Oeilvert, this noon

In the 15 years since Freya last visited this ancient structure, the Burmecian Tent Government had not only refurbished it, but erected upon it a fortress. Dozens of towers littered the exterior of the citadel, each of them containing some form of gun turrets. Gears and pneumatics perpetually cranked upon the superstructure of the fortress. Not even in Lindblum did she find as complicated a system of machinery as what laced this fort, its walls, and its towers. For a moment she wondered why such effort was made to construct this in place of rebuilding the former capital. The inevitable collapse of Burmecia was one solid reason, but still didn't explain why this location served as substitute. She only passed a boulder before seeing goblins in a chain gang. The Tent Government had resorted to slave labor to build its empire.

She approached the foreboding walls that surrounded the headquarters. Only four times her height, these metal walls would fail to stop her leaping over them. She would have done so, but the gates slid open in invitation. Beyond them was a hundred yards of a cratered courtyard. Without stepping in, she saw ashes in each crater. She had to keep going. The entrance to Oeilvert proper was straight ahead.

As soon as one foot stepped into the secluded area, her ears perked at mechanical sounds. Instinctively, she leapt to the side, and not a moment too soon. Right where she stood had become a scorched hole. Again she heard the nose, and looked to see the source. One of the spires had an ocular device that fired a beam of light at her. She blocked the energy with Dragon Whisker, only to see the rest of the spires open.

In a quick leap, she was at their level. With a simple thrust, she launched an image of her spearhead at the device. Really, this projectile was a compressed packet of energy and air that took on the shape of its conductor, the head of Dragon Whisker. She landed, and jumped once more to fire at another. With this pattern, she broke all of the sentry spires. Clapping commended her display of skill.

"Well done!" Upon a buttress stood another familiar face; Gary. "You've certainly come a long way from depending on Fratley."

"Oh, it's only you." She insultingly relaxed.

"Don't you dare say it like 'Oh, you're on fire.' You're awfully cocky for only defeating Doyle. Give up and go home, Freya. We're only rebuilding the empire of our ancestors. I thought you, of all people, would be supportive."

"It's not easy to remain loyal when your government stabs you in the back. Burmecia held nothing for me anymore anyway."

"Treason... the warrant of a death penalty."

"Is it? This state is built on fraud. This vision you proclaim is a joke. Gaia is meant for everyone, not a master race."

"Spare me the lecture. You only came here to fight. That's all you ever cared about; fighting to get noticed by the man who never took you seriously. You're really just a shallow person who only learned to keep her mouth shut rather than open it and look stupid."

"If that's what you think, then so be it. I'm not that low to seek your approval."

Gary lost his cool. "Don't you pick your nose in front of me! I'll have to teach you a lesson! Pretender dragon knight, you have not yet faced the black blade!"

Freya's ear twitched. She was told of one who wielded such a sword. Although well-aware Gary was Iron-Eye, his use of the black blade was news to her. Freya took stance, aware of the risk she faced. Unlike the last dark knight, Gary could attack from all ranges. He didn't leave his spot on the ledge, but an unnatural wind breezed about him. His hand was close to his hilt, ready to draw for a deadly slice.

In the blink of an eye, Freya stuck Dragon Whisker into the ground before her. A wisp of shadow had snapped against the shaft and retreated. Freya studied her opponent, and found unconventional difficulty. Such was the black blade, able to strike from shadow. Gary didn't even need to draw the demonic weapon.

Gary leapt down before Freya. She saw his right eye was shut from a scar, and his left eye was normal. "Come on. Show me one of those dragon techniques." His smirk quickly vanished when he lost sight of her. As if guided by supernatural means, he raised his sheathed sword and turned around. Dragon Whisker struck the scabbard. "What's this? You never moved like that before." Shadows branched from the sheath. In that split-second, Freya was being swallowed by darkness. "It won't matter how fast you are, I will always know where you are, what you're doing..." His smirk returned. "... and what you're thinking."

Freya grit her teeth in frustration. She was grossly misinformed about Iron-Eye's abilities. With her now-useless assumptions, she didn't expect to use a technique here. However, it became obvious he was far more difficult than Iron-Force. There were two dark knights after Iron-Eye, and they would surely take an advantage over her if her surprise attack was delayed. Dragon apparitions emanated off her as she glowed. The darkness clamped down on her to crush her. It was too late, however, as she was already behind Gary.

Gary pivoted and defended with shadows, but they were useless to her strikes. Every motion of Freya was accompanied by images of green dragons. A multitude of the colored specters flowed from her. Gary's eye widened in shock. He identified this strange attack as a combination of techniques. Lancer, Reis Wind, White Draw, and Luna were all there at once. Even he could not foresee the genius application of what he considered stale moves when used alone. He knew when she would strike and how, but knowledge didn't matter anymore. Her power was simply too great that it overwhelmed his defenses. The shadows melted away from the cuts, and he suffered from her onslaught.

In a burst of anger, a surge of darkness swept from him. He thought he pushed her back, but was instead met with a nasty thrust to his backside. He tumbled after a considerable time in the air. She had grazed his kidney only because his shadow deflected the blow from his spine. How was such performance possible? He stood, now angered. Freya was positive he had more tricks up his sleeve. He revealed his right eye, a beacon of purple light. Upon seeing it, fear griped her entire being. His right arm raised the sheathed Murasame before him. Paralyzed, Freya quickly raised the power of her White Form. With heightened metabolism, the fear was drowned in adrenaline. There was no telling how severe his illusions could be.

Gray drew his dark blade, the legendary Murasame. With steady elegance and speed, he let loose a flurry of slashes at Freya. Blades of shadow extended his reach, and clashed against Dragon Whisker. The legendary spear resonated with the blows. Something about these weapons intrinsically opposed. Regardless, Freya quickly picked up on his strategy. White Form required motion, and he pinned her in place at his range. Once White Form exhausted, she would be easy prey. Again she raised the potential within Lancer. Despite the myriad slashes of darkness, she parried all of them. In a blur of speed, she dug Dragon Whisker into his heart.

However, the body she struck was nothing more than black muck. It pooled at her feet, and left her to guess where her opponent's location. No matter where she turned, the shadow remained at her back and stealthily raised an arm out. Murasame formed in its hand, and would have stabbed her had not Freya increased her miraculous technique. The shadow disrupted, and she detected the foreign body. In a sudden spin, she whipped the darkness off her.

The reformed Gary was still more the wiser to Freya's charge. He created a wall of darkness. From it spewed countless needles. At her current state, she could only brace herself as hundreds of dark needles traveled at her. With sudden conviction to make it through, she increased White Form to maximum potential. Not even a fraction of a second passed when she cleared a dozen fathoms of distance. She not only parried each needle, but reflected them all at the precise angle to hit her opponent. Gary saw the incoming attack, saw what it would amount to, but couldn't defend himself. Freya had simply overwhelmed him with raw speed more so than technique.

With forceful impacts to his body, Freya swatted him around like a fly. Each hit had sent him airborne a dozen fathoms in a given direction. Once he landed and tumbled, she batted him again. Even his shadows couldn't keep up with his battered body. Freya then punted him over the old section of Oeilvert. He crashed through stained glass on his way in. She followed him inside, but lost track of him in the dim interior.

Machines whirred and churned. Conveyor belts carried ore to crushers. From these crushers, conveyor belts ran the gravel to the smelting facilities. Instantly Freya recognized what went on. Her youthful days in Burmecia allowed her to firsthand learn the metal production that Burmecia prided itself on. Yet this refinery seemed to extract more than metals. She shook off the distraction and continued pursuit of Gary.

In minutes, the shadow of Gary approached Freya. Because of his darkness, he was invisible in this dim environment. With command of distant darkness, Gary delivered his voice from afar. "Are you afraid of the dark?" With glee he watched her struggle to find the source of his voice in vain. With the trifle fun, he continued his stalk.

Freya lost her breath, and White Form, from the sudden ambush. White Form was the only defense she had, and it barely pushed Murasame from a vital organ. Blood seeped out from her wound, and she turned to only see darkness. Laughter resounded from all directions as darkness spread from her wound to the rest of her body. She only made three steps before losing posture. Not satisfied with afflicting her with darkness, he struck again. She managed to block the slash, but the attack was intended to cut her in two. Although blocked, the blow forced her onto a conveyor belt. Her vision distorted, her pulse slowed, and her body numbed.

Gary, still the darkness, hovered above her with his final blow ready. Just as he dove the black blade onto her, a sudden radiance blinded him. With a tremendous brilliance and force, Freya jerked up, and hurled him far away. This energy clung to him like his shadow did to Freya. Still in midair, he couldn't draw darkness to himself. Murasame cracked and broke. He landed upon an upright lever, which skewered his heart. Desperately he grabbed at the lever, but he eventually swooned. Without darkness, his body regained weight, and pulled the lever down. The conveyors stopped.

Freya stood, though winded. Dragon's Breath demanded much of her. Despite her best efforts with Reis Wind, the wound refused to fully heal. White Form was supposed to run its course gradually, but the sudden halt Gary imposed on her had painful consequences. Her body ached all over as a mild fever harried her. Her clothes were more than tattered now because of White Form. Despite this expense of health, she was determined to continue her crusade. Reis Wind kept her walking forward, deeper into the stronghold. There were two dark knights left, both of them greater than Doyle and Gary.

Glossary

Lancer used to be a move that temporarily boosted one's own abilities. Normally, a person operates at 10 to 50 physical capacity to prevent injury. For a few seconds, this original technique loosens that safeguard to allow the body to reach past his 50 potential. The spirit energy and compact bursts of air, which accompany the movement, resemble dragons. The new version of this technique isn't a single moment, but a continuous state of being. At will, the user operates at a variable increased potential, even 100 capacity.

Reis Wind was a move that evoked dragon spirits to bestow their spirit energy onto the user and whomever else is in proximity as a means to restore the body. This resulted in the same effect as the spell Regen. The upgrade, however, operates on a fluid basis. As a continuous state, this technique compounds itself when necessary.

White Draw formerly took free spirit energy of nature based on how much spirit energy another had, and roughly converted it into the user's spirit energy. Freya's personal form of this technique is much stronger, consistently draining its target of spirit energy. Since there are no cues given by this technique, it remains undetected. This is how Freya can wear down opponents in prolonged battles.

Luna, in the classic style, magnifies the user's physical power, but compromises his reasoning capacity. Freya has perfected it in such a way, the consequences of added power occurs on a scapegoat object, such as the very clothes Freya wears. As the sacrificed bears the strain, Freya is relatively unharmed. This allows Freya to endure terrific physical strain.

Freya has combined these four techniques together, putting Freya in a perpetual super-state. She calls this White Form.