MEMELAND

The training ground was loud as always.

Weights slammed into the dirt.

Fists cracked against padded posts.

Somebody yelled.

Somebody else laughed after getting hit in the stomach hard enough to fold over.

Muscle City never looked calm for long.

Kai stepped through the gate and immediately felt every eye shift toward him.

A few trainees noticed.

Whispered.

Pointed.

"That's him."

"The drifter."

"He disappeared for days."

"I thought he got himself killed."

Kai ignored them.

Mostly.

He had only taken a few steps when Taai's voice boomed across the yard.

"You're alive."

Kai looked up.

Taai stood in the middle of the arena, shirtless as usual, one hand wrapped around a steel bar thicker than Kai's torso.

He had clearly been in the middle of a set.

He dropped the bar.

The ground trembled.

Then he walked over, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Andrew said you went missing."

Kai scratched the back of his head.

"...Yeah."

"For days."

"Yeah."

Taai stared at him for a while.

Then snorted.

"...I thought you died."

Kai gave a tired smile.

"Sorry to disappoint."

Taai crossed his arms.

"I would've been annoyed if you did."

"At least show up to be punched properly."

Kai blinked.

"...That's your idea of concern?"

"Of course."

Taai grinned.

"Now."

His expression shifted just slightly.

His eyes narrowed.

He looked Kai up and down.

Not in a suspicious way.

In a measuring way.

"...You look different."

Kai's shoulders tightened for half a second.

Taai noticed.

Of course he did.

Kai tried to play it off.

"Different how?"

Taai rubbed his chin.

"Hm."

"Not stronger."

"Not weaker."

"Just..."

He tilted his head.

"...strange."

Kai stared back.

A small silence settled between them.

Then Taai shrugged.

"...I won't ask what you did."

Kai let out a slow breath.

"Thanks."

Taai waved a hand.

"Don't thank me yet."

He turned back toward the training field.

"We should train."

Kai blinked.

"...Right now?"

"No better time."

"I just got back."

"Exactly."

Kai looked toward the weights.

Then toward Taai.

Then sighed.

"...You really are just like this all the time."

Taai laughed.

"That's why I'm strong."

He clapped Kai on the shoulder hard enough to stagger him one step.

"Come on."

"Let's see what you've got."

---

The first training set was simple.

According to Taai.

It was never simple.

Kai ended up carrying two massive iron blocks strapped to his back while running laps around the ring.

At first, he thought it would be easy.

Then his legs started burning.

Then his lungs.

Then his back.

Then everything else.

"Again!" Taai shouted.

Kai nearly tripped.

"...Again?!"

"You didn't fall yet."

"That's not the same thing!"

"It is in Muscle City."

Kai groaned and kept moving.

His breath came in sharp bursts.

To make matters worse, Taai had somehow decided that the iron blocks were not enough.

So he had attached chains.

Then sandbags.

Then a pair of training mannequins.

One of them had somehow become a punching target as well.

Kai hated him a little.

Just a little.

---

By noon, Taai had Kai doing weighted strikes.

Kai swung a metal training rod.

Taai blocked it with one forearm.

The impact echoed.

Kai stumbled back and shook out his hand.

"...Ow."

Taai grinned.

"Again."

Kai threw another strike.

This time Taai didn't block.

He sidestepped.

Kai's swing missed by inches.

Taai tapped him in the ribs with two fingers.

Kai immediately doubled over.

"...That wasn't even a real hit."

"It was enough."

Kai straightened with a grimace.

Taai nodded approvingly.

"Good."

"You're learning not to overextend."

Kai muttered under his breath.

"...I hate how happy you sound."

Taai laughed.

"Means I'm doing my job."

---

They broke for a few minutes near the water barrels.

Kai gulped down a full canteen while Taai leaned against a post, watching him like he was inspecting a piece of equipment.

Kai wiped his mouth.

"...You said I looked strange."

Taai nodded.

"Mm."

Kai glanced away.

"...You still not going to ask?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

Taai shrugged.

"Because if I ask, you'll either lie, dodge, or answer in a way that gives me a headache."

Kai stared at him.

"...That's oddly accurate."

"I know."

Taai crossed his arms.

"You came back."

"That means you're still standing."

"Whatever you did..."

He looked Kai over again.

"...must've been serious."

Kai didn't answer.

He wasn't sure how to.

The circuits beneath his skin still felt unfamiliar.

Whenever he reached for them too hard—

Pain.

Sharp.

Hot.

Like his body was reminding him it hadn't signed up for this.

Taai noticed Kai's hand flex.

"You thinking too hard?"

Kai gave a weak laugh.

"Probably."

"Then stop."

Taai stepped forward.

"Muscle City doesn't care what you did yesterday."

"It cares what you can do now."

Kai slowly nodded.

"...Right."

Taai grinned.

"That's the spirit."

He pointed toward the training area.

"Again."

Kai looked over.

"...You were serious about all this?"

Taai stared back.

"Of course I was serious."

"Why would I waste a perfectly good afternoon?"

Kai sighed.

"...I genuinely don't know whether you're insane or inspiring."

"Both."

---

The next several hours became a blur.

Jumping drills.

Resistance training.

Punch combinations.

Balance work.

Sprints with weighted ankles.

Then more punches.

Then more sprints.

Then more weight.

Taai didn't let Kai collapse.

Whenever Kai bent over too long, Taai shoved a water canteen into his chest.

Whenever Kai tried to rest, Taai ordered him back up.

When Kai complained that his body hurt, Taai looked offended.

"That's how progress feels."

Kai muttered,

"...That's how suffering feels."

Taai smiled.

"Same thing."

---

Near evening, Taai changed the routine.

He tossed Kai a pair of training gloves.

"Put those on."

Kai blinked.

"...What for?"

"You've got decent footwork."

Kai frowned.

"That sounds like praise."

"Don't let it get to your head."

Kai slipped the gloves on.

They were heavier than they looked.

Taai stepped back.

"Now try to hit me."

Kai stared.

"...I already know how this ends."

"Try anyway."

Kai exhaled.

Then moved.

A quick step.

A feint.

A body shot.

Taai deflected all three with almost lazy precision.

Kai's fourth strike was a little faster.

Taai still blocked.

The fifth got closer.

Taai's smile widened.

"Better."

Kai pushed harder.

This time his movement was smoother.

Not because he had become a genius overnight.

Because some part of him had learned from somewhere else.

Some fragment.

Some memory.

A shape of motion.

A timing he didn't fully understand.

Kai's body still protested.

But it moved.

More naturally than before.

Taai's expression shifted.

"...There it is."

Kai struck again.

This time Taai took a half-step back.

Only half.

But Kai noticed.

He grinned despite the pain in his arms.

"You felt that."

Taai snorted.

"...A little."

Kai straightened.

"See? I'm improving."

Taai nodded once.

"Yeah."

Then he added,

"...Don't get cocky."

Kai immediately lost the grin.

"That was my one good moment."

"Exactly why it needs crushing."

Kai groaned.

"...You really are built out of cruelty."

Taai smiled.

"Efficient cruelty."

---

As the sun lowered, they finally stopped.

Kai sat on the ground, chest rising and falling fast.

His arms trembled.

His legs felt like they belonged to someone else.

Taai stood over him, still somehow looking fresh.

Kai glared up at him.

"...I hate how normal you make this look."

Taai laughed.

"You're not dead."

"That's the important part."

Kai looked away and flexed his fingers.

There was still that strange pressure beneath his skin.

Not pain anymore.

Just a reminder.

A warning.

He tried to feel the circuits.

For a second—

Heat stabbed through his chest.

Kai hissed and dropped the sensation immediately.

Taai noticed.

He didn't ask.

Just nodded as if confirming something only he could see.

Then he said,

"Tomorrow we do it again."

Kai let out a miserable laugh.

"...Of course we do."

Taai turned toward the training hall.

But before leaving, he glanced back.

"You keep training."

"Keep eating."

"Keep recovering."

"And while you're doing that..."

He looked toward the city beyond the yard.

"...you figure out what you're here for."

Kai was quiet for a moment.

Then nodded.

"...Yeah."

Taai smirked.

"Good."

He started walking off.

Then stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"Oh."

Kai blinked.

"What now?"

Taai grinned.

"Don't try to force those Ki Pathways."

Kai stiffened.

Taai continued as if he had already seen the mistake written on Kai's face.

"You look like someone who'd try to brute-force everything."

Kai gave him a weak look.

"...Maybe."

"Bad idea."

Taai pointed at his own chest.

"If it hurts, you're doing it wrong."

Kai looked down.

"...You sure about that?"

"Very."

Then Taai added, with a grin,

"Now get up tomorrow morning."

Kai stared after him as he walked away.

"...You say that like I have a choice."

Taai's laugh echoed across the training yard.

And for the first time since the surgery—

Kai wondered if Muscle City might actually break him before the circuits did.