Once again the Puerum Magi were in the Center, the mind of Sanbey and a place that served as their training grounds. In the towering mountains, the weather was cold as the Norse Winds as harsh gales of icy currents blew against the Puerum Magi group who trekked on a narrow path spiraling up the mountain. Their warm cloaks fluttering and their boots kicking up the snow as they walked, vision and temperature were absolute zero.
The black, skin-tight training suits they wore underneath did nothing to protect them as they were lead by Mamoru, his head bowed down and body shivering as his hood covered his head from the currents. Behind him was a calm Tateyama, Takuya, who was humming a song, and Hideki, who kept looking back as if something was behind them. It was another Hellish training session in the Center, and it was going to be harder than all the tests they have already gone through altogether. What seemed like hours had passed by as minutes in the real world and all the time spent here had significantly prepared the boys for the battles to come.
Instinctively sensing something ahead, Mamoru signaled the group to stop with a raised hand as he couldn't tell if he had heard an inhuman wail or the winds playing with his ears. With a gloved hand that bore markings and holes at the fingertips, he pulled down the hood of his cloak, a bionic arm strapped to his abdomen twitching eagerly. Behind him, Hideki voiced loudly over the bellowing weather to ask what had they stopped. Their leader squinted his eyes to see through the blizzard and heard approaching footsteps in the snow ahead.
A thrown sword then flew into his view and bounced off a shield hidden underneath his cloak, "Incoming!" he exclaimed, as the weather cleared up to reveal the large number of rotten, decaying undead soldiers charging at them from the front with jagged weaponry raised. The most repulsive things the group have seen so far, they threw away their cloaks and Mamoru ducked under a swooping blade just in time. He materialized his weapons, bashed his skeletal attacker in the chin with his shield and cut it down by the legs with his axe. Mamoru began doing the same for the rest that came after him with Tateyama behind him finishing off any leftovers with his bulky lance and shield.
At the back, more undead soldiers burrowed up from the ground, throwing snow everywhere in their efforts as they hissed a nightmarish, high-pitched wail. Hideki met them head-on, the jet verniers on his back and legs roaring as they threw him into the fray in seconds. He dashed madly through their ranks, dicing the bare-boned warriors with the blades extending from his gauntlets at a brisk pace. When one skeleton crawling on the ground caught him by the leg, he cursed, kicked it in the face and burned its rotting face to ashes with his vernier exhaust.
Takuya used a grappling hook on right his arm and fired the sharp, blade-shaped hook at the mountain side. He avoided a horizontal slice from a warrior coming from the ground beneath him and latched onto the rocky side of the mountain. The soles of his special boots magnetized him to the rocks as he materialized his energy bow on the other arm and supported Hideki from above with arrow fire. A skeleton that was about to chop Hideki by the waist had its head struck clean off its shoulders, then its arms, waist and legs until it became a litter of bare bones. Hideki felt like he had the eye of a hawk watching over him.
Mamoru's bionic arm caught a sword by its jagged blade and the Puerum Magi leader grinned before its grip tightened and snapped the blade in two. The weapon falling to the snow as shards, the undead attacker leap at him bare-handed, but Mamoru jumped back to let Tateyama skewer the decayed skeleton with his lance. Tateyama expressed his disgust as the corpse rotted away once it was inert and the white-haired Magi shook the rotting remains off his lance.
But seeing as how the numbers didn't seem to cease from the front, Tateyama dug the bottom of his shield into the snow at his feet and the door-sized slab of metal was assaulted by the rush of undead ranks. Tateyama clenched his teeth and grunted as he tried to push back the horde. At the back of his feet, spikes built into the back to his leggings stabbed into the ground to give him better footing in the uneven terrain of winter. Three discs on the armored pauldron covering his left shoulder ejected themselves and hovered in the air.
They enlarged into metal, round shields as Mamoru outstretched an arm at all three of them. Puppet-strings launched from his gloved fingertips and wrapped tightly around the three floating shields in the air. Pulling them towards him and swinging them in a circular fashion to pick up momentum, Mamoru shouted at Tateyama once he spun the discs at a precise speed, "Now!"
Tateyama ducked, dematerialized his large shield and left the gathered ranks wide open. Mamoru flung the shields at the grouped-up undead and the metal edges of the speeding defensive weapons bisected undead flesh by the numbers until a clear path of rotting flesh and decay was left. One skeleton was left, crawling away to safety with a disc stuck in its back, but Mamoru approached it and stomped its skull into the snow wit his heel. The discs floated back to Tateyama and reattached to his shoulder armor.
The pair then marched through the flesh-littered snow as Takuya and Hideki, the latter covered in blood, followed them closely from behind. They had the longing urge to catch their breath and the smell of the enemy was vomit-inducing, but they were so close to victory. Now at the top of the mountain, they reached the remains of what looked like a temple.
The bright sun coming out of the clouds shone on piles of rubble and bricks strewn on the snow as the group quickly noticed the enormous silhouette in the sky approaching them. There was a loud, ear-piercing roar and the Puerum Magi jumped for cover as the silhouette landed and created a small quake that shook the mountain.
Wings that spanned for meters, scales harder than iron and a tail long and slithery as a snake, the enormous creature on the mountain top bellowed a loud, triumphant roar that beat on the eardrums of the boys hidden behind standing piles of rubble. Hideki took a quick peek at the dragon Sanbey had conjured up for them and uttered a dry remark, "And I thought Sanbey didn't have much of an imagination," he eagerly sprouted out the blades on his gauntlets.
Taking a deep breath, Mamoru prepared himself for the hulking behemoth in front of them and gave out his orders coolly with quick hand signals, "All of you, spread out. I'll act as the bait, so strike one-by-one once she gets close. Make sure you're all in your positions before it gets near," Mamoru received his nods of affirmation and that was enough to satisfy him.
Flames snorted out of its nostrils as the dragon flew into the air, a current of wind creating a cloud of snow beneath it as the group followed Mamoru's orders without complaint. The Puerum Magi leader jumped over his cover and into the open, calling the beast by tauntingly bashing his axe on his buckler shield. It seemed to notice him and descended from its height to land in front of him with a following earthquake that nearly brought the boy off his feet. The dragon's headheight was at least 10 meters tall and its body length amounted to 15 meters.
Leering its growling maws near the boy, the dragon circled the boy, leaving no gap for him to escape as the slits in its eyes watched the Magi stare back at it.
Mamoru kept his buckler shield raised in front of his body, double-sided axe ready to fend off any attack. The two stared at each other and a smug, mocking smile from Mamoru seemed to enrage the beast. It snapped its jaws at him and the boy rolled across the snow, throwing his axe and striking the dragon in the nose before the weapon bounced off and landed back in his hands.
Frustrated by the painful blow that left a bleeding wound in its snout, an energy arrow suddenly flew into its eye and the beast roared in pain as blood spilled from its face. At its side, Takuya pelted the dragon with his arrows, his hands moving quickly as he stood on a undamaged stone pillar. The dragon snorted flames and Takuya back-flipped off the pillar when the dragon's long tail swiped structure into pieces in one strike. Now grounded, the archer bolted across the terrain and continued firing, his lips forming as a cheeky smile.
While the dragon sought the archer this time and was bellowing madly from its wound, Hideki came out from his cover and rushed for the side where the dragon now had a blind spot due to its blinded eye. He materialized his gigantic, 7 meter-long blade and assaulted the beast's belly side by leaping with the assistance of his verniers and plunged the blade into the dragon's soft belly. Gravity dragged him down as he cut a large splurging wound in the howling dragon.
When he hit the ground, the over-sized blade was still in its belly as thick fluids sprayed all over the boy, "He's all yours, 'Teyama!" Hideki shouted, wiping the blood out of his eyes.
The dragon then saw Tateyama standing in distance, farthest from it, and began humming out a deep growl. Smoke vacuumed into its nostrils and the dragon's scaly throat glowed a bright orange. All but Tateyama broke for cover, and with a great roar, flames blasted from its mouth and neared the still lancer. The flames were then blocked by three floating shields which gathered in front of Puerum Magi and redirected the torrent of flames in different directions.
It was now his turn, as Tateyama bent down on one knee and aimed his lance at the dragon's throat. The lance tip shot forward like a rocket and sung through the air, embedding itself in the dragon's glowing esophagus as the force stopped the torrent of flames abruptly.
The dragon coughed out a pool of blood and stumbled. With a dull whimper, it fell to one side and Hideki jumped away from it before he could be crushed. A mist of snow and a small quake was created when the beast fell, and as they cleared, the dragon now lied on one side, breathing in labored, dying intervals. Blood poured from its bellow and neck, the dragon's mouth open to show its sharpened teeth. The group surrounded its head, and saw that the dragon just needed one final blow to end it.
This privilege was given to Mamoru, who wielded his axe with both his bionic arm and right arm.
Raising the weapon in the air, sunlight reflected off its surface, and with a war cry, Mamoru slammed the axe into the creature's skull and the strength of the bionic arm caved the dragon's skull in, staining blood all over the white snow and finally ending both the fight and the trial. The dragon's stomach no longer moved and the Puerum Magi all breathed a sigh of relief.
The physical tests of the Puerum Magi were now over as the four boys rested near a lake and waterfall after hours and hours of death-defying training. Mamoru lied on the soft grass as the calm evening wind blew on him. Above, he could see stars in the night sky shining and sat up to look at Tateyama sitting behind him. . Mamoru remembered that Tateyama was always an expert in the lance when he was young, and that he had before carved a wooden lance for him as a gift. Tateyama must have been happy to receive the same weapon to defend this town, judging from the looks of awe on his face as he marveled at his weapon in his hands, slowly sliding his fingers over it and staring at his reflection on its polished surface.
Mamoru then looked at the lake a few meters away to see Hideki and Takuya playing in the water. Still in their tight, black training suits, they flung and threw water at each other as they bathed in the refreshing lake, laughing and shouting while the animals of the forest stopped by for a drink of water. Even now Mamoru wondered how Sanbey could create a world so real such as this in his mind, but Mamoru dismissed it as magic and sorcery. With a smile, he stood up and materialized his axe to aim it at a nearby tree, thinking of passing the time with some good old hatchet toss.
The axe's blade was encrusted with emeralds which Mamoru found to his liking and the blade was as sharp as it could be. With a strong fling, the axe swirled through the air and made a deep, clean cut in the tree, making Mamoru grin as Sanbey's voice came to his mind, "You four have done well over the past few hours. I'm impressed at your resilience to the tests I have thrown at you all together, as I expected you to have more difficulty solving them."
Walking up to the embedded weapon, Mamoru planted a foot on the tree and grabbed his axe, pulling it out of the wood to rest the weapon on his shoulder, "We were given this duty in exchange for anything we wanted, Sanbey," he replied to the instructor's voice in his head, "It is merely part of the contract we had made and the promise we swore to Homura. We will not back down due to mere physical limitations."
A hearty laugh came from the contractor, which was something Mamoru had not expected, "You've made quite the team. With you as the leader, and your friends under your command, I expect great things from you all," Sanbey paused, and then asked in a serious tone, "Are you ready for the last part of your training?"
"We are. I'll go gather the others," Mamoru said in the same tone and made his axe disappear. Flicking his green hair and smiling proudly to himself, he walked over to his friends and stood beside Tateyama to call over to the two boys in the lake, "Come on, you two, it's time for us to finish up the last of our training," he watched the two jump out of the water when they heard him and race to where Mamoru was. Smirking at their enthusiasm, the pair stopped to catch their breath once they reached them.
"I got here first!" Takuya shouted, his long, brown hair soaked in water.
"No way. I got here first!" Hideki retorted in the same competitive, but playful tone, arching his back and rolling his shoulders.
Tateyama sighed at the two, thinking as if he was surrounded by kids, but then smiled a bit at their eagerness and put away his lance. Standing up with them, he dusted the dirt off his back and waited for the group's next action.
"We're ready," said Mamoru to the instructor, and in a moment, the creek around began to morph into their next training zone. Takuya and Hideki passed the waiting time with some scissor-paper-rock and the surrounding area was pitch-black before the group was transported into someplace completely different.
Suddenly, the sky became a dark, ominous purple as the clouds blotted out the moon from view. A dark forest arose as trees that stood three times the size of a man surrounded the small opening of dirt they were in. Tateyama found it hard to see as a fog seeped in. Mamoru raised a brow at this change of scenery and no longer felt the moisture of the grass beneath his feet. He looked down and saw that the grass beneath them had withered into rotting plants.
"So this is where we shall practice our magical powers?" Mamoru assumed, "Takuya, can-?" When the two looked back, they gasped when Takuya and Hideki, who were just behind them a second ago, had suddenly vanished, "Sanbey, where are we? Where are Takuya and Hideki?" Mamoru asked their instructor with a small tint of worry and panic.
"This is where you will learn to use what you have that others don't," Sanbey's voice cryptically answered, "And with this, you will know how to kill Warlocks and protect yourselves from them. The very energy that grants you all your powers: Recicio. Recicio energy can only be generated by the positive emotions of one's mind, and once created, it can be used both defensively and offensively. To help you all learn this better, I have separated you into pairs to ensure that you will learn the methods of channeling Recicio and activating your unique abilities in synergy with each other."
Although Tateyama was just as worried as Mamoru for the disappeared two, he had little complaints with this enforced training method, "Mamoru, I'm sure they're fine," he calmly said to the Puerum Magi leader, "Since it's them and they're together, I think those two can handle this by themselves."
Mamoru frowned, but did not object, "Alright, Sanbey. If this is for the best, then so be it. What do we have to do now?"
"Clear you mind of all your fear, you two. Once you do, let your positive emotions flow and activate your Recicio abilities with thought alone. This will ensure your abilities' awakening and give you the power to conquer your obstacles. I am relaying the same info to Takuya and Hideki right now, so focus on escaping this place I had conjured, called the Fog of Nightmares. No weapons nor gadgets are allowed in this place. Good luck, and may you two succeed."
Sanbey's voice was gone once more and the trial had now begun. Knowing they've faced worst than this already, the pair marched through the foggy opening in the forest and headed deep into the dark woods with courage and skill alone. The only light they had were the lights that came from the Soul Gems on their chest, and even then they could barely tell where were they heading.
Cones of white and green lights shined around the trees, as nearby bushes rustled from whatever hid inside them. Mamoru could hear a faint sound of creepy wailing in the distance that could be just the wind. But from the looks of uneasiness of Tateyama, who had the sharpest eyes and ears of the group, that positive thought had a low chance of being right. The air was thick with miasma and the murky soil clung stubbornly to their feet.
Mamoru stopped, seeing no point to this aimless trekking and looked at a tall tree beside him. It had enough branches to climb onto and looked sturdy enough. Mamoru signaled to Tateyama behind and ordered, "Tateyama, I need you to climb up to the top one of the trees and see what's above the treeline. If you could tell where are we heading, it could get us out of here. I'll keep watch of anything."
With a nod, Tateyama jumped up to one of the trees near to him and began climbing up the towering vegetation. It creaked with each step Tateyama took but he took his chances with climbing it. Meanwhile, Mamoru waited down below with arms folded, looking around for anything hostile. Mamoru felt worried for the other pair and wondered where were they right now. Within earshot, Mamoru turned to a pair of rustling bushes behind him and the moment his eyes landed on them, they stopped moving and an uneasy silence came. In the distance, Mamoru heard the howling call of a wolf which tensed the boy.
On another part of the forest in the Fog of Nightmares, Hideki and Takuya rested near a pond after they had gone in circles for at least thirty times now. They had passed by this very pond every single time they headed in a direction and only in their latest attempt did they stop and try to think of something to get out of this misty forest. Hideki sat on a log in front the water, chin resting on an arm as he sighed, "Goddamit, just how long are we going be in this place? This forest is giving me the creeps."
Behind him, Takuya was nonchalantly chucking wood into a fire that he had built up with nearby rocks and sticks. Blowing the fire to try and create a smoke, he huddled against the fire to dry himself from the lake they played in just now. Takuya had some experience with outdoor camping from times when he was kid, so he did not feel the same uneasiness in being stuck within a forest that Hideki had, "It's not the first time I've got lost during camping, so I'll just set this fire up to try and let the others find us," he said in his usual cheerful tone, "If we're lucky, we can all get out of this together."
"Yeah, but I don't think you've gotten lost in a forest with God-knows-What's-In-It," Hideki said dryly and huffed while staring into the murky waters in front of him. Thinking about Sayaka Miki for a few minutes, his mind wandered for minutes about that girl until he felt like breaking the ice and making the atmosphere a bit lighter, "Hey, Takuya," he said.
"What?" the brunette turned to him.
"What did the buffalo say to his son when he left for school?"
Takuya scratched his head and tapped his foot on the ground. He continued to do this for several minutes before his eyes opened wide and answered loudly, "'Don't forget your lunch!'?" he waited for an answer, until Hideki stifled a laugh, "Eh, that wasn't right?" he moaned.
"Nope," Hideki tried to hold back his laughter, to no avail, "He said... 'Bison'."
Takuya blankly looked at him, and then said, "I don't get it."
Hideki sighed, "Ah, whatever. It wasn't really that good of a joke anyway," Turning back to the pond, Hideki's eye caught something moving in the water. Curious, he shone his Soul Gem's blue light into the waters and got a closer look at what it was. If it was fish, then maybe they could get something to eat.
The pale face of a shrieking, wide-eyed woman in the waters popped into view and made Hideki curse and jump off his seat in a fright. He fell back on the dirt next to Takuya, a hand on his forehead as he sweated like a dog, "Jesus Christ... this place... is messed up," Hideki said between breaths, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"What's wrong? Got scared by a fish?" Takuya asked with a tilted head.
Hideki gave him a flat stare before shrugging off the question and sighing through his nostrils, "Never mind. Don't think you wanna know."
They both huddled near the fire for warmth as it was the only decent light source they had besides their Soul Gems. They waited to see if there were any hostile animals in the forest, but none had popped up so far. Hideki, though, didn't want to see anything that this creepy forest could throw at them, yet, he has fought things like a dragon and reanimated skeletons with no problems. He was questioning in his mind on how Takuya could stay so chill in this kind of place.
A bush in the distance began to rustle violently and both Magi quickly looked at it. Hideki stomped and extinguished the fireplace before both stood up in fighting stances. The last smoke from the fire stung their eyes and they slowly approached the rustling bush with care. Should they check what it was and see if whatever was behind the bush was hostile? Or should they quickly back away and find somewhere else to camp? Since they had no sense of navigation in this forest, Hideki stepped up to it and hovered his hand near the bush. When Takuya was ready, Hideki tore away the brush and a horned silhouette appeared in the darkness.
Hideki was about to pounce on whatever it was, then the head of a harmless goat stared back at the two, chewing the leaves in its mouth as the boys stared in disbelief for seconds before easing up. The goat swallowed the food in its mouth and opened its mouth to baa at the two Puerum Magi.
Hideki laughed dryly, scratching the back of his neck, "And I thought it was some crazy animal Sanbey made up to test us."
Takuya laughed with his friend, too, until he soon heard the low growl of an angry lion and the hissing of a snake. All of a sudden, a large beast pounced out of the bushes and landed behind both the boys. The two fell off their feet and when they got back up, they stared at the monstrous beast that had come for them: A golden lion with a fiery mane roared at the two, its thundering voice echoing through the dark forest as the head of a goat arose from its back and at the end of its tail, a scaly snake hissed and snapped aggressively. The lion had a breath of fire and Takuya remembered Mamoru telling of such a beast from myth: a Chimera.
"Run!"