, standing on her tiptoes to get as close to him as possible.

  He could have stood there kissing her forever, but a groan from the bandit still laying on the ground beside them broke the moment.

  “And this is my role,” Mack said, letting his fingers fall from her face. He gestured at the brutally killed bandits.

  She dithered, but then nodded. “I’m sorry you have to kill for a fight that isn’t yours.”

  “They brought it on themselves when they threatened an innocent village. It’s for the greater good, we both know that.”

  “I know. I just don’t understand why they had to be such bastards in the first place.”

  “No one will ever know that. All that matters is stopping them hurting people.”

  Kaarina gave him a wide smile. “I knew I was right about you.”

  Chapter Eight

  Mack and Kaarina dragged the bodies into one of the abandoned houses at the side of the road and then Kaarina used her magic to make plants grow over the bodies.

  “That might at least buy us some time before the rest of the bandits find out what’s happened,” he said. “Enough time for me to go to Jakke and find out what I’m supposed to be doing at least.”

  “We have to save Alavu,” Kaarina said. “No matter what we have to stop them.”

  “I know that.” He squeezed her hand. “We’ll save the village. I promise.”

  It felt bad to promise something so uncertain. He could try, anyway. “We should hurry. I need to get into the temple.”

  She nodded and guided him toward it along a different path to the main, wide road they’d been walking on before. This time they weaved through back alleys between destroyed houses, sometimes passing through the ruined remains of buildings themselves, climbing over damaged walls or ducking under crumbled doorways.

  “Just in case,” she said. “I don’t know how many other bandits might be out there looking for us.” They continued moving in silence for some time.

  “Oh, I wanted to ask you something,” Mack said. “When you attacked the bandit with your sword it looked like he was in slow motion for a few moments. Did you do that?”

  “Yes. When I break skin the magic my sword is imbued with slows movement speed for a few seconds.”

  “So that’s how the people in Avalu manage to do all those somersaults.”

  “It’s a different type of the same sort of magic, if that makes sense? My magic isn’t nearly powerful enough for anything like that yet. That’s why I have to rely on my enchanted sword.”

  “That’s actually really cool,” Mack blurted out like a dweeb.

  She beamed up at him. “Thank you.”

  They reached the temple in no time, and Mack stuck close to the wall as he tried to find the same crack that he’d exited from the first time. He slipped through it but Kaarina walked into something like she’d hit a glass wall.

  “Intruder!” Jakke’s alarmed voice came from inside. “Intruder!”

  “She’s not an intruder,” Mack hissed at the loudness. “She’s my g—” he cut himself short, about to call her his girlfriend like a total idiot.

  Kaarina’s cheeks heated and she giggled. “I’m not an intruder,” she promised.

  Jakke appeared in Mack’s eyeline and he eyed Kaarina through the crack in the temple.

  Then he looked between them, and his lip quirked. “I see.”

  “What do you see?” Mack asked, defensive.

  Jakke grinned harder. “Just because I don’t have a physical body doesn’t mean that I didn’t once have one.” He winked at Mack. “I’ll add her to the database as a welcome guest. But I can remove her at any time.” This bit was said seriously, and Mack nodded.

  “Thank you.”

  As many questions as Mack had for Jakke, he was absorbed watching Kaarina as she entered the temple. She was amazed by everything she came across. Reaching out to touch everything and then stopping herself at the last minute in case it would damage it.

  “This is incredible,” she gushed every time she saw something new. “I can’t believe I’m actually here.” Every time she looked at Jakke she stared him like he was an alien.

  Mack wondered what she’d think when she realized he was a bona fide extraterrestrial.

  “I have been worried sick about you,” Jakke scolded. “It was irresponsible of you to leave the temple before gaining more instruction from me.”

  “I know, but it felt like the right thing to do at the time.” He watched Kaarina with a fond expression.

  He was sure Jakke actually rolled his eyes. “Eventually, finding friends is going to be an important part of what you do here on Hauta. What you did was stupid.”

  “I’m not going to apologize for saving an innocent young woman and her father.”

  “I see.” Jakke’s holographic stare shimmered eerily like he was a ghost. You
could have asked permission first.”

  Mack was about to argue that this guy wasn’t his father when Kaarina asked, “You act so real, but you can’t be, can you? You’re a hologram.”

  “It’s true that I am not real, but the man named Jakke was. I am his essence—what some might call his spirit—transferred into technology. When I was flesh and blood, I built this temple. Or, I at least built the original temple. There have of course been many advancements since then.”

  Mack rubbed the back of his neck. He’d thought Jakke was just a random computer program, not something like the spirit of the original protector of Wuxoha Order’s Temple. He was very glad Kaarina had stopped him arguing with the first ever Protector.

  “I can see you’ve had time to use your powers some more,” Jakke said, apparently not wanting to delve into his origin story any further. “How are you finding them?”

  “It’s incredible. I can punch anything and it just caves.”

  Jakke frowned. “Then you haven’t fought anything dangerous yet.”

  “Well there are plenty of things I want to fight, and soon.” He refused to let the put down get to him. “I just fought things on the road just then. A group of bandits that said they were going to raze Alavu. I don’t know if you know it, it’s Kaarina’s home town. They’re only going to do that because of something I did, I have—”

  “I’m going to stop you right there. The priority is getting the temple back into working order. That has to be your number one concern now.”

  “Well it isn’t.” Mack folded his arms and stared Jakke’s flickering blue eyes down. “Innocent people are going to die because of me. That’s my priority.”

  “You have to think long-term.”

  “You have to think about how this is going to affect them long-term.”

  “The Protectors are a tradition that has kept this entire planet safe for millennia. We have a way of doing things. You need to learn that. You may very well be the only one left, and this is all on your shoulders. I won’t risk that for anything.”