Ahead of Schedule
After her sparring partner suggested for her to go all out, Kristel Drew her Nidai-Kaimera. It was nowhere near the level of Leviathan. But since she and Frein agreed to fight only using their own capabilities, without Evanclad’s help, she couldn’t even Draw the Sandai-level of the Art.
Not that she would even consider using either of those inside the training facility. Swinging Sandai-Kaimera, let alone manifesting Leviathan, would destroy the entire building. Then again, she needed to let go of ever Drawing Leviathan for a while, at least until she found a way to fix Mineltha’s meiyal charged material, one that Evanclad insisted to remain unnamed.
“Destiny and all that,” he had reasoned yesterday.
Nidai-Kaimera would have to do. It was at least thrice taller and twice wider than she was. But of course, it was nowhere near enough to faze Frein. He just smiled annoyingly, enjoying the challenge in front of him.
Kristel indulged his smugness. If she held back, he’d only mock her for it. There were people keeping an eye on them anyway, or at least, they were close enough to notice if something had gone wrong. She spared a glance over to Frill and Xiv. Those two are getting really close.
“You want to take a break?” Frein asked, noticing the pause. “If you can fight for a few hours like this without reaching Art fatigue, we can safely say you’re pretty much immune to it at this point. That’s quite amazing.”
“I’m not tired.”
“You’re distracted, though.”
Kristel responded by swinging the giant sword. Something stopped her right as she began her motion. For her, Kaimera wasn’t heavy at all, even at Nidai. She could swing the weapon around with one hand while the things it struck felt the full weight and destructive power of the Art. But a small bar of red, black, and white stood at the beginning of the swing, blocking her from even building up momentum.
Frein pointed at the bar while staring at her. The next moment, it was gone, causing her entire weight to shift out of balance. “See what I mean?”
Kristel’s Siffera was good enough that she recovered easily from a tumble without much effort. It was one precious instant enough for Frein to invade her space, but the Princess expected his move. The Visitor always struck when it was most embarrassing for her.
She pulled herself back using Nidai-Kaimera, utilizing its long shaft as a foothold to help shift her direction. Through the same move, she Drew a normal Kaimera and lashed out where Frein would be, had he continued to step in.
But the Visitor also saw through her retaliation. He ducked low, attempting to grab her foot. She quickly hopped off her greatsword and sent a spinning kick as retaliation. He blocked it effortlessly.
Kristel was forced to flip backwards. She took the chance to grab her Nidai-Kaimera, a decision which Frein responded to by kicking the flat of the blade. That, along with the Princess’s retreating momentum, sent her slamming into the wall. It didn’t hurt, but she was bothered by it nonetheless.
Frein had never given ground during their entire sparring session. Three hours of only forward and side steps. Not once did he take a step back. She had seen this time and again, from the very beginning, from the first time she saw him.
During his fight with the Vyndivalian twins, he was always approaching one of the two. Creating distance was only a by-product of closing another. During the sparring against Maffelyne’s team, even one against four, he never once took a step backwards.
The only times Frein was ever forced to create distance with his opponents were when someone was strong enough to push him away. Even with his battle with Those That Fell Off A Cliff. It was a Nightmare! And Frein wouldn’t even back away from it, to the point that the abomination itself feared for its life!
That determined Kristel’s goal for this sparring session. It was no longer to see if she would reach Art fatigue. Two goals, in fact.
“I like these goals,” Evanclad whispered, observing the situation. “Do you need some advice?”
“No,” Kristel said verbally. She knew Frein would understand. She also knew he would know her plans. So, the Princess took the initiative and stepped out of the crater she made in the wall, pointing her Nidai-Kaimera at him. It wouldn’t matter whether he knew or not.
“I’ll push you back and make you step back on your own using my efforts. I don’t need Evan’s help.”
Frein smiled and pulled his sword out of its sheath. “You can try.”
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The Blood Moon Fulgurblade wouldn’t manifest on his Display without Elizzel’s help. To be fair, he wasn’t supposed to be able to integrate with any of his current materials, at all, in the first place. A restriction on his current, greatest arsenal was a better deal than not being able to use his entire Exhibit at all.
Frein’s sword was still a bloody black, but the lightning pressure that came with it whenever it was drawn from its scabbard remained dormant. As far as he was concerned, it was nothing different from a common blade Meiyal Art.
He smiled at that. Here he was, staring down at the Princess’s Nidai-Kaimera, an Art filled to the brim with meiyal, and yet when compared to his current weapon, the dormant Fulgurblade was leagues better.
Frein felt a little irritated by the thought, his mind going on a tangent. He didn’t appreciate that at this moment, he was thinking about ‘size doesn’t matter’ rather than the battle to be had. Especially since it was about comparing swords, his thoughts just went straight to the gutter.
“Now you’re getting distracted,” Kristel said, slightly lowering her guard.
“Don’t mind me. Just something stupid.” Frein shook his head. He tried to replace his thoughts, focusing on their spar. But something else took over. At the very least, this one was helpful.
“Actually,” he began, “do you think there’s a way for you to reduce your Nidai-Kaimera? Compress its power, make it more dense.”
“For what?” Kristel asked. “You’re not just asking me to lose my range advantage, are you?”
Frein raised an eyebrow. “You’re not exactly out of my range, Princess.” He Drew Ribbon Blink to send the Shinemoon Scabbard beside Kristel.
She was quick to react, swiping at the meiyal-charged material. But Frein simply Blinked the scabbard towards her other side before Drawing Sword Step.
At this close range, Nidai-Kaimera was absolutely useless apart from becoming a defensive board. That was what exactly happened when Frein struck with his dormant Fulgurblade. The moment both weapons collided, he invested a rush of eight-meiyal on the weapon, sparking it to life for but an instant. It absolutely refused to ignite completely, but the mere flick of its power was enough to send Kristel flying towards the other end of the training hall.
“See what I mean?”
Kristel nodded, breathing hard. It might not be possible for her to reach Art fatigue anymore, but she would still need to Gather and Mill to replace every bit of meiyal she spent. The world favored her enough that the Perpetual-Layered Milling Form was now something she could do with ease, but she still needed to reform her habit in order to keep those two processes constantly active.
Frein shuddered with excitement, looking forward to the day that the Princess became just as greedy as him and Katherine.
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“Give it a try,” he urged her.
Kristel dispelled her weaker Kaimera and held the Nidai-level one with both hands. She struggled, but ultimately, nothing happened. “Do you have any pointers?”
With this, their sparring was effectively put on pause. Frein returned his dormant Fulgurblade within the scabbard and approached the Princess. Her face was quickly disappointed.
“We’ll resume in a bit,” he said. “Let’s see if this is possible first. Can you Draw Mesiffera now?”
Kristel relaxed and nodded, Drawing the Siffera-enhanced observation Meiyal Art.
“Good.” Frein reached up a hand. “Now, observe my Siffera.”
Frein currently used the Art the same way as most practitioners would use them, simply to enhance their physical strength. Slowly, he progressed this by emphasizing the Art to its limits and producing a layer that protected his body. By the modernized, albeit weaker, standards, this Siffera was common to many Virtuosos who were lucky enough to have reached a certain understanding with the Art.
Fortunately, Kristel was one of them. It allowed Frein to skip the explanation and proceed with the next step.
Slowly, in order to demonstrate to the Princess clearly, the Visitor compressed the enveloping Siffera towards his fist so that it was the only part of his body completely covered by it. To a person Drawing a simple observation Meiyal Art, it would simply look like Frein removed a great portion of his enhancing Art. But to one using Mesiffera, like Kristel for example, she could clearly see the absurd condensation of meiyal around his fist.
“Want to test it out?” he asked.
Kristel, still absorbed by such concentrated Art, nodded dumbfoundedly. She raised her Nidai-Kaimera like a guard. “Hit it.”
Frein stepped closer, letting the bend of fingers touch the ridiculously large great sword. He positioned himself sideways, relaxing his entire body as he steadied his breath.
“What are you doing?” Kristel asked.
Evidently, the Visitor’s posture was nowhere close to somebody preparing for a punch. Frein understood that most practitioners in Irista Nation focused more on improving their Meiyal Arts, and not necessarily their martial prowess. Granted, he had never used this type of punch in actual combat. It required too much setup to unleash it perfectly. He never quite found any opportunity to use it.
“Just make sure you’re guarding properly,” he said while he returned to focus. “It’s called a one-inch punch.”
In a single breath, Frein pushed off the ground, using his back foot as an anchor to generate a sudden torque. The burst of force traveled all the way up his midsection and straight to his right arm. At the last moment, he closed his hand in a fist, sending all the force he generated into a punch that traveled only within the length of his pre-bent fingers.
Backed by the compacted strength of his emphasized Siffera, the force that lanced within this one inch completely destroyed Kristel’s Nidai-Kaimera and sent the Princess hurtling towards the other end of the training hall and out of its walls. She returned right after, climbing into the hole she made with a bloody nose and mouth.
Frill was quick to abandon what she was doing. “Are you alright?”
Kristel nodded, gesturing for the Aria to not bother with her Samesia. “I’m okay.” She turned to Frein. “What in Brymeia’s name was that?”
Frein shrugged. “Just a punch with super condensed Siffera behind it.” He lifted his fist again, still enveloped by the Art’s focused power. “You don’t reduce the Art’s meiyal output at all, but you pack it as condensed as you can.”
By the time he finished explaining, Kristel had completely recovered using her own Samesia. Frill, on the other hand, had returned to Elizzel, who had both hands raised awkwardly while the Aria took her measurements.
At the same time, Katherine began to stir into consciousness, moving stray strands of her brown hair away from her face. She turned, looking for everyone, and once she confirmed everybody’s presence, the Lady turned once more to face the corner and go back to sleep.
Kristel ignored everyone and re-Drew her Nidai-Kaimera. Frein simply observed her.
It was truly amazing, he thought, finding such raw talent refusing to rely on their innate abilities, and instead, utilizing their gift with matching, worthy effort. Especially for a person in a position of power since birth, Kristel was truly an enigma for Frein.
As if to prove his impression, Nidai-Kaimera gradually reduced in size. At the same time, its glow flared with intensity. It went on until, much to Frein’s expectations, the Art became as small as the Princess’s arm.
Reality bent at the sheer weight of its power. As Kristel smiled, Frein already knew what was going through her head. He was thinking the same thing.
What if it was Sandai-Kaimera? What if it was the Leviathan?
They had to test it. Without words, Frein pulled his dormant Fulgurblade from its scabbard. There was no preamble, no need to check if either practitioner was ready. He and Kristel simply met at the middle and clashed swords.
Frein found himself at the other side of the wall, his Display completely gone. He was smiling ear to ear. He pulled himself to find the Princess and everyone else—including a startled Katherine—staring at the commotion in disbelief.
Good. This way, I can push even further.
Frein was afraid to push ahead too much. Kristel had been frustrated for the longest time, trying to catch up with everyone else. She was the missing piece in the entire group. Of course there was also Xiv, but his problems were something else entirely, and one that could be easily solved by simply waiting for his full recovery.
But now that the Princess has caught up, there wasn’t anything stopping Frein from going all out. Once he integrated with the Da’bloop’s core, he would have a ten-meiyal resource. According to Katherine, that was the top as far as recorded history was concerned.
Frein spiraled into deep thought. What would happen if he kept gaining more meiyal resources? The naming seemed awkward after a point. Would it be called by the number still? What if he gained up to a hundred? One-hundred-forty-nine-meiyal. What about thousands? Would it even be possible for millions?
One-million-three-hundred-forty-two-thousand-six-hundred-ninety-nine-meiyal.
His head hurt.
“Coin a term,” Kristel said.
It pulled Frein back to his senses. At first, he wondered how Kristel was able to read his thoughts until he saw Elizzel and the rest of the gang around him. He was back in the middle of the training facility, unaware that his thoughts were being delivered by the faunel.
“I agree,” Katherine said. “Just come up with something when you get there. Maybe you can start as early as ten, and then go from there. Make a naming system or something.”
“That sounds very loose and irresponsible,” Frein said.
“That’s what everyone did, back in the day,” Frill reasoned. “Even for Vyndival that’s the case, right?”
“Yep,” Xiv agreed. He shrugged. “Donning a Weapon doesn’t make sense if you think about it, but that’s what they came up with.”
“If you’re the only one who can do it, you can call it however you want,” Kristel finished.
Frein wasn’t convinced. “Didn’t Evanclad or Kristella come up with anything back in the day?”
“The long-winded numbering system,” Kristel replied. “I don’t like it. Come up with something else.”
“Decimeiyal,” said a voice that didn’t come from anyone in the group. Everyone turned to find Jaylene entering the training facility, her felintine tail swaying in time with her steps. “There, named it for you. Only count by tens at that point. Solved your problem until you get to a hundred-meiyal.”
“One-decimeiyal for ten-meiyal,” Frein contemplated. “Two-decimeiyal… decimeiyal. It sounds…”
“Weird,” Kristel said.
“Simple,” Katherine followed.
“Too on the nose,” said Frill.
Xiv simply shrugged.
“I like it,” said S.A.M.
The talking M.O.B.I.L.E. startled the Vyndivalian, and it took a few good minutes for Katherine to explain it to him while forcing him to a promise of secrecy.
The entire time, Frein contemplated on the thought. Suddenly, he felt responsible for it.
“I think it’s fine,” Elizzel said. “One-decimeiyal. Two-decimeiyal. Nine-decimeiyal. It might take a long time before we need to come up with a hundred.”
“I might not even get there,” Frein replied through their Tether. The faunel looked like she wanted to say something, but Jaylene cut her off.
The owner of Atlas Sid passed him two small orbs.
“What’s this?”
“Your songs. I made two copies. You wanted to give one to Frill, right?” she asked while her felintine ears twitched.
“Thanks,” Frein said, taking the copies. “You didn’t have to go all the way here for that, though. We would’ve visited you later.”
Jaylene shook her head. “With everyone asleep last night, Admiral Garm sped up our route for a bit. There were too many injured Jumpers and while we healed them all, our resources took a hit. Not to mention a lot of them won’t be staying on the grand carrier anymore. So, we also need to get new recruits to train. The sooner we’re back at Central, the better.
“That means, you’ll be arriving in Veli Manor a little earlier than expected,” she finished, turning to Frill and the others. “It’s been a while, Frill. I heard about Liona. My condolences. As much as I would like to escort you, I have my responsibilities here in Atlas Sid. So, please deliver my condolences to your mother as well.”
Her speech brought a heavy atmosphere within the room. She was clearly aware of what she had done, but Frein agreed with her decision. There was no easy way about it.
He was amazed, however, by Frill. She didn’t outright smile; of course she couldn’t. But she stepped forward and accepted Jaylene’s words as well as her embrace.
“Thanks, Jam. I’ll let my mother know.”
“Sorry,” Jaylene said, rubbing the Aria’s back. After a while, she addressed the entire group again. “I’ll send for a C.A.R. to help you on your descent. The Atlas Sid won’t be stopping, so we’ll just send for someone after a few days to retrieve the vehicle.”
“Thank you, Jam,” Kristel said.
“Don’t mention it.” Jaylene turned to Katherine. “I’ll see you again some other time.”
The Lady of the Void hugged her right away. “Take care, Jam.”
After Jaylene left, Frein looked at his group first before turning to Katherine.
“I think this is as good a time as any,” she said, purposefully creating intrigue for everyone. It served as a good segue to distract Frill from her thoughts.
“What is?” Kristel asked.
“We want to talk about something important before we leave Atlas Sid,” Katherine said while gesturing towards Frein.
Just like with Jaylene, there was no easy way to go about it. So he took a deep breath and just said the words.
“There’ll be a Nightmare Incursion sometime within two weeks. So Katherine and I were thinking that this is the best time for us to go our separate ways.”
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