Hey guys! I am back and I am writing and I am loving it! I've been working on some training stuff and helping people get their goals set and reaching them! I apologize for the two year and three year delays! I am back baby! I'm going to try to keep the chapters longer, but if they do get shorter they're going to be much more detailed and jam packed with everything awesome and amazing! I am here to stay! I'm going to be competing in powerlifting and possibly strongman. I want to break some records and deadlift 980 pounds!

The blades of Shizuku's damn tridents hissed through the air. I can barely hear the whistle because they're moving so fast, and I can't see its gleam through the blindfold pressing on my eyes. I have no choice but to use my Zauber abilities to know precisely when to duck, when to flip, when to dodge, when to flip, and I get tangled up more and more as this goes on. The searing sweeping of her blades slashed directly overhead, nearly slicing my hair. The air smelled burnt and crisp, a strange smell, and an even stranger sensation.

"Good! Keep moving faster! Zauber are offensive and defensive!" Shizuku called from somewhere beside me, it sounded like, but it felt like she was in in one of my blind spots.

"You must learn to let go. Let your mind, your heart, your spirit, your soul, your emotions, and your intuition guide your movements."

The words of encouragement spurred me on enough where I was able to get out of her figure eight bind. I am tall and strong for a seventeen-year-old woman, many would assume that because of this I'd have the advantage in training and sparring Shizuku like I am right now. I know first hand strength and size counted for nothing where agility and speed were needed. I needed all four of these working in tandem with my intuition and spirit to be truly a step above and ahead of the competition coming my way. I needed all of these perfectly in tandem if I wanted to survive against this monster that is Shizuki. Strength and size had no effect on the energy flowing through me, that I had not yet mastered.

I listen intently for the sounds of the air cutting, for Shizuku's increased and snappy breathing when she attacks, for the scrape of her shoe against the grass that brushed the blades just enough that it makes my spine tingle. These sounds aren't even recognizable in the vast park we are training in. A random jumble of trees added another element to this exercise.

I have to use the my Zauber abilities to sense these as well, and Shizuku's movements being disguised by these large watchers of the park. With uneven ground, and everything being jumbled up where we are, it was easy to lose my footing. it was even easier to lose my bearings

"Behind!" Shizuki warned. "You must keep your guard up at all times. No slouching for a second!"

I swiftly evaded her tridents three times in succession and rolled hard to the left, and the right, as her blades slammed down into the ground just beside me. I take a small leap back, handspringing as I do, clearing a tree branch where a trident stabbed right into it. I can hear hear the song of her blades, she leapt towards me, attempting a hasty strike motivated by irritation and annoyance.

Good. I smirk to myself.

Sweat is trickling underneath the blindfold, making my eyes sting. I am doing my best to block it out, my eyes burn with every drop that slides, my forehead burns with every movement of sweat. I am just able to block out my pleasure with Shizuku's clumsiness.

Im not afraid to fight him without his blindfold.

Color blazed in my cheeks, and my eyes narrowed.

Shizuku merely nodded, taking in my energy and the scene. The truth of the matter is that I'm just as exhausted as Shizuku. She's not gasping for oxygen like I am, and her movements are so fluid and crisp that it's scaring me. I'm so clumsy in comparison. I hope that she would bind me in her chains like she had at the start of our training three weeks ago, so that we'd be able to drink some water and eat a nice lunch, instead of making an allowance for us to fight again.

After a long moment, however, Shizuku spoke softly. I can hear and see the cruel smirk stretching across her face. "All right now we're cooking with oil. You still have much to learn Andrew, I love seeing you sweat like this. You are a Zauber so you have to use blindfolds when you're training like you are. Your senses and intuition will always be your guide.

Shizuku is fully aware of how this fatigue is creeping up on me more and more. I wish she'd give me a small break. Moving like this nonstop like it's an actual battle is hard and she's not showing me any mercy at all. Although I wished that she would grant me a small reprieve, I have learned to accept the wisdom of all of SHizuku's choices when it comes to training. Great and small, it didn't matter. I take a deep breath and I slowly tighten my blindfold. I dig down deep enough to push away my fatigue for the time being, willing my bones, muscles, and ligaments to obey my command. I try to forget that I'm actually having a battle with Shizuku for training, or that my chance to be alive was almost cut before its time thanks to the White Kampfer. I concentrate on the image of the image of Shizuku, her trident blades rattling and clanging as she kept them in a constant rotation.

I can sense so much energy flowing around me, within me, but it feels like it's yet to be tapped in. I am tapping into it, but every time the sensation becomes like a four hundred wave it dissipates as quickly as it came. I can feel the energy in Shizuku, the dark ripples caused by her anger at missing me, and instead hitting the branch full force. My impulse had been to match that anger with my own. and this is something I had resist. Shizuku made this extremely clear, that even if she shows hints of anger, it is to goad me and remind me to stay calm and centered. I am a Zauber, my focus and composure came first before anything else.

I slowly shift my heels, putting my feet into a more narrow stance, a much more defensive stance as Shiuzku made a lunge. I let my energy and emotions guide me as I had done earlier. I blocked the next two blows easily with a sturdy water wall. Then I was forced to jump high to avoid another three blow and landed behind a tree trunk, exposing half of my body and face because it was so darn narrow. blades and water smashed together, sputtered, whistled and burned, then whisked apart into dissipating particles and air swipes. The air felt thicker around me as I kept my movements as sharp and fluid as possible, clogged with the energy of the battle going on. For a long time we both fought as if in a graceful dance. I leap and spin away from every attack and block every jarring blow meant to pierce through me.

I tried to not hit Shizuku full on. I want her to see that I am not clumsy and that I'm graceful. During our first session of this. Shizuku had mentioned a grizzly bear had more poise than I do. Thinking back on it, it still makes me bitter. I am going to show her I have more poise than a bear. I am going to show it to her over and over, so she can burn it into her mind by seeing it over and over again.

Sweat is drenching my clothes. His muscles are burning. My tendons and ligaments are pulsing, my connective muscle tissue is straining. I can hardly breathe fast enough to get the air that was required to keep up with Shizuku in general. As long as I don't attack in a fit of rage, the Zauber power remained strong with me. I keep trying not to think about the fight. I lose myself in this dance, and soon I felt my body hunch, I just stopped thinking altogether. Shizuku fought slower and slower, faster and faster, constantly keeping her cadence and tempo a total mystery so I couldn't perceive her attacks in advance. Soon, Shizuku did not even need to leap away from my weary attacks. She merely blocked them with her weapons, hissing as the strain in her arms got heavier and heavier, until finally we both had to break apart from each other.

"Very good, Andrew!" Shizuku called. "You're learning very well!"

I slowly and carefully release my wall of water, kneading my Zauber energy with minute precision as I had been taught by fire with Shizuki, my attack stilled for a moment, then it splashed on the grass. I take a deep breath, using the blindfold to wipe the sweat from my face. Next to me, Shizuku was almost doubling over from her exertions along with me, both of us panting. She did not look at me the whole time. I double myself over, taking in long and deep breaths, doing my best to breathe out slowly.

"Now you understand a little more." Shizuku said after a moment of thought. "You don't have to kill your enemy to win the battle. It is attrition that is the key to victory with Kampfer. Defeat the rage that burns in them, and they will not be your enemy. They will be your comrade. The moderators and our rage are the real enemies. Only you and I are going to understand this."

I understood what she was driving at. Her driving home point at least. But, I note Shizuku's light glare, and that was all I needed to see to understand that I had not defeated her anger. I won her respect and admiration like during every session from hell, but I wasn't able to conquer her anger and rage that always burned deep beneath the surface.

We turn towards each other and bow solemnly. A vision of Akane rises in my head. One of the best things about being able to go toe to toe with Shizuku in these sessions would be telling her all about it. Akane was always curious about these training sessions, and after she learned that Shizuku had hung me from a tree upside down until I got out of it, she was always cheering me on.

We came to the park very early, only because the rest of the population would be strolling through her in a few minutes. We would spend a few hours watching the sunrise and the ripples of water in the nearby pond and streams, studying them as if looking for something no one else could see. Then we would leave, empty-handed, to fight the darkness in each other alone during these sessions. My hope didn't dim, but I could feel the distance between Shizuku and I. She had rejected so many students at the school and did what she wanted to those that she took a liking to.

What made me think that I would be able to please her? What made me think I'd ever get through those icy walls she put up for her own protection,

She won't want me... I think to myself, still catching my breath. She's seen me fight before. She seen me in the library. She did not choose me then. No one will. I have Akane, but she's always chasing after Natsuru...

Shizuku smirks at me, and squints down at me with wise eyes. "You're silly Andrew. You should know that a woman's heart always has walls. The heart is always in motion the future is. One cannot be sure at times what is going on in another person, but I have sensed a deep kindness in you. You are much kinder than you give yourself credit for."

Something in her tone made me wonder about our current status.

Will she choose me?

"it all depends..." Shizuku trails off. "Come back to this same place next week. We're going to have Mikoto, Natsuru, and Akane training with us as well. You will fight for them and me with your feelings as your ally. Perhaps you will find my acceptance."

She puts a comforting hand on my arm before she speaks again.

"Either way we're going to have to always be ready. Summer and spring vacation will be here before we know it. You are quite observant and you absorb all of these lessons to perfection."

Startled and pleased, I looked at Shizuku. Her eyes glowed with mischief as she blinks at me. A true compliment from her was as rare as an expression of regret in her face. That was what made her opinion so highly prized among everyone at school and even Natsuru, who was always chasing after her in some fashion. At that moment, I feel that even if I did get killed in battle, I had earned Shizuku's respect. That was a great gift. For me that was enough.

"I'm going to head home and take a shower. You do the same. Remember to be at school tomorrow." Shizuku turns and walks away from me, the echo of her feet thumping on the grass give me a measure of composure. She rounded the corner into the street and she was gone. The birds began to chirp and the while park glowed with sun, and my shadow began to stretch as the sun ascended.

Behind me, Akane began to laugh.

"Don't hold out on that ice queen. She will break your heart and use you. She is just trying to make you feel better. She won't be able to push you off on anyone like she does with others. There are plenty of better students than you."

I stiffen slightly in anger. I feel tempted to point out that Akane herself was not one of those better candidates. Instead, I head for home not looking forward to that overgrown idiotic bear spouting off the way he does. I had taken a single step when something hard hit me in the back of my head. The sound of the blow against my skull is enough to echo through the park.

Akane had thrown a a wicked right hook. As I spin to face her, she had her gun right in my face. Its single barrel cut through my racing thoughts and brought me back to reality.

I looked where Shizuku had been, and I take note of the fact the whole park is empty still. No one would see if I gave Akane the beating she deserved for clocking me upside the head. Akane was often cruel and bold when she was transformed, but she was so brazen that it bordered on having so much guts that she was gutsy. She was deliberately provoking me, trying to get me to lose my temper.

All part of training. I thought to myself. Shizuku's training must have come from some realm of Hell. I'm not even kidding. That's the only way I can describe her hellish ways. She is brutal, merciless, and absolutely ruthless. Akane slowly put her gun down and smirks at me with a knowing gaze, she tilts her head and looks up at me carefully.

"Remember Andrew you and I are partners. I have your back, the same way you had mine when we attacked her in her office. You have to be careful with that ice queen. Natsuru is always trying to reach out and get through to her, and you see how far that gets him. Don't follow that bad example."

"What do you mean by that? She is always saying how much she values me."

Akane smiles and laughs. "There's better candidates for you. The ice queen will kill you someday if it amuses her. That's why I'm always on my toes around her. That's why she's having us all gather from now on. She's planning something. We both have to keep our wits about us and figure out what her plan is."

"Is it the white Kampfer?"

"it could be. In any case we're both going to need to take a shower. I'll walk with you back to your place. Make sure everything is nice and quiet. You can spend the night at my place. Our entrail animals get along nicely strangely enough."

"I feel much better."

"You should. You're my partner and comrade just as I am your partner and comrade."

I smile at Akane and scratch at my cheek. "You're really awesome you know that?"

Akane shows off her gun. "I have the best aim."