The light of the trodden

Begin

"Hey, Shadow. What do you think would happen if we could create energy?" Leader asked. Shadow was standing in a corner, deep in thought when the question was asked.
"You're worried that the results will come out the same as before, aren't you?" Shadow said, smiling. Leader nodded slowly.
"The universe would expand at a faster rate." Shadow replied "It's got to be the right answer."
"Every scientist, every mathematician tells us that after a certain amount of energy creation the universe would..."
"They're wrong." Shadow interrupted "They are not as smart as us. You established this organisation based on your calculations. You checked every variable. You have done everything you could. The only thing I don't understand is why you insist on scientists reviewing your work when they could work on the machine to harness the power."
The leader looked away from Shadow and stared into the black clouds hovering above the training grounds. Shadow looked at the uncertainty on the leader's face for the first time.
'I really hope the general wins this battle cause in the end only one winner will emerge and that title is bound to be mine. I will win the final battle. Let me use the  leader as I wish untill that day comes.'
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"Okay, Zane, nice work. Now try to attack me." General yelled. Today the general himself was training Zane. After witnessing yesterday's heroics, the General was excited to train Zane but there was one mighty problem. Zane refused to attack! No matter what provocation, no matter any insult Zane simply did not know how to attack. His movements were too easy to read. The General was about to give up. The General and Zane were standing ten feet apart. Zane had a broadsword in his right hand, which was held loosely. Any warrior who would have seen Zane right now would have burst into laughter. The broadsword had to be used by both hands and holding it loosely just gave the opponent the chance to knock the sword out of his hands. The General held a one hand sword in his right arm and a shield in his left. Any warrior who would have seen General, would have marveled at the perfect stance of the general. Zane rushed at General swinging his sword wildly and yelling at the top of his voice. The General calmly took the brunt of the attack on his shield and observed Zane. He sensed no actual intent of attack in him.
'Time to strike' The General thought. The General in that moment crouched  and brought his blade up, it was a simple thrust and very hard to block from the angle. In that very moment, General saw Zane's eyes. Zane's eyes were following the moment of the blade. The General immediately leaped back. Mid-air Zane brought down his sword on the General's shield. The General hit the deck with the force of a thousand elephants. A loud crack of the bone was also heard. The General screamed loudly and Zane stood there, shocked. The magician came running.
"What the heck did you do?" Oliver reached out to grab Zane but he simply dodged.
"We were sparring and I saw an opening so..." Zane tried to explain, shocked at his actions. The General sat up
"It wasn't his fault." The General said, the magician had partially healed the General's spine. "It was instinct. He saw an opening and he took it. It's my fault for giving him an opening."
"I saw all that." Lionheart said "What I am interested in knowing is why did he leap back? I mean this isn't the General's style. He always attacks where the enemy never expects him to."
The General looked at Zane "You knew that I was going to attack there, right?"
Zane looked at the ground, ashamed "Yes and I was ready with a perfect plan to counter it too." Zane looked up and took a step back. The situation had worsened. Oliver, Nolander and Lionheart were staring at him. Zane believed at least Lionheart would protect him if a push came to a shove but judging by the look on his face, everyone was going to kill him.
"What? I just said I was ready to counter it." Zane took another step back, ready to run. The General stood and streched his back. The magician had fixed it completely.
"How exactly were you going to counter it?" General asked.
"I would have hit at the sword in an attempt to deter it from hitting me and simultaneously would have kicked at your shield making you loose your balance and then you would have fallen back and I would have kicked your chest from the opening you would have provided from falling back." Zane enacted every one of those steps. As soon as he said it out loud, Nolander and Oliver laughed. Even Lionheart chuckled and said "That would never have worked."
"Actually that would have." The General smiled "Lionheart don't be offended but you've lost your touch, my friend. If you'd observed closely then you would have noticed that while crouching I was on my toes and a kick on the shield would have certainly made me fall and as for the control of the blade in Zane's hand, I do think that while it appears to be a bad technique it is actually very practical for the maneuver he was attempted. The only question remains" the General looked at Zane "Is that how did you predict all this. The impeccable planning of it all was in a sense too precise. It seemed as if you definitely knew what would my reaction be if you did a certain action."
"I see things." Zane answered. The General narrowed his eyes
"What kind of things?"
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Nolander struck at the shield general was holding with all his strength and yelled in pain. The General was training Nolander today while Zane was working with the weapon's specialist to figure out a weapon suitable for him. Yesterday the General and Zane had talked for the whole day and it seemed they had come to an agreement about something. Whenever Nolander asked about the meeting the general would tell him to focus on himself. This particular exercise was for Nolander to grow more tough. The General believed that if Nolander's base form was durable enough then by using his powers Nolander could achieve more strength than any human being. Right now Nolander was indeed tough but General aspired for him to reach the Lionheart level of toughness and Lionheart was the kind of guy who could lift the whole ship if he wanted to. Nolander was supposed to punch at the shield any guy was holding and that supposedly increased the strength of his punches and increased the durability of his arms. At the moment General was holding the shield. Nolander thought of the way General was making him do the stupid exercise.
'The damn worm beats me in a contest and I'm supposed to follow his order's to the letter? I've struggled for years to strengthen my power and this worm thinks he's better than me.' Nolander thought. Suddenly as he was throwing a punch his arm bulked up. The second it touched the shield a loud crack was heard and Nolander was suddenly on the ground. Nolander raised his head and saw the deck in pieces and the general was standing with a broken shield. The blacksmith who was quietly working in the corner grunted in disapproval.
"How did I do that?" Nolander asked.
"That's what we're here to find out." General smiled.