Arthur was surrounded by numerous shadow animals summoned by the dark mage. He had used his all-seeing-eyes to continuously evade and defend himself against their attacks. However, even though he could evade them, he couldn't do anything to counter-attack. He was almost at his limit; his breathing had gone deeper and deeper while his body expunged sweat in copious amounts. His movements had slowed down while his mind was about to collapse on him. All-seeing-eyes was an ability he had developed to overcome his lack of activation power.

Gaians were sensitive to aether, but thanks to Arthur's ability, this sensitivity was increased even more in him, so much so, that he could accurately see through all the movements of aether in a magic circuit and analyze them.  This ability was not limited to seeing through circuits, he could also use it to analyze magic. However, because of this, the ability took a heavy toll on his mental prowess, which affected his body during usage. This time was no exception, it was clear how tired he was.

"Huh?" arrogantly teased his enemy in a rasp ghostly voice, "Where's your confidence earlier? Chickened out?" He laughed.

Arthur was in a bind, since he could not defeat the shadow beasts—but why should he, when he could just attack the root of them all? Arthur raised his pistol, aiming towards the dark mage, all the while evading the shadow beasts' attacks.  The mage smiled behind his black mask; it was a smile of utter arrogance and contempt.

"Wall!"

Hence, a wall erected between him and Arthur. However, Arthur did not hesitate for a moment, he pulled the trigger and an aether bullet launched towards the earthen wall.  The man behind was confident, for he could sense the attack packed no punch, and—

The aether bullet dispersed when it hit the wall and the dark mage laughed haughtily.

"Hey, hey!" he boasted, "Do you think something like that could touch—"

A bullet hit the dark mage right on the forehead, one that jumbled up his brain functions causing an aether induced sleep; thus, the dark mage fell to the ground. The bullet that hit him was a second one Arthur immediately launched after the first one had gotten dispersed; at a glance, it seemed as though the two bullets were the same, but looking at it microscopically, the second bullet had been modified to perfectly dismantle the structural form of the earthen wall, causing it to pass through without effort.

This was because of Arthur's ability; once he analyzed a magic spell's structure, using the custom-made pistol developed by his late friend, he could accurately change the structural form of an aether bullet to fit the shape of the spell's weakest part. In simple analogical terms, if there was a square hole in a spell, he could make a square bullet to pass through it and so on and so forth.  In this sense, Arthur's fighting style was solely focused on analyzing the enemy's weaknesses and piercing through them.

Maya, who was now mobile, after the mage had been put to sleep, ran towards Arthur.

"How did you pierce through that thick wall?" Maya asked, curious and surprised. "Even with my unarmed exploding punch, I'm not confident I would have been able to destroy it."

Arthur scratched his cheek, "Luck I guess?"

'No, it wasn't luck,' thought Maya, beholden by Arthur's mysterious ability. 'I am certain he hadn't use a technique just now. A technique is supposed to be activated subconsciously; after seeing the movements of aether in his gun as the bullets formed, I can conclude with certainty that he had consciously formed those bullets. The second bullet should have been at level 3 power yet it pierced through the wall easily. How is this possible?'

Arthur looked down at Maya, who was shorter than him, noticing her seriously pensive look.

"It's a skill I've developed to supposedly fight criminals," he explained, trying to appease her interests, "but the chief of Light Tower insisted to place me behind the desk to take care of documents and the like because of my weak activation power, so maybe that's why it's the first time you've seen that way of fighting."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"No, it's not it," replied Maya, "your method is probably the first of its kind in all of history."

Arthur scratched his head awkwardly. "Is that so?" he laughed forcefully, "it's not that useful though. Had the mage not been arrogant and attacked me with a full on blast, even if I could have pierced it with my bullet, I would have certainly died."

***

Arthur reached down to carry the mage on his back but Maya stopped him.

"I've sent word to a comrade," she said, her expression still hidden behind her cloth-mask, "I've confirmed that this man neither works for Arthur nor Merlin; that's why I've called in the police, they can handle it from here.  If you take him with us he'll only slow us down."

"I see," responded Arthur with a tone of relief. Finally the fight was over, and he could continue on with his plan. However, before he and Maya could leave the place, he first walked towards Lily's grave and stood before it; Lily was his old teammate and friend, and who was also the one who built "X" (the pistol currently hidden in his pants at the side and had been buried in a box together with her coffin).

"That's an amazing ability Arthur!" said a female voice, as Arthur recounted past events. "I've just got a wonderful idea! I will develop a special weapon just for you, I'll call it 'X' so it will compliment your 'Calibre' well. Isn't it cool? You'll be like a modern Arthur with an 'X-Calibre'."

Arthur smiled poignantly at the remembrance of such a memory. Here he was once more, wielding the useless ability that couldn't save her. Although he hadn't yet overcome the trauma of losing that faithful comrade in battle because of his weakness, he had resolved that no matter what happened, even if Aisha would reject him later, either because her words of love she had conveyed to him were false and were mainly said to console him or that she would choose a man better than him, he would still protect her in the shadows, donning once more his old cloth.

"For you to take the sword once more," whispered a voice from somewhere as though it were in a dream, "means she's very special, huh?"

Arthur flinched and looked side-to-side but couldn't see anyone besides Maya, who was looking at him with a perplexed gaze. 'I really need to get some sleep,' he thought to himself, holding his head, 'I'm already showing signs of schizophrenia.'

Arthur began to walk away from Lily's grave, inciting Maya to follow him.

"Where are we going now?" asked Maya, briskly catching up to Arthur's hurried pace.

"To get Calibre," declared Arthur with a firm gaze and a hard-gripping fist.

***

At the mountain where Wisp's remains were laid, both Aisha and Mesh had separated to look for Arthur who had suddenly gone absent.  He could perhaps had already went ahead of them by using his flying techniques, but Mesh couldn't get off the feeling that something was off. As for Aisha, although Arthur had been strict towards her all this time, she couldn't remember a day when he was rough towards her (except today); hence, although the man had put a bounty on her beloved Arthur, she couldn't hate him. Thus, she looked for Arthur in earnest, as per Mesh's request.

She had walked quite a few feet away from the ship when she heard a wailing voice. She went towards the noise and pushed the bushes and brambles that blocked her way. A few minutes later, she arrived at a grassy field, at the center of which was a kneeling man and a grave. Aisha walked towards the man and was surprised to see that it was Arthur Pendragon, crying his heart out.

"What's wrong?" asked Aisha, in a hushed and concerned tone.

"Why are you here!?" spoke Arthur, irritatingly. "Don't you hate me? Do you think I'm a fool? I've only been hiding it all this time but I know you're against this engagement. So don't act all concerned you hypocrite."

Aisha couldn't answer because Arthur was spot on. Instead of speaking, Aisha knelt down beside Arthur, deciding to keep him company. She read the lettering on the tombstone.

[Herein lies a hero]

[Who died for his countrymen]

[Arthur Pendragon II]

'His father?' thought Aisha in shock, 'why is he buried near Wisp's grave?'

Arthur Pendragon tried hard to hold his tears out of shame towards Aisha, however, to his surprise, Aisha's hand moved to rub his back, trying to console him. This action from Aisha somehow thawed a frozen part of Arthur's heart.

"I'm sorry earlier," said Arthur, while sobbing, finally opening up to Aisha, "I didn't mean to hurt you. I was just overcome with rage after remembering an old wound. I just can't stand this place."

'Who knew he has a vulnerable side to him too?' Aisha thought.

Aisha did not say anything, instead, she merely accompanied Arthur throughout his crying. However, to Arthur, even just her company, was enough to placate his emotions.