Pol City. Nil had only ever seen it in ads, inviting tourists to come visit–his stomach lurched thinking about it–the “surfing capital of Specter.” He had seen enough water for a lifetime. All the Trainers, including the others from Fan Town, had scattered throughout the day. Between the lake and the city lay a large forest that, though monitored by local rangers, offered unique dangers that Rylie had mentioned to everyone as they were leaving.

“A great training opportunity. You’ll need it to fight my sister, trust me.”

“What sort of Thaeons does she have?” Nil had asked before heading out. She winked at him.

“That I can’t say, sorry.”

“You’re telling me that the ranking leaders’ Thaeons aren’t public knowledge?”

“Of course, but why ruin the surprise? I will say this: she has an Evo2 like me.”

Nil pursed his lips in thought, feeling a twinge of eagerness from Phantom.

“But also,” she continued, “she has two Thaeons she fights with. Most ranking leaders have more than one. If you beat one, you’ll still have another to go. Keep that in mind for the future.”

Having multiple Thaeons never appealed to him. Was it practical? Sure. Having different strategies to swap around mid-battle was always a great way to win. It was the reason the league had teams of Thaeons. It was a trade off between having one high-powered partner, or multiple weaker ones that allowed for more flexibility.

“Don’t think that just because those Trainers at the top have entire teams of Thaeons that it means they’re all weaker or spread too thin. All they do is train constantly. Their lives are dedicated to only that. It’s why most end up failing and retiring to find other work in the world.

“Talon and I made it far enough, but at a certain point we weren’t good enough to keep up. Ranking leaders are a different breed and the league? There are no stronger Trainers anywhere in the region. Maybe some TEA agents, but their strength is found in teams, not individual power levels.”

Nil thought back to that agent in the cave with his Thaeon making quick work of that man–he still wanted to know more about that whole situation. Powerful Thaeon below the mountains? He should’ve come to the lake instead.

“Thank you again, Rylie. Sorry again about all”–he waved his hand around–”this.”

Around them were various piles of trash and sticks that had washed around with the receding wave. She waved it off.

“I’ll get plenty of help cleaning it up from volunteers and Trainers wanting free rooms. Clean up this section, win a room!”

Nil sat on a hill overlooking the forest in front of him. It extended out in all directions. Part of him wished there was an easier way to traverse it. Maybe a path around. No. Like with all of life the most direct path is straight ahead. To hell with all the dangers. Before venturing in, he took stock of his backpack. He had stashed away quick food, some salves for Phantom, and various other items for pitching a tent and general camping. Lyn had guided him along with that before, teaching him some basic tenets of outdoorsmanship.

“Some people develop skills with their Thaeons to help them along. You know, cutting wood, starting fires, crossing rivers. Stuff like that,” she had said.

Phantom didn’t have such abilities, unfortunately. [Void] did not lend itself well to anything other than fighting. He did notice something peculiar, though. After their fight with the lake monster–that’s what everyone was calling it. Basic, but it explained it well enough–the nubs along Phantom's hands and legs had extended into spikes. Almost like he was gripping a small knife in each hand. A knife. That gave Nil an idea to try in their next fight. If it was true that Kylie had an Evo2, then he would have to start developing Phantom with better techniques that wasn’t just punch and kick. Every Thaeon had melee attacks; he needed to step into his own strengths if they were to progress beyond what they were now. He adjusted his pack and continued on into the wall of trees. Before he entered, he heard a yell from behind him. His heart leapt when he recognized the voice.

“Nil, wait up!”

Lyn bounded over the hill with Haven stepping lightly behind her, leaving behind golden circles with every step. She stopped in front of him and raised her finger for a moment to catch her breath. With a flip of her hair, she smiled with red cheeks.

“Finally I found you. I heard there was a big mess at the lake and you were right in the middle of it.”

“If by ‘big mess’ you mean awakening a Thaeon that shattered an island and sent us surfing on a wave that almost killed us, then yeah.”

“You’re in luck then. Pol City has surfing competitions with a cash prize.”

“I’d rather go home, honestly, or back into that cave.”

They both laughed at this. It was good to have her back. They sat and chatted for a bit, recounting the events of the day before. He pulled up some footage on his watch that Raven had sent him. A different perspective he had enjoyed that wasn’t the crashing foam as he was sucked under the water. She, on the other hand, had opted for a different route. There was a rumor going around that he had fought the beast one on one, but that wasn’t entirely true. It had been a joint effort from his peers. That didn’t stop some from calling him “monster slayer.”

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“After the cave, I knew we needed to get stronger. Haven and I went off and we’ve been training our techniques before going to Kylie and getting stomped.” She paused in thought. “Actually, wanna battle? Maybe the new monster slayer has learned a few tricks, too. How bout it?” Nil looked at his watch and saw the paltry funds left after buying supplies. She added: “No stake. Just for fun.”

They stood on flat ground, their two Thaeons an odd sight with their diametrically opposed colors that gave more credence to the idea that their aspects were opposites. This was something Nil didn’t fully understand. He knew that Thaeons couldn’t have two aspects that were opposed. For example, [Heat] and [Cold] would never be a combination; or, in this specific case, [Void] and [Ether]. Raven had rambled on once about aspect theory, but he had zoned out. The reasoning behind it was a mystery, but like every mystery there was truth somewhere waiting to be discovered. When they were both in agreement she said, “Go!”

Haven didn’t waste a second in strafing the field, leaving behind more golden lights on the ground. Nil knew she had her Ether Beams to watch out for but that was it. Or so he thought. From her shining golden body emerged a golden, miasmic field that stretched out under her feet and in waves of aura around her body. Phantom sent a few Void Strikes to test the waters, so to speak, but the blows were softened on impact. As if the aura coming off was slowing them down.

“Etheric Field, it’s called. Like it? It puts that little shield of yours to shame,” she mocked. “But that’s not all! Use Ether Wave!”

The field contracted into a bubble around Haven’s body. From it shot out waves of golden light that, upon impact, threw Phantom back. As he landed and found his balance, a beam shot out that he barely dodged.

“It’s a start; I have ideas to improve it. What, are you still just punching and kicking?”

Getting close was a no-go. Void Strikes were a no-go, too, as they were too weak to punch through the veil. He couldn’t think for long as another wave shot out that spread over the area. Phantom raised a shield, prompting another cackle from her. The wave bent around the shield that Phantom left standing by itself, detached from his arm. It dissolved and Phantom was gone, having reappeared behind her in a spin to hit with his new spikes. The golden field around Haven caught him, slowed him, and started actively pushing him away before the spike could connect. Frustrated, Nil had another thought as Haven started strafing away again.

He raised a wall in her path that she crashed into, then another in front of himself that he also crashed him purposely. The result–Nil was exultant at the effect–was that it wrapped around Phantom as he dashed towards the Etheric Field again, only this time the effects were deflected to the side like carving through water. In that brief opening he spun around and struck with a whirlwind of spiked punches and kicks that sent Haven falling to the side.

Void Cloak, Nil thought with a fuzzy mind that blinked in and out with the techniques. Phantom was feeling it, too, his own movements becoming sluggish with his energy getting dangerously low.

“Interesting tactics, but you forgot I can heal.” Lyn’s own voice was nearly breathless, each word labored out as sweat poured from her brow and matted hair on her forehead. Haven, knelt on the grass, glowed a bright gold then stood up. The field was gone. She couldn’t maintain it long while also defending herself. Good. Now, Phantom sent another Void Strike–Nil staggered to the side with the world around him closing slowly into a single point–that knocked Haven’s head to the side; then another; then another until she had collapsed on the ground…but so was Nil and Phantom.

Lyn was bent over, dry heaving from the sick feeling rising in her stomach. In all her training she had not gotten pushed to this level of effort. It gave her a smile. She ran over to Nil and splashed water on his face then handed him a dense granola bar.

“Eat this and give Phantom a salve. We need to try that again soon.”

“Ngh, huh? Did I pass out again?”

Phantom was beside him, their Bond pulsing with joy. But also an empty feeling of failure. Kylie had two Thaeons according to Rylie. If that were the case, he’d have to conserve energy or get better at these techniques before fighting her. He was too weak to maintain that level of combat through multiple Thaeons. The prospect of getting better was exciting, sure, but how far would it have to push it to get there? Dizzy, he rose and chomped down on the bar. These were designed to be high calorie for quick recovery after battles. The only downside, he realized with a twisted face, was that they tasted like a mud brick and were almost as dense.

“Take ten, then we go. We need to push our stamina a bit more without you passing out again.”

By nightfall they both lay beside a small fire, watching the stars above. His body felt beat up, sore in places he didn’t know existed. Void Cloak was a neat new trick for approach, but it had its limits. It was too direct and easily dodged. Combined with a Phase it worked beautifully, with the exception that it drained their energy. Nil had gotten to the point of doing it without passing out, but every time he was close. There was a long way to go.

“Do you think that man was right?” she asked him.

“Hmmm?”

“The man in the cave. About a powerful Thaeon under the mountains. There was one in the lake, right? Do you think it’s related?”

“I doubt it. We probably would have heard something in the cave if there had been, you know?”

“Yeah, I guess so. It makes you wonder though, right?”

“About?”

“What kind of powerful Thaeons there are in the world that we don’t know about. What if there are aspects out there we haven’t discovered?”

“That I doubt,” he said. “Raven said that Demiurge has been studying the human and Thaeon genome for decades now and has tracked all sixteen aspects in their biology. If there were more, they’d know.”

“I suppose so. Still, it’s fun to imagine, right? Like those legends my mom used to tell me as a child.”

Nil bit his lip, wondering if he should broach the subject. Eh, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

“Lyn, where are your parents?”

She was silent after this, shuffling on her blanket.

“I’d rather not get into that tonight, if you don’t mind. Let’s sleep. The forest is big and we need to rest.”

She agreed, apologized for prying and crawled into his tent.

By sunrise she was gone again.