Chapter 3

The Girl Who Lived in the Alcove

Living in the Alcove was far from good or comfortable, but Hari got used to it. Like the other orphans, initially Hari saw the place as a gigantic dump of abandoned souls. On second thought, maybe only she saw the place this way. Hari had a strange tendency to exaggerate the way she thought about things.

For example, the Pit was a child-beating place, where a bunch of rich people threw money at each other, betting on which child could take the most whacking. Although, come to think of it, that description wasn’t all that exaggerated. Oh, the Pit. Really, a lovely place.

The Alcove was nothing more than a cave transformed and remade to look like an underground house. Unfortunately, whoever decorated this place had failed miserably. The ceiling was uneven, the walls scratched, and the floor hurt the feet.

The low light and humidity turned the Alcove into a materialization of the fears of everyone who still had some sensitivity. If you were claustrophobic in the Alcove, the Alcove would punch the claustrophobia out of you. Hari had lost count of how many cockroaches, mice, spiders, and bats she had encountered, and how many she had killed. Not the bats. They were cute and looked like flying dogs. And Hari couldn’t kill anything that reminded her of dogs. Especially if they could fly.

But dogs aside, what made the Alcove anything like home, were the other orphans. They learned to treat each other like siblings from an early age, acting like a strange family of strays and desperate people. And on top of them all was Hari, the oldest, the most straying, and the most desperate. Fortunately, she knew that.

During the morning, Hari continued with her usual routine and checked if everyone had woken up at the correct time. Especially Norell. The boy had a habit of sleeping so much that many often assumed he was dead. Hari worried that one day he would actually die and everyone would think he was still sleeping.

Yaozu didn’t look well this morning. He constantly went to the bathroom and seemed paler than usual. Probably he had eaten something bad. But how? Everyone ate the same things every day, and only Yaozu suffered from stomach pain. Hari was no detective, but there was a mystery here to solve. However, before that, Hari prepared a purple sandalwood tea for Yaozu.

Now, to the mystery. Hari was sure that Yaozu ate nothing different in the day before. Unless, during his visit to town, he had tasted something that made him sick. The problem was, Hari wasn’t with him at the moment, and Yaozu sure as hell wouldn’t say anything to her. He was at that age where he liked to keep secrets.

But there was one person who would know this information. Alcove’s biggest snitch. Yuan Lin.

“Lin!” Hari called. She didn’t know where Lin was, but she was sure Lin could hear. Somehow, Lin was always around.

“I did nothing, Sister.” Lin emerged from one of the bedrooms. It was Norell’s room. What was she doing in there? It didn’t matter now.

“Are you sure you did nothing?” Hari pressed. Lin always did something.

“Well…” she fidgeted a little. “I drew a pork-fish on Norell’s face”

Ah, so that was it. Hari had to restrain herself from laughing out loud. She used to do the same when she was a kid. Still, she couldn’t set a poor example for Lin. “Little Lin, you shouldn’t take advantage of Norell. You know he has sleeping problems.”

She blushed.

“But that’s not why I called you here. Do you know if Yaozu ate something odd in town?”

Lin scratched her head. “No. We just run through the streets. If he ate something, I didn’t see it.”

Interesting. So even Lin didn’t know.

After making Lin wipe Norell’s face—he didn’t wake up, Hari gave up the mystery and turned her attention to Lin and Kara. The two were the only other girls in the Alcove, and they had yet to make their debuts in the Pit. Compared to the boys, they needed special training if they wanted to keep up with them.

That morning, Hari taught them some forms of combat. She mostly focused on the things Alin had taught her. Alin was an expert at fighting opponents stronger and bigger than her.

After breakfast—potato bread and fish soup, the Fist Maker made everyone run for an hour in the nearby forest. A form of makeshift trail they did a few times a week. In addition to fighting, he needed to make sure the orphans were physically fit. Hari always ran last, to ensure no orphans were injured or lost.

Then after, the Fist Maker gathered everyone in the inner courtyard for the day’s instructing. Fighting Tactics. The Fist Maker believed that learning to analyze your opponent, discover their weaknesses and exploit them was just as important as the physical aspect of the fight. Hari agreed, even though she wasn't the most 'study your enemy' type of fighter, scenarios where this became a necessity appeared from time to time.

“A-a smart fighter is a successful fighter.” The Fist Maker said, imposing his voice so that all orphans could hear it. “Y-you should never go into a fight without information, but if you find yourself in a situation where you know nothing about your opponents, you should quickly analyze them.”

“How do we gather information?” Hari asked, teasing the Fist Maker and making the orphans laugh.

“O-oh, excellent question, my newest student.” he replied in a sarcastic tone, and the orphans laughed even harder. “D-during the fight, you should use moves that can force a specific reaction from your opponent. L-learn their habits. T-take them to their limit. W-watch how they use their feet, how they use their hands, how they defend and how they attack. A-and then use this information to defeat them.”

“What if our opponent doesn’t have any habits or preferences?” Hari asked, trying to get answers from the Fist Maker, helping the newbies.

“W-well, that’s practically impossible. P-people are predictable.” He paused and looked up. “A-although, if something like this happens, there are two options. F-first, your opponent hasn’t developed a fighting style yet, or isn’t experienced enough. S-so this shouldn’t be a problem for all of you. T-the second, you are fighting a madman, a monster, a genius. I-in that case, I recommend you give up. T-these types of fighters are sure to defeat most of you, or even kill you. D-don’t waste your lives.”

The small group of orphans whispered among themselves, absorbing the information. As harsh as the words were, the orphans needed to understand that they could die in the Pit. Although the occurrence was rare, the possibility existed. Therefore, knowing how to analyze your opponent well was essential.

“N-now, for a little demonstration, Miss Wancheng, please step forward.” The Fist Maker said.

Hari got up and walked to the center of the courtyard. “Are we fighting?” she said, her heart already pounding at the thought of punching the Fist Maker in the face.

“N-no. P-please, control yourself, Miss Wancheng. J-just react normally.” he said and turned to the orphans. “T-take Miss Wancheng, for example. S-she sure is the best fighter among you. B-but even she still has incorrigible habits—”

The Fist Maker threw a straight punch at Hari.

He is fast. Too fast.

However, she reacted with precision, dodging to the left and closing her guard. But the Fist Maker seemed to expect her move and followed it up with an unexpected side kick. He stopped his foot before it hit her face. Hari looked at him in surprise. After so many years, she believed she was getting closer to him. But now, he seemed a whole tier above her.

How?

“A-as you can see, Miss Wancheng has a bad habit of dodging to the left when she receives a straight left punch.” he said, still with his foot close to her face.

I do?

“K-knowing this, I can exploit this weakness and use it to my advantage.” He lowered his foot. “S-so that’s what you’re going to do today. I want you to fight consciously. Try to understand your opponents’ moves. Be smart and don’t just throw random punches into the sky. Now, choose a pair. Fight!”