Doha Cristy, the Fac instructor on the wildcard mat, stepped onto the surface and moved toward them. His black two-piece robes were just a dark blur in Spirito’s side-eye.  The uniform loosely wrapped the tall canid’s powerful legs, and his upper body held the loose but thick cloth top closed by a gray belt looped at the waist. He walked around them in a full circle and examined the suspended pair. At one point he stopped behind Greenit and gave Spirito a frowning look. His belt of gray held the second-level mastery of the Fac and now that he faced Spirito, the clearly marked first-level master of Chu was evident. 

“There is always one or two students that try to utilize new learnings way too early in their studies. We see this all the time and are on the lookout for it. And in this case, I believe the serious accident about to happen was stopped.” He gave Spirito a sniff. “At your training level, Mr. Deshik, you of all students must understand and follow the training rules. With only weeks of knowledge, nothing should be used during sparring. Nobody has full control after only a month’s time.”

Spirito felt the power of Chu leave him and the suspension withdrawn.  He wanted to apologize, and he wanted to tell Greenit he was sorry. However, when he was released, he felt his body lag and drop toward the mat.  All he could do was fall and catch himself.

Greenit was also released, and his wide-open swing dropped, causing him to take a large step forward to maintain his balance. 

“As it is, this warning has been given and I expect to have you talk to your Doha of Chu to explain what took place. Perhaps there are some extra lessons he can have you do to add sufficient motivation in learning patience and respect.

“I’m sorry Greenit.” Spirito apologized to his classmate as he stood up.

Greenit flicked an ear and lifted his muzzle. Even if he had not understood the reason or the exact circumstance, he knew Spirito meant his apology. They were not exactly buddies, but Spirito never disrespected other fighters. Not even the lower levels. 

Spirito berated himself mentally.  He let the temptation of the newly forming Chu power suck him in only because he’d seen progress in his studies when holding his focus. He almost realized too late; he was just not capable of maintaining that tight focus while involved in a sparring match.  The belief he was capable of producing strength for a single block was not the problem.  He wasn’t strong enough yet.  It was that simple. The dangerous mistake might have ended Greenit’s future career selections or worse, his own.  

“Now, I expect you to run through your Kata routines one through nine before leaving today. And you can call out the number for each that you begin. Please use a free mat.

Spirito nodded. “Thank you, Doha. I won’t make this mistake again.”

Doha Cristy gave a curt nod and turned to urge the other two wild card fighters onto the mat.

As he moved to find the nearby empty mat, Greenit eyed him sideways. 

“That was the coolest worst thing I’ve ever seen.”

Spirito picked up a towel and wiped his brow and muzzle. “What? Me almost breaking your arm or the frozen statues we became when Doha stopped the strike.”

Greenit rolled his eyes. “Your arms, man. Your arms. They turned blue. They glowed like the battle armor they let the bigger kids use in the battle pit.

Spirito lifted his brow. “I didn’t see a glow.”

Greenit shrugged. “It was so blue my eyes felt pulled to it. But I was already in swing and couldn’t stop.” He looked at Spirito. “Whether you know it or not, they will be moving you into the next level group now. I can’t so much as push a leaf with my Fac way. And here you are using Chu after only a month. I think I’m going to go rogue and say ‘congratulations.” Greenit grinned.

Spirito shook his head, still feeling the wave of disaster he’d almost caused to fall upon them both.  “I have no idea if you are right or wrong. I’m just glad I didn’t dislocate your arm from your body in a spike of Chu power that I couldn’t control.”

“Me too. But I know I’m right about it.  They don’t let students who use power stay in the lower levels. They want to train you in that and it’s a little too dangerous for us students that cannot defend it. So, we won’t catch you around in this course.”

Spirito pulled his gym bag over to an empty mat and plopped down on his tail to begin a stretch. He was just glad Doha Cristy wasn’t suspending him for breaking the rules. He didn’t realize they restricted lower-classmen from using powers. 

“Nice job, mate. Now I see why you want to attend school so badly. You just like to knock other students around.” Prince Tanue commented as he plopped down next to Spirito on the mat and began stretching his legs out.

Spirito couldn’t help but smile at the sight of his friend. Then he frowned, shrugging. “It was a big mistake what I tried to do. But I haven’t seen you in weeks so I’m going to let you get away with smart remarks.”

“Glad to know. I mean gheesh Spirito, your arms glowed blue. What is that all about.” Tanue was wide-eyed.

Spirito flopped back on the mat and used his towel to raise his arms above his head and pretend to stretch them as he wondered what to say. He ignored the question and distracted Tanue instead.  “Why are you working out here, Tanue? Isn’t this a little unsafe?”

The prince grinned at Spirito and shook his head. “I’ve been attending since you began. I just wasn’t allowed to take any of the way classes, only the core. And I guess since it’s been a month now, we don’t have any together.”

Spirito sat straight up in shock. “What? Why didn’t you say something? I could have asked to take a few classes with you. And why won’t they let you take Fac? I know you love learning to fight.”

“Yeah, it’s horrible. I’m asking my brother to get permission so who knows. I might get to soon. As far as telling you, I wasn’t allowed to mention it to anyone. It’s alright though. Annoyingly, I have this entire bodyguard team, but I’ve still managed to make a few acquaintances with some students. And really, I thought I’d see you in the hallways. But you are one busy little canid warrior. So, I hear.”

Spirito rubbed his brow. “Yes. I’m…I’m not exactly sure what I’m doing, but I know why I’m doing it. If that makes any sense. And I’m sorry. I could have sent you a message too. I guess I’m busier than I realized.”

“Well, it makes sense to me. Cause I’ve known you forever. I think you see learning stuff as fun. But when you learn stuff, you learn it all or nothing. You’re like those worker honeybees…the ones that will do it all and even sacrifice to save the queen. That’s why you will make a great protectorate. You just don’t know when to quit. Also, you don’t really have any fear, other than your mother.”

Spirito grinned and shook his head in agreement. “She is the one I look out for, yep.”

He and Tanue grinned.

Spirito shoulder bumped the prince and Tanue bumped back.

The soft sound of a comm beep in the background brought them both to glance back at the bodyguards.

Tanue sighed. “I’ll send you my course classrooms. Maybe we can meet up for a break.”

“Or lunch.” Spirito agreed. “I’m doing three of my core courses on tablet only, so I have time to meet with the different Doha’s for training instructions. That gives me longer study time in between. So, I’ll find you.”

Tanue stood up and with his fist held out they bumped paws.

“Don’t think I won’t try to catch up to you in these Fac studies. If they let me, I’m going to be the only prince in this kingdom to reach mastery. And you know I’ve always loved learning to fight.” Tanue wrinkled his muzzle at Spirito, as they were both aware the prince would never catch up to Spirito.

“I hope you get that chance, Tanue. It would be a shame to find you getting fat and lazy. I’ll have to work that off when we bond.”

“Hah!” Tanue rolled his eyes as he turned to walk back to his own mat and gather his belongings.