So the only thing I could think of when I started writing this is that I forgot to say thank you for the really nice reviews you guys left in the chapter before the last one. Saying it was really nice doesn't quite fit, but I don't want to get all dramatic about it. So, yeah, thank you for being awesome, and that means all of you who continue to read this story even now.

Then I realized this chapter was ALSO, going to end up much longer than I expected, but this time it was because I ended up doing things differently from what I originally had planned.

Oh yeah and I'm just gonna stop saying that I'm trying to cut down on the time it takes to write these, cause obviously things are just going to keep coming up, and I also just can never bring myself to write on any given day. Like for the first month after the last post I didn't write much because I was in constant physical pain, and it was only after a month I realized the situation was hopeless and it wasn't going to go away any time soon…

And to make things worse I'm going to be starting classes in January, which will almost certainly reduce my writing speed. All I can really say is that I'm really sorry. I never wanted to be one of those writers that doesn't post a chapter for a month+, but clearly I can't do a damn thing about it anymore. Just know that I still want to show the world more of this story. You'll hear it from me if I actually stop writing. Also if I don't post for a whole year I'm probably dead. Hoping that doesn't happen though because again, I want to write.

Despite all that, I hope you all enjoy!

ProtectorTale, Life Above Ch.38

(Distant – Oneshot OST)

The first thing he noticed as he came to his senses was the sound of boots stepping through tall grass. He then opened his eyes and realized he was walking down a grassy hill that he found strangely familiar. He came to the realization that his legs were moving on their own, but just as he did, he gained control of his body and found he had no interest to stop walking, and continued down the hill without missing a beat. At the base of the hill was another grassy mound that he began walking up. The tall grass brushed against his face and he raised his arms up to keep them out of his vision. The blades reacted to his touch and sparkled with green energy, and he wondered why that was so familiar.

Upon reaching the top of the second hill, he saw that half way to the horizon was a great big tree that extended into the sky, and he couldn't tell if the top of the tree pierced through the clouds or if it was a cloud itself. He continued walking, up and down each hill that lay in his path. He couldn't bring himself to do anything else, or think of anything else, he just wanted to reach the tree. After what felt like a strangely short amount of time, he crossed over the last of the grassy hills, and all that was left was the mile of open space that surrounded the great tree. He blinked and he was there, and now he stood before the giant object. He was able to see the wood up close and in detail, and he was able to look up and see the impossibly large tree reach beyond his sight.

He relaxed and took a breath. It came so naturally and easily, and he'd never known that the breathing he'd done all his life had been so obstructed. Every thoughtless movement, every thought, every beat of his heart. Standing beneath this tree made every natural thing he'd done up to this point feel forced and difficult by comparison. He felt amazing, he felt clear, he felt light and full of life. His very soul was filled with something, something good that he just couldn't explain, and he felt content to just stay here.

And then he felt something much less amazing, and much more simple than this tree. He felt the presence of someone behind him, and they were a little too close. He spun around quickly, ready to jump away from whoever was there, but the sudden action woke him up.

(Music ends)

Frisk's feet dangled off the edge of the couch excitedly as she heard a pair of footsteps slowly making their way down the stairs. She stared at the entrance to the living room with a wide, excited smile as AJ stepped around the corner, hair freshly combed after his shower. He saw her expression and smiled a little as he rolled his eyes.

"Frisk, come on." He commented as he specifically walked into the middle of the living room, putting the small wood table between him and the kid.

"What do mean, 'come on'? This is what I've been waiting for!" She responded, smile not fading as she sat there. "It needs my seal of approval!"

"It's my shampoo, it doesn't need your approval!" The green soul pointed out.

"Yes it does!" Frisk countered adamantly. In one quick motion she jumped over the table and straight at him, hands aiming for his hair. He caught her in the air by her left wrist and right ankle, and leaned away as she continued reaching for his head with her free hand. "Come on! Just let me pet you! This is the best time to do it!"

"Actually it isn't. Our friends are gonna be here any minute, aren't they!?" AJ asked.

"That doesn't matter right now! I have to know!" The child continued squirming and trying with all her might to reach him, while he was trying to hold her as far away as possible.

"Gah! You're being ridiculous about this!" He commented as they struggled.

"I'll stop being ridiculous as soon as I know!" The determined mage exclaimed.

"Alright then stop squirming!" The boy demanded.

The request surprised her and she stopped for a moment. Being held above him, she looked down and saw him blushing with a look that said 'just get it over with.' He held her still so she could easily stroke his hair. She let out a long gasp as stars filled her eyes. "It's even softer now…" She whispered. "Yeeeeeesss! This is the greatest shampoo ever…" She said as she hugged his head and nuzzled into his hair.

"Frisk get off my head." He said as his blush grew.

"No!" She responded.

"Frisk get off my head!" He said more strongly.

She pouted before climbing down, but only slightly so she could continue playing with his hair.

"Get off me." He requested exasperatedly.

The child let out a whine as she slowly slid down and off of him. "But it won't be soft forever…"

"Knowing Toriel, she'll definitely make me take another shower tonight, so you'll have another chance." He pointed out so she wouldn't be sad.

"Yay!" Frisk whispered.

"I do believe your friends are here, children." Toriel pointed out, looking out the nearby window.

"Guess we should go out and say hi, then." AJ said as he started towards the door, and the younger human followed with a smile as she got excited to see their friends.

Upon exiting their house, they saw three of their friends standing on the sidewalk and chatting. At the moment, Sarah was passionately going on about something they couldn't hear. Lilly and Josh noticed the Dreemurrs first, and the older girl looked over her shoulder to see what they were looking at.

"Oh! Hey, you two!" She said with a bright smile as she turned to them.

"Hi!" Frisk greeted with a wave.

"Heyo." AJ greeted.

"Hey." Josh greeted with a nod.

Lilly quietly smiled at Frisk, who smiled back.

"So, we're not gonna have everyone this time?" The older boy asked.

"Well I tried to get Adam to come along, cause he clearly needs it, but he wouldn't answer. He's probably off brooding somewhere or something." Alex answered.

"It's telling that we haven't even hung out that much and we already expect that from him." AJ commented with a smirk.

"Well it's his fault for always looking so angry…" The purple soul responded, pouting in annoyance from the fact that he acts that way.

""Angery."" The two Dreemurr's commented simultaneously, before they both burst out laughing at their timing. The others couldn't help but laugh as well.

The laughter from the red and green souls abruptly ended, with Frisk suddenly looking to her bestie with concern, and AJ starting to turn to his right to look down the sidewalk. The boy quickly raised his arms up in front of him in an X shaped guard as Alex's fist came flying in. The brave soul was stopped dead in mid-air as her orange trail caught up with her. The kind mage threw his arms out to push the girl back, and she landed roughly on her back before quickly recovering and growling in annoyance.

"And Alex wasn't here cause she wanted to ambush you." Josh spoke.

"And it didn't work, because of COURSE it didn't work!" Alex said, annoyed. "You just turned like you knew I was coming!"

"Well, you haven't had your magic as long as me." AJ responded.

Sarah awkwardly squeezed between the two boys to get in front of the other teen her age, her arms raised in a calming manner. "I'm, just, gonna step in before you two get mad and start fighting. How about we go inside, and do fun stuff instead?"

"I'd prefer that, yeah, sure." The kind soul answered before turning to head inside.

"Good, cause I wanna have a free for all to start this off." The patient mage commented.

AJ imagined a screen littered with chaos. "Oh boy… that sounds fun!" He said with a chuckle as they all began walking towards the front door, with Frisk leading the pack.

The red head chuckled at that. "Well I hope you all can keep from crying when I wipe the floor with you!"

"And I hope you don't break our controllers if you end up losing." The green soul responded.

Sarah sweatdropped as they glared at each other. "Well, being competitive is better than fighting, I guess…" She heard a vehicle come to a stop close behind them. "Hmm? Is that Adam?" She wondered hopefully. "Wait. Does he have a car?"

The older Dreemurr turned around to see as well. "Well, he is old enough to-" He blinked twice. "I know that car." He suddenly sprinted across the yard without another word.

"Wait, wha- AJ!? Who is it!?" Sarah asked, getting everyone else's attention.

The driver's side door was starting to open when the boy jumped over the sleek, black hood of the vehicle and turned to the man as he stepped out. Johnson was met with wide eyes filled with shock, confusion, and just a bit of annoyance.

"What in the world are you doing here!?" AJ asked.

"Why do you look so shocked, my boy?" The mayor asked.

The casualness of the question caused the mage's expression to freeze for a moment. "You haven't talked to me for nearly two months!" He pointed out.

The man's friendly façade broke at that. "Well if you must know, all this magic and monsters business has left me with a lot of work to do almost constantly!" The sudden shift made the boy lean back a bit. "And I'm not just talking about meetings with the King and Queen, or even the ambassador child, I'm talking about PASSING DAMN LAWS!" Everyone flinched at his raised voice. "I practically had to BEG for rush order laws for the city, then for the county, then the state, and now we're trying to make them country wide, all to save lives! YOU'RE the one who insisted I do this as fast as possible to help the monsters, AND future mages, so EXCUSE ME if I don't have time to stop by!" He pointed out.

'And I totally forgot that he doesn't hesitate to let his anger show if he's stressed out.' The cringing boy thought. "And I appreciate a thousand times over that you care about the monsters as much as you do, and have helped them out as much as you have." He said apologetically. "But why are you here now?" He asked.

"The police need your help." Mayor Johnson answered.

"What? Why?" AJ asked, incredibly confused.

"There's some criminal they can't catch and their mage division thinks you can help, since you have the most experience with soul magic. Now get in." The man ordered.

"Wait, right now!?" The teen asked, shocked. "My friends are over, I can't just leave!"

"Well that's not my fault! The Chief told me they have a plan tonight, so this can't wait." The mayor explained.

The boy's shoulders sank. "You've got to be kidding me…"

Johnson allowed himself to look sympathetic. "Look, I wish I didn't have to pull you away from them either, but with my experience, I can pretty easily say that sometimes things come up that matter more than your plans for the day."

"Yeah. Sometimes your parents kick you out and leave you for dead, and that really messes with your plans to play video games all day." AJ said sarcastically, as it was the only way to safely express his anger.

The curious child walked over to them. "What's going on?" She asked.

"Well apparently, I have to go." The boy answered.

"What!? No! You can't leave!" Frisk whined, before looking up at the mayor. "He can't go! Our friends are over! We're-"

"I know, Frisk, I can see them." The man cut her off. "But I need AJ to help with something important, and it cannot wait until later."

"Why? What are you doing?" The girl asked.

The teen looked at Johnson. "I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to tell you that."

"Yeah. Especially with the others there." The man commented.

"Oh come on! What's so important?" Frisk asked before just letting out a sad sigh. "When will you be back?"

AJ frowned at that and lifted her up to hug her. "Oooooh… Come on, Frisk, don't be sad… I can't stand it when you're sad…" He said sorrowfully.

"Then tell him no…" She requested into his shoulder.

He let out a sigh through his nose. "Frisk, it's important… I can't do that." He could tell this really upset her. "I'm really sorry, sis. Things like this just happen sometimes… Just have fun without me, and wait for me to come back tonight, okay?"

Rather than make a loud exclamation of surprise, she just let out an annoyed sigh. "Tonight? Really?"

"Yeah… it may take awhile. But I made a promise, so you don't have to worry about my safety or anything." The older boy commented.

"I better not have to." The girl warned.

He couldn't help but smile at her adorable pout. "I won't let anything get in the way the next time they come over."

"We need to go." Johnson pointed out.

"Right." AJ responded with a nod as he began walking towards the passenger side door.

"Wait, AJ!" Frisk requested excitedly as she ran in front of him. She stopped and looked up at him expectedly.

"…What?" He asked after a moment, smirking.

"You know what." She answered with a grin.

He squinted at her in thought for a moment, and then his eyes widened. "No, no. Frisk, if you wanna make that a thing, we'll start next time I leave."

"No. Do it now." The red soul ordered.

"But everyone's watching." He pointed out, embarrassed.

"How is it embarrassing?" Frisk asked, confused.

"Because it's stupid." The kind soul answered.

"It's not stupid! And you already agreed to do it!" She said, angrily pointing at him.

"Because I thought I'd be doing it without random people watching!" AJ exclaimed.

"Those aren't random people, they're our friends! Come on! Just do it so you can go already!" She demanded.

He grumbled before sighing. "Fine, but you're doing it with me, I'm not going first."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine."

They both then raised their hands to their chests, and made a heart shape with their hands, around their own glowing, magical hearts.

"Bye!" Frisk said, smiling brightly.

"Bye." AJ responded, smiling through his embarrassment.

And with that, Frisk let him get in the car without another complaint. As she went to turn away, she noticed the window roll down.

"Before I forget!" He called out to her, and she walked up closer. "Give a message to the others for me. If anything of mine is broken..." His face suddenly became deadly serious. "I will punish all of you."

She tried not to look tense as she worried that applied to her as well.

"That way no one can blame it on someone else and get away with it!" The boy said with a false smile as he rolled the window back up.

AJ waited till they had started towards the main city before speaking up. "So, can you tell me any more about what exactly I have to do? Or why they need my help?" He asked.

"Well, I honestly don't know too much about the situation, so I can't elaborate much more." Johnson answered.

"You can still tell me what you can." The teen said.

"Alright. Well, what did I already tell you?" The man asked.

The mage squinted at him. "Do you even remember how to get to the station?" He deadpanned.

"HEY! You calling me senile!?" The mayor asked angrily.

"Watch the road." AJ said simply, his frustration keeping him unfazed. "If this is a big deal or something, shouldn't you know more about it?"

"Well, you see, me and the Chief go way back…" The man started.

"Oh, you're friends?" The green soul asked.

Johnson chuckled. "Oh no, he hates my guts. But we both respect each other and what we do."

"Well, at least there's that." AJ commented.

"Yeah. He sees no reason I should have my nose in his job, and I don't agree, but I trust him to handle most things. So it was quite surprising when he asked me to help him, and brought up the idea to get you over there."

"Wait, it was his idea?" The boy asked, surprised.

"Actually, he said the veterans in his mage division came up with the idea to have you help them." Mayor Johnson answered.

The teen let out a single chuckle. " 'Veteran' is a bit of a stretch, don't ya think?"

"Well they're the ones who've had their powers the longest. He said they were already officers when their magic started showing up. They'd probably have been there when you were teaching in person, now that I think about it." The man commented.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me…" The boy said into his palm as it met his face. "I'm just supposed to teach them the basics of their magic, and that's it. I'm not supposed to be some mentor they can call up when they need me. I'm not a good teacher…" AJ complained.

"This coming from the kid who basically taught the world how to use their magic." Johnson commented.

"Don't call me a kid." The mage warned.

After spending some time in city traffic, they finally parked in front of the police station. The large blue "Onyx Police Department" text was clearly placed above the front entrance.

"All I asked for was a normal life, and now I'm in front of the damn police station about to help them do what? Catch a criminal?" As always, AJ took a moment to appreciate the ridiculousness of life, specifically his life.

The mayor followed the boy as an officer guided them to the back of the station, where they entered a large, open room that policemen practiced hand to hand combat and grappling techniques. There were quite a few men and women near the edges of the dojo-like room, practicing moves on each other. But the kind soul was here for the three figures standing together in the middle of the room.

"Well, I have work to do, so I'm gonna get going. See you later." Johnson said as he turned back towards the front entrance.

"See you." The mage responded, watching him leave for a moment. With him and the guide now leaving to do their own things, AJ approached the three ahead of him.

On his left, was a dark skinned woman with frizzy black hair, standing with her hands on her hips. He guessed she was in her early thirties.

In front of him was a man in his mid-twenties with dark brown hair, his arms crossed as he grinned at the approaching teen.

To his right was a man of at least sixty judging by his grey hair and medium side mustache, as well as his somewhat wrinkled face. He was hunched over slightly with his hands behind his back.

The woman was the first to introduce herself, reaching her hand out with a friendly, but not overly so, smile. "Hi there! I'm Rebecca." She greeted. He shook her hand.

"Samuel." Greeted the older gentleman with a small, but kind, smile as he held out his hand next.

"And I'm William!" The final one greeted with a confident grin.

AJ could tell a few people off to the sides were looking at him. "And of course, you probably know me." He said with a sigh. "Just call me AJ." He requested.

"No problem." Rebecca responded.

"So, you three are the 'veteran' mages around here?" The boy asked.

"Well…" William started with a chuckle, clearly about to start bragging.

"Of the few mages that are among the police force, we're the only three to be there during your classes." Samuel answered.

"We're totally the best." The youngest of the officers said quickly.

"But 'veteran' isn't the right word for someone who's had their magic for barely a month." The old man added.

"That's what I said." The teen commented. "So, probably obvious question, but what exactly is the 'mage division'?"

"It's nothing much. Everyone among the force who can use soul magic gets some extra training for how to use it when on duty." The woman answered. "Though there isn't much to the training since it's brand new and people don't really know what to do with magic yet."

"They basically tell us to make use of our enhanced strength to easily detain people." Samuel said.

"Yeah. But they also give us more specific tips and training depending on our traits." William added.

"Oh yeah! What are your traits?" AJ asked curiously.

"Patience." Samuel answered.

"Justice!" William said proudly, his bright yellow soul appearing front and center.

"Perseverance." Rebecca answered as her purple soul came into view.

The kind soul couldn't help but smile. He had been approached by random mages who were excited or proud of their new powers, but they had always been teens or younger. There was something different about it being adults. He just always expects them to be serious, and not take part in things like magic. But that was the world they lived in. Magic did not discriminate. It became a part of people's lives at complete random.

"We should probably get started." Samuel pointed out.

"Right." Rebecca agreed with a nod.

"Right. You guys need me for something. How can I help?" AJ asked, genuinely wanting to know how he's supposed to help them.

"Well, quite simply, we're at a loss." The woman admitted.

"This criminal isn't the first to use magic." The oldest one started.

"Yeah, that's not the problem, cause we've beaten other mages before." William said.

"Although we've only had to deal with two others so far." Samuel pointed out.

"Yeah, if someone is using magic, that's what our mages are for. They can't resist when we're as strong as they are." Rebecca said. "Plus, I can outrun them."

"Though I usually detain them before that is necessary." The patient mage pointed out.

"And if anyone got out of hand, I'm a great shot and can wing them pretty quick." William commented.

"Yes, we're all good in our own rights. Unfortunately, I think we all would have had to have been there to catch this criminal." Samuel said, bitterly recalling the event that occurred yesterday. "He was nothing but a common thief, and I was the mage assigned to come with in case of an emergency. But when we tried to apprehend him, he moved with incredible speed and agility, knocking away the two officers in front of me. He came for me next, but I was able to block him and quickly tried to detain him with my magic. But he moved in such a strange way that I'd never seen before…"

"Huh. Sounds like a brave mage who knows how to use his speed to dodge and attack." AJ commented.

"No." Samuel said, confusing him. "The energy that came off him was red."

The boy's eyes widened slightly as he gave the man a serious look. "That's impossible. Alphys has yet to get even a single report of a mage with a red soul. Frisk is the only one with determination as their trait!"

"If you ask me… He learned he had magic, and kept it to himself. Not sure why he would do that though." The old man commented. "You know, I never got to say how impressed I was that a boy your age stepped up and taught all those people how to use their magical powers. I was the one who asked for your help, because I thought you would be the best person to go to for advice about this."

"But how am I supposed to help you? Do you want me to fight him with you!?" The confused teen asked.

"Oh no, we would never ask that of you!" Rebecca answered immediately.

"As officers, we're trained to resolve situations as quickly and as peacefully as possible. We are trained to detain people before they cause harm to anyone, but this man moved too fast for me to catch, and the way he fought me was so strange. He didn't try to run away, even when he had knocked me down, he didn't use the chance to escape. He used his whole body when he fought, like some sort of martial artist. I was mostly hoping for you to give us a fresh perspective on this, because none of us can think outside the box of our training. If even your knowledge of soul magic cannot help us though, we can have someone give you a ride back home."

Suddenly it clicked in AJ's mind. Something about what he was saying was familiar, the mental image he was getting and the man's wording were forming a concept of a way of fighting that was very familiar to him. "So, let me get this straight, just to be sure. You try to end stuff as quick as possible. You use your strength to hold them down and handcuff them or whatever, right?"

"Yep." William answered.

"Yeah." Rebecca agreed.

"You don't, like, fight them until they can't fight back so you can detain them?" The boy asked.

"No!" Samuel exclaimed, as if the idea was preposterous. "Why would we do that!? We're trying to minimize harm where we can!"

The boy let out a disappointed sigh. "Wow, those two other mages must have been totally incompetent then…" And now, for the final, most important question. "So have any of you watched any anime?"

They all shook their heads while looking confused.

The boy let out an even more disappointed sigh. "Well if you'd watched any, you'd know that when the strong fight the strong, it doesn't just end easily. You have to fight them with all you have, with the intent to beat them, until you knock them out or they just can't fight anymore, and then you can take them in. I guess you wouldn't think to do that since you're stronger, but if the mage is at least competent they'll be able to fight back, with their fists, and as long as they have their soul energy flowing through them, they'll be able to take hits from you too."

And there it was. The problem was so simple. The way of fighting that he and his friends used when they sparred, the way powerful anime characters would fight. This criminal was fighting this way, and they had no idea how to deal with it. He realized at that moment that he would have to spar with these three to get them to start thinking a different way when they fight. Starting with actually fighting instead of finding a way to hold them down when they can still fight back.

"Alright, how long do I have to teach you all how to fight?" AJ asked them.

Samuel wanted to comment on that, but decided to just answer the question. "We have until pretty late tonight. For some reason, the criminal left a message on the internet saying when and where he would be next."

"Hmm. He either has some terrible plan, or wants to make a show out of this." The kind soul commented. "Well, in that case, I'll spend the rest of the day helping you three learn how to fight like a mage." He said with a grin as he got a bit excited at the idea of sparring. He sighed internally though as he realized Frisk was going to waiting for him for awhile. "Let's start with you." He said to the older man. "Stand over there and get ready to try and capture me."

"Understood." Samuel walked over to one side while the boy walked to the other.

"Now, make sure your soul energy is flowing through your whole body while we do this, or you're gonna get hurt." AJ said. "Now, try to catch me as you would a criminal with magic."

The man nodded before raising his arms to either side, creating ten teal vines before launching them at his opponent. The boy lifted his right hand slightly as it glowed green, and a large barrier appeared between them that blocked the vines, cracking the wall somewhat. Samuel was surprised by his speed with his magic, but he quickly recovered and attempted to move the ropes around the barrier to trap the boy. Two more barriers appeared on either side to block them as they lunged, and AJ dropped the first barrier so he could quickly rush toward the older gentleman.

The man recognized his opponent was approaching and raised his fists in preparation. Just as the green soul was almost within range, he jumped and aimed a kick at the old man's head. Samuel ducked to avoid it, and AJ landed feet-first on the barrier behind him. The boy quickly spun and pushed off the barrier, landing a punch on the man's back before he was able to turn around.

"Oof!" Samuel exclaimed as he hit the ground.

After that quick display of bright, glowing magics, they had pretty much everyone's attention.

"If you're going to fight the way a mage fights, you have to read your opponent's moves, and be more nimble. You gotta be light on your feet and ready to move on a moment's notice." The teen explained to the gentleman. "…You need healing?" He asked almost immediately afterwards, slightly worried.

The old man let out a minor groan as he stood up and turned to him. "No, I'm good. My magic keeps me feeling like I did in my youth." He said with a chuckle. "Still, a part of me was kind of expecting you to pull your punches a bit."

"Sorry." AJ said honestly. "But I always take fights seriously." He turned to the two other mage officers and pointed at the woman. "You're next. Stand in the same place, and then try to attack me." He walked to where he was before while Rebecca went to where Samuel was just standing. "Ready?"

She got in a fighting stance and nodded.

"Let's go, then." The boy taunted, giving her the first move.

She allowed herself a smirk as she tried to surprise him by rushing straight towards him using the enhanced speed from her trait. His response was nearly instant, pushing off in a powerful jump that sent him straight towards her with his fist cocked back behind him. As fast as she'd crossed half the distance by running, he crossed a third with a jump, and her eyes widened in surprise. She had only a moment to react, and she quickly turned her run into a slide right under him. He tried to swing downwards as she passed, but he missed.

He slid just a bit as he landed and quickly spun to face her. They definitely had everyone's attention now. "Didn't know anyone else could go as fast as you, right?" AJ guessed with a smile. "The reason every mage is faster than a normal person is strength. You can push off the ground harder, so you can run faster, jump higher, and jump farther. If you're smart with it, that translates into speed and mobility." As soon as he said that, he started running, taking only a few steps before it turned into a leap towards his opponent.

Rebecca responded by running to meet him, leaving a purple trail as she crossed with incredible speed. He landed only a few feet in front of her at the middle, but he landed with only his left foot, and his body was already leaning to his right. He pushed off and was out of her way just as she slowed down to throw a punch. She turned to her left with a shocked expression as she watched him land in a similar way and push off with right foot as he went forwards, then made another ninety degree turn to his left. Samuel's eyes widened in realization as he noticed how familiar that way of moving was to the criminal's. His feet appeared to barely leave the ground. In just a second he had done a complete one eighty and jumped at the officer and swung at her.

She managed to jump back just in time to avoid the punch, but he didn't let up and jumped towards her again as soon as his foot had the chance to hit the ground. She was able to land first and jumped to her side, but it was a panicked move and her balance was off. He was able to reach her before she could change direction again, but she focused quickly and was able to divert his punch, forcing him to swing with his other fist, which connected with her cheek, but with much less force than the other punch would have. He landed on all fours as she landed roughly on her side and tumbled onto her stomach.

"That, was AWESOME!" The boy exclaimed. "If the others adapt as fast as you, you'll all be pros at this in no time!" He held out his hand and helped her up.

"Thanks…" Rebecca responded as she pressed two fingers against her cheek.

"Yeah… do you want that healed?" AJ asked apologetically, his kind soul kicking in as soon as he wasn't fighting anymore.

"Don't worry, we can take a few hits." The woman said with a smile. "Now teach William something too, so we can get to the real training!"

"I think I get the idea." The man said confidently as he stepped towards them.

The boy raised his hand in a "stop" motion as that same hand glowed green and created a barrier between him and the officer. "Actually, no, we really shouldn't waste any more time getting to the real training. All I have to say for you, justice, is that you better focus on this melee training. Don't go thinking you can take it easy cause you have your trait. I know from…" He thought back to the stone giant towering over them. "…experience, that determination will block any soul magic used against them. It'll create a shield to block the shot, and it'll destroy any binds you try to use against him."

He turned towards Rebecca. "Honestly, your ability to turn damage into strength is the only thing that might work, but I only say that cause we haven't seen that move used on a red soul, so be careful with that." He went back to addressing all of them. "The only time your magic might work on him is when he isn't paying attention, and he'll respond to traps pretty immediately, while those lasers make a pretty distinct noise, which would give him time to react. It will depend on the mage you're fighting, but for one with a red soul, you'll have to fight hand-to-hand almost entirely to stop him. So, no more stopping mid fight all the time. Let's ingrain this into your minds, so you can stop future magic criminals like you're supposed to."

They spent many hours, nearly the rest of the day, getting used to this way of fighting. From the movement to the style of attack, they spent hours just sparring against each other. It was easy to fight one on one with the boy at first, but he could hardly keep that up forever, so while he took breaks or healed their bruises, they sparred with each other. AJ was amazed and impressed by their ability to adapt. They wouldn't be experts in one day, but they were at the very least competent. When it had long been dark and there were about two hours until the police would attempt to capture the determined mage, the three officers told the human Dreemurr that they understood the concept of the mage way of fighting well, and they could keep practicing against each other while he went home. He did believe that they could improve themselves without him, but…

"Actually, I think I'll find some place to properly rest before we head out." The boy responded.

"What?" William asked, confused.

"What do you mean, 'we'?" Rebecca asked curiously.

The kind soul held his breath for a moment. "I've decided I'm going to help you three with this."

"What!?" Samuel asked, shocked.

"Whoa! Hey, I get that you're better at fighting this way, but there's no need for a civilian to put themselves at risk. This is our job, not yours." The woman pointed out.

"Well, you see, I have this major problem with trusting people to do something for me, and I think you're better off enlisting my help in the coming fight anyway, which is why I'm going to try and take a nap, so wake me when it's time to go."

They attempted to dissuade him for a bit longer before going to their chief to insist that he not go on the mission with them. Unfortunately for them, he figured "The more mages, the better" and figured the boy was smart enough to understand the risks he was taking. "If he wants to join and help you, then let him."

Let me just remove any high hopes early. I am not making the fight against the criminal its own chapter because I want to, I'm doing it because it's been so long since I've last posted and I want you guys to know I'm not dead, or done, yet. I have plans still, but you can't just go to them immediately, you have to have side stories first, give the world chances to progress.

That's not to say I won't try to make the fight something decent, but don't expect it to be astronomical in length, or some god-tier thing. I'm just posting it separately so I can post SOMETHING now.

So, I hope you enjoyed, and I hope you have a good day.

And considering my pace these days, I might as well say it now.

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year.

(Damn, feels like the Christmas chapter was just a few months ago… We've come far, I'll admit, but I wanted to have gone farther by now. You guys have no idea how truly sorry I am about that, really. Trying not to say that too much, but that's not easy for me. XD Life, am I right?)