Yes, I believe the efforts done by the northern countries

are admirable. Colossals are an engineering

marvel.

-Savvria Ixen Âkil, President of the ISPC

Few sounds were audible in the dark night.

The growls and snarls coming from both combatants composed the main chorus, whilst the cracking leaves and moving treetops took a secondary role.

Ludwig dashed forward, adding numbers to the shattering leaves. He then threw a left jab, which caused the young man to raise his arms in order to block it.

He had taken the bait.

Ludwig was passing the red and shining threads to his right leg just as the faint made contact, already following it up with a roundhouse kick. His foot struck the young man’s leg, but just as the same time, an open palm with an erratic pattern struck Ludwig’s left shoulder, sending him flying and rotating through the air.

He tried to ease his fall with his hands, but his left arm failed as his shoulder screamed in pain. He hit the ground with an open mouth, letting a couple of leaves and a very small branch make their way in. Ludwig coughed as much as he spat, trying to get air in, and everything that wasn’t it out.

(Ludwig, may I give you a suggestion?) Wagner reverberated, making Ludwig’s head complain with pain.

(I’m not going to cave in on his offer, Wagner,) Ludwig responded, much quieter than Wagner, but with an emotional tone.

(I wasn’t speaking about that,) it said, apparently having caught on to his very recent headache.

(What suggestion, then?)

(We haven’t tried this, but I was thinking I could assist you in your duel.)

(How?) Ludwig inquired as he got up, smashing a pebble or two between his hand and the ground while doing so.

(I may not have a body of my own, but I can provide you with details and valuable information.)

(Are you sure?)

(I repeat,) Wagner thrummed. (I may not have a body of my own, but I can provide you with details and valuable information.)

(I know what you said. I was just making sure you were confident in your capabilities.)

(If I weren’t, I wouldn't have made that particular suggestion.)

He had walked into it himself.

(... Fine.)

Ludwig adopted once again his combat stance, his extremities crying as they were locked into place. It was also at this point that he noticed the condition of his opponent.

The young man was still standing, but his left leg was limping as he was putting most of his weight on his right one. His arms were raised below his chin, slowly falling down, and Ludwig could watch the pain which the young man’s face was trying to hide.

(Mmh…)

(Should I provide you with the data that I’ve gathered until now?) Wagner thummed, interrupting his imagination.

(You don’t have to ask permission.)

(From what we have seen, regarding the other day and now, it seems that our foe is an atlas, meaning that he possesses a great amount of strength. However, our attacks seem to affect him a great deal. I don’t observe in him the implied relation between offense and defense that an average atlas should have. That’s why my recommendation is to avoid his attacks and hit him while you can.)

(Wagner, was that a joke? Because I’m not in the mood for it.)

(I don’t follow,) Wagner reverberated, confused.

No, it wasn’t.

(The universal strategy for any conflict between individuals is to hit and avoid getting hit. I don’t think that your recommendation deviates a lot from what I have been doing until now.)

(My apologies. I’ll think of something… Helpful.)

Ludwig was about to lunge for the young man, but he hesitated at the last moment. He then eyed his body, which was getting progressively more damaged. However, it wasn’t only him, the young man was also getting quite hurt. And although Ludwig wasn’t technically losing, he also wasn’t winning. Something that worried him since a stalemate could mean that they both would get seriously hurt.

Wagner might have been thinking of a plan, but Ludwig needed one now. So he began thinking.

This, the young man right in front of him, was a problem, and Ludwig had a specific way of handling them. He looked at the ‘statement’, the information that he was given to solve the problem. There laid the answer.

Just like something can’t originate out of nothing, the answer wouldn’t pop out from nowhere. There was a starting point, the ‘statement’ and the known data, and it was essential to solve the problem.

Ludwig then began to break the information into key points.

The young man hit hard, but wasn’t as durable as a wall, just like Wagner had said. Meaning he was only strong when attacking… But how strong? Had he shown his full capabilities? Probably not, since he was incredibly insistent on the fact that Ludwig became his teacher. But that meant that it possibly was the maximum output that he was willing to use. Going back to his lack of toughness, did he become invulnerable whenever he attacked? No, that kick had hurt him and he was attacking at that moment. There weren’t any apparent contradictions, so he probably was as vulnerable as a normal person.

First conclusion: Focus threads on the defense instead of the offense.

Now, even if he was strong, there had to be some reason that explained why he didn’t get hurt when punching. After all, the force that someone applied to an object was also applied to that someone by the object, meaning that if someone struck a rock hard enough to break it with their hand, the hand would also break . It was Newton’s third law, and it applied to everything… Or…?

Second conclusion: The young man manipulates on some level the third law of Newton.

What else…? What other information was given to him…? There had to be more, because there were many questions left.

Why had he punched the floor? How could he manipulate Newton’s third law? How much could he manipulate it? Why was he so horny as to put himself in dangerous situations, not even being a hero or having the capabilities of such, and resulting in a stupid, moronic, dumb, stupid, stupid piece of sh…

The beast came knocking on the non-existent door that his mind had locked it behind.

Great, the ‘statement’ was incomplete. Welp, now to the second method to solve a problem, grab a formula, apply it, and hope for the best. Ludwig could use the one Wagner had mentioned, but as it turned out that it was as counterproductive as efficient, and he didn’t really want to get pummeled, he discarded it. Instead, he would apply what would be the same thing in essence, but with a little twist on it.

He was going to multiply instead of divide.

The reinforced red threads shone slightly brighter before jumping to both arms just as Ludwig aimed them at his opponent, launching themselves into the air afterwards. The strings deviated from one another in mid air, creating a net on the spot. As soon as they hit the young man, the threads began wrapping around his body, crawling over his clothes and skin as a red and shapeless mass. The young man tried to dodge them, but was incapable in the end due to the hurt leg that dragged him down. After enveloping as much as they could his body, the threads began tightening, making the young man growl in pain.

Ludwig approached him as the red lines hanging in the air went slack. He then stopped, taking a deep breath as he slowly slid his feet across the dirt afterwards.

Oblivion was unleashed onto the young man.

For a moment, Ludwig felt relaxed. The sounds of the punching bag, the chain moving around, the music singing in his ears, the combination of all of it took him away to another place, the pressure on his hands bringing him deeper every time he punched…

His hand got suddenly cut, and the ilusion fell apart.

Ludwig wasn’t in the gym, he was out in a forest during the night while his sister was probably weeping and blaming herself for not being able to heal him. Ludwig wanted to leave, go to her side and tell her not to worry, that it wasn’t her fault… God, she had even gotten him a birthday cake.

But a stranger didn’t let him.

The young man wasn’t letting him help his little sister for a stupid and selfish reason. One that didn’t make sense, and even if it did, Ludwig wouldn’t want to understand. That was the problem.

He was the problem, and Ludwig pushed his body to finish it as quickly as possible.

He was punching the immobilized target wherever he could. In the head, legs, arms, the little gaps between threads as to not do something that would hurt him instead of the young man. Little rivers of blood were being spilled and shed to the ground, though most of them were Ludwig’s.

Following a quick succession of punches directed to the stomach, an uppercut flew towards the young man’s chin, but a new and painful sensation slowed him down. The short hesitation was followed by an explosion of red and shining fragments, which made his threads fade into nothing but a clear smoke. The force coming from the tiny and sudden explosion pushed Ludwig, sending him onto his back. He tumbled over the dirt and dead leaves, pushing with his legs to get up as quickly as he could.

Which was too late. The young man was already lunging at Ludwig when he raised his head, and a fist struck his forehead before he could even raise his arms. It had been a normal punch. It could easily have come from a normal person. But in this day and age, a professional boxer was considered normal.

The hit almost set him into motion once again. Ludwig put his feet behind him, trying not to fall, a task that was made much more difficult with the incoming barrage. Punches and kicks came the young man’s way, each hitting harder than the next with an alarming power that didn’t seem to stop growing.

Ludwig had managed to raise his arms by the fourth hit, but that wasn’t enough. He needed more than what his tired hands could offer. And so, he began clothing himself with red and bright strings.

Each strike became crunchier under the metallic-like threads, which dampened the damage but increased the pain coming from each hit. Still, it was better than suffering lingering injuries.

Nonetheless, Ludwig was getting cornered.

He was caught between two options: letting the young man beat him up and hopefully make him change his mind about this whole situation, or letting the beast burst through the non-existent door and possibly kill the stupid teen that he had in front of him.

One may have seemed pleasant, but neither was desirable.

(Wagner,) Ludwig sparked, hoping for a third option. (The plan, now!)

(Reach as high as you can with the strings,) Wagner vibrated without hesitation. (Preferably aiming at the treetops. Then pull yourself.)

Doing so right away would have been difficult, so in order to be able to follow Wagner’s plan, Ludwig sneaked a reinforced string between the young man’s ankles. The loss of threads covering his body made the punches hurt even more, which almost made Ludwig fall as his legs trembled. Fortunately, he coiled the string fast enough, and as he stepped back, the young man following him tripped, causing a bunch of dry branches to crunch beneath his weight.

Ludwig quickly stepped towards the direction of giant shadows as he gathered the threads on his hands, reinforced and not reinforced, weaving them onto themselves before launching them to where he guessed was the trunk of a tall tree by the dimly lit base and roots.

Time almost slowed as the strings rode the air.

Throughout all of the occasions where he had used them, Ludwig hadn't heard the threads make a sound even once. But at that moment, he heard something. It might have been the threads, folding and sewing themselves, and this was a first. Or maybe it was his imagination, playing a harmless trick for once since he woke up.

In addition to the grinding with unclear origin, he was able to hear dead leaves crunch behind him. Ludwig ventured a look over his shoulder, and what greeted him was the image of a man’s dark figure, sprinting towards him like a professional athlete at the beginning of a race. The shape slowly got faster, and also, closer.

Ludwig thought that his eyes were lying to him as he felt something touch his threads. He assumed that the young man had already tackled him and thrown him to the ground, and his brain was just a few seconds off. But he quickly remembered what he was doing, flexing every muscle and string afterwards.

And so, just like escaping from being drowned, Ludwig ascended into the dark sky, unsure of what to do next. Yet, one thing was different from that night. His strings pulled him way harder, and so he crashed against the trunk. He was able to lay his right foot on top of it after bouncing once, repressing a growl of pain.

(Ow,) he thought instead.

(Quickly, make the threads transparent,) Wagner told him, more concerned about the current situation.

With a flicker of light, the strings became distorsions in the air, now invisible thanks to the darkness enveloping him.

(Now what?) Ludwig asked as he saw the small figure below him look around for his target.

(Two options: Leave, or attack him using a distraction or going from behind.)

Ludwig murmured as he thought.

He wanted to leave. Damn, it was the only thing he had wanted from the beginning. But that didn’t seem possible. Not if he wanted to get rid of the horny kid permanently.

He had found him somehow, and the fact that he hadn’t given up yet told him that this could easily become something that happened every Tuesday. And… That simply wasn’t an option.

That only left attacking.

But would that even change something? Could he deter him from his stupidity? It wasn’t likely… But… He was really, really, angry at him.

(How do we attack him, then?)

(The only realistic way we could reach him is with the strings. Now, you can either grab him and fling him around, or use them like some kind of whip, that is up to you.)

(I don’t know if I can use them like a…)

Ludwig stopped thinking as he saw the light below flicker. He peered the area where he had been fighting moments ago with wide eyes.

The light… It was moving…

Adding one and one, Ludwig realized that the young man hadn’t been looking for him.

He whipped the phone in his hand around, which let him and Ludwig see the surroundings of their battleground. Ludwig recognized the location as the light passed a lonely tree, separated from the rest of the forest. Shit. They were five minutes from the entrance of the forest; ergo, close to Laura and the house.

The light then moved to his direction.

Ludwig quickly hid behind the trunk. It was wide enough that he needn’t worry about being spotted, and the light didn’t reach very far as it began to fade by the middle of the trunk. He was rather safe up there…

Ludwig saw sparks near him. Their fleeting and small light had a white-blue color, however, they were visible nonetheless, and were very much there. His curiosity inquired where they came from, but as soon as it made the question, it got its answer.

The threads were reflecting the light.

Ok, maybe he knew where he was, but he was probably fine. The tree he was on was eleven or twelve meters high, and climbing that while being injured and with little to no light was impossible for the man below. Must have been. After all, he wasn’t as durable as a normal atlas.

The young man then approached the recollection of trees near him, trying a different angle with the phone in hand. After seeing the sparks, he put himself in front of the tree Ludwig was on.

Ludwig’s conclusion had been, indeed, right. The young man didn’t climb the tree, or even fainted in order to do so.

He instead began chopping it with his bare hands.

That of course was bad news, but Ludwig’s mind didn’t fill with annoyance or concern as the young man became what he once defeated. It instead thought of the remaining optimism inside him. Hadn’t he lost that not too long ago? How did he have some left?

However, his mind didn’t get the opportunity to pry deeper.

The tree itself began to tremble with each hit, making his whole body shake. The sudden movement made Ludwig lose the footing he had on a couple of branches. Luckily, he hadn’t pulled in his threads, which acted as some sort of security rope. He felt how they squeezed around his waist as the stretch coming from his arm to his hips extended to its limit. Ludwig tried to swing himself, grabbing the nearmost branch in the process. He climbed onto it as a loud and cracking sound came from below.

He didn’t need to look down to know what that meant.

The threads scraped against the trunk as they were pulled into his body. He slid his feet on the branch to his right, which was closer to another and bigger tree than the one to his left. As he grinded on the downwards protrusion, Ludwig began flinging his arms around, trying to retain his balance. Once he reached the end, he pushed with his feet and jumped to the other tree.

Thankfully, he had learned from his first time.

Three strings, sewed together into a reinforced one, jumped from his back and grabbed the branch he had just left from its end, still extending as his flight reached its peak. Once again, Ludwig summoned forth the mass of threads to collapse and grab the thick trunk that was out of arm’s reach.

As his fall began to gather speed, he tightened the string behind him, breaking the branch in the process, but also, slowing himself down. He managed to land on the trunk with both feet as he swung with the mass of threads, quickly searching afterwards for some sort of support that would free his right arm from his body’s weight. After going around the trunk and testing a few branches, Ludwig was able to ground his feet. He didn’t let the threads attached above his head go, but instead let them hang at the height of his knee…

Something broke behind him.

Would a tree make a sound when it fell if there was no one around to hear it? The answer would vary depending on who was asked. But to Ludwig, right now, yes, it did make a sound. Or quite a few, actually.

Ludwig hadn’t been able to see it, but he had heard splinters as well as the remainder of the trunk break, tear, and collapse on itself. It hadn’t been as loud as gunshots, but the rupture had been as loud as an average set of firecrackers. The trunk collapsing on the ground had been surprisingly quiet, yet again, the leaves below the area of impact hadn’t exactly been.

Vibrations crept by his legs, hands and threads as the weight from the tree fell, traveling through the ground and crawling through numerous objects around the area as they made their way into the deeper ends of the forest.

Ludwig thought for a moment that the shockwave was prolonging too much, but then saw the lumberjack below, who was fixated on a new target.

It happened to be the tree Ludwig was on.

Tired of running among trees and having to be on the defensive, Ludwig pulled a good chunk of the threads tied around the wood and launched them in the young man’s direction.

They quickly wrapped around his left leg as they began dragging him shortly after. That seemed to surprise the young man, because he yelped as he was thrown to the ground, giving a last punch that shook the entirety of the tree just before falling. The young man clawed at the ground, trying to find something to grab and possibly use to avoid getting hauled. Luckily for Ludwig, that wasn’t the case.

The moving strings reached their limit, and so, their journey across the dirt ended sooner rather than later. The threads then whipped around, launching the young man against a group of trees that was behind Ludwig. The collision caused both a cracking sound and a scream, as well as an unexpected reaction.

Ludwig felt how the threads were pushed against each other, also pulling him into the direction the young man had just gone. His gut drove itself into the trunk, shaking the few leaves that remained out of the treetop. The strike hadn’t been as powerful as it had sounded, however, Ludwig still needed to lay on the branch he was on to catch some air.

Unfortunately, he didn’t get much time to do so.

With a scraping sound coming from below, Ludwig was filled with dread almost instantaneously. He retired the few strings attached to the trunk in order to escape his sinking ship, but that last part was deemed impossible as his main way of doing so was caught between the pincers of an incredibly strong teen. Despite not having enough threads, Ludwig pushed through his pain and took a couple of steps before jumping from the falling tree.

Using the speed at which it was falling, he lunged at the first shadow he saw to escape the wooden meteorite. Nevertheless, his jump was cut short due to a slight miscalculation. Ludwig hadn’t been able to see the smaller tree in his way due to the thick darkness surrounding him.

He crashed and fell on top of a branch, which in turn broke as his weight set on the protussion. Fortunately, the collision had also slowed him down and made it possible for the branch below to hold Ludwig’s weight, who quickly grabbed it with hands and threads before falling once again.

Following the broken branch, a snapping and heavy sound navigated through the night, causing even more crunching noises.

(Had the tree fallen on top of the other ones?)

A moment of silence and much wanted stillness followed suit.

Ludwig’s head was going to explode, and was also sure that something else had broken during his many falls.

Air was pulled into his lungs as the pressure from his strings remained unchanged. Ludwig tried to look in their direction, but the static light didn’t peer enough through the woods. He then tried to retract the threads, and to his surprise, a decent amount did, making it possible for him to use the strings like a rope and descend safely.

Ludwig touched the ground as he dropped down from the rope he himself had wovened. A tired sigh escaped his mouth as…

Something called in the distance.

It wasn’t the young man, the voice didn’t match. The sound wasn't coming from any trees either, since it was articulating words.

Ludwig closed his eyes as he tried to discern what was being said… Until he heard it.

“Ludwig!” Called the voice. “Ludwig, where are you?”

It was Laura.

Ludwig’s mind felt relieved to hear the voice of his sister. The dripping realization of what surrounded him, a bunch of fallen and broken trees, with no one other than him and the young man to be found, then hit him.

“Shit,” he swore under his breath. He began to run in the direction his sister’s voice came from, but something pulled from him as he tried to flee, “Fuck.”

Ludwig was still attached to the stupid teen.

His mind raced, trying to figure out a way to get out, but it instead thought of a million ways this could, would, go wrong. He couldn’t let Laura learn what he was into. Oh god, she would die if she did! What should he do? There had to be a way, right?

(Come one, come on, come on…!) His brain screamed.

Ludwig’s eyes then fixated on the threads, which were now moving.

(You motherfucker…)

—-----

“Ludwig!” Laura called. “Where are you?” She asked as she tried to carry her voice as much as possible in the dark night, only lit by her phone.

How had she been so dumb? Her crying was the last thing he needed now. Ludwig was going through a difficult moment, and she was only making it harder. How was this supposed to help?

“Ludwig! Please, come out!” Laura pleaded, tears already on the brink of her eyes. She rubbed them to try and wipe the water away, but she only managed to irritate them.

The light flickered as her arm fell.

“Mom, dad… Please…”

With a sniff, Laura raised the phone once again, trying to push away the sadness, “Ludwi-!”

She stopped as she saw the figure of her brother. He was slowly walking to her, his clothes dirty and a bit torn.

(Did something happen? Was he okay?)

Laura wanted to ask the questions, but she didn’t find the words nor the voice. She tried her hardest to make even a sound, but none came out.

Ludwig kept moving forwards.

Laura was trying to explain what felt like a spear piercing her chest, but she couldn’t. It was useless, just like her…

Ludwig put his arms around her.

He squeezed her with care and tenderness, embracing her in a warm hug. Laura kept trying to express what she wanted to say, but her tears and Ludwig didn’t let her. He hushed, implying no words were needed.

Laura obeyed as she put her head on his shoulder and let the dam flow.

Ludwig didn’t utter a word as she used his shirt as a napkin, snot, tears and probably saliva falling as she cried her whole sadness out. He instead patted her head, letting her do all the heavy crying whilst he sniffed as quietly as possible.

Laura had been wearing a mask. A blank and sturdy mask that had been cracked, and was trying to keep the pieces from falling. But not anymore. The pieces fell one by one, revealing her true face. Her true feelings.

Which were accepted by her caring brother.

The both of them stayed embraced for an undefined moment, since the duration was irrelevant as time wasn’t a concern here. Laura kept crying, slowly letting out everything that had hurt her these last few days while Ludwig stood still, like an unmovable pillar that supported her, uncaring about anything else that wasn’t Laura.

She hadn’t let everything out when she gently pushed her brother's chest away. But to continue like this… Wasn’t fair.

Again, without a word, the both of them moved towards their home while Ludwig held her hand. It reminded her of when they were kids, or she was a kid, of whenever she would get hurt and Ludwig would help her.

They arrived shortly after to the entrance of the house. Laura then stepped forward and opened the door with her key.

Even though she entered before Ludwig, Laura stopped right next to the kitchen, unable to move to the living room knowing what was there. Her brother passed by her side and stopped once he saw what was on top of the table.

Laura was turning around so as to not face the table, but a weird series of sounds made her stop on her tracks. She peeked through the corner of the small corridor and saw his brother devouring a piece of the chocolate cake.

“You don’t have to eat it,” she then said as she stepped into the living room, hugging her arms.

Ludwig tried to respond, but had to swallow before he could.

“Sure, I’m not obligated, but wasting this is like wasting a pile of gold. It's so good!” He said before cutting himself another piece and shoving it into his mouth.

“Do you really like it?”

Ludwig nodded as he kept demolishing the cake.

“I’m glad. I cooked it myself.”

Ludwig raised his eyebrows, “Freghwy?”

Laura offered a glass of water as he tried to cough the question once again.

“Really?” He then asked after drinking the glass.

“Yeah.”

Laura sat on the other end of the couch, making herself as comfortable as she could. She let her brother enjoy the cake, though it sounded like he was choking on it half of the time.

Why was he doing that? Was he… Trying to protect her?

“Ludwig, are you ok?” The words escaped her mouth.

Her brother let the spoon drop on the plate as he then finished chewing the chunk that was in his mouth, taking him a moment to do so.

“...I guess… That I can’t say is easy. It is hard, and many times it’s just tiring. Like, I want it to end.”

Laura jumped on her seat.

“Not like that,” Ludwig said as he extended his hand to her knee. “I mean, like I want it to suddenly become better, when I know that won’t happen. It is hard… But, and that is a big but, it is not impossible. I know I will make it through, and having you makes it easier. Especially if you cook this well.”

Laura slightly smiled as she reclined on the couch. She didn’t need him to lie to her, she wanted him to tell her the truth, and that… Felt like the truth.

“Welp, I’m stuffed,” Ludwig said as he hit his stomach.

Laura looked at the cake and saw that three quarters were missing.

(Oh, maybe he did like it.)

Curiously enough, the single candle that the cake had was still lit, though it had melted and fell near the center of the dessert. Ludwig then got up and headed to the kitchen, apparently to clean the dishes as the sink turned on.

Laura was tired, and she finally felt like she might get the chance to rest. She moved around the couch, closed her eyes and listened to how the water fell to the sink and was drained. She quickly reached a stage of sleepiness where her perception of the exterior seemed to jump around, going in and out of her own little world.

The sink suddenly stopped and instead she heard how someone blew something. Another jump revealed to her that she was being carried and going up the stairs, followed by a short exit which left her on the soft mattress of her bed.

The door creaked as it began closing.

“Ludwig,” Laura managed to mumble. The creaking stopped. “What did you wish for?”

“...That’s a secret. But don’t worry, it was something good,” he said before closing the door.

And once in what felt like an eternity, calmness found her way inside her.