When I woke up I wasted no time.

  "Teleport."

  I appeared in the greenhouse in Southfield.

  "It’s rubbish," Goros sniffed, his yellow eye narrowed in disdain. "The bamboo walls are asymmetrical while the Razorgrass clashes with the tomatoes. If Kaz were an interior designer, he would be fired within the hour. It screams 'nouveau riche'."

  Tim rustled his leaves indignantly. "The Caretaker plants where the soil calls to him. Order is found in growth, not geometry. You are just a weed with an opinion."

  "I am an ocular surveillance system," Goros corrected. "And you are a salad ingredient."

  I ignored them completely, walking past the bickering plants to the center of the soil and sat down.

  I needed to prepare.

  I closed my eyes.

  I sank into a trance deeper than before and my consciousness detached. I saw my body levitating in a green aura while I ascended, my point of view rising through the glass roof, into the sky. I looked down at the world—the scars of war in the distance, the green patches of my territory in Southfield.

  I rose until the air got thin and I touched the edge of the atmosphere and floated there, a speck of consciousness, centering myself.

  When I came back to my body, I opened my eyes.

  I checked my phone. Two days had passed.

  It was time.

  I warped to Ann Arbor.

  I appeared at the city limits where Bells was waiting, leaning against a rusted guardrail. He looked tense. Adan was sitting on the hood of a car nearby.

  "You're late," Adan said, hopping off the hood.

  "Traffic," I lied.

  We walked in silence to an empty field miles away from the city. The ground was flat and covered in wild grass that swayed in the wind. It was a perfect canvas for destruction.

  Adan stopped and stretched his arms.

  "So," he said, grinning. "Ready to fight?"

  He didn't know about the conquest of Grand Rapids or the subjugation of Qolius. To him, we were still the guys who ran away six months ago. He was expecting a quick spar. A warmup.

  Bells nodded silently.

  "Yes," I said.

  "Good," Adan laughed. "Let's see how long this lasts."

  The fight began.

  I was the first to move.

  "Expand."

  A massive circle of Verdant Jade Loam Soil spread out beneath my feet, creating a mobile platform of power.

  "Spear."

  Hundreds of bamboo stakes shot out of the ground around me, sharpening instantly into lethal points. I flicked my hand and they launched at Adan like a swarm of angry wasps.

  Adan pulled a paper talisman and a brush appeared in his hand.

  Shield.

  The talisman burned gold.

  A giant shield materialized out of thin air and slammed into the ground in front of him.

  The bamboo spears hammered against the metal, shattering on impact and splinters rained down like hail.

  "Go," I commanded.

  Bells used the distraction to fly, activating his wind currents and zipping around the side of the massive shield, aiming for Adan’s exposed flank.

  Adan tapped the back of the shield.

  A nozzle protruded from the side of the metal plate.

  A jet of fire sprayed at Bells.

  Bells cursed and banked hard, flying backward to avoid being incinerated.

  Adan rolled out from behind the shield, smiling and pulled another talisman.

  Sniper.

  An eight feet long sniper rifle materialized in his hands.

  It fired from the hip.

  The bullet moved faster than sound and was aimed right at Bells’ head.

  "Wall," I whispered.

  A thick wall of Heavenly Bamboo grew from the ground in the bullet’s path.

  The bamboo shattered, splinters flying, but the bullet was stopped.

  The combat paused.

  Adan looked impressed.

  "Interesting," he said. "I thought this would take one minute… Looks like it’ll take two."

  He smiled maniacally and pulled a larger talisman from his belt.

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  Dragon.

  The ink bled into the air and a roar shook the field.

  The massive white beast I remembered from the war—the one that had terrified me into retreating—slammed onto the grass breathing smoke.

  Adan hopped onto its back.

  "Let's dance," he shouted.

  The dragon launched itself into the air and dove at Bells, Its jaws opened wide, ready to snap him in half.

  "Summon," I said.

  The ground beneath my soil circle rumbled.

  A giant wooden hand shot up and swatted the dragon out of the air.

  The [Guardian Treant] rose from the earth and towered over the battlefield, a hundred feet of woven vine, iron hard bamboo, and armored gourds.

  Adan recovered the dragon, hovering in the air and stared at the colossus.

  "There it is," Adan said, his eyes lighting up. "The monster everyone in Ann Arbor has been whispering about. I didn't know it was yours."

  He looked at me. "That makes things even more interesting."

  He jumped off the dragon.

  "Kill the tree," he ordered the beast.

  Then he rushed me.

  He fell from the sky and landed on the ground directly in front of me.

  "Razorgrass," I commanded.

  The wild grass of the field mutated instantly and the blades elongated, turned rigid and serrated, and lashed out at his legs.

  Adan pulled a talisman.

  Acid Storm.

  Dark clouds formed instantly overhead and green rain began to fall, sizzling as it hit the ground.

  "Armor," I said.

  My Verdant Jade Bamboo Armor formed over my skin and I quickly threw a second suit to Bells, who caught it mid-air and strapped it on.

  We were safe. But the Treant...

  The massive construct roared in pain as the acid rain ate through its bark, dissolving the binding vines. The dragon pounced, tearing at the weakened wood with its claws.

  Adan rushed me through the melting grass and pulled another talisman.

  Bronze Fist.

  A giant bronze fist materialized in the air to my left and flew at me.

  Adan attacked from the right, a talisman in hand.

  I was pinched. I couldn't block both.

  "Teleport," I thought.

  I vanished and reappeared ten feet away.

  The bronze fist slammed into the ground where I had stood, creating a crater.

  Behind me, the Treant gave a final groan and collapsed into a pile of melting wood, destroyed by the acid and the dragon.

  The dragon roared in triumph and flew back to hover over Adan.

  I looked at him. Despite it being a 2v1, Adan had the upper hand. However, it wasn't raw power that gave him that; it was experience. He flowed between offense and defense perfectly, using his talismans to counter everything we threw at him.

  Bells flew down to me, landing heavily. "What do we do? We can't get close."

  "Do what you do best," I said. "Fight like a dog."

  Bells blinked and grinned.

  "Got it."

  He took off and flew erratically, dodging the dragon’s snaps. He created wind whips to snag the dragon’s wings and threw dirt in Adan’s eyes with gusts of air.

  I provided heavy artillery by creating a Bamboo Watchtower and unleashing volleys of Sky Piercer missiles.

  The fight raged for ten minutes. The field was destroyed and had turned into a cratered wasteland.

  Adan was a demon. He blocked, he dodged, he countered.

  Eventually, Bells slowed down as he was running out of Qi.

  Adan saw the opening and caught Bells with a spinning kick that sent him skidding across the dirt.

  Adan moved to finish him.

  Bells reached into his pocket.

  "Catch!" he screamed.

  He threw the miniature ziggurat.

  Adan looked up, confused.

  The artifact activated and a beam of purple light hit the dragon hovering above him.

  The massive beast was sucked into the pocket dimension instantly.

  Adan froze. "My ride?"

  He looked at Bells, furious and walked over and knocked him out cold with his fist.

  "Annoying gnat," Adan muttered.

  He turned to me.

  It was just the two of us.

  Adan was panting. His Qi was running low and I could see him reaching for talismans slower and slower.

  "I thought the wind boy was the threat," Adan said, wiping sweat from his brow. "You were supposed to be the weak link."

  "I was," I admitted. "Until I learned how to garden."

  The fight continued.

  We fought for another ten minutes. Adan threw everything he had left—lightning bolts, lava pools, moving walls.

  I blocked it all.

  Finally, Adan went to write another talisman but his hand shook.

  He was out of Qi.

  He collapsed to one knee, breathing hard.

  "How do you have so much Qi," he asked. "You should have ran out ages ago."

  I stood over him and pointed to the ground.

  "Look," I said.

  Adan looked down.

  The entire battlefield—every inch of the cratered ruin—was carpeted in Heavenly Moss.

  "It’s been feeding me Qi since the fight started," I explained. "I have an unlimited power supply. I could do this all day."

  Adan stared at the glowing gold moss and laughed.

  "That is an overpowered plant," he wheezed.

  "Why did you run?" he asked, looking up at me. "Six months ago. You could have done serious damage to White Hill."

  "Because I couldn't do this back then," I said. "I had the power, but I lacked the knowledge and experience. I didn't know how to fight."

  I offered him a hand, but he waved it away, standing up on his own.

  "How far?" I asked. "How far would I get against White Hill now?"

  Adan was honest. "Halfway."

  "Halfway?"

  "You are as strong as the Fourth General, Sarnam," Adan said. "But the Top 3? The Lieutenants? Axehill? They play in a different league. You can defend forever but they can attack forever. It would be a stalemate at best, a loss at worst."

  I nodded. "Thanks for the info. At least I know where I stand."

  "Next time," Adan said, summoning an eagle talisman with his last dregs of energy. "Solo duel. No sidekicks."

  "Agreed," I said.

  We shook hands.

  Adan hopped onto the eagle and flew away, disappearing into the horizon.

  Ten minutes later, Bells groaned and sat up.

  "Who won?" he asked, rubbing his jaw.

  I helped him up. "We did."

  Bells looked around the empty battlefield and a look of relief washed over his face.

  "Sorry I got knocked out," he muttered.

  "No need," I said. "Your ziggurat was the turning point. Trapping the dragon won us the fight."

  I looked at him.

  "You are reinstated," I said. "Your suspension is over."

  Bells’ eyes widened. "Really?"

  "Yes. You proved yourself. Head back to Southfield and reclaim your position as General over the First Division."

  Bells didn't waste time and zoomed off toward the city.

  I stayed behind in the empty field.

  I decided to try something different. I had never meditated outside of my garden before.

  I sat down in the dirt of the scorched battlefield.

  I closed my eyes and reached out with my senses into the raw, untamed earth of the world.

  I saw a vision.

  A single giant tree. Then a forest springing up around it. Then a jungle that spanned a world, consuming everything.

  I opened my eyes.

  [Hidden Requirement Met: Take a Glimpse of the Pocket Realm.]