I placed my hands on Tetsu's shoulders and lent him enough of my mana so that he could move. His natural healing abilities could take care of his injuries.
"Thanks," Tetsu said, pushing himself up. He stared at Eiichi and Hideo as they made their way over. Eiichi had on an eager smile, while Hideo seemed agitated. He must've wanted us to get this over with as soon as possible. "Come on, Hyosetsu. Let's go sit down."
Hyosetsu nodded and followed after him.
"Are you two ready?" I asked.
"I've been ready for a while," Eiichi said, stretching his arms. He grinned. "Seeing those two battle really got my blood pumping."
Hideo nodded. "Me too. But I mostly just want to get this over with so that I can go see Cami."
"You're still worried about her? We have no real proof that she's in any danger. It's just a bad feeling on your part," Eiichi said.
Hideo turned away. "No. My mom said that she felt it too. She usually has a good sense for when her kids are in danger."
"If your sister is in serious danger, then the amount of time that has passed likely isn't enough to do much to change her situation," Kaliq said.
"I know, but every second counts! So let's hurry up with this match," the gun knight snapped.
Kaliq sighed. "Calm your heart, young man. Worry will blind you. Fight with a steadfast heart like those two boys did."
I patted Hideo's shoulder. "He's right. If Cami does turn out to be in a precarious situation, then you'll need to have your emotions balanced. Remember what happened in Xeleria when you allowed your emotions to run wild? You went as far as pointing your weapon at a little girl."
Hideo gulped and lowered his eyes. "O-okay. I'll try to keep my worry from blinding me again."
I ruffled his now medium-long black hair. "Great, now let's do this thing," I said, grinning.
He nodded.
Eiichi transformed his ankle bracelet into its spear form and spun it around over his head. "Ready when you are, Kaliq."
The sage of Munil glanced at Hideo and me.
The two of us transformed out angel tools into their weapon forms and jumped back.
Kaliq smiled and pointed his staff at us. "I know that you said that you're ready when I am, but I rather you three make the first move."
He wants us to attack first, so he must be planning to use our own techniques against us somehow.
I held out a hand to the boys. "Hold your fire!" I yelled.
Eiichi calmly stepped forward. "You're worried about him using our own attacks against us, aren't you?" He grinned. "Well, there's no way to gauge this man's skills without fighting first."
He had a point there, but was it wise to attack without formulating a plan first?
Eiichi jumped into the air and covered the tip of Carlos in electricity before I could even give a response.
"Lightning Spear!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.
I sighed. I figured that something like this would happen. I glanced over my shoulder, but Hideo wasn't there. I spun around, trying to figure out where he had gone, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Hideo?" I asked.
"Oh, you're fast," Eiichi said.
I looked back at the battle and watched as Kaliq avoided all of Eiichi's spear thrusts. Though my eyes had difficulty catching most of their movements. The two were almost as fast as Hyosetsu and Tetsuya were in their ascended forms.
Eiichi took a deep breath and threw his spear into the air and tried to go for a kick to Kaliq's gut, but his leg went right through him.
"An afterimage," I yelled. I looked over my shoulder and saw Kaliq's staff swinging at me. I flicked Alma at him, but it phased right through him. Damn, another afterimage.
If only I had eyes like Hideo's. Now, where was that boy? There was no way that he could've ran away to save his sister. Only Halim could bring and take us out of here.
I watched as Eiichi continued to chase after Kaliq. The way that the sage dodged Eiichi's attacks reminded me of the trial he had given Hideo. He continued to avoid every hit that came his way and would spin around to keep Eiichi at bay. I couldn't help but wonder whether he was making use of the Zen mode he had taught me.
Hmm, he said that his defensive style is different from Tetsu's. Could it be that for him, his 'defense' is avoiding the attacks of others? If so, that might also be his offense too. He's trying to tire us out. However, he must know that won't work as we can recover our mana. Then, he must have some other combat skills beyond merely spinning around and dodging.
I gasped as Kaliq thrust his staff against Eiichi's stomach, sending him flying into the newly constructed barrier.
"Done analyzing yet?" he whispered into my ear. "You should try to clear your mind like I taught you."
I gulped and spun around, swinging Alma in a horizontal arc. Though, the man was nowhere to be seen.
"You're agitated," Kaliq's voice called out. Again, it came from behind me. "Recall what I taught you, young lady?"
Not long after we had arrived in this world, I had asked Kaliq if he could teach me some of the skills that he had used in Hideo's test. He had told that to avoid unexpected attacks, one's body had to be able to rely on its instincts. The first part of this involved sharpening the sixth sense and making it automatic. One's being would be able to sense danger approaching without any input from one's consciousness. Basically, it was letting the power of the subconscious to take over.
I took a deep breath and pushed away the thoughts that had been gnawing at me. As I did, I could feel the presence of Kaliq moving around rapidly across the battlefield. Eiichi meanwhile was charging up energy in the tip of his spear even as he remained still. I could also feel another presence overhead.
I opened my eyes and looked up, yet there was no one there. Could it have been Hideo? Just what kind of abilities had he managed to awaken during his and Eiichi's training?
I flew back as I felt energy building up around Kaliq. Though, the energy didn't feel like his. It was slight, but it felt like Hideo's.
Suddenly, a green beam manifested itself. Kaliq sidestepped it and swung his staff over his shoulder. More beams encircled him as if he were at the center of a firing squad. The sage jumped into the air and watched as the rays struck each other. Much to both our shock, the verdant bullets fused and flew straight up.
Kaliq slammed the beam with his staff, sending crashing into the ground.
He looked over his shoulder and flew forward. "If only your mana control were better. If it were, you might've been able to hide your entire presence to fit in with your invisibility," the sage said, grinning.
Hideo reappeared in the middle of the sky, holding two black guns.
Is that the transformation that my analysis of Donato detected?
I snickered. "It appears that everyone has new tricks," I said.
Hideo smiled as he flew over to me. "Activate your Zen mode. The three of us can overwhelm him."
"Yeah," Eiichi said as he walked over to us.
"Ready to go?" Hideo asked.
Eiichi rolled his right arm and smiled. "Yeah. Thanks for holding him off while I prepared everything on my end."
I raised an eyebrow. Did those two come up with a plan without me knowing? So much for me being the leader... But maybe it was better than I was omitted. Being in on the plan might've made it harder for me to use Zen Mode, and I was already struggling to dampen my thoughts.
Kaliq stepped back and pointed his agate tipped staff at us. He smirked. "I'm ready too." He vanished from sight.
"Is he doing the same thing as the peasant?" Eiichi asked, turning around.
"No, this isn't like Tetsu's shadow drive. He's not dissolving into the space around him and reappearing. This is raw speed," I said, looking around.
Eiichi chuckled. "Raw speed, huh? Then I should be able to match it."
"This isn't like yours. He's using Zen Mode. Landing hits on him while he's using this technique will be incredibly difficult. He fighting using pure instinct now."
Eiichi scoffed. "Instinct? Wonder what my dad would say if he were here. He always told me to use my head a little more."
"Uh, he wasn't wrong," I said. Though, would someone who fights the way that Eiichi does be able to master it more quickly than me if they tried?
"Focus you two. I'll be your eyes," Hideo said as he stepped back.
Eiichi and I pressed our backs against his.
"I appreciate it, but I can't rely on external senses," I said, smiling. I inhaled until my lungs were full of air and slowly let it out. I could sense Kaliq moving around us, waiting for an opening.
"Hideo, attack!" I yelled even through Kaliq was on the opposite side of him.
His two guns glowed bright green. He didn't fire even though I had told him. Was he waiting for the right moment to strike? His eyesight might've been above average, but his aim wasn't perfect.
A streak of golden lightning flew out toward Kaliq, sending the sage into the ceiling.
My eyes widened as I looked over my shoulder. Eiichi was gone. To think that he hit Kaliq without using Zen Mode himself... I snickered. My teammates weren't done surprising me today. Not only Hideo and Eiichi, but Hyosetsu and Tetsuya too. All four of the boys had learned techniques and unlocked abilities that three days ago, I wouldn't have imagined them performing with such ease.
Using my Zen Mode, I could see Eiichi and Kaliq zipping throughout the battlefield. The former was using Second Heaven, while the latter struggled to escape being hit by Carlos.
I glanced at Hideo, who was staring attentively at the two men fighting overhead. Did he plan to snipe Kaliq from here?
An emerald aura dashed around the gun knight as his the mana around him grew denser.
Should I transform into my Second Heaven form too? No. Not yet. Tetsu held back from turning into his Second Heaven form to test the extent of his base form. I, who had chosen to train in Zen Mode, couldn't back away now.
'Relax, Princess. You can do it. At the very least, you can reach Semi-Zen Mode,' a voice echoed in my head. It wasn't Alma speaking, but Zini.
I recalled my match with him. I'd kept transitioning between using Zen Mode and Second Heaven. Perhaps, I could do something similar here.
I gasped as Hideo fired off his bullets without warning. Next thing I knew, Kaliq was falling down from the sky. Had I focused too much on activating Zen Mode that I had lost track of everything else?
I snickered. "Seems that I wasn't needed," I said. My eyes widened as a surge of energy flowed out of Kaliq.
The sage pushed himself up with his staff and snickered. Eiichi flew at him, but Kaliq held it back using his right hand.
"Impressive agility, young man. It seems that I'll need to rely on more than just speed to defeat you."
So, were these the limits of Zen Mode? Something that could easily be overcome by Eiichi going Second Heaven? Had I made the wrong decision in my training?
Kaliq glanced at me. "You still have a lot to learn," he said as he rose his left arm. Eiichi stopped as he appeared behind him. Had he managed to predict his next move, seconds well in advance?
I narrowed my eyes at him and spun Alma around me. "Be on your guards, boys! Playtime is over. Now is the time to use everything that we have learned during these past three days!"
Hideo pressed his back against mine and nodded. "Yeah. I felt that he was just testing us earlier."
Eiichi laughed. "You two are too cautious."
"Listen!" I yelled.
Eiichi looked forward and narrowly ducked Kaliq's staff. Though, he was unable to avoid the next attack, which was a whack to the back.
Eiichi looked over his shoulder and blocked his Carlos as Kaliq pressed his staff down on him.
"You should've heeded your teammate's warning," the sage said with his usual calm smile.
Eiichi laughed. A yellow blast of electricity emitted from Eiichi's spear, pushing Kaliq away from him.
The man laughed weakly as he landed on the ground. He stared at his charred clothes and shook his head. "I should've been warier around you too." He removed his cloak, which turned into dust before it could touch the floor. Underneath his now discarded garments, he had on a sleeveless blue shirt which revealed toned arms.
Eiichi blinked. "Your figure isn't like that of sage."
Kaliq laughed. "My wife told me the same thing. Now, how about we continue?"
Eiichi smiled. "Alright."
"Eiichi, listen! There's a reason that this is a group trial!" I yelled. "We have to do this together!"
"Let him be," Hideo said as he stepped forward. He raised his left gun toward where the two were. "He's distracting him."
Wait, was this part of their plan all along?
I laughed. Well, having Eiichi play the role of vanguard makes sense, considering his personality. Personality...
I needed to fight like usual. Overthinking wouldn't help me. In fact, it had been doing the opposite all this time.
"Let's go, Hideo!" I said as specks of orange mana began to appear around me.
**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed this chapter ^_^! Thoughts? Theories?**