(Sorry for this absolutely long delay for this chapter. Blame Shoto and Strat for being distracted every time we wanted to do so. Just a heads up, this is way shorter than all of the other ones, but because of this there is a dual upload so you can enjoy both of those!)

Special thanks to Shoto and Strat for the making of this chapter.

Chapter seven: The Start of Elesis' Training

~Demon Hunters Castle. Elesis' pov~

"I'm sorry Captain Elesis, but you have to leave now. Doctor's orders" the nurse says. I nod slowly as I leave Reiku's room. I close the door behind me and look upward at the ceiling. Why am I so weak all of a sudden? Why can't I stand up to my own little brother? I hear footsteps coming my way. I look and see that it's Shoto. He takes two fingers and pinches my nose.

"Why such the long face? What are you, a horse?" he asks. In a way, I feel offended that he asked if I was horse. I shake my head, freeing my nose from his grasp. He then places his hand on my forehead. I blush a bit as I look him in the eyes. "So, what do you wanna do? Become stronger... or cry some more? I say flowers look best when bloom." I look away from him. "So you wanna fight the demon or chicken out? That dog still needs a leash."

"I want to be stronger..." I manage to get out as I look back at him. I hear more footsteps coming this way so I look over Shoto's shoulder to see Luci.

"Hey there guys. What's going on?" He asks. Shoto looks at him and nods.

"He's coming too" Shoto says.

~Outskirts of the Shadow Forest~

As we walk toward the forest, a mist begins flowing over. The ground starts feeling as though I'm walking on bones. Weird, wasn't like last time we were here. I look down and see bones. Well, that explains a lot. "This isn't an ordinary dog. This is Lanos" Shoto says. I hear loud footsteps coming this way, like mini earthquakes. "This dog packs a strong bite, but has no teeth. He's nothing but a fragment of the real top dog, Uno Hound. Even so, he's not someone to be taken lightly."

"Be careful of his double lariat. Last time I got hit by that, I couldn't move for a few days" Luci adds. The sound of rustling trees is heard all while the mini earthquakes keep going. After a brief moment of silence, a tree is thrown out from the forest. The three of us dodge right, avoiding the tree and getting ready for what's the come. Out from the forest comes a giant in red. Spikes all around with even twin spikey bracelets. With a small head and giant muscles, it looks as though one punch could send me flying.

"Glhf." Me and Luci look at Shoto with blank expressions. I shake my head and focus back on Lanos, who I then charge at. He pulls his arm back then punches downward as soon as I get close. I dodge by rushing right, managing to get a quick cut off in the process.

"Spiral Blast!" I shout as I do an upward slash then do another one, this time going into the air. While doing so, a wave of sparks attacks Lanos. This causes him to fall down, leaving an opening for me. He tries to get back up as I get closer. "Judgment..." I slam my sword down onto to Lanos, knocking him down once more. Quickly, I charge up for my next attack. As I'm doing so, two dark elves jump out of the trees at me.

~Lucifel's pov~

I dash toward Elesis and cover her from the twins by holding up my sword, deflecting their attacks and sending them in opposite directions. I turn around and face her. "Don't just concentrate on one enemy; you have to focus on your surroundings. There may be others waiting for an opening to strike" I say.

~Elesis pov~

After Luci covers me, I then see flaming rocks fly over at the two elves. I look over to see where they came from to see it was Shoto, using his sword as a baseball bat to fire at them. After they're knocked away, Luci takes me back over to Shoto. "It's time to end this. I'm about to reduce them down to ashes" Shoto says. He takes all three of his sword and forms a circle around him. "Dragon Art: Magma Chamber." Suddenly, it feels as though the whole Earth is shaking. Around Lanos and the elves, lava geysers gush around them, forming a cage. The ground beneath them begins to set aflame. The pillars close in and the lava begins to settle. The area where Lanos and the elves were has been reduced to ash with the three of them no longer in sight.

"And just like that, they're gone..." I say. I look back over to Shoto, who is now putting his swords away. "Where did you learn that?"

"I learned it from slaying the dragon I fought, cept it was used differently. The dragon used it as a cage to keep me from running, but in turn, it was actually his downfall." I nod my head, understanding now. "Unfortunately it takes a lot out of me seeing as though Lanos was a big target. I actually prefer not to use it."

"Let's head back now. There's nothing more here" Luci says. Me and Shoto nod as we follow him back to the castle.

~Back at the castle. Lowe's pov~

"So, did you take her to train?" I ask Shoto.

"Yeah. It seems Lanos was too much to handle, though we can always find someone else to fight. Needless to say, it's not gonna be easy regardless" he replies.

"I see. Well, in that case, I'll leave her in the care of you two since you guys are doing a good job. Just make sure she doesn't overdo it." Shoto nods and walks out. As longs as she's in the hands of those two, she'll be fine. If she trains hard, then maybe she'll be strong enough to take on Elsword too... I turn to the messenger over to my left. "Can you please go request Eve's appearance?" He nods and leaves the room. With Elesis in care, now's a good time to discuss my doubts about Lyon.

End of chapter 7

Well things did take a bit of a turn while Elesis was training, though they weren't too bad. Now head on over to chapter 8 and hear what Lowe has to say about Lyon.