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When Arata and Reika reached Master Houjou's house, they saw that Muraku was in the living room with their father.
"Arata, Reika." The master greeted them.
"Master Houjou." They bowed.
"You two can put down your things in the rooms down here." Master Houjou told them.
"Where's Mia?" Arata asked while Reika brought their things to their rooms.
"She's resting. After what happened at the docks, she's feeling overwhelmed and her head hurts a lot more than before." Muraku said with a frown.
"I see." Arata sighed and sat down at the couch.
"How long will you and Reika be staying here?" Master Houjou asked him.
Arata frowned and shook his head. "Probably for a few weeks at most. We're just going to try and help Mia regain her memories. If not, then we'll try to help her be as comfortable among her friends as possible."
"That will take a little longer than we hope though." Reika remarked when she came in and sat down beside him.
"But even so, I trust that she'll recover well." Master Houjou said and stood up. "I'll leave you three to talk. I have some errands that I need to run."
"Of course." Arata and Reika inclined their heads while Muraku nodded.
"You're not going to school?" Arata asked his friend.
"Not until later." Muraku shook his head. "I got half the day off of school. But I have to be back by Battle Time. I don't think Mikhail and Vanessa would like it if I let them go out on their own again."
Arata let out a chuckle at that. "Then we'll be mere spectators then. Are you going to participate in the tournament to enter Artemist?"
"I haven't made up my mind yet." Muraku shook his head. "Hikaru already asked Haruki and Daimen to form a team with him so they'll be out of the tournament. While I would like to participate, I don't want to overwhelm everyone else."
"Oh come on. I bet you'll win the tournament, given your reputation." Reika joked.
"Maybe, but I still prefer not to." Muraku said with a slight smile. "You'll be participating Artemist though?"
"Yup." Arata sighed. "Yuko-nee signed us up already. She wants us to find somebody there for her."
Muraku raised an eyebrow. "Oh."
"By the way, since Master Houjou is training you, how far have you come, power level and black belt wise?" Reika asked.
Muraku paused to think and then reached under the coffee table to double check his most recent report by his father. "I've already passed my karate, tai chi and wushu black belt. And for power level, I've just reached Level 6 two weeks ago."
Arata let out a whistle at that. "Wow, and in just six months. I guess it means that you get to go through the Aviane trials soon."
"The Aviane trials?" Muraku frowned.
"Basically a test you have to go through since you've reached Level 6." Arata explained. "To put it simply, you get sent to the Aviane dimension and stay there until you befriend an Aviane."
"Will it be difficult?" Muraku wondered.
"Not so much if you can tell which Aviane you truly want to befriend." Reika told him with a shrug. "At least it's not the Master's trials. Once you turn Level 8, the highest level, you'll have to take the Master Trials in order to earn the title of Master. But it is optional on whether you want to take it or not. Having that title just gives you more recognition and benefits."
"Oh." Muraku raised an eyebrow.
"Trust us, you don't want to know what the trials are." Arata said with a slight smirk. "Many people prefer to stop at Level 7 and go on with their normal live without the title of Master like Yuko-nee."
Muraku let out a small chuckle at that and stood up. "Why don't you two stay here and take care of Mia? I have to go to my classes. But I'm sure that you two will show up to watch Battle Time."
"Of course." Arata nodded. When Muraku had left, Arata frowned and brought his hand to his face. "We have a dilemma."
"What's that?" Reika asked him concernedly.
"Earlier, I tried to probe Mia's mind to see if her powers are the ones interfering with her regaining her memories." Arata sighed.
"Let me guess, her mind is all shielded up." Reika guessed.
"That and there's some sort of barrier preventing her memories from resurfacing. Muraku is right. It's not trauma that made her loss her memories. It's her powers. But on the bright side, that mental shield is also preventing her from using her powers."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"It is a good thing such that she would not use her powers unconsciously. But the bad thing is that I don't know how to remove that barrier. But at some point, certain memories will slip through it with a strong provocation like this morning when she recognized us, or at least, our names." Arata sighed.
"Oh." Reika sighed as well.
Battle time is about to start. All students are to prepare themselves.
"Some things never change." Reika remarked when she and Arata arrived at the viewing rooms and took a seat.
Today's competition is the Attack the Flag competition.
"Now that's a change. I wonder what the competition is about." Arata remarked.
"I guess we'll find out soon." Reika shrugged.
Inside the control pods, Haruki was giving his class the briefing. "Given that today's competition is Attack the Flag, we have been assigned to attack class 3-5's flag. But we have to expect an attack from class 4-1. First, second and sixth teams will come with me to attack our opponent's flag while the fourth and fifth teams will remain here to guard our flag."
"Roger!"
In case the reader is wondering, there is no third team because that is Rikuya's team and no matter what anyone said, his platoon will always be the third team of class 5-5 which is why they never bother to move the fourth to sixth teams up.
The whole diorama which was once the Second World had changed in such a way that instead of world continents, the whole diorama was divided into several areas which each area's condition representing one type of D-Cube diorama terrain: jungle, city, volcano, snow, canyon, and mountain. And at certain areas, there was a miniature flags placed within the area of each class.
"Class 3-5's flag is located at the snow area." Haruki told his, the second and the sixth teams. "The second team will attack the flag while the sixth team backs them up. We'll take down the enemy LBX!"
"Roger!"
All the LBX dropped down at the said area and much to Arata and Reika's surprise, Daimen's LBX was no longer DC Offencer but Arata's former LBX, Dot Blastrizer. But what shocked them the most was how it was painted over with the Australian flag's colors and pattern.
"…Daimen is still the patriotic guy we're friends with." Reika said with a sweatdrop.
"…Yeah." Arata nodded in agreement.
Among the rest of Jenock, half of them retained their LBX used before the changes while others used other types. They noticed that Mikhail was now using Gunther Ylzephar while Vanessa was using a modified Phantom Blaze, colored purple like her other teammates' LBX.
"Did Murkau let her use it?" Reika wondered, voicing out her thoughts.
"I guess." Arata slowly nodded. After Mia was brought to the mainland, the ownership of Phantom Blaze was given to Muraku. So for him to give it to Vanessa to use was not surprising for them.
At the diorama, Daimen and Seiryuu were shooting at the flag while the sixth team was cutting down any LBX that dared to get close to them. Val Diver and Trivhine were fighting off the LBX which were trying to get over to the flag and reinforce their friends.
"Muraku, come over and helps us finish off the remaining LBX. Mikhail, Vanessa, continue to guard the second team!" Haruki ordered.
"Got it!" Muraku brought Magna Orthus over to Hikaru and Haruki's position where the remaining LBX had gathered.
"Hissatsu Function!" Hikaru, Muraku, and Haruki yelled.
Attack Function
Catastrophe Drive
Sword Storm
Tri-Cannon
The three hissatsu functions collided and sent all the LBX flying for their intention was not to destroy the LBX but to defeat them. Instantly, they broke over. Over with the second team, they managed to destroy the flag with extra help from Mikhail and Vanessa. The alarm sounded and the LBXs in the area were frozen and teleported back to their class's area where the fourth and fifth teams had fended off the attack from class 4-1.
"Just half an hour more until the alarm goes off. All units, fan out and secure the perimeter. If you see any enemy LBX, alert us immediately before engaging them."
"Roger!"
"That was interesting." Arata remarked by the time Battle Time ended with class 5-5 successfully defending their flag.
"And now on to the tournament." Reika grinned. "And hopefully it'll be just as interesting as Battle Time. As they headed over to the assembly hall where the tournament will be held, they met up with Muraku and Haruki discussing about something.
"…You should enter. I really think that this would be the best opportunity to…"
"Haruki, we talked about this before." Muraku cut in politely. "I have no desire to enter the tournament. If I do and win, it would mean that Mia will be alone on the island since Arata and Reika are participating as well."
"Are we interrupting something?" Arata politely interrupted.
"No." Muraku shook his head and turned to Haruki. "I'm not going to join the competition and that's final." He gave them a nod and walked off.
"What's with him?" Reika frowned, not understanding why Muraku was acting like this.
"He's been like this since Mia was put in the hospital." Haruki sighed. "Mikhail and Vanessa told me that it's because he blames himself for what happened to her."
"It's a good thing Mia's amnesiac or she'll throttle him for that." Arata shook his head. "I'll talk to him about it. How much longer until the deadline to register for the tournament?"
"One more hour." Haruki told him. "Good luck in getting through him. I have a feeling that he'll listen to you more than he would to me and the others."
It didn't take Arata long to find his friend on the roof and he smirked. "I knew that you'd be here."
Muraku cocked his head at him and frowned. "Did Haruki ask you to talk to me?"
"Nope." Arata shook his head. "But he did tell me that you were blaming yourself for what happened to Mia."
Muraku sighed and leaned on the fence. "You can't deny that it's true. I was supposed to protect her and she ended up like this because I trusted Lara too much."
"Hey, if you're going to blame yourself, then I should be no better than you." Arata folded his arms. "Remember, Mia is my sister just as she is yours. And I should not have left you two alone to find Lara that night. But I learned that it's better to let it come and go instead of blaming myself. You would not let me wallow in guilt when we thought that Seredy killed our friends with the so-called poisonous gas."
"How do you do it?" Muraku wondered. "How is it that you managed to pick yourself up every time something bad happens?"
"Experience." Arata said darkly. "I learned the hard way when I was young that in this world, you have to defile the bullies who push you down by standing up again after they push you down if you want to survive. Many people may think the opposite, but that's what I believe. For me and probably you, bullies don't only come in the form of physical people who love to torture you physically or mentally just to feel better. Bullies can also be our own emotions. Right now, your bully is the feeling of guilt."
Muraku stared at Arata in mild surprise. For him to think of things in this way was unorthodox as far as Muraku knew. But, he could relate to what he was saying. "So I should stand up to my feelings of guilt if I want to take down the bully. That's what you're saying?"
"Interpret it all you want." Arata shrugged. "But I can guarantee you this. When Mia regains all her memories or learns of this now, she'll never forgive you. We can tell how much you want to enter Artemist but you're sacrificing that dream for Mia. Do you think that she'll let you do so?"
"No." Muraku shook his head after contemplating it. "But is it worth entering the tournament and leave Mia alone on the island when we go for Artemist?"
"You could bring her along. She's been to Sydney before so it might help her recall something." Arata suggested. "Plus, this is a chance for her to hang out with our friends so that she can get used to them again."
"I suppose." Muraku tilted his head back to stare at the sky. "Alright, I'll enter the tournament and talk to my father about letting Mia come with us."
"Talking like you'll win it." Arata smirked.
Muraku rolled his eyes at that. "Trust me, you don't want to know how the competitors are. I'm not trying to say that they are terrible players but I'm sure that almost everyone would agree on it. Most of the talented and skillful players are staying out of this one since there's another major tournament that's more exciting than Artemist coming up…or so I was told."
"What could be more exciting than Artemist?" Arata wondered with a scratch of the back of his head.
"Some tournament in Akihabara City." Muraku shrugged. "Wonder why though since the prize is a supposedly new generation LBX."
"Probably the 'new generation' stuff." Arata said mildly. They shared a small smile before heading off the room to the assembly hall so that Muraku could register for the tournament.