The Strength Within: Ruh

Two days passed before Leo and Tiam met with another soul. During that time, they lived in what they came to call the House of Power. The House of Power was a simple home hewn into one of the crescent stone structures by Tiam's power and suspended several hundred feet above the desert, complete with a training ground on the rooftop. The reason for its name was simply because Leo and Tiam had agreed that they were likely the strongest in the competition.

'Keep your balance and focus!' Tiam shouted with their blade cutting slashes of light that powered across the open platform they and Leo trained on. The cuts barely missed Leo as he tried to maintain a balanced pose on one foot.

'Tiam, I'm trying as hard as I fricking can!' Leo hissed through his teeth. He had asked Tiam if they would show him the power that made them float, and apparently this was their answer.

'To connect with your Ruh is to know peace in danger, my dear.' Tiam stopped carving slashes in the air for a moment. 'When you know peace in danger, you can truly connect with your Ruh. It is a power that holds endless possibilities, when combined with the powers our sponsors give us.'

Leo just wanted to float.

'We should take a break. Your mind is wandering again.' Tiam sheathed their blade and dropped to the floor with their legs folded. They pulled their long hair over their shoulder and began playing with it. Leo dropped to his knees, the leg he was standing on burning like a flame was being pressed against it. Maybe this special inner power wasn't for him, and he should just stick to earning a new sponsor.

'How did you find Ruh?' Leo asked. 'Did someone teach you?' Tiam immediately shook their head.

'It was a shock to me, my dear. I've been competing in Heaven's Colosseum for all of two weeks, and only found it a few days ago.' Tiam faltered for a moment. 'Ah, you don't need the long story.' Leo sat directly in front of them, hands pressed together. 'Oh, dear.' Tiam's cheeks flushed a rosy colour. 'You're just too cute. Alright, so it happened all of a sudden, during an arena battle. I was pushed to my limits by an opponent who could manipulate flames like a fire dancer, but without the usual tools for it. During the fight, they became cocky and talked about a power called Ruh, and that was how they manipulated their flame with such accuracy.' Tiam made hand motions that looked like they were juggling. 'I needed an out, an escape. So, when their flames were moments from sending me to a blazing end, I manifested my first moment of levitation and won the fight with a perfectly placed cut on their spine.' Tiam lifted off the ground with their power, as if they were about to give a live re-enactment of the fight. Leo decided that this wouldn't be strange for them. 'The rest, I learned from asking my sponsor, and another fighter who manifested the power.'

'I see.' Leo cursed himself for the dry response, and so tried to look as thoughtful as possible about the story. What kind of weird video game had he fallen into? He didn't want to think too hard about why there was a secret power behind all that of the sponsors, he just needed to learn it. However, he barely understood the powers that sponsors gave out, so this new power might be too much to learn amongst all that.

'You look like you're thinking too hard.' Tiam leaned in close enough to be nose against nose with Leo. 'This power is simple once you get started, like using a muscle.' They flexed a thin bicep, and a rock nearby floated at the same time. A question that Leo had been forgetting to ask for the last two days finally resurfaced. He needed to ask it before it vanished again.

'So are you controlling the rocks specifically, or is it something else?'

'Ah! Spectacular question, darling.' Tiam gestured to the stone, and it began to warp out of shape as if someone were slowly bending it like a metal bar. 'Ruh grants the ability to affect the physical in one of three categories. Do you remember what those categories are?'

Leo suddenly felt like he was in school again. He didn't come here for pop quizzes. 'Uh, bending, slic–shattering and… uh…' Sweat rolled down his temple as he tried to manifest that last one.

'Compacting.' Tiam generously finished the triad. 'Each lets you manipulate matter in a different way. My ability reaches solely into bending, which is what I am doing to the air to float and to the ground to make it change. So yes, I am directly altering the stone.'

A scary thought entered Leo's mind, and he was afraid to suggest it. What if you used the power on people?

He didn't get a chance to think about it, as Tiam suddenly stood. They crouched and made for the edge of the stone training grounds, peering to the desert below.

Voices echoed from down below.

'Hey, this is a nice place,' cawed a brutish looking woman, covered in dried blood and scars.

'Sure, but it has to mean that someone is here.' One of her three companions looked rather nervous, holding out a small glowing dagger.

The first people had arrived to probably try and kill Leo and Tiam. They had the elements of surprise and terrain familiarity on their side, however. All they had to do was stay low and…

'SPECTACULAR!' cried Tiam. They stood in plain view with their head thrown back in a dramatic fashion. 'Challengers, welcome to the House of Power!'

At least they still had the element of familiarity.