Chapter 93: A big camp
Three months have passed since the events in the Vollachia Empire, with Subaru having been developing more techniques with his Rebirth keyblade and with the new keyblade.
He wasn't sure how to name this one, so he gave Emilia the chance to name it.
After a few names, the two decided on "Glaciation Angel".
The Glaciation part coming from Emilia since the keyblade not only represents her but also because it reminds her of how she declared herself to Echidna of being the Witch of Glaciation.
The angel part comes from how Subaru views Emilia as an angel and well, since the keyblade came from the love he has for her, he added that second word after Glaciation.
Aside from the keyblade name, he also started to work on some servant skills...primarily cooking. He wants to be able to cook some things from Japan so he can serve them to his fiancée.
The other Emilia camp members were also giving it their all during the past three months.
Emilia kept growing closer with her knight while also studying hard to become a great King for Lugnica.
Rem and Ram continued to serve Roswaal though they also were training.
Thanks to the Sephiroth battle, the two twin maids understood that they will need to push themselves to higher limits to protect those they care about.
Otto saw his weaknesses and knew that even if he did train, he wasn't going to reach any kind of limit.
Though he does know how to help by being both a support in the battle and by doing better in his role in the Emilia Camp as Minister of Internal Affairs.
Yabuto, Kishida, and Waraki understood that they still got quite a long way to go before reaching the strongest in Lugnica at least in terms of those who are supernatural.
Garfiel Tinsel was pretty pumped up from the fights against the Organization and against Sephiroth.
He knows beating Sora will probably take ages and yet he feels that he can reach his level.
After all, he and Subaru worked closely on developing techniques to improve their fighting abilities.
Shaula hasn't fully changed in terms of strength though she does assist Subaru and Garfiel from time to time in their training.
What she's been mostly focused on was learning more of the outside world since she hadn't left the tower in such an amount of time.
She is surprised how much credit she gets despite most of the accomplishments are for her master.
She's also learning many things about the world in the current time from Frederica and Petra.
Beatrice as continued to assist both Naoko and Subaru in learning advance yin magic though at the same time, she's enjoying how spoiled she is getting from the Natsuki household.
Roswaal continues to observe Subaru, wanting him to get stronger so he can lead him into getting his wish of reviving his master.
The four newest members of the Emilia camp each had a chance to integrate into the camp.
Melty and her brother Salum were able to get along with Emilia for separate reasons.
Melty due to her and the silver haired half elf's shared personality and interest and Salum being able to connect with her due to the two being spirit arts users.
Pooka was able to connect with Beatrice only because she's Puck's sister as well as being the one that knows her idol, Puck.
Lastly, Tiga connected with two specific individuals, Otto Suwen and Natsuki Subaru.
Otto for his merchant intelligence as well as how he thinks and Subaru for his skills as both a spirit knight and a keyblade wielder.
Tiga, Salum, and Pooka all three had managed to join in on a few training sessions with Subaru, Beatrice, and Garfiel.
As the three months had passed, another peaceful day has come by with Subaru getting up early to go to take a walk in the forest to do his daily morning cardio.
As he was making his way to the village, he looked up at the sky and started to think to himself:
'I probably should've awoken Beako for this. She doesn't like me being too far away from her. Then again, she was sleeping so peacefully that it would be a crime to wake her up.'
He knew that Beatrice would probably berate him, yet he was okay with it since he wanted his contracted Spirit to rest.
He doesn't know when the Organization or the Witch cult will end this peaceful time, so he wants everyone to enjoy themselves while they can.
As his thoughts were on how the peaceful times could end at any moment, he had a different thought come to mind.
'What has Elsa and Meili been up to?'
Although he doesn't really care for the Bowel Hunter, he does worry for the Mabeast tamer.
Normally the two would return to the mansion about two and a half months after leaving, so for it to be three months after the leaving and no letter to at least alert on what they've been up to is alarming.
Though these worries would slowly die down when he thinks back to how capable the two are when working together.
'Hopefully they are fine.'
As his thoughts started to drift away from them, he arrived at the halfway point of the walking trail he, Garfiel, and Otto had made.
Once arriving there, he noticed that Emilia hadn't come by, making him slightly worried.
The previous night, everyone was up pretty late due to him and his father trying to bring board games into this world to start a small business.
They created a prototype during the three months and had tested it out the previous night though it only took a long while because some didn't understand the rules of Monopoly.
His father had recalled that this board game was quite popular in his youth before the rise of technology.
Although it took all night to even get a full game started, it was an odd success with a few.
The main three taking it seriously would be Otto oddly enough, Garfiel as expected, and surprisingly Roswaal.
The most entertaining thing would be Otto and Roswaal trying to negotiate for property.
Subaru shook his head as he snapped back into reality and just assumed that Emilia probably overslept since they were the last ones to sleep.
'She's probably sound asleep...man, I have been worrying too much today.'
He shook off any possible worries before focusing on finishing the morning trail, knowing that it's important to have daily exercise to start the day fresh.
"Hey idiot, wait up!"
"Hm?"
He turned around to see that the one shouting at him was Waraki with Kishida and Yabuto right behind him.
"Well, took you long enough." Subaru said as he crossed his arms, looking confident.
"It's you and your pop's fault for keeping us up so late."
"Even then, you're crazy for somehow waking up early enough to do this morning cardio trail."
"It just means I'm better than you three."
"Now that's going a little too far, newbie." Kishida said as he patted his friend in the back. "Now, shall we make this final part a race."
"A race?" Subaru and Waraki questioned.
"Yeah, a race. See who is the fastest between the four of us knights."
"Okay, you are on." Waraki immediately said.
"I'll join in too. Should be fun." Yabuto calmly said, curious on the outcome of this little competition. The three turned towards Subaru with Kishida questioning him:
"Aren't you going to join us?"
Subaru looked at them for a moment before smiling, not having felt competitive in a while.
"Sure. Where's the finish line then?"
"First one to enter the mansion through the front door wins."
"Alright then, I shall start the count down." As Yabuto said this, he waited for the others to be ready before counting down. "3...2...1...Go!"
The second he said "Go", all four of them without hesitation began to run with everything they got.
As the four were running, Waraki and Subaru were slightly in front while Yabuto and Kishida were right behind them.
The four knights continued to give it their all for a good ten minutes of nonstop running, all four of them somehow switching around who's in first due to how close they were in speed.
As the four of them were closing in on the mansion, Subaru couldn't help but nearly trip on himself when he had a sudden flashback to his childhood when he was the best runner as a kid only to be beaten eventually.
After recalling this memory, he shook his head to return his focus back to the competition he's in.
He continued to push himself along with his friends, all four of them about to reach the finish line.
Just as they were within reach, the door opens with Garfiel and Otto coming outside.
As the two were outside, Garfiel was the first to notice Subaru and the others all running towards the front door, which prompted him to step back and move out of the way.
Otto Suwen noticed them, yet it was too late since Subaru and the others didn't have enough time to stop or move out of the way.
This caused the four knights to crash into the merchant.
"Ahh!"
As all five of them are on the ground, Otto began complaining:
"What's the meaning of this?! The day just started!"
"Sorry Otto, guess we got so focused on our little race."
"That's still no excuse!"
As Otto was pushing the four off of him, Subaru and the others quickly took this chance to try and finish the race.
The moment the four knights crossed into the mansion; Subaru jumps up as he shouts:
"I won!"
"You got lucky!" Waraki retorted, feeling cheated since they were sidelined by the merchant. "Actually, I blame the merchant."
"Agreed."
"Yeah."
Kishida and Yabuto agreed with what Waraki said, only causing Otto to get infuriated.
"Blame me for what?! You all were running around like children!"
As Otto was getting mad at them, Garfiel laughed at this. He wasn't expecting this morning to be quite a mess.
After laughing for a moment, he patted his captain in the back while telling everyone:
"Aight, that was all fun, but we got someone here t'talk with Cap'n."
"Hm?"
The four knights all looked at one another, curious on who's here for Natsuki Subaru.
As they all were guided by Garfiel into the main room, Subaru and the others were immediately happy when they saw who this guest was.
"Sora!"
It had been so weird without Sora for the past three months, with Rem and Subaru being the main ones missing the Keyblade Master.
Sora turned towards the four and smiled, happy to see them again.
"Subaru, Yabuto, Kishida, Waraki, it's good to see you again."
Sora couldn't help but feel nostalgic when seeing the four, feeling like it was only yesterday when they all fought together in Vollachia. As the two keyblade wielders hugged, Subaru had noticed Sora's new haircut.
"Hm? What's with the new look?"
"Priscilla said that I should try something new, so Arakiya gave me this look." Sora said as he rubbed the back of his head.
The four knights looked at one another, a bit uncertain of this new haircut since they'd gotten used to his long spikey hair one.
Louis got up from her seat in order to comment on Sora's new hairstyle:
"We like it!"
"It's not terrible." Zarestia said, not viewing the new hairstyle that much different from the previous one.
"I don't think it's too big of a deal." Sora said, "It's just a haircut."
As he wanted to move on from this conversation, he turned his attention towards the approaching Emilia and Ram.
"Emilia! Ram! Good to see you two."
"Sora-sama. It's been three months. I'm happy to see that you are being treated well."
"Thanks. I hope things have been going well since we last saw each other."
"Yes. Things have been going well in the Emilia camp."
"Indeed. Though it has been quiet without you, Sora." Emilia added, happy to see him once again. "What is it like at Priscilla's camp?"
"It was...very strict." That was the best way he could describe Priscilla's camp.
"Well at least you've return back into our camp." Subaru said, just happy that his friend had returned. Sora remained silent for a moment, having taken note of what his friend said and yet not responding to it.
Instead, he turned his attention to Ram to ask her:
"Where's Rem?"
"My sister's resting. Barusu's stupid game took all night."
"It isn't stupid! It's just that it took longer for everyone to learn the rules."
"Yea, sorry 'bout th't. Was a bit more complicated than I thought."
"It's all good Garf, my dad and I will find a way to make it easy to understand."
"Right. Maybe another time I'll be able to play this game you've made, Subaru."
"Another time?" Subaru questioned, "What do you mean by that?"
Sora was silent when he heard Subaru's question, knowing that what he'll say won't go well.
"I'm not here for long. I'm still with Priscilla's camp."
"What?" Subaru was shocked on this news, having assumed that it would only be temporary. Yabuto took this chance to ask the golden question,
"Why?"
"It's...complicated."
"At least tell us how long will you be here?"
"A day at most." Zarestia answered for her contractor. Subaru, the three knights, Ram, Garfiel, Otto, and Emilia turned towards her.
They didn't expect it to be so little time, yet they were happy to just see the keyblade master again.
"Well then, let's make the best out of the small time we have you here." As Subaru said this, he summoned the Glaciation Angel keyblade. "Shall we do another sparring match?"
Sora was at first amazed by the new keyblade Subaru had pulled out before smiling as he summoned Kingdom Key to respond.
"Sure. You're on!"
"Hold up, I wanna join too!" Garfiel said as he put on his two shields on his hands, excited to spar with Sora again.
Yabuto, Kishida, and Waraki all three pulled out their swords to show that they too want to join in this training session with Sora.
"We would like to join in too."
As everyone was excited to train with the keyblade master, everyone but Sora received a smack in the head by Ram.
"What was th't fer?!"
"To be quiet. Roswaal-sama hasn't awakened yet. If you wish to discuss loudly, then I suggest doing it outside."
"Right, sorry Ram." Sora said to which she swiftly turns her attention towards him.
"No need to apologize, Sora-sama. You are not the one at fault."
As she said this, she turned her attention towards Barusu with an intense gaze. This caused him to step back for a second before turning towards Sora.
"Let's head outside."
"Understood." The Keyblade Master said with a smile on his face, seeing that things haven't change too much without him.
As they were heading outside, Subaru turned towards Emilia to ask her:
"How are you doing this morning? Were you able to sleep well?"
"...y-yes."
"?"
He noticed that something was off about his fiancée, seeing her face suddenly turn pink.
"Are you okay?"
"Y-Yes. Excuse me."
Emilia suddenly left towards another room, leaving Subaru dumbfounded for a second before he turned towards the entrance of the mansion.
He was uncertain what could've caused Emilia to act like that, he figured that perhaps she needed some alone time.
He stayed paused for a moment before quickly catching up with the others outside.
As they were a few feet away from the mansion, Sora looked at everyone as he was curious how they were going to do this training session while Louis and Zarestia watched from afar.
Subaru, Yabuto, Waraki, Kishida, and Garfiel all five talked among themselves to decide how they were going to do this training session.
"Shall we draw straws for this?"
"It would make things easy."
"Is anybody against it or have another idea to settle this?" There was no response, to which Yabuto continued, "Okay then, it's settled."
The five agree to draw straws to see who gets to show off their skills against Sora first.
"I'll go grab them." Waraki says but before he had the chance to, another voice spoke out:
"Allow me."
Everyone turn to see that it was the newest member of the Emilia camp, Tiga Rauleon. Along with the man the nice violet attire was the other newest member of the Emilia camp, Melty Pristis.
"Was wondering when you were going to wake up, Tiga."
"Well, it's hard to stay asleep when you all cause a ruckus."
"Hehe, our bad." Subaru and Kishida said this as they rubbed their respective back of their heads. Waraki was silent for a moment before turning his attention towards Melty:
"I apologize that we had awoken you."
"It's alright. I had awakened around the time Natsuki Subaru had left for his daily walk."
"Really? Interesting."
After Waraki said this, Tiga approached them with the straws in his hand. Each of them grabbed these straws until Tiga only had one left for himself.
"Hell yea!" Garfiel shouted. "I'm goin' first!"
"Alright, I'm going second." Kishida said, excited that he's at least going to have a chance to fight.
"Guess I'm third." Waraki said, wishing that he got a chance to go first.
"I'll be fourth." Tiga said, seeing this beneficial since he wished to first see Sora's skills first before he tested his own.
"I suppose this is better than being last." Yabuto said this as he turned to see Subaru completely annoyed by the straw he picked out.
"Damn it! Why the hell do I have to go last?!"
"It gives you time to observe how Sora-san fights longer than the others." Otto said, trying to cheer up his best friend. Subaru didn't say anything though he did nod at what his best friend had said, acknowledging that he could observe how his master fights though he wished that he got to face him first.
"Damn that lucky Garfiel."
As he said this, he got up and waited along with the others while Garfiel Tinsel and Sora both kept a distance in order to prepare for a fight.
"I'll be yer first opponent!"
"Okay. I'm ready whenever you are." Sora said with a smile on his face, excited to see how far Garfiel had gone.
The demi human boy smiled as he swiftly charged towards the keyblade master, moving faster than expected.
Just as he was about to land a punch onto Sora's face, the keyblade master managed to block away this first attack before dodging the second attack that followed.
'That was close.'
As he avoided the two attacks, he quickly went for a counterattack only for the shield of sanctuary to block this attack.
Sora took note of this and quickly pushed Garfiel back before he started to throw a barrage of attacks onto his opponent.
Garfiel quickly held his ground as he blocked away all of these attacks, confident in his newfound strength he had gained over the past three months.
Sora smiled as he could tell just how far Garfiel's come since they had first faced each other in the Sanctuary over a year ago.
He continued to throw another set of attacks onto the demi human boy until he finally managed to push away the keyblade before trying to once again land a hit onto the keyblade master.
He nearly did as he managed to cut a few hairs from Sora just as he barely managed to dodge the attack.
"Almost gotcha there!" Garfiel proudly shouts before slamming his foot onto the ground, which caused the ground underneath the keyblade master to suddenly explode. He tried to throw his opponent off guard with this, which almost worked though the keyblade master was able to recover quickly before pointing Kingdom Key right at him.
"Fira!"
A powerful fireball was created by the tip of his keyblade before sending it right towards the demi human boy's direction in rapid pace.
Garfiel waited for the right moment before using both his shields to block away the fireball as well as sending it back to Sora. He smiled as he dodged the fireball thrown back to him before dashing towards Garfiel, preparing to go all out.
The second he was within reach, he swung his keyblade right towards Garfiel while at the same time the demi human boy swung for a powerful punch.
Their attacks clashed for only a few seconds before Sora's keyblade was able to knock Garfiel's arm off its course while giving him a chance to adjust himself in order to go for another attack.
The moment he did this, he swung his keyblade right towards Garfiel's head.
Before he had a chance to avoid this attack, Sora surprised him by landing a sudden kick onto his chest area.
"Got you." He said with a calm expression before switching the keyblade from his right hand to his left hand in order to land another hit onto his opponent.
As this hit managed to push back Garfiel, Sora barely managed to land on his feet before he looked at the demi human boy, seeing that he's not down for the count.
"You have gotten quite strong, Garf. I'm impressed, but you still need to focus on everything your opponent's doing. I only managed to land that kick because you only focused on the keyblade."
"Yer right. Ya got me good." Garfiel spoke with a smile on his face as he caught his breath. Once he was ready to continue the fight, he got into his fighting stance while saying: "Aight, ready fer round two!"
As Garfiel was ready to continue this training session, Sora smiled as he got into his own fighting stance, showing that he's ready to continue as well.
The two waited for a few seconds before charging at each other, both going on the offense.
As the two clashed, Sora using all of his strength and speed was able to just barely avoid Garfiel's attack in order to land his own.
This attack landed onto Garfiel's chest. The demi human boy managed to hold his own once again, trying to tank the hit though he was slowly losing consciousness.
'Shit! Too much...!'
Garfiel slapped his face to keep himself from passing out in order to continue his fight with Sora.
He turned towards Sora's direction before charging right towards him, taking this opportunity to go on with the offense.
As he was throwing a flurry of punches, Sora blocked away a few of these attacks before dodging the others due to Garfiel's speed increasing with each punch he threw.
This made Sora see just how much Garfiel had grown, making him excited to see just how far the others have gone as well.
He continued on the defensive for a minute more before finally countering Garfiel's flurry of punches by redirecting one of the punches towards a different direction.
This threw him off balance which gave the keyblade master a chance to land another heavy blow onto him.
This hit was more than Garfiel was able to handle, causing him to be sent flying a few feet away while also losing consciousness.
Before his mind blanked out, he smiled as he thought to himself:
'Th't was fun...!'
As he was knocked out on the ground, the others were shocked by the training session that had happened in front of them.
Yabuto, Kishida, and Waraki had expected Garfiel to have gotten stronger during the three months of peace, but they didn't expect that he would pressure the Keyblade Master himself.
Subaru smirked since he knew just how tough Garfiel had gotten since the two had trained together a lot during the three months.
"Not bad, Garf."
Subaru knows that Sora's strength is beyond their capabilities for now, he's still happy to see that his best friend was able to pressure his master.
'If this was a serious fight, you might've pushed Sora into using his more advance techniques.'
As he thought this, Kishida got his sword out while placing a large knife onto his missing hand where he would normally put his hook.
"I've been waiting to test out my new skillset."
"Alright then, whenever you are ready." Sora said with a smile, catching the knight off guard for a second before he got into his fighting stance.
Right before their training match had begun, he thought back to Vollachia when he along with Yabuto and Waraki fought against Todd Fang and his group.
The only one out of the three to keep on fighting was Waraki, having managed to beat Todd before moving forward with Julius to assist Subaru and Sora.
This made him understand that he needed to overcome his limits in order to avoid being beaten again.
After he and the others recovered from their wounds, they trained harshly to get to where they were at.
He charged at Sora before going on the offense against the keyblade master.
Unlike Garfiel, how he relied on brute strength, Kishida was based on skills.
More specifically the ones he learned from Reid Astrea.
As he was using all the techinques he had learned and managed to master, Sora moved his keyblade all around in order to avoid one of Kishida's swords from hitting him.
While he was on the defensive, he did acknowledge how quick Kishida Hisafumi has gotten.
This made him excited to try some abilities onto his opponent, wanting to see how he would react.
He waited for the right moment before dodging one of his opponent's attacks in order to move towards the right side of his opponent.
As Kishida noticed Sora on his right side, he saw him pointing the Kingdom Key right towards him while shouting:
"Blizzard!"
A powerful ice projectile was sent towards the knight, prompting him to quickly avoid this by jumping out of the attack's direction.
The moment he did this, he noticed that Sora was swinging his keyblade right towards him.
'Shit!'
He moved swiftly as fast as he could out of the way, trying to avoid getting hit.
As he was barely able to do this, he tried to stab him only for the keyblade master to easily block away his attack.
Kishida saw this and knew immediately that he needed to do something or else his time fighting against Sora would come to an end.
He got up and quickly gained some distance before taking the chance to take a breather.
As he was gaining some energy, he thought back to how his opponent faced the Shield of Sanctuary.
Once having the pieces of the fight, he could see in his mind, he had an idea on how to approach him.
As he charged at Sora, he once again went on the offensive.
While he was trying to put pressure on the keyblade master with his techniques, he waited for the right moment to get Sora to parry one of his attacks.
The second he did, he went for a kick right as he was about to knock him down with a swing of his keyblade.
He was about to land his kick only for the keyblade master to grab his leg right as it was about to connect.
"What?!"
"Almost."
Just as he finished saying this single word, his keyblade connected and landed one hell of a head to Kishida's head.
Although not a fatal hit, it definitely caused him to be disoriented.
Which gave Sora an opening to land a few more hits onto the knight.
After landing these hits, Yabuto and Waraki were tempted to jump in to help their friend only for both Tiga and Subaru to stop them.
"Hold on. Keep watching."
As Subaru said this, Sora lowered his guard as he saw that Kishida was holding on the pain he received from these hits.
'I...won't give...up...'
Kishida continued to stay standing as he got back into his fighting stance, showing that his endurance as indeed gotten stronger.
He waited for a moment before charging towards Sora, giving it his all against the keyblade master.
Although he didn't last for long compared to Garfiel, he definitely made an impression on Sora.
He knew that Kishida suffered the most out of the three knights ever since losing his arm thanks to Regulus and yet he somehow managed to reach higher levels of skills.
Back when he trained with everyone prior to the events of Priestella city, Kishida was barely able to hold his own in a 1 on 1 fight with him.
Now, he's able to hold his own despite the large gap of power between the two.
Wanting to show respect to Kishida for his efforts, he began to glow, which caught everyone's attention.
After a few seconds, the bright light had faded away to reveal Sora in his Valor form, holding onto Kingdom Key in his right hand and Star Seeker on his left hand.
Kishida was surprised for a second before smiling, seeing this as an honor.
The two got into fighting positions before charging at one another, the two giving it their all.
As they passed each other after attacking, they stayed still for a moment before Kishida collapsed to the ground.
He had received heavy blows from both keyblades while he managed to give a small cut to Sora's left cheek.
Sora reverted back into his regular attire as he turned towards the knight, saying to him:
"You did well."
As he said this, Kishida landed onto the ground after dropping his sword, completely losing consciousness.
Yabuto went to get Kishida to safety since he knows that Waraki wants to start his training match with Sora.
As he carried his friend out onto the sidelines, he couldn't help but say:
"You did amazing, Kishida."
After saying this, he closed in on Tiga's location. Right when he passed by Waraki, all he told him was:
"You got this."
Waraki nodded at his friend before taking a minute to wait in order to give Yabuto a chance to get Kishida out of harm's way.
The second they were out of danger, he turned towards Sora with a confident gesture.
"It's my turn now."
"Ready whenever you are." Sora said as he got into his fighting stance.
Waraki got into his fighting stance, preparing himself for a very tough battle.
The two waited for a second before charging at one another.
Once the two were within close range combat, Waraki swings his blade first with all of his strength.
This prompted Sora to block this attack, noting that this knight had gotten quite strong.
This was enough to nearly break his guard, prompting him to jump back to try and use a different magic ability on this opponent.
Once he had something in mind, he pointed his keyblade up at the sky to shout:
"Thunder!"
Waraki heard this and quickly jumped out of the way, managing to escape the lightning shot from the sky where he was at.
Once he got back up from avoiding the attack, he ran towards the keyblade master.
He swung his blade with everything he had towards his opponent, clashing blades which end in a blade lock.
"You are a lot stronger than before." Sora commented.
"Thanks. I worked hard to get this strong."
As he said this, he pushed the keyblade master back before pointing his blade towards him.
"I want to face your strongest form!"
This declaration had both Subaru and Yabuto shaking their heads, having expected Waraki to ask for something like that from Sora.
The keyblade master remained silent for a moment before suddenly glowing for only a few seconds.
Once the light had died down once again, he was in his final form with Oathkeeper and Oblivion as his two keyblades.
Waraki was surprised by this though he couldn't help but feel excited by this.
'Didn't think he would actually accept my request. Hell, I doubt I could overcome this version of him...and yet, I feel so much excitement.'
He had his sword ready to clash with Sora's keyblades. Subaru and Yabuto already knew how this fight was going to end.
"He really asked to end the fight just as it started."
"That's Waraki for you, choosing to fight those that are beyond his capabilities."
Subaru chuckled at this though he did view Waraki bravely since he's facing the strongest version of his master.
The two along with Tiga watched as Waraki, seeing the knight move slowly around Sora before charging at him.
The keyblade master smiled when seeing this before tossing Oathkeeper right towards Waraki's direction.
The keyblade moved swiftly that Waraki was almost hit in the head by it, yet the knight was able to just barely block away the attack.
As he pushed this keyblade towards a different direction to give him the chance to close the gap between himself and his opponent.
The moment he succeeded in closing the gap, he swung his sword directly towards his opponent's head.
Sora waited for the right moment before easily blocking this attack away with Oblivion.
Waraki noticed this and quickly moved his sword back before swinging his sword once again to try and land a quick hit on the keyblade master's leg only for Sora to summon Oathkeeper to block the attack away.
Waraki moved his sword back and continued to throw a multitude of attacks, each stronger than the last though his speed was slowing down.
Sora took notice of this, prompting him to first block Waraki's attack with his Oathkeeper before swiftly using the tip of Oblivion to hit the knight's chest area with enough force to push him back.
Waraki was stunned for a second when this happened, getting the air knocked out of him which forced him to take a moment to breathe.
Sora took this opportunity to try and knock him down by swinging both keyblades only for the knight to muster the strength to block it.
As his sword was able to hold Sora's two keyblades for only a few seconds before the keyblade master's strength was more than he could handle.
He knocked the knight's sword towards the ground before quickly landing a strong blow onto the knight's stomach area which sent him flying a few feet away.
Waraki eventually landed onto the ground on his back side, with his mind nearly blanking out due to the pain from his stomach area.
"You okay there, Waraki?" Yabuto asked, a bit concerned for his friend.
Waraki didn't respond though he slowly started to get back up, catching Sora's attention.
He didn't expect Waraki to get up though he could see that he's barely able to stand up.
The amount of force he put into his attack should've been enough to knock the knight out...but he realized at this moment that he slightly underestimated Waraki's strength.
Just as it seemed like this training session was about to continue, Waraki stood tall as he said:
"I think that's enough for me."
"Hm?"
Subaru and Yabuto were a bit surprised by those words, expecting Waraki to continue with everything he had left in him.
Sora had a serious expression for a few seconds before smiling.
He reverted back into his original attire with Kingdom Key in his hand.
"You did really well."
"Thanks...it's high praise coming from you..." Waraki said with a smile, trying to keep himself from collapsing.
The keyblade master took note of this which prompted him to point his keyblade up at the sky while shouting:
"Cura!"
A sudden green aura surrounded the knight with a bell appearing above his head before noticing that all of his wounds had been healed.
"Huh?" Waraki moved around without much issue, surprising him. "Thanks."
Sora nodded before turning his attention towards Tiga, having remembered that he was the fourth person to face.
"Tiga, let me know when you are ready to go."
"I will, though shouldn't you rest for a bit? You've been going at it for an hour nonstop."
"It's fine. I don't feel tired yet." The keyblade master said with a confident smile. Tiga was uncertain for a moment but seeing how Sora looked to be filled with energy, he trusted that the keyblade master would be fine.
As he approached him, he pulled out his sword which caught Sora's attention.
It was a lot thinner than the ones the three knights and Julius used.
This interested him since he's curious how Tiga will fight, being one of the few he hasn't fully seen what he's capable of. He puts himself into his fighting stance, prepared to face off whatever Tiga throws at him.
After a few seconds of silence, the purple knight charged at the keyblade master, starting their first training session on the offense. Sora observed the way Tiga fought, viewing it much elegant than expected.
As he avoided all of Tiga's attacks, he suddenly pulled out a couple of red glowing crystals.
"Hm?"
The keyblade master was caught off guard by this, though for only a moment before casting Reflect.
As the barrier was created from thin air, it blocked away the three glowing red crystals as well as the explosion that came right after that.
The barrier disappeared right after this with Sora having his guard up.
Just as the smoke was clearing up, the keyblade master sensed Tiga nearly landed a hit on his right side.
He was able to avoid this by jumping up before diving towards Tiga's direction to go on the offensive himself.
He swung his keyblade right towards Tiga's head, prompting him to jump back just to avoid it before being forced to block away the keyblade master's barrage of quick attacks.
Tiga took notice of this when blocking each attack, slightly overwhelmed by Sora's strength and speed.
After a few more attacks, his guard broke for a second before he tried to recover by tossing another glowing crystal at him.
Sora was prepared for this as he used his Kingdom Key to hit the glowing crystal as hard as he could directly up so the explosion doesn't happen right in front of them as well as avoiding giving Tiga the advantage again.
The purple coat knight was impressed by Sora's adaptability, prompting him to grab a small ball in one of his pockets.
Sora swung his keyblade to hit away the small ball though the moment the keyblade touched the small ball, it exploded with a large amount of smoke covering the area.
This prompted the keyblade master to use Aero to create a wind barrier, helping him to blow away the smoke as well as blocking one of Tiga's surprise attacks.
As Tiga's attack broke Sora's wind barrier, he took the chance to move quick enough to land a strong hit onto his chest area.
He was aware that this hit would probably knock the wind out of him, prompting him to allow himself to be sent flying a few feet away.
As he took the hit and ended up on the ground, he quickly grabbed a bocco fruit.
Once consuming a small portion of it, his body shook for a second before he got back onto his feet.
"Two more tries."
As he said this, he put away the fruit before charging at his opponent once again.
Sora tilted his head for a moment, noticing that Tiga's ignoring the hit he had received from him.
He dodged the flurry of stabs Tiga was throwing at him, showing that he's a strong and skilled swordsman.
This impressed him, prompting the keyblade master to start trying on this fight now that he knows his limit.
He continues to dodge each of Tiga's attacks though as he takes a step back, he suddenly is caught by a random explosion.
"What?"
Both Subaru and Yabuto were a bit caught off guard by this as well, not expecting to see a random explosion happen right where Sora was standing on.
They were a little worried for Sora's well being though what really worried them was whether the explosion was too loud.
"If Ros-chi wakes up because of this..."
"...yeah, that maid is going to kick our ass."
As the two contemplated this, they continued to watch as they saw that Sora had tanked the explosion.
"What was that?"
"Just a little trick of mine."
Tiga had planted a few more of the red crystals around the area during their match.
Being aware of this, Sora waited for Tiga to make his move before taking the chance to attack him with Blizzard.
He noticed the keyblade master fire a powerful ice projectile towards him, prompting the purple attired knight to pull out another smoke ball.
He threw it to the ground in order to cover himself in smoke.
Once he did this, he managed to avoid the ice attacks though one of the icicles did land on where he had placed one of the crystal, causing a massive explosion to happen.
As this happened, some of the smoke vanished faster which allowed Sora to know where exactly Tiga's hiding.
He took the opportunity to charge at the smoke Tiga was in to land another hit on him.
The purple attired knight was sent flying once again a few feet away before landing on his back.
Once again, he grabbed the bocco fruit, took the second fruit to regain his energy once again.
'One more.'
He thought to himself before charging at the keyblade master with everything he has. He swung his sword in Sora's direction, trying to put pressure onto him yet he was able to easily disarm him.
This caught him off but before he could react, Sora pointed his Kingdom Key right towards Tiga's face.
"Got you."
With this, their training session ends. Since Sora was able to outwit him, Tiga nods with respect as he accepts this defeat.
"I must admit, Sora-sama, you are quite the fighter like how Subaru had said."
"You surprised me with those crystals."
"I'm honored if I'm able to impress you, the Keyblade Master."
Tiga bowed at him before first going to pick up the remaining crystals around to avoid having anybody accidentally step into one of these before grabbing his sword.
As he was leaving the area, Sora turned towards Yabuto and Subaru.
"Who's next?"
"Yabuto is." Subaru answered immediately though he was caught off guard when he heard the green haired knight suddenly say:
"I'm forfeiting."
"Hm? Why?"
"I know I'm going to lose but it's more about my leg." Yabuto turned towards his still damaged leg. "I can run and all but I'm not entirely ready for a full fledge combat. That Vollachian soldier really made a number on me."
He thinks back to his battle with Todd Fang and his group, how despite winning, he received an injury that might take decades to heal. Sora acknowledge what the green haired knight had said, prompting him to say:
"Don't push yourself too much."
"I won't, though if I'm being honest, I kinda want to see you face off against Natsuki Subaru. He's been trying quite well with his new form."
"Really? I'm a bit interested." Sora said with a curious tone, wondering more of the new form.
Last he recalled; Subaru had used a new keyblade along with a new formchange in the battle against Sephiroth.
If Subaru during the three months had the chance to master the new form, then perhaps he might need to take the training session a bit more seriously.
Before he could say something to his friend and apprentice, they all felt the air move violently within a few seconds.
Sora was caught off guard when he ended up being tackled to the ground.
"Huh?!"
"Sora-kun! Sora-kun!"
Everyone was a bit surprised for a moment before realizing that Rem had not only awoken but also had run outside to greet Sora since she was still in her bed attire.
"R-Rem. It's good to see you."
As he said this, he was suddenly kissed by the blue-haired maid, feeling just how much she missed him.
As this happened, both Garfiel and Kishida awoken as they finally had some strength back.
The two got up and along with Subaru, Waraki, and Yabuto looked at the situation playing in front of them.
They all smiled at this, understanding Rem's feelings that had been reaching a boiling point.
During the three months, Rem was slowly losing her mind as she wanted to go straight to the capital to find Sora.
No matter how much work she would do to distract herself, she would always find a way to speak about Sora and wonder what he was up to.
Now that Rem is back with Sora, she might be able to retain her emotions again.
After a minute of kissing Sora, she moved back before just hugging Sora tightly.
"I missed you too." Sora said in a slightly nervous tone, having forgotten how closely attached she was to him.
He hugged her back in order to allow Rem to feel comfort before the two got back up.
"How have things been without me?"
"Lonely." Rem responded, being honest.
"Well...you still had your sister and the others by your side."
"You are right. They were by my side, but I really really missed you."
"I know, but I'm here now."
"Good."
Rem smiled before hugging Sora once again. He just smiled before turning towards Subaru to ask him:
"Think we can dual a little later."
"Sure. I can wait. Besides, you need a chance to rest up a little. I want to face you at full strength."
Sora just smiled at this before nodding, understanding Subaru's wishes.
As they all went back inside, Subaru was about to close the door to the mansion as he entered though something caused him to stop.
He turned around to look at the forest, having a bad feeling at first before just closing the door.
'That was weird, I could've sworn someone was there, watching.' He wasn't sure if his instincts were on point or perhaps, he was being paranoid again. While inside, he went towards the main room to join the others though he did bump into Emilia.
"Emilia-tan."
"..."
"I wanted to ask, have my parents waken up?"
"N-No. I believe they are still asleep."
"Oh, okay. I suppose they were the last ones to go to sleep." As he said this, he turned towards the main room and noticed Louis Arneb.
He was still pretty annoyed when looking at her, being reminded of what she had done to him...yet he doesn't hate her.
Back in the hall of memories, he truly hated her and wished she would just die.
Right now, he doesn't think too much about her and can tolerate her. He began to say once looking at Sora:
"It's crazy to think how far we have gotten since arriving to this world."
"Hm?" Emilia's attitude shifted into a bit of curiosity, "What do you mean?"
"I mean Sora and I were taken away from those we knew back when we first met in the capital. As time progressed, I've become stronger, and Sora doesn't seem to feel alone like before."
"There's also the fact that we were lucky to reunite." Kenichi said as he joined the conversation. "Whoever that person that brought us to this world managed to save your mother and I. We can't help but be grateful for what he did."
"Yeah." Subaru smiled, happy to see his father. "Were you able to go to sleep well?"
"A bit, though your mother as morning sickness again."
"Really? I could've sworn the soup I gave yesterday would have helped." Subaru crossed his arms as he felt a little annoyed that he wasn't able to help his sick mother.
Kenichi tilted his head as he was expecting his son to catch on...then again, he hasn't had time to properly speak with his son in private.
Taking his and his wife's mansion chores for the day keeps him extremely busy as well as his and his son's inventions to try and make a profit in this world.
Mayo was the first success...at least until the mayo war that happened in the three months since the events of Vollachia. Kenichi turned his attention towards Emilia.
"Morning Emilia-chan, how are you doing this fine day?"
"It's been good. The day just started."
"True. Oh, can I ask for a favor? Can you let Frederica that I'll join her in a moment in the kitchen? I need to make sure Naoko rests for the day."
"Understood. I will let Frederican-san know." Emilia said in a respectful manner. Kenichi smiled and just gave her a thumbs up before turning back towards his son.
"I guess we will talk later, my son."
"Okay. I'll check on mom in a bit then."
Kenichi nodded before making his way back up. As he left, Subaru turned towards Emilia to ask her:
"Will you join me and the others on the main room?"
"Um...w-well...uh..." Emilia looked at Subaru when he asked this question before her face started blushing. "A-Ah, I need to go."
She quickly started to run towards the kitchen to speak with Frederica but mainly to keep some distance from him. Subaru tilted his head as he found this off.
'Is she...avoiding me? No, that can't be right. We were doing fine yesterday...were we?'
He reflected back on the previous night, trying to think about what him and Emilia were doing. Aside from her listening to the rules he was explaining and talking about the game, she seemed to be...distant.
'Hm. I wonder what's going on...'
He shook his head as he knew that he should prioritize his focus on spending time with his master and best friend. He knows there's only little time before he has to return back to Priscilla's camp.
'I have to ask him why he's going back to her? Does she have something on him? What could be the reason?'
Right before he was about to join the others, he heard a couple of hard knocks on the front door. This also caught the attention of the others in the main room.
"Who is it?"
"Not sure."
"Let me check."
As Subaru goes towards the front door to investigate, having a feeling that he should probably pull out his keyblade in case it's some kind of attack.
As he grabs the handle of the door, he slowly opens it to check who it is only for the door to slam open with a familiar girl pushing her way in.
At first everyone was uncertain who this girl was, making them not only jumpy but also have their weapons out, ready for a fight.
After a few seconds, Subaru inspected the girl and noticed the familiar attire she was wearing.
"Meili?"
"...h-h...e...l...p..."
Although at first, he wasn't able to tell what she was saying, he got close to her and managed to barely hear the words trying to say "help".
"Shit!"
He picks her up and quickly takes her upstairs while shouting:
"She needs help!"